This was recently published on MiceAge.com--not confirmed by Disney but worthy of mention here in case you are planning a trip during June
Regular readers will remember several updates ago when we told you all about the struggle brewing between the Park management and the execs and Studio managers in Burbank over the planned movie premiere for the Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Although Park managers gave a valiant effort in trying to reduce the impact this huge celebrity wingding would have on the average Disneyland visitor, the battle was eventually lost to the Studio folks and a few powerful Burbank execs who want this movie to succeed very badly. So the movie premiere will go on, just as boldly and brashly as the Studio had hoped for, and the Disneyland resort will be left to try and operate the Parks for the paying tourists in the party's wake as best as it can.
What has now been decided by the Team Disney Anaheim (TDA) execs and Park managers is an unprecedented operating strategy that will have Disneyland Park closing at 6 pm on Saturday, June 28th! No one can ever remember a time when Disneyland has closed that early on a Saturday ever, at any time of the year, much less right as the busy summer season kicks into high gear. Meanwhile, on that same Saturday, Disney's California Adventure (DCA) will remain open until Midnight, and that hasn't happened on a Saturday night since the first few weeks of official operation in 2001 when Disney honestly expected tens of thousands of people a day to pack the new Anaheim Park simply because it had the word "Disney's" in the title.
Not only have the hours of Park operation been radically changed on the day of the movie premiere for both Parks, but Disneyland has just changed its operating schedule for the entire week leading up to the event. This is all an effort to try and minimize the uncharted territory Disneyland will be sailing into when it shuts down at 6 pm on a summer Saturday night. On Monday, June 23rd through Thursday, June 26th, Disneyland will now be opening up at 8 am, an hour earlier than originally planned. And then on Friday, June 27th, Disneyland has scrapped its original plan to open from 9 am until 11 pm, and instead it will be open from 6:30 am (Set your alarms kids!) and remain open until Midnight that evening.
DCA will be unaffected during those days leading up to the event, but Saturday, June 28th is the day when the entire Resort goes into full battle mode to try and accommodate the bizarre Disneyland operating schedule that will have tens of thousands of tourists and locals alike scratching their heads in disbelief. On that Saturday DCA will be open from 10 am until Midnight, while Disneyland goes for another crack of dawn opening and a 6:30 am to 6 pm operating schedule. There is even a possible scenario where Disneyland may close it's turnstiles to any customers at 4 pm, even those with Park Hopper tickets or Annual Passports, in an effort to slowly flush Disneyland out and send everyone over to DCA by the posted Disneyland closing time of 6 pm. The Main Entrance and Guest Relations managers are still scrambling to figure out how it will all work out there at the turnstiles, as there will be a huge red carpet celebrity arrival being rolled out and set up in the midst of the customer unfriendly chaos.
Regular readers will remember several updates ago when we told you all about the struggle brewing between the Park management and the execs and Studio managers in Burbank over the planned movie premiere for the Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Although Park managers gave a valiant effort in trying to reduce the impact this huge celebrity wingding would have on the average Disneyland visitor, the battle was eventually lost to the Studio folks and a few powerful Burbank execs who want this movie to succeed very badly. So the movie premiere will go on, just as boldly and brashly as the Studio had hoped for, and the Disneyland resort will be left to try and operate the Parks for the paying tourists in the party's wake as best as it can.
What has now been decided by the Team Disney Anaheim (TDA) execs and Park managers is an unprecedented operating strategy that will have Disneyland Park closing at 6 pm on Saturday, June 28th! No one can ever remember a time when Disneyland has closed that early on a Saturday ever, at any time of the year, much less right as the busy summer season kicks into high gear. Meanwhile, on that same Saturday, Disney's California Adventure (DCA) will remain open until Midnight, and that hasn't happened on a Saturday night since the first few weeks of official operation in 2001 when Disney honestly expected tens of thousands of people a day to pack the new Anaheim Park simply because it had the word "Disney's" in the title.
Not only have the hours of Park operation been radically changed on the day of the movie premiere for both Parks, but Disneyland has just changed its operating schedule for the entire week leading up to the event. This is all an effort to try and minimize the uncharted territory Disneyland will be sailing into when it shuts down at 6 pm on a summer Saturday night. On Monday, June 23rd through Thursday, June 26th, Disneyland will now be opening up at 8 am, an hour earlier than originally planned. And then on Friday, June 27th, Disneyland has scrapped its original plan to open from 9 am until 11 pm, and instead it will be open from 6:30 am (Set your alarms kids!) and remain open until Midnight that evening.
DCA will be unaffected during those days leading up to the event, but Saturday, June 28th is the day when the entire Resort goes into full battle mode to try and accommodate the bizarre Disneyland operating schedule that will have tens of thousands of tourists and locals alike scratching their heads in disbelief. On that Saturday DCA will be open from 10 am until Midnight, while Disneyland goes for another crack of dawn opening and a 6:30 am to 6 pm operating schedule. There is even a possible scenario where Disneyland may close it's turnstiles to any customers at 4 pm, even those with Park Hopper tickets or Annual Passports, in an effort to slowly flush Disneyland out and send everyone over to DCA by the posted Disneyland closing time of 6 pm. The Main Entrance and Guest Relations managers are still scrambling to figure out how it will all work out there at the turnstiles, as there will be a huge red carpet celebrity arrival being rolled out and set up in the midst of the customer unfriendly chaos.
