Disneyland, Disney World Parks Close

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/12/2001 at 08:53 AM EDT

With Mickey Mouse considered as American as apple pie, the Walt Disney Co. temporarily shut its U.S. parks and began assessing global operations due to Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. A Disney spokeswoman on Tuesday said that Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in southern California had been closed. (In addition, other theme parks in the Los Angeles area, including Knott's Berry Farm, closed their gates.) Disney's water parks, shopping areas and affiliated sites near the parks, too, have been shut down. Spokeswoman Christine Castro told Reuters that Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris are currently closed under normal operating hours, and the company is assessing the situation to determine whether to open those overseas parks as usual.