Credit: Eleanor Brooke, UnsplashA huge portion of a Disney Resort’s attraction lineup was closed due to ongoing storms in the area.
Disney magic is capable of lots of things – but even Mickey Mouse and co can’t control the weather. Over the years, we’ve seen multiple Disney Parks close due to inclement weather, with Walt Disney World Resort being the most common victim.
Related: Hurricanes to Protests: Every Time the Disney Parks Have Closed
Multiple hurricanes have closed the gates of Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. The first came in 1985 when Hurricane Elena forced early closures at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Since then, the Resort has been hit by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Francis, and Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 (a bad year for Orlando vacations, clearly), Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Hurricane Irma in 2017 – which sparked the longest hurricane-related closure of a Disney Park to date – and Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
The most recent closure at Walt Disney World came in 2022 when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency over Hurricane Ian, and Parks were closed from September 28 to 29, 2022. Guests are typically confined to their Resorts during these closures, with Disney going out of their way to provide entertainment to make up for the disruption to their vacations.
Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Resort are also commonly closed due to typhoons (the name for hurricanes that hit the Northwest Pacific Ocean), with the former shuttered in July when Typhoon Talim barrelled towards the Park.
Sometimes, storms aren’t so severe that a Park needs to close – but still intense enough that other procedures need to be carried out to ensure the safety of Disney Guests. That was the case yesterday (August 4, 2023) when Disneyland Paris started taking action to protect its Guests from ongoing poor weather in France.
Related: Disney World Hit By Lightning, Multiple Areas Affected
What started with certain decor being removed from the Park escalated to the closure of multiple outdoor attractions across both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park.
A whopping 15 rides were closed at Disneyland Paris, including fan favorites such as Big Thunder Mountain, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, and Autopia.
It’s a great day @Disneyland Paris
It's a great day @DisneylandParis #disneylandparis pic.twitter.com/EV2d50Dhfv
— BHB (@BurtBELGIUM) August 4, 2023
A video shared by @DLPReport on Twitter shows heavy rainfall at Disneyland Park near Big Thunder Mountain.
⛈️ Heavy downpour earlier today in Frontierland!
⛈️ Heavy downpour earlier today in Frontierland! pic.twitter.com/jjPNldExp0
— DLP Report (@DLPReport) August 4, 2023
Fortunately, rides at Disneyland Paris will only be closed as long as poor weather persists in the area. Weather forecasts predict more rainy and windy conditions in Disneyland Paris today (August 5, 2023), as well as more wind on August 6, 2023. However, conditions seem set to improve from Monday, while late next week will see temperatures improve to typical summer highs.
Have you ever visited a Disney Park in a storm? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments!