Beaches Don’t Get Crowds, but Amusement Parks Do

For a Sunday on a holiday weekend, the pace for the lifeguards at Huntington State Beach was a little languid. But while it was slow at the beaches, Orange County’s two large amusement parks had booming business.

“It’s a little hazy. We have a moderate crowd at best for a holiday weekend,” said lifeguard Curt Loeffler at Huntington State Beach.

Loeffler said there were no more than 10,000 people at the beach Sunday, down a couple of thousand from Saturday. “It hasn’t been that bad of a day, but it’s been hazy off and on all day and that keeps people away,” he added.

Crowds were also down Sunday at the nearby city beach, said lifeguard Matt Karl, where an estimated 8,000 people enjoyed the second day of the three-day holiday weekend.

Less Than Saturday

“There are quite a few people out here but nowhere near what it is on a Sunday. In fact, I think we have less people today than we had (on Saturday),” Karl said.

The only local beach reporting crowd improvement over Saturday was Seal Beach, where about 6,000 people enjoyed the 65-degree weather.

“It definitely picked up from yesterday,” said lifeguard Steve Cushman. “But it’s still not as heavy as we had expected, especially for a holiday.”

However, both Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm were reporting outstanding business.

A spokeswoman at Disneyland said the Anaheim amusement park resembled “a zoo” with crowds waiting for more than an hour to jump on many of the rides.

Times to Avoid

“It’s just really crowded out here today,” she said. “Most holidays are really the times to avoid coming.”

The crowd numbers, which were not made public at either park, were also high at Knott’s Berry Farm. Spokeswoman Lisa Carrillo said most people had to wait in line a minimum of 45 minutes for most of the rides, especially for four that the Buena Park amusement facility has only recently opened.

“It has really been busy this weekend, as busy as any holiday could be,” Carrillo said.