Happiest Place On Earth? Massive Brawl Breaks Out In Hotel Near Disneyland

Mickey Mouse and othr characters in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland

Disneyland Resort has been closed since March, and at this point, there isn't even a hint of when that might change. However, it doesn't appear that the area of Anaheim, CA surrounding the park is entirely without vacationers, as last week there was apparently a brawl in a hotel near the park that ended up involving as many as 100 people.

Anaheim Police responded to the Cambria Hotel & Suites near Disneyland Resort last week where they discovered as many people brawling outside, and another 50-60 fighting inside. The scuffle involved mend and women, both adults and juveniles. Some were apparently using broomsticks and other improvised weapons, picking up whatever they could apparently find. Two people were hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries, one adult and one minor were stabbed, and another two were arrested by police.

Raymond Brown, an 11-year-old boy told KTLA TV that it all started when he playfully pushed his cousin into the hotel pool but his cousin landed on a group of girls. This started an altercation between the kids which then began to draw in adults, which then, apparently just snowballed out of control into the chaos that police found when they arrived.

The hotel in question has a water park feature which, with the normal Southern California heat and the fact that Disneyland Resort is closed, likely makes it one of the more popular locations in the area right now. It's not clear if everybody involved in the fight was actually staying at the hotel or if some might have been locals just trying to enjoy the pool. It's also possible some of these people had planned a trip expecting to visit Disneyland before the closure and were simply trying to make the best possible vacation with the situation.

Of course, given the current climate, there's an entirely separate concern that now needs to be taken into account when you're talking about 100 people in a physical altercation. According to police, the Cambria Hotel has not been practicing social distancing as prescribed by Orange County so the police plan to begin working with the hotel to get it into compliance. If nothing else, as an accidental side effect, if social distancing had been in effect in the hotel then it would be likely that fewer people would have been around to get involved in the brawl in the first place.

This is the second major fight in the area in just over a year. Last summer a much smaller, but much more public, fight took place between members of a family who actually got into it at Disneyland itself. Video of the altercation went viral.

Clearly, these people could have used a dose of pixie dust to make them feel better. Disneyland can't open soon enough.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.