Disneyland Resort FAQs with Mouse Brief: When does Disneyland close? What are the closing times for Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park?
Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park closing times vary by day. You can find the schedule on the Disneyland website or app. But, did you know that you do not need to leave the parks at closing time? Keep reading to find out more about when Disneyland actually closes and strategies for maximizing your day.
What Time Does Disneyland Close?
Prior to your visit, check the schedule for Disneyland Resort on the Disneyland website or app. The closing times for Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park vary by season and by day. They will be listed about six weeks in advance.
Seasonal Patterns in the Schedule for Disneyland Resort
If your visit is further out, you can still expect some general patterns. First, the parks are usually open later on days when they are expecting high crowds. These times include the popular Halloween and winter holiday seasons, summer break, spring break and long holiday weekends. On most days, regardless of the season, Disneyland Park is typically open later than Disney California Adventure Park by an hour or two.
Here is an example of these patterns. Thanksgiving week in 2024 is a time when many people are off of school and work, and it is a popular time to visit Disneyland Resort. For that week, Disneyland Park closes at midnight and Disney California Adventure Park closes at 11pm. The following Tuesday is in a less popular week: the first week of December. Tuesday is also a less popular day of the week. So, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Disneyland Park closes at 11:00pm while Disney California Adventure Park closes at 10:00pm.
Disruptions to the Disneyland Resort Schedule
These patterns can be disrupted. Keep in mind that after-hours “hard ticket” events like Oogie Boogie Bash will cause the park hosting the event to close early to general guests. Look out for these events when you are doing your planning. They are posted further in advance than the park hours, so you can make some guesses about park hours by looking here. Other events like Grad Nites, which are open to select groups, may also impact park hours slightly but not be listed for the general public. Keep reading for more on these special events and park closing procedures.
What Happens at Closing Time for Disneyland?
At the official park closing time, the park entrance turnstiles will close for the day, and guests already in the park will no longer be able to enter any attraction queues. Cast members will close attraction queues at closing time and point guests towards the parks’ entrance lands.
You Can Ride Attractions After Disneyland Closes
The good news is that you may experience an attraction if you entered the queue before official closing time. That means you can get in a forty minute long queue for Peter Pan’s Flight just one minute before Disneyland Park closes and still get to ride the attraction after the park closes!
You Can Stay in Disneyland After it Closes
Additionally, the shops and restaurants in the entrance lands for each park stay open for an hour after official park closing. You can continue to linger in Main Street U.S.A and Buena Vista Street after official closing time. However, you must already be in the parks to do this. Even though these two lands are open after official closing, you will not be admitted through the park entrance turnstiles after closing.
Does Disneyland Stay Open for Some Guests After Closing Time?
You now know that you can stay in the Disneyland Resort parks for an hour after closing. You also know that you can experience an attraction if you are already in the queue, but are there other ways to stay late?
Disneyland Resort Hotel Guests Get Early Entry But Not Extended Evenings
Disneyland does not currently have an “after hours” perk for guests staying at Disneyland Resort Hotels. Guests at Pixar Place Hotel, Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Grand California Hotel and Spa DO get to enter one of the parks one half hour early each day for Early Entry. There is no similar advantage for after park closing, and there are no longer any overnight accommodations for guests inside Disneyland Park.
Special Events After Closing Time at Disneyland
Disneyland Resort does offer a selection of ticketed special events which welcome guests into the parks after hours. Some of these events are open to the general public, and you can find those listed here. Others, like the Grad Nites we previously mentioned, are only for select groups. On these evenings, you will be able to remain in the party-hosting park after closing only if you have a special event ticket.
On nights with special events, there will typically be a “mix-in time” when guest with special event tickets (but without general admission for the day) will be able to enter the park prior to official closing/party time. Those with general admission but without a special event ticket will be able to experience attractions until standard park closing time. Guests without special event tickets will be moved towards the exits as the park officially closes and the event begins.
Some special event ticket sell-out the day they are made available, so plan ahead if you are interested in these.
Example of Disneyland Closing Procedure on Special Event Nights
Here is an example of how this would work on a night with Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party. Oogie Boogie Bash runs for select nights during the Halloween season. It is scheduled from 6:00pm to 11:00pm on those nights at Disney California Adventure Park. Guests with tickets to Ooogie Boogie Bash can arrive as early as 3:00pm, even if they do not have general admission for the day.
At that time, party guests will collect a special event wrist band and begin enjoying the park during its regular operating hours. Guests visiting Disney California Adventure Park with general admission would be able to experience the park as usual until the early closing at 6:00pm. At that time, guests without wrist bands are no longer able to enter attractions and will be directed to exit the park. If they have a Park Hopper ticket, they would be able to go to Disneyland Park across the Esplanade.
TIP: In the example above, 6:00pm is an early closing time, so we suggest (1) taking a rest day on party days (2) visiting Disneyland Park on those days instead, (3) purchasing a Park Hopper or (4) skipping general admission those days and getting an Oogie Boogie Bash ticket instead for eight full hours of park time.
Why Stay at Disneyland Past Closing Time?
Visits to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park are special for our family, so we like to stretch them as far as possible. We like to stay at Disneyland Resort parks after closing time because we can:
Ride Popular Disneyland Attractions Without Wasting Time
We previously mentioned that you could get in a forty minute long line for Peter Pan’s Flight one minute before Disneyland Park closes and still be able to ride. We like to do this. Those minutes spent in line after official closing are thirty-nine minutes we could not have used to experience other attractions anyway. Saving the long wait until after closing helps us maximize our time.
Additionally, lines at closing are rarely actually that long, and often posted wait times are over-estimates at closing. So, closing time is a great time to experience a popular attraction.
Shop for Disneyland Souvenirs Without Wasting Time
Here is a confession: we are just not that into souvenirs. We typically do not purchase any merchandise during a Disneyland visit. However, if we do shop, we shop outside of park hours. That means we do our shopping on Main Street U.S.A. or Buena Vista Street during that bonus hour after closing. (Alternatively, we visit World of Disney in the Downtown Disney District on a rest day, because we do not need an admission ticket for that.)
We use all of our ticketed park hours for experiencing entertainment and attractions. Shopping gets saved for after the park closes but before we exit.
Enjoy Disneyland Ambiance and Entertainment After it Closes
Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park are gorgeous at night. We like to stick around to enjoy the beautiful lighting and drastically reduced crowds. Sometimes there is even nighttime entertainment offered.
For example, the last World of Color showing for the night is often at or just before park closing. When this happens, we are no longer able to board any attractions, but we will happily stay and enjoy this nighttime spectacular in a peaceful park.
There is a certain calm and beauty that comes over Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park after closing, and we love being around to experience it.
Thank you for reading this post on what time Disneyland closes.
We hope it will be helpful to you as you plan your Disneyland visit. For a guide to planning, head over to our Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep. We also have an article on when Disneyland opens, and we will have a future post on how to make the best use of the opening hours. Be sure to subscribe below so you will not miss it!