Should You Cancel Your Disneyland Trip Due to the Wildfires?

The Los Angeles wildfires have had a devastating impact on Southern California with the Palisades fire burning over 23,000 acres at the time of writing. Disneyland is located about 45 miles from the Palisades fire where firefighters are tirelessly working to contain the wind fueled fire.

There are no active fires within Anaheim or Orange County broadly and these Southern California wildfires, including the Palisades fire, are in the Los Angeles area.

Many guests, especially those from out of state, may be wondering if they should cancel their upcoming Disneyland trips in light of these tragic events and how these fires might be impacting Disneyland. The wildfires have been everywhere on national news, so it makes sense to think through a trip.

Wildfire Impact on Disneyland

My heart goes out to the first responders that are working tirelessly to contain these fires and all of those who have lost their homes and communities. These wildfires have killed 24 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures, and burned more than 40,000 acres according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Disneyland has remained open throughout the duration of the fires with the Walt Disney Company donating $15 million to wildfire relief efforts. The closest fire to Disneyland is the Eaton fire which is in the northeast area of Los Angeles. You can look at the fire map below to get an idea of the proximity of these fires to the Disneyland Resort.

Disneyland has been operating as normal and has had no noticeable impact from the fires. It is more likely we would see an impact from the high winds in the area than the fires itself right now. High winds can cancel rides in the parks, like Golden Zephyr and Silly Symphony Swings, along with the fireworks and World of Color nighttime shows. This has not been the case up until this point and the high winds are really starting to slow down in the upcoming forecast.

Our reports on the ground this week from Disneyland have been positive with clear and sunny weather along with lower crowd levels than expected. There have not been any reports of a smoke smell in the air and the air quality for the area has remained moderate.

Social media reports have shown that many people from the Los Angeles area have been escaping to Disneyland which has provided relief and a place to stay. For those impacted, there are discounted rates being offered from both the official Disney hotels and the a number of the hotels surrounding Disneyland. You can see a resource from Visit Anaheim of all the hotel discounts being offered to those impacted by the fires.

We have personally been at the parks and have felt no impact to our experience visiting the area.

Disneyland Cancellation Policies

The first important thing to note is that Disneyland is not waiving any of their cancellation policies in light of the wildfires since there is no impact on normal operations at Disneyland.

If you booked directly with Disney, then your vacation package is subject to these cancellation policies if you did not add a Travel Protection Plan with your package:

• For cancellations made 30 days or more prior to Guest arrival, amounts paid (minus cancellation fees assessed by third party hotels or other suppliers, non-refundable travel protection plan costs, and other amounts owed) will be refunded, subject to the 24-Hour Booking Policy set forth below.
• For cancellations made 4 days to 29 days prior to Guest arrival, amounts paid (minus a cancellation fee of $200 per package and minus any cancellation fees assessed by third party hotels or other suppliers, non-refundable travel protection plan costs, and other amounts owed) will be refunded, subject to the 24-Hour Booking Policy set forth below.
• For cancellations made 3 days or less prior to Guest arrival or for no-shows, the full price of the package (including Disneyland Resort admission tickets and all other components of the package) is non-refundable, subject to the 24-Hour Booking Policy set forth below.

For guests that purchased just Disneyland tickets directly from Disney, these are non-refundable but they do not lose their value as long as they are unused and they can be applied to a future date. If you booked with a third party travel company, like our partner Get Away Today, these policies may look different and may depend on if you added vacation protection to your Disneyland package so you should speak to them directly.

Some guests might be surprised that Disneyland is not modifying any of their cancellation policies in light of these fires but since the resort is not directly impacted, the company is likely to not alter their policies. This is similar to how cancellations work at Walt Disney World with hurricanes and tropical storms, cancellation policies aren't waived until operations are directly impacted.

Should You Cancel Your Disneyland Trip?

This is a sensitive issue as it's hard to imagine enjoying a trip at Disneyland in the light of such devastation and destruction nearby. But for guests that already have their trips booked and paid for, I do not think you should cancel your trip especially if you would lose deposits or other money invested in your vacation.

Some have voiced concerns wondering if visiting Disneyland right now could take hotel rooms away from wildfire evacuees. However, readers should be reassured that in addition to Anaheim being so far from the fires, this is a typically slow time of the year for Disneyland aside from various holiday weekends coming up. There does not appear to be an issue with a lack of hotel rooms for both evacuees and visitors.

Operations at Disneyland aren't impacted by these fires nor is the air quality in Anaheim which should be the two biggest considerations to take into account. Operations have also resumed at Universal Studios Hollywood which is a theme park much closer to these fires than Disneyland. This is a good indication that things are safe and the theme parks are operating as normal, especially for Disneyland which is a greater distance away from the fires.

If you already have a trip planned for Disneyland, which many likely do in light of the holiday weekend coming up, we think you should keep your plans intact. Just keep in mind that some of your travel plans outside of Anaheim may need to be altered, especially if you wanted to visit LA for a day trip.

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