Winds and DL

[beachteachlv]

Hey everyone,

We live a few hours from Anaheim and are fortunate to be able to watch the LA fires from afar while worrying about a Disneyland trip. It is not lost on me how lucky we are!

With that being said, we are supposed to be in the parks next week Weds & Thurs and I’m seeing reports of another round of Santa Ana winds early next week. Excuse my ignorance but what exactly does that mean? Strong winds? How might it impact a park experience? Will it influence the air quality? Debating if we need to look at rescheduling or if we should continue as planned.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Santa Ana winds are dry, hot, fast winds. It’s rarely a problem in DLR. The winds earlier this week were some of the strongest ever recorded. We live near the coast and could feel it when driving to DLR.

We wanted to go to DLR to get our annual Holiday picture (yeah, we procrastinated this year) so we went Monday (last official day of holiday celebration). Fireworks were cancelled Sunday so we were expecting the same… but they happened. Meanwhile, LA was burning down…

If there was any danger, DLR would be closed. Enjoy your trip.

 

[xipotec]

DL is like 60 miles from the Palisades, different area entirely.

 

[Aspencreek]

We were there a month ago and had some high-winds hit. We had a rest day off from the parks and the winds hit in the evening while at our hotel. Windier than I'd ever seen it there. So much so that it was making a ton of noise from the hotel windows all night and when looking outside the palm trees all looked like they were going to snap. Got us quite concerned for the next couple scheduled park days at DL. Next morning it was still very windy, although not quite as bad as the previous night. On the walk to the park it felt like we were doing the mime-into-the-wind routine and we saw more than one hat flying down the sidewalk at us. Once in the DL though you barely noticed the wind. They must have very good wind breaks because you could see treetops waving around quite robustly, but at ground level just a lovely light breeze. Don't think a single ride was even affected that I can remember. DCA has some rides that will get shut down due to winds, and fireworks could be cancelled, but unless you get hit with extremely crazy high winds I doubt it will affect you much at all.

 

[LKing]

We wanted to go to DLR to get our annual Holiday picture (yeah, we procrastinated this year) so we went Monday (last official day of holiday celebration). Fireworks were cancelled Sunday so we were expecting the same… but they happened. Meanwhile, LA was burning down…

Just clarifying, the first fire was the Pacific Palisades fire. It didn't start until Tuesday at 10:30 am. https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/palisades-fire

The Eaton fire (Altadena) started Tuesday at 6:18 pm. https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire

 

[evilmommie]

Being outside during an extreme Santa Ana wind event is miserable. No idea if that’s what is in store for you next week.

I can tell you that here in Orange County we had some serious road conditions during this past week. Trees down, flying debris, car damage, etc

 

[irlandaise]

DL is like 60 miles from the Palisades, different area entirely.

Nope, not a different area at all in this regard. Santa Ana winds can affect Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties along the coast, plus Riverside,San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties inland. Disneyland is very much subject to Santa Anas.

Here's a National Weather Service map from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds#/media/File:Santa_ana_winds.jpg

When I visited Disneyland in early November, I was enjoying the rustle of the trees in the Brisa Courtyard at the GCH--until I turned on the TV and realized that that lovely breeze was a muted form of winds that were driving a 20,000-acre fire 80 miles north of DL in Ventura County. All of Southern California is subject to Santa Anas.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I stayed there about 10 or 20 years ago…Can’t remember
Smoky & charred smell in the air plus volcano ash covering outdoor balcony furniture .. probably still in my lungs but remember it irritated my eyes .
I would vote no if you have any personalhealth concerns .

 

[Dizzy4DL]

NOAA is calling for low sustained wind next Wed-Thurs. Around 5 mph. I'll be there at the same time and have been watching the forecast closely.

 

[LKing]

volcano ash

Volcano ash?

 

[laugard]

There are Santa Ana winds and then there are Santa Ana winds when a number of large fires are happening all at the same time less 40-50 miles away.

I made a same-day reservation and decided to take a short break from (remote due to air quality) work yesterday to get the Magic Key pin. I was looking forward to the sky getting clearer as I drove south to Orange County. And while the air quality did improve (it's so bad in LA where I am, there's no way it couldn't), it was not as significant a difference as I hoped. I felt fine in the park when I got there at 12:30, but by the time I left at 4, there was a noticeable grittiness in the air, and my throat and eyes were definitely bothering me. The sky was also not as clear as I began driving home.

I can be sensitive to smoke, allergens, etc. so I'm not saying someone shouldn't go. Plenty of people were enjoying themselves and I've seen reports from people there at the same time who were completely unaffected and didn't feel a difference. I've also seen people post that they noticed issues with air quality and were noticeably bothered. It may be fine, especially for those who aren't sensitive or immunocompromised. And of course who knows what things will look like next week (hopefully better here in LA.) I would just advise anyone against assuming it's fine simply because Disneyland isn't in LA County.

 

[irlandaise]

Some good resources (maps are zoomed to the LA area):

AirNow

Windy

PurpleAir

KTLA website/streaming apps

 

[maleficent55]

This doesn’t pertain to NOW, but I find these pictures intersting

This is August 2018. There was a fire near Anaheim (can’t recall which one)

 

[MonocularVision]

Volcano ash?

 

[LAS2AMS]

Even on a good day, air quality in Southern California (by government metrics) is most often worst in the nation. That’s despite the fact that it’s the best it’s been in my lifetime.

That said, I travel a lot and most often can’t tell the difference between air quality here and in areas where it’s ranked the best.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Ha can’t believe I said volcano I have been immersed in Dinosaurs , etc for Sunday Nights Countdown to Extinction… it was a fire obviously …
Disney just made announcement about some Disney closures for Southern California

 

[hardcorestitch]

Ha can’t believe I said volcano I have been immersed in Dinosaurs , etc for Sunday Nights Countdown to Extinction… it was a fire obviously …
Disney just made announcement about some Disney closures for Southern California

View attachment 928109

That might be just for the ABD folks. I checked the Disneyland website and they said nothing about their parks being closed due to fires. As always, it is a fluid situation…

 

[irlandaise]

That might be just for the ABD folks. I checked the Disneyland website and they said nothing about their parks being closed due to fires. As always, it is a fluid situation…

Yeah, that screenshot was missing the first line of the headline. It actually says:

SoCal/Disneyland Adventures by Disney Canceled Due to Wildfires​

 

[LKing]

ABD would definitely be impacted. The Loews Hollywood Hotel and Hollywood activities (ex. El Capitan, Chinese Theater, Hollywood Blvd, etc) are in what was the Sunset Fire evacuation zone. The studios are just on the other side of that hill. Freeways and streets have been shut down for periods of time. It is just smarter to not bring a bunch of tourists into the area.

 

[MillauFr]

I would hope they would cancel the fireworks for the foreseeable future.