On Monday morning, Vanessa Comfort arrived with her husband and two children at Disneyland, a six-hour drive south of their home in Castro Valley, California.
They walked to the pier, and immediately realized something was weird. The park looked far from the "Happiest Place on Earth."
Few rides were moving, and above them, the sky glowed a bright orange.
"It was one of the strangest feelings I have ever experienced," Comfort told Business Insider. The sun "seemed like it was on fire. Then, I noticed some ash hit my shoulder and saw that it was falling all around us."
"In that moment, everything just was extremely eerie and quiet. The swings on the Ferris wheel were moving back and forth in the wind, but everything was still."
Disneyland attendees experienced an orange cast over the sky on Monday, as smoke from a nearby wildfire in Orange County rages on.
Comfort's brother, David, posted her photos on Twitter on Monday afternoon:
As of Tuesday afternoon, firefighters have started to gain more control over a large wildfire that broke out Monday morning in Orange County, California, according to The Los Angeles Times. The Anaheim fire, which burned 24 structures and 7,500 acres of land, grew fast on Monday, leading to a mass evacuation of Orange County residents.
Officials said Tuesday that the fire is 25% contained and that much of its westward movement has stopped. It is happening alongside 17 other wildfires that have destroyed over 2000 structures and killed at least 13 people in Northern California.
Other Disneyland tourists posted Instagram photos of the ominous sky, which appeared to grow darker as the day went on.
One woman, named Rachel Serfati, posted a photo of Disney's castle with the caption, "No filter needed."
My sister is in Disneyland and just sent me these pictures from the fire. Is the world ending or something? Cause this is wack pic.twitter.com/uRut0up3Yr
- David (@iheartnate) October 9, 2017