Can you fly directly over Disneyland on a private helicopter tour?
No. Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) prohibit aircraft from flying below 3,000 feet over Disneyland, which makes it impossible to see the park in useful detail. This is a federal restriction, not a park policy, so alternative SoCal parks are a better choice for aerial theme park viewing.
At a glance
Length
18 min
Channel
Micah Muzio
Video from
Apr 2020
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Theme park enthusiasts, aerial photography fans, and armchair travelers curious about SoCal from above.
What this video answers
Can you fly directly over Disneyland on a private helicopter tour?
How does Knott's Berry Farm fit its rides into such a small space?
What makes Universal Studios' backlot visible and interesting from above?
Why is there a massive blue screen visible at Universal Studios?
How do pilots coordinate with air traffic control for these flights?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.
Aerial View of Southern California's Theme Parks During the 2020 Shutdown
This helicopter tour review captures a unique moment in Los Angeles history—April 15th, 2020, when the city was largely closed. Pilot Micah Muzio flies a personal helicopter for one hour over Southern California's major theme parks and landmarks, offering an aerial perspective most visitors never see. The flight departs from Long Beach and travels north through Orange County and Los Angeles County, passing over Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and Magic Mountain, plus Downtown LA, Hollywood, and several neighborhoods in between.
This experience suits anyone fascinated by how familiar places look from above, theme park enthusiasts curious about park layouts, or travelers interested in aerial photography and helicopter operations. You won't get close enough to Disneyland due to flight restrictions, but you'll see three major parks that reveal their design, scale, and empty parking lots during the pandemic. The video is educational as much as it is scenic—you'll learn how parks maximize limited space and see working film sets on Universal's backlot.
Key Moments
Standout Sights from This SoCal Theme Parks Aerial Tour
Knott's Berry Farm's surprisingly compact footprint and how its rides loop back on themselves due to space constraints
Universal Studios' vast backlot, including the Harry Potter area, a massive blue screen for movie production, and the Jaws lake
Magic Mountain's sprawling layout with its distinctive circular loop coaster and nearly empty parking lot
Downtown Los Angeles, the 10/110 interchange, and the Cathedral of Saint Sophia seen from 800 feet
The Hollywood Bowl and Capital Records building, framed from the air near the 101 freeway
Unusually light freeway traffic throughout LA, a stark contrast to normal congestion
What to Expect on a SoCal Theme Parks Helicopter Flight
Duration: This particular flight lasted one hour (5 PM to 6 PM on a Wednesday evening)
Route coverage: Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Magic Mountain, plus multiple LA landmarks and neighborhoods
Flight restrictions: Disneyland cannot be flown over below 3,000 feet due to temporary flight restrictions (TFRs); closer views of that park are not possible
Altitude: Most passes are conducted at 800–1,100 feet, low enough to see detail but high enough for safety and air traffic control clearance
Speed: The helicopter maintains around 70 mph, allowing time to observe and photograph landmarks
Air traffic coordination: All flights require radio contact with local control towers (Burbank Tower, Los Alamitos Traffic) and clearance for specific orbits over parks
Camera options: Bring a quality camera or smartphone; the video was shot with professional gear mounted to the helicopter exterior
Frequently Asked Questions About Theme Parks from the Air
Can you fly directly over Disneyland on a private helicopter tour?
No. Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) prohibit aircraft from flying below 3,000 feet over Disneyland, which makes it impossible to see the park in useful detail. This is a federal restriction, not a park policy, so alternative SoCal parks are a better choice for aerial theme park viewing.
How does Knott's Berry Farm fit its rides into such a small space?
The video clearly shows that Knott's Berry Farm occupies a very compact parcel of land. To maximize ride capacity, designers built coasters and attractions that run in one direction and then loop back on themselves, rather than spreading across a wide area like Magic Mountain does.
What makes Universal Studios' backlot visible and interesting from above?
The backlot contains working film sets, including the Harry Potter-themed area, practical crash sites used for movie stunts (such as a 747 wreckage from War of the Worlds), and the Jaws attraction lake. From the air, you can see the scale of these sets and spot golf carts and crew moving between locations.
Why is there a massive blue screen visible at Universal Studios?
The video shows a large blue screen set up on Universal's backlot, likely for a major film or television production. Universal rents its backlot and studio facilities to studios year-round, so on any given day you may see active movie shoots from above.
How do pilots coordinate with air traffic control for these flights?
Private helicopter pilots must contact local control towers (such as Burbank Tower or Los Alamitos Traffic) before flying in controlled airspace, declare their position and altitude, and request clearance for specific maneuvers like orbits over landmarks. All radio communications are monitored and logged for safety.
A federal airspace rule that prohibits or limits aircraft operations below a certain altitude over specific locations, often in place for security or safety reasons.
Backlot
An outdoor area of a film or television studio where sets, props, and practical locations are built and filmed, visible to aerial viewers on Universal's property.
