Disneyland has only closed unexpectedly 3 times. Now it's closing for the rest of the month.

Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, and it's also the most open place on the planet, allowing in guests 365 days a year. Since the flagship park in Anaheim, California, opened in July 1955, Disneyland has famously only had three unscheduled closures in its 65-year history — until now. On Thursday, the park announced its decision to temporarily close starting Saturday through the rest of the month, along with the adjacent Disney California Adventure, due to concerns about the new coronavirus.

That's major, because it's only happened a handful of times before. Disneyland was closed for the national day of mourning after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and the devastating Northridge Earthquake in 1994. Most recently, it was closed on September 11, 2001, although it was open the next day.

Children have seemed miraculously insusceptible to the novel coronavirus, although parents with preexisting health conditions or grandparents could get dangerously sick if they picked up germs at the park. Additionally, while kids might not get severely ill themselves, they can still pass it on to others that can.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Disney World and Universal Studios, in Florida, at this point remain open. As one mother of two visiting that park told The New York Times recently, "If I'm going to get sick and die, I might as well do it at Disney World."