From time to time, I hear people repeat the same incorrect information - that there’s a “no fly zone” over Disneyland, or some variation of that. There is not, not exactly.
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| The TFR over the Disneyland Resort |
Most airspace over the United States can be flown through by almost any aircraft (helicopter, typical small plane, jumbo jet ...). The exceptions are prohibited airspace, like that over the Capitol, White House, and the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory (which a private pilot like me can never fly through), restricted airspace, like that surrounding many military bases (which I can often fly through, if outside the hours when that space is restricted, or if I’ve coordinated with air traffic control and the area is not “hot”), and temporary flight restriction airspace, the rules of which are governed by the issuing Notice to Air Missions (or, now that Trump has revised our newspeak, once again Notice to Airmen; either way, a “NOTAM”).
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| Aviation navigation chart showing Washington, D.C. area Prohibited Areas |
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| Restricted areas around China Lake NAS |
(I get cleared to fly through, e.g., R-2505 and R-2524 on my way up to Mammoth all the time, though there will often be an altitude restriction, presumably because fast, deadly ships are zipping around down low.)
The restriction above Disneyland is a “temporary flight restriction” or TFR (although the fact that it’s been in place basically since 9/11 and the fact that it’s described as “permanent” stretches the definition of “temporary” just a bit; the current version was issued more than ten years ago). Here’s
the full text at the FAA’s website. It’s a 3 nautical mile (about 3 1/2 mile) ring roughly centered on the Disneyland resort, and it restricts the airspace from the surface to 3,000' above ground level (“AGL”) (Disneyland is about 145' above sea level (“MSL”), so, for a pilot, ~3200' indicated altitude).
Any aircraft flying above 3,200' MSL is outside of the restriction and can overfly Disneyland just like they’d fly over any other non-Prohibited, non-Restricted part of the U.S.
Also, note this text in the NOTAM: “The restrictions do not apply to those aircraft authorized by and in contact with ATC [air traffic control] for operational or safety of flight purposes, department of defense, law enforcement, and air ambulance flight operations.”
So, as long as I’m talking to either the
SoCal TRACON or a control tower (e.g., at the
Fullerton Municipal airport, which is about 5 nm from Disneyland to the northwest, or the
John Wayne / Orange County airport, about 9 nm to the south, both of which have tower-controlled airspace that overlap the Disneyland TFR), it’s perfectly legal for me to be at any altitude instructed or approved by the air traffic controller I’m talking to, and I very well might be below 3,200' MSL inside the Disneyland TFR. (For instance, to join the landing pattern for Fullerton, which is at 1,100' MSL, with a stable descent rate of 500' per minute, I’ll probably cross Radiator Springs at about 2,500'. Likewise, if I’m being vectored by SoCal to start an instrument approach into Long Beach, I have to be around 1600' at the
initial approach fix for the ILS and SoCal will usually put me at 2,500' crossing the parks.
All that jargon basically boils down to: You can’t assume even a small private plane or helicopter overflying the Disneyland Resort is breaking the law or somewhere it’s not supposed to be. Given how
carefully monitored the Southern California airspace is, in fact, you can safely assume any aircraft over Disneyland is right where it’s supposed to be.
In any case, there’s nothing to be alarmed about. Go back to your Dole Whip. 😎
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