Five fast-moving wildfires spread around the Los Angeles area, as well as several smaller blazes, prompting Universal Studios Hollywood to extend its closure by at least one more day. This post addresses the current operational status of Southern California theme parks as of Thursday, January 9, 2025, including whether Disneyland will close or have indirect impacts.
As you’ve likely seen on the news, deadly wildfires have broken out across coastal areas of Southern California due to a confluence of circumstances. These wildfires have proliferated due to atypically powerful Santa Ana winds plus low humidity plus barely any rain over the course of months.
There are now five major fires spreading across Southern California that have scorched more than 45 square miles and put roughly 179,000 people under evacuation orders, according to local officials. At least five people are dead, as more than 1,300 structures have burned and more than 60,000 buildings remain threatened with strong winds continuing to fan flames in densely populated parts of Los Angeles County.
The latest flames broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, striking closer to the heart of the city and entertainment industry and putting densely populated neighborhoods on edge during exceptionally windy and dry conditions. This fire began only about a mile from the streets around the Hollywood Walk of Fame and iconic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (the real-life inspiration for the theater of the same name in Disney’s Hollywood Studios).
Within a few hours, firefighters had made major progress on the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills. It helped that wind and weather conditions had already improved, even as Red Flag conditions persist until 6 pm on Friday, according to the National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard. By 7:30 a.m. Thursday, all evacuation orders are to be lifted, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Three of the five blazes burning Thursday morning are not contained at all, including the Palisades and Eaton fires. The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles is the largest, and has grown to cover over 17,000 acres or nearly 27 square miles and destroyed hundreds of structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
The Eaton Fire, in the hills above Altadena in northern Los Angeles County, has killed five people, burned more than 16 square miles and destroyed almost 1,000 structures. The smaller Hurst and Lidia fires have scorched at least 855 acres and 348 acres, respectively. The Hurst Fire was 10% contained and the Lidia Fire was 10% contained as of Thursday morning.
As these firefighters work to contain the above blazes, the risk of additional fast-moving and wind-driven wildfires will persist through at least Friday.
Universal Studios Hollywood is located north of Los Angeles, and is much closer to the current conflagrations. Accordingly, here’s the full statement released by USH on Thursday morning:
Out of an abundance of caution, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk will be closed on Thursday, January 9 as a result of the extreme winds and fire conditions.
- Universal Studios Hollywood will be closed today, January 9, 2025 and is expected to open for business Friday, January 10, 2025.
- Universal CityWalk will be closed today, January 9, 2025 and is expected to open for business Friday, January 10, 2025.
As always, the safety of our team members and our guests is our top priority. We continue to assess the situation and are directing guests to visit our website for updates.
Stay tuned for important information on how guests impacted by today’s closure will be able to modify their plans.
At present, Universal Studios Hollywood has hours listed for January 10, 2025. We wouldn’t read too much into that at this point; it’s entirely possible that USH could stay closed due to ongoing fires, or the threat thereof due to high winds, poor air quality, or simply due to staffing. Many Universal Team Members will have more urgent and important things to deal with in the aftermath of the fires.
Other popular tourist destinations, including but not limited to the Getty and Getty Villa, Los Angeles Zoo, and Griffith Observatory will be closed on January 9, 2025. Current closures are mostly confined to the north side of Los Angeles County.
Six Flags Magic Mountain ended up remaining closed yesterday, and is expected to be closed again today, although no formal announcement has been made. No other theme parks have reported closures.
Disneyland has not made any announcements about operational changes.
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure did not close previously, and are not expected to close on January 9, 2025. It should be business as usual, for the most part, as the closest major fire to Disneyland is still approximately 30 miles away.
The map above from CalFire shows the proximity of the parks to the five fires, as well as the smoke and haze forecast (yellow) and red flag warnings. Disneyland has a Smoke and Haze Forecast of 25-63 PPM (the middle of five tiers, and what applies to most of SoCal outside the immediate area of the fires) and is under a red flag warning.
Suffice to say, Disneyland will not be directly impacted by any of the five wildfires, there could be indirect impacts. The biggest of these is the wind. That’s technically separate from the wildfires–it’s more the catalyst for their spread–but these strong Santa Ana winds could cause cancellations and closures. There already are no fireworks scheduled for the next couple days (not a new development), but those would assuredly be cancelled. They’re frequently nixed in much calmer conditions.
We’ve heard reports from readers about certain outdoor character meet & greets due to weather, as well as the Amazing Spider-Man show at Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure (featuring the Spider-Man “Stuntronics” figure that’s flung above the buildings).
Another possibility is the cancellation of World of Color – ONE. Obvious candidates for closure are Golden Zephyr and Silly Symphony Swings at Disney California Adventure. These cancellations should actually start to improve with winds dying down. However, there could be other indirect impacts due to air quality.
It’s also worth reiterating that all of the above pertains to the current wildfires.
New wildfires are possible, as the conditions are conducive to them. Per CalFire, there’s a Red Flag warning for most of Southern California, from north of the current fires all the way down to the southern border of the state (minus the coastline).
Throughout today and on Friday, winds will begin to relax and relative humidity will begin to climb. Anaheim is typically not deemed a high risk for wildfires in the first place.
Above is a look at the current air quality map, courtesy of the the South Coast Air Quality Management District. While there are areas that unhealthy to the north where the wildfires are burning, Anaheim is in a patch of good as of Thursday morning, which is an improvement over yesterday’s moderate rating.
Air quality is expected to worsen as the wildfires continue to burn but the winds die down. The smoke conditions for the entire South Coast AQMD jurisdiction, which includes Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties, can also be seen here.
Local governments have issued reminders to have a 5-minute evacuation plan in place. With how quickly these fires have been moving and how slow traffic was through some mandatory evacuation areas, that is good advice–so we figured we’d share this 5-minute plan & checklist for other Californians needing one.
Ultimately, this is a historic occurrence and it’s impossible to say how it’ll develop. My guess is that the biggest impact on Disneyland is that the parks will be ghost towns January 9-10, as locals to the north have bigger concerns to attend to and most locals to the south are anxious about similar circumstances arising around their homes, and not wanting to be in the parks as a result.
If you’re a tourist, you might have similar concerns about smoke and ash in the air. It’s also possible that flights out of Bob Hope Airport will be delayed or cancelled, but I can’t imagine many Disneyland guests flying into Burbank. Beyond sharing that it’s mostly business as usual at Disneyland and probably will remain that way, I’m not sure what actionable advice to offer.
The biggest thing that comes to mind is being especially courteous to Cast Members and granting them grace. This is underscored by recent social media posts from Disney CEO Bob Iger surveying the devastation in Pacific Palisades and legendary Imagineer Joe Rohde sharing heartfelt thoughts on the loss in Altadena (both are well worth reading). It’s likely that some of the company’s leaders in Burbank lost their homes in the Palisades or Sunset fires, and Glendale-based teams lost theirs in the Eaton fire.
Thousands of homes have already been destroyed, with significant impacts beyond those north of Los Angeles. Disneyland frontline Cast Members are unlikely to live in the areas that have burned, but locals are on edge, regardless, worried about their families and friends, and whether the next fire to break out might be closer to home. Our thoughts go out to all of those affected by the wildfires, and our sincere thank you to those brave individuals out on the frontlines fighting the fires and assisting in evacuations.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
Thoughts on the Sunset, Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, or Lidia wildfires? Any additional on-the-ground reports to share from Disneyland or around Southern California? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
