17 Disneyland Secrets They Don't Know Want You To Know
Walt Disney is controlling your mind. Through your nose.
The happiest place on Earth (TM), a welcome respite from your humdrum everyday life, the chance for thrill seekers to indulge their frankly terrifying impulse to put themselves directly in harm's way by hurtling around on a poorly-constructed set of hollow tracks - those are all things that going to a Disney amusement park entails, right? Songs, fun, frolics, people dressed as cartoon characters. All positive emotions. Nice things.
It's like a holiday where you're surrounded by goofy outfits and instead of chilling out on a beach you stimulate your adrenal gland an unhealthy amount and stir up the contents of your stomach more than is natural. It's all just fun and games, right?
Right?
Well, mostly, but also we wouldn't have much of an article if it was just seventeen totally official and legit reasons that Disneyland is great, approved by Disney. Everybody already knows why their theme parks are great! That's why they got to them! What's much more interesting are the deep, dark, hidden secrets beneath the hallowed hallways and vomit-covered boulevards of Disney amusement parks across the globe.
What's going on behind the scenes? How to they control how much fun and success you're going to have whilst careening around in carts and playing carnival games? Can we drive a boat? It's not all candy floss, throwing hoops around rings and paying for overpriced photos of yourself looking patently photogenic on log flumes.
It's definitely partly that but, peel back the surface fluff just a tad, and you'll discover a whole mess of dark, strange and fun secrets that the House Of Mouse tend to keep on the down low.
These are seventeen Disneyland secrets they don't want you to know about.
17. The Haunted Mansion Is Actually Haunted
One of the most popular and enduring attractions at all the Disney parks has been the Haunted Mansion. It's different depending on what park you go to - Florida's is the dilapidated gothic thing seen above, California have an old Southern mansion, Paris gets the totally redesigned Phantom Manor - at least, on the outside.
Inside it's pretty much the same across the board, as attendees to the park are talked through the spooky history of this supposedly haunted building, then strapped into some trucks and driven through the cobweb-covered hallways, with the illusion of see-through spirits created with animatronics and optical illusions.
And they look pretty cool! And freaky! And realistic!
But despite the top-of-the-range tech that they use to make the mansion appear haunted, that's nothing compared to the actual ghosts who could very well be roaming the halls. That's because people often decide that they want their ashes scattered throughout the ride, a request that many next of kin seem eager to carry out.
So many, in fact, that it's something of an epidemic - Disneyland employees who work on the Haunted Mansion have to keep an eye out for such people, and there's actually a mention of not chucking a burned dead body around as you board it. Which means that some people must already have gotten away with it...