Teens Can’t Dance Night Away at Disneyland Hotel : Club: After older guests complain, under-21 crowd won’t be allowed in country-western lounge after 8 p.m.

A group of young country-western dance fans are hopping mad over the Disneyland Hotel’s decision to impose an 8 p.m. curfew on anyone under age 21 at its Neon Cactus dance lounge.

“I think it’s completely unjust,” said Diana Henry, a 19-year-old student at Chapman University. “We’re being punished because of our age, not our actions. . . . I’m going to fight this.”

Some teen-agers said they find it ironic that Disneyland, which was built on family entertainment, would exclude young people from one of its venues.

“The hotel is part of Disneyland, and Disneyland is supposed to be a place for the entire family,” said Adam Billings, 19, of Garden Grove, who organized a petition drive against the new policy. “This really gets me mad.”

Disney officials said they decided to start implementing the 8 p.m. curfew on under-age patrons next week because older guests have complained that the lounge is too packed with teen-agers and that they never get a chance at the dance floor.

“When we opened it last year, it was intended for adults,” said Joe Aguirre, a spokesman for the Disneyland Hotel. “There are so many youngsters on the floor. It was never intended to be a teen-age dance club.”

But to the younger patrons, the Neon Cactus is one of the few places people their age can meet and enjoy wholesome entertainment. They said the lounge keeps them off the streets and away from gangs.

On Thursday night, more than 200 young people signed a petition protesting the policy. Henry said she has called Disney Co. Chairman Michael D. Eisner’s office requesting a meeting with him about the situation.

“So far, they say I can’t see him, but I don’t intend to give up,” she said.

Disney officials said the new policy will make the lounge “consistent” with the curfews at other country-western dance clubs in Orange County.

Aguirre said the Neon Cactus was “the only country night spot (in Orange County) that allowed minors until 10 p.m.” As a result, he said, teen-agers flocked to the lounge, which has no cover charge.

“It has been a gradual thing,” Aguirre said, adding that lately there have been more than 100 teen-agers in the club most nights.

Because music at the Neon Cactus begins at 8 p.m. most nights, the younger patrons will effectively be excluded from dancing there. The only exception will be on Sundays between 6 and 8 p.m., which will be “family nights.”

Some teen-agers said that without the Neon Cactus, they might be driven to try to get fake identification to get into 21-and-older dance clubs. The teen-agers said they were disappointed they will no longer have a place to hang out with their peers.

“It’s been kind of like going to school,” said Nathan Constant, 19, of Fullerton. “I’ve got a lot of friends who go there, but that’s the only place I see them. I definitely don’t agree with the new policy. We’re just trying to have a good time.”

To Constant, an Iowa native, the lounge reminds him of the fun he had back home.

“I really like the place,” he said. “It’s frustrating that through no fault of my own it’s being taken away from me.”

Aguirre said Disney officials are implementing the policy at a time when there are fewer families staying at the hotel for their summer vacations. And, he said, most teen-agers are going to back to school and won’t have as much free time to go out dancing.

At the same time, he added, it is the beginning of the “convention season” for the hotel and the new policy will enable more adult guests to enjoy the lounge.

Several teen-agers said the lounge manager announced the policy change Wednesday. According to the teens, the manager said the new policy was the result of increasing security problems caused by the teen-agers, such as fights and loitering.

Aguirre declined to comment on whether there were any security problems.

Heather Horton, 19, of Garden Grove said she goes to the Neon Cactus a couple of times a week and hasn’t witnessed any teen-agers fighting. Even if someone wanted to cause a problem, she said, they probably couldn’t.

“Disney has enough security in there to start a small army,” Horton said.

In fact, she said, that’s one of the reasons why youths her age like the lounge so much.

“It’s a safe place for us to hang out with our friends and dance and drink a Coke,” she said. “This is really unfair.”