Theme Park Scope

If you’ve got a Disneyland trip on the calendar for October, there are three rides you’ll want to plan around before you build your must-do list.

Two of them have been down for a few weeks already with no end in sight, and a third is about to join them for a reason that’s actually pretty exciting once you know what’s behind it.

We’ve already covered two of these closures individually, so if you’ve been following along, this will connect a few dots. Indiana Jones Adventure closed for refurbishment back on September 8, and as of now, Disney still hasn’t announced a reopening date. We talked through what’s known about this closure when it first happened, and the short version remains the same: there’s no indication of exactly when this one comes back, so if riding through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a priority for your trip, don’t count on it being available in October.

Mad Tea Party is in a similar boat. It closed on September 14, also with no reopening date confirmed, and we previously dug into some interesting permit details suggesting Disney may be adding more than just a fresh coat of paint during this refurbishment. Between a new electrified prop and new lanterns referenced in city permit filings, there’s reason to think this closure could bring something new to the ride rather than just routine maintenance, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s currently unavailable with no firm return date.

The third closure is the newest addition to the list, and it’s a much more predictable one: “it’s a small world” is scheduled to close starting October 30, with an expected reopening around November 12. Unlike the open-ended uncertainty surrounding Indiana Jones Adventure and Mad Tea Party, this closure has a clear and familiar purpose. It’s the annual transformation into the ride’s holiday overlay, when the attraction gets dressed up with Christmas decorations and a rotating seasonal soundtrack layered on top of the classic song. If you’ve been to Disneyland during the holidays before, you already know this transformation is genuinely one of the more beloved seasonal touches on property, so while the closure itself is inconvenient for anyone visiting that exact window, the payoff for guests visiting afterward is a real one.

Here’s the practical breakdown for anyone trying to plan around all three: if your trip falls anytime from now through late October, Indiana Jones Adventure and Mad Tea Party are both off the table regardless of your exact dates, since neither has a return date yet. If your trip specifically falls between October 30 and the expected November 12 reopening, you can add “it’s a small world” to that list as well, though you’ll get the added bonus of catching the park already shifting into its holiday look during that stretch.

It’s worth remembering that Disneyland’s refurbishment calendar shifts constantly, and reopening dates for both Indiana Jones Adventure and Mad Tea Party could be announced at any point between now and your actual visit. Checking the official Disneyland app or website close to your trip date is always the smartest move rather than relying on any list, including this one, as the final word.

For context on how this fits into the bigger picture at Disneyland Park this year, both of these open-ended closures hit within about a week of each other in September, which means a meaningful chunk of Fantasyland and Adventureland has been dealing with reduced offerings simultaneously for several weeks now. That’s not a dealbreaker for a trip by any means, Disneyland still has an enormous lineup of attractions to fill a day regardless, but it’s worth factoring in if you were specifically building an itinerary around either of these two classics.

If you’re the type who likes to build a backup plan before you even land at the airport, now’s a good time to pencil in alternatives for whichever of these three rides you were hoping to experience. Disneyland rarely leaves guests short on options, but having a plan B in your pocket beats finding out at the rope drop that your must-do attraction is walled off for the day.

We’ll keep tracking reopening dates for all three of these closures, so check back with Theme Park Scope before you finalize your Disneyland itinerary.