Disneyland power cut leaves tourists stuck on rides at California attraction

Frustrated visitors vent their anger on social media

People walk through Mickey's Toontown, one of the areas affected by a power outage at Disneyland (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)

A power outage at Disneyland left some visitors stranded on rides, prompting widespread frustration.

Park spokeswoman Suzi Brown told the Associated Press that a transformer problem cut power in Fantasyland and Toontown, affecting about a dozen rides. Power was restored by the end of the afternoon.

“We have experienced a power outage near Mickey’s Toontown and Fantasyland,” Disneyland said in a mid-afternoon tweet. “We are working diligently to restore power to the affected areas as soon as possible”.

While Ms Brown said that no one had been injured, visitors complained on social media of getting stuck on stalled rides.

A man named Geoff Fienberg posted an image of halted cars at the “It’s a Small World” ride.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Fienberg said people remained “pretty calm” before they were escorted off the ride after what he estimated to be 25 minutes.

“It was just dark, music was still playing, so that will be in most of our heads probably for the following year,” he told CNN.

Danah Boyd recounted a similar story, saying on Twitter that she was stuck in the “It’s a Small World” attraction with three children for about half an hour.

“Darn song is really stuck and kids can’t stop singing it,” she wrote.

Other visitors shared their disappointment after paying for entry and then finding rides shut down.

“It’s a huge disappointment. This is my mum’s Christmas present to all of us. This has been in the making since August,” Los Angeles resident Ashoka Thiagarajan told Reuters.

The power cut came at a bustling time for the theme park, with its official Twitter account noting “The Disneyland Resort is very busy today”.