At about 11 a.m., attractions throughout that side of the park closed, from Matterhorn to Small World and into Toontown. People were stuck on the Monorail track and other attractions exited all their guests.
The Matterhorn reopened briefly for about 45 minutes before going back down, but the other east-side attractions remained closed as of 2 p.m.
Crowd control and guest relations were spotty, at best. Kudos to the Small World crew for being aggressive and getting out into the street to let people know what was happening. Rotten tomatoes to the Matterhorn crew, for essentially running away and hiding from guests. Even when the Matterhorn briefly opened, cast members were nowhere to be found in the Matterhorn queue, even as its two lines intersected behind the mountain, completing blocking the path between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.
Disneyland apparently did nothing to compensate for the lack of attractions, such as putting extra characters or performers out on the street to entertain or distract the crowds. Remember that Space Mountain is closed for the next two years and the Subs remain shuttered. That left people on one whole side of the park with next to nothing to do, creating a mass of thousands of very confused, very upset people.
Today's mishap demonstrated how close to the edge of acceptability Disneyland is operating, thanks to years of attraction closings and reduced hours cutting back the park's operating capacity. Throw in a holiday weekend crowd, and a few 101s are enough to make the park an impassable mess. Take out nearly half the park, as happened Saturday, and visiting Disneyland becomes a real headache.
