Three California theme parks announced Saturday night that they will be closed Sunday due to the impending arrival of the storm Hilary, with a fourth announcing Sunday morning.
The hurricane is expected to be a tropical storm when it arrives in California mid-day Sunday - the first tropical storm to hit the state in more than 80 years. SeaWorld San Diego and Legoland California in San Diego County have announced that they will be closed on Sunday due to the storm. In Los Angeles County, Six Flags Magic Mountain also has announced that it will close on Sunday.
In Orange County, the Disneyland Resort announced Saturday that it will close Disney California Adventure at 9pm on Sunday and Disneyland at 10pm due to the storm. However, according to forecasts Saturday night, the storm is expected to have moved through the area by those closing times. Knott's Berry Farm announced Sunday morning that it would close for the day. Universal Studios Hollywood said Saturday night that they continue to monitor the situation and will post updates when appropriate.
Tropical weather in California might be rare, but it's normal for this time of year across the country in Florida, and - sure enough - a bunch of disturbances are queueing up in the Atlantic, setting the stage for what could be an active couple of weeks coming up for tropical weather in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. So stay tuned for updates on those as they affect park operations.
Update: [2:24pm PT] And if the tropical storm blowing through was not enough, a 5.1 earthquake apparently just hit in Ventura County. Earthquake and a tropical storm on the same day? Yep, welcome to California.
Update 2: [6:50pm PT] The storm has tracked well east of the LA metro area, heading toward Palm Springs. There's still a lot of rain coming down in waves around here, though, with some roads and highways flooding.
Monday update: Well, the weakened Hilary decided to visit LA after all, making a hard left turn into the city, dumping more rain during its stay overnight. It's a beautiful morning after, however, with only Magic Mountain remaining closed for the day.
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Why do the parks close at differnet times? I would have thought if it was the storm closing it they'd close at the same time.
Is it to make sure that Downtown Disney isn't crushed?
Chad H: I think so, that would be more difficult for foot traffic.
Good luck to all there.
Disneyland/DCA and Universal Studios Hollywood all opened this morning. Crowds are light and everything is basically a walk-on. Even Mario Kart is posted as a 10-minute wait. If people want to finesse that and get out by noon when stuff gets real, fine, but hanging outside your home today is taking a chance that I wouldn’t want to take.
Again, if you thought LA area roads and drivers were bad in a normal rain, this one’s gonna be viral videos of stupid all over the place tonight.
So we have discovered the way that California prep for a tropical storm. It's not by clearing store shelves of bread, milk, or even cans of beer.
We buy all the avocados, instead.
The first things cleared at the stores we saw were avocados, red onions, limes, tortilla chips... all the unrefrigerated stuff you need to make guacamole. Apparently that was the popular game plan for eating without power - making a batch of fresh guac whenever you got hungry.
Godspeed So Cal
"The first things cleared at the stores we saw were avocados, red onions, limes, tortilla chips... all the unrefrigerated stuff you need to make guacamole. Apparently that was the popular game plan for eating without power - making a batch of fresh guac whenever you got hungry"
Can confirm!
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And guess who’s in LA right now, with plans to head to Orlando at the end of the week? This idiot. Just call me the Jim Cantore of theme park websites - if I’m near, run away.