Control tower
A facility at an airport or airfield where air traffic controllers monitor and direct aircraft movements using radio communication.
Orbit
A circular or repeated flight pattern over a specific location, requested from air traffic control to allow time for observation or photography.
This video is genuinely useful if you want to understand theme park layouts, see how parks use land differently, or experience what the aerial perspective reveals about familiar attractions. Micah Muzio's narration is casual and informative—he points out specific details, explains why certain design choices exist, and even takes viewer requests (like the Cathedral of Saint Sophia). The April 2020 timing makes it historically interesting too, capturing LA during a moment few will see again.
What works best here is the raw, unscripted feel. You're literally riding along as the pilot navigates, communicates with towers, and adjusts course to get better views. The best helicopter tour videos balance technical competence with genuine enthusiasm, and this one does exactly that. If you love theme parks, aerial photography, or just want to see how LA looks from above, this is absolutely worth your time, and I'd recommend booking a similar flight as soon as possible—these spots fill up quickly.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
Los Angeles is usually a vibrant and congested city. Due to recent events, things are very different right now in Los Angeles. To see what LA looks like from the air I flew my helicopter on Wednesday April 15th 2020 from 5PM – 6PM over the following areas. This is an update to the video I posted flying over Los Angeles on March 20th 2020.
0:22 La Palma
0:44 Knott's Berry Farm
2:49 Bell
4:06 Downtown Los Angeles
4:38 10/110 Interchange
5:24 Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
5:43 KoreaTown
6:07 Hollywood
7:31 Hollywood Bowl
9:15 Universal Studios
12:12 North Hollywood
12:25 Arleta
12:41 5/14 Interchange
13:27 Santa Clarita
14:12 Magic Mountain
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Video transcript for “Helicopter View of SoCal Theme Parks | L.A. Shutdown” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
In my last video, I asked people where should I fly around Southern California and without a doubt the number one request was Disneyland. The thing about Disneyland is I can't fly there. There's something called a temporary flight restriction that means I can't fly over it any lower than 3,000 ft. So that's
kind of a no-go. But what we can do is look at Southern California's somewhat less popular theme parks. Shall we go? First up, we have Knott's Berry Farm, which is a quick trip to the east from Long Beach where I'm located. One of the interesting things about Knott's Berry Farm is that it is a very
small footprint. I flown near it before and you can see why all the rides go one direction and then go back over themselves cuz they just didn't have enough space to lay enough track. Oh, wait. What's this? Yeah, yeah, pretty pretty darn abandoned.
Yeah, do you see like how small the space is here? There's just not much room to build a theme park. Then of course on the other side is the completely dry water park. I'm going to do a left turn here and then approach from the other side and take another look.
Los Alamitos traffic helicopter 2855 orbiting over Knott's Berry Farm at 800. Los Alamitos traffic got 20928 860 on runway 22 left going to be south departure. Below 1,000 ft below. Los Alamitos clear.
So pointed this direction, we've got a bit of a headwind. You can maybe see that on the flag up there. So we can cruise by just a little bit slower, get a better look. I'll make sure you're not too slow cuz speed is your friend. But I'm maintaining a good 70 mph here. Good headwind.
Who's to say that theme parks tend to look less spectacular from above? You see on the other side of those rocky facades, there's just some boring buildings. All right, that's one theme park down, two to go. Onward, next stop is going to be Universal Studios.
So between Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios lies downtown Los Angeles. We're going to take a quick peek at downtown LA just cuz it's a neat place to look at. However, I'm going to make a slight detour to the west. Dude named Nicholas reached out to me on Instagram and asked, "Hey, can you fly
over Let's see, I wrote it down here. Bear with me. Cathedral of Saint Sophia or Sophie. Sophia. Cathedral of Saint Sophia. So I'm going to go over I think it's like a Greek Orthodox church or something like that. Here's the thing, I can't take every request, so I may not be able to go look
at everything that people ask me to look at, but this is pretty darn close. So when practical, yeah, I do take requests. If there's anything you'd like me to fly over, just like in the last video, tell me in the comments. And if you want to see the Cathedral of Saint Sophia I'm not doing this again.
Okay, maybe I'll do it again depending on how nice it looks from above. Crossing over the 10 here south of downtown Los Angeles. Things are moving along pretty well. Again, this is not typical for Los Angeles. Feel like a broken record talking about how light the traffic is, but on the other side of downtown there's
the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory. I'm never sure how much of this stuff actually shows up on camera, but Yeah, there it is. Lovely. All right, going this way. Helicopter 285 Staples Center West 1,100.
Okay, let's all take a moment and marvel at the the fact that there's traffic here. Yeah, it looks like the action is right over there under the underpass, so
All right, let me see if I can spot Saint Sophia. Helicopter 285 10 110 interchange West 800. Look at this traffic inbound. You know what? Just based on the architecture, I think I might see what is it? Cathedral Saint Sophia. Yeah, that looks correct.
You know they say if you just make one person happy, you've Actually, I don't know what the saying is. I think I might have made one person happy, but that seems to be the cathedral. Cool. All right, onward to Universal Studios.
We're coming up over here towards Hollywood. Following the 101.
Helicopter 285 Capital Records building north 1100. All right, I'm going to transfer over to Burbank Tower. Uh Police 100 Burbank Tower radar contact. Uh make left traffic only 150 squawk 262. Uh Police 100 ready to radio check.
Take a moment here. Oh, this is the Hollywood Bowl. Cool. Burbank Tower helicopter 9285 Hollywood Bowl request for transition following the 134. Police 100 Burbank Tower how do you read? 100 Roger, I heard you both
transmissions. I I guess you can hear me. Um make left traffic pattern 15 squawk 0262. Helicopter 90285 Burbank Tower squawk 0230 Burbank altimeter 3006. 3006 squawk 0230 90285. Yeah Burbank Tower for 90285 can we do
an orbit over Universal Studios? Helicopter 285 affirmative. Affirmative 285. Right. We're going to do a little lap over Universal Studios. Yeah, there's some really cool stuff to see. We're going to go sort of see if we can go a little bit slow over the Universal CityWalk here.
Oh, that's kind of cool. Okay. So got a massive blue screen for movie shooting. I don't know, Avengers or something. One of those uh movies where nothing real happens. It's all video game stuff. Okay. Here's Universal CityWalk.
Okay, so this is Universal Studios. They've just got their Harry Potter over there. Going to zoom down over here and take a look at the backlot. Backlot's are of cool. I see a little bit of action down there. Golf cart.
Little mini flying over the uh studios here. Let's pick it up just a little bit. This is like the uh the bad uh studio tour. I don't know all the um sites and I'm giving a a bad description of it, but it is neat to see from above. One of the things I really love is Oh, yeah, there's the Okay. Yeah, you can't really
see it, but off the right side, right underneath us, is the uh the Jaws lake. Okay. We'll take a look at the Harry Potter space. And then, one of the things that I really like is that uh they set up a uh a a 747 crash over here. Let's see if I can spot it. It was for War of the Worlds, uh the one with Tom Hanks. Not
Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise. The other Tom. The other beloved Tom. And uh See if we can spot where that is. I always forget. Maybe they took it down. Do you see a 747 crash beneath me? If so, tell me in the comments. All right, I'm going to uh make another lap over here.
There's your Harry Potter land. Neat. Yeah, I think they got rid of the 747 crash, which is kind of a bummer, but you know, you got to make another Vin Diesel ride. You got to put it somewhere. Okay. Hey, Krusty the Clown. Okay. Let's head north on the 134 and head over to Magic Mountain.
Action is really good view. We'll just do one more little quick look. There we go. Universal City, majestic. LA peeking out behind it. Nice. All right, now we're going to head north.
This is the 514 interchange. Uh this is where 14 splits off to head over to Antelope Valley. And if you live in the Antelope Valley, what's your normal commute back? I know that um uh commute times from LA back to AV on a normal uh weekday would be uh pretty bad. So, I'll throw this one to you.
All right, I see the uh the tower at Magic Mountain peeking out over there. Little bird. Are you kind of amazed at how often I have to uh avoid birds? It's a real thing. Majestic Santa Clarita. Behold its its splendor.
Uh by the way, that's not me making fun of uh Santa Clarita. Uh I just like to make dumb voices. Apologies. All right, just off to the north here, we've got Magic Mountain. I think it's probably been 15 years since I've been
to Magic Mountain. When was the last time you were at Magic Mountain? I always liked the Ninja. What's your favorite ride at Magic Mountain? Tell us in the comments. And here we are, Magic Mountain. Much larger uh stamp of land than uh Knott's Berry Farm, it seems. There's crazy-looking rides.
We're coming out of the north. I'm going to just do a general pass here, and then uh we'll uh swing back by, see what else we can see. Two for man the ride, cool. Ah. I got sick on some of these rides. Good
times. Yeah, I see that the uh parking lot is empty, except uh ooh, I wonder what's happening over here. Are these rental cars? Looks like there's a uh pile of cars over here on the uh the north side. Looks like I'm at 285 operating over Magic Mountain, 1,800.
Cool. Yeah, so it's uh probably abandoned. Really just a neat from above. Oh, yeah, it's the uh the the looping coaster, the one that's a proper circle instead of a a teardrop. Old school. All right, we'll make one more pass at it just to see what we can see and then call it a day.
Okay, maybe after all of the stay-at-home stuff is over, we'll all meet at Magic Mountain, have a big old time. What do you think? All right, well, thanks for joining me on my tour of everything besides Disneyland. If you like the video, feel free to like the video. If you want to talk to me,
have any questions, you can hit me up on Instagram. If you have a question about something, if you're not sure why I'm doing something or uh or what what's going on, just ask. I'll I'll answer. I try to answer as many questions as possible. So, all right. Going to head back home. Take care. Stay
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