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Disney fans want their ashes spread at parks. It’s a forbidden ritual.
Is it the happiest final resting place on Earth? Every year, millions of people seek an escape from the real world at Disney theme parks. Some love the destinations so much they want to stick around forever. For decades, stories about surreptitious memorials, covert dumping of remains and ride shutdowns attributed to ashes have become ghoulish pieces of Disney lore. Most recently, social media users claimed the Haunted Mansion ride at Florida’s Magic Kingdom was evacuated Saturday after someone allegedly dumped human ashes. Disney did not respond to a request for comment about the reports. A few have admitted publicly to leaving remains of friends or family members behind with a castle view. Actress and “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg recently revealed she spread her mother’s ashes on a Disneyland ride. Pop star and “Wicked” actress Ariana Grande said last month that her own mother has asked to be dusted over Walt Disney World. The happiest place on Earth may seem like a perfect fit for the afterlife — especially for those who are avid living fans. But at Disney, it’s a wish that will not be granted. “They can’t allow that; they can’t encourage it,” said Ken Pellman, a former custodial worker at Disney, who co-hosts an unofficial Disneyland podcast called “The Sweep Spot.” “If they know it’s happening, they have to stop it.” Disney won’t discuss the practice. Representatives for Walt Disney World Resort did not respond to questions for this story — nor did they acknowledge several other requests over the past two years. A Disneyland spokesman told the Los Angeles Times in 2007 that people occasionally ask for permission to spread ashes, to no avail. In an emailed statement responding to questions about a reported ash drop on a Star Wars ride earlier this year, Disneyland would only say: “This type of behavior is strictly prohibited and unlawful. Guests who attempt to do so will be escorted off property.” Human ashes are not on the company’s list of prohibited items, but a 2018 news story and 2014 funeral industry publication write-up say that cremated remains were banned under official park rules. California health and safety codes say anyone who spreads cremated remains in the state needs written permission of a property owner — and could be fined $500 or jailed for six months if they violate the rule. Still, it doesn’t stop fans from trying. The practice made front-page news in the Wall Street Journal in 2018, with the headline: “Disney World’s Big Secret: It’s a Favorite Spot to Scatter Family Ashes.” Citing unnamed custodians and multiple ash scatterers, the paper reported at the time that cremains were dumped roughly once a month. Cinderella's Castle is a popular spot for people wanting to spread the ashes of a loved one. (John Raoux/AP) ‘Swept up into a dust pan or vacuumed up’ Leesa Johnson, who runs the Walt’s Chili Bowl YouTube channel and said she briefly worked at Disneyland in 2019, said she was warned about the possibility during her training. In 2022, she posted a video on the topic — with some tips for depositing ashes discreetly during park visits. “They were very bothered and upset that people would do that, like you’re going to get caught,” she said in an interview shortly after she published her guide. “It’s so hard to be sneaky in Disney because there are eyes all around you.” The book “Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland” describes an incident in 2002 when hidden cameras caught someone spreading a substance on the Haunted Mansion ride. With anthrax attacks fresh in the public’s consciousness, the situation warranted a police and fire department response, the book says, though the dust was determined to be human remains. Pellman and fellow ex-custodial cast member Lynn Barron wrote in the book “Cleaning the Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt’s Dream Spotless” that attractions need to be shut down when someone spreads suspected ashes. “Unless you want your loved one swept up into a dust pan or vacuumed up — in either case, to be dumped in an industrial trash compactor — do not spread their cremated remains in the Haunted Mansion,” they wrote. The Wall Street Journal’s 2018 story describes a multilevel response: After a ride is closed, park guests must be notified with a vague reason, and a manager needs to search for the detritus before clean-up crews arrive with vacuums that can capture the tiniest particles. “It’s probably happening more often than we know,” Pellman said. “It’s not like an everyday thing. I’ve known somebody who passed away, big fan of the park, and his surviving partner told me she’s spreading little bits of [his remains] every time she goes.” bits of [his remains] every time she goes.” When I die in Disney World spread my ashes from the top of Space Mountain — Jostradamus (@_certaj) July 25, 2020 ‘Sneezing Ma out here and there’ Some celebrities have not been shy about revealing their own experiences. In her book “Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me” released earlier this year, Goldberg revealed that she and her brother brought their mother’s ashes to Disneyland on what would have been her birthday the month after she died. “It’s possible a lot of her went into the ‘Small World’ ride, her favorite,” Goldberg wrote. “We were subtle about it, kind of sneezing Ma out here and there when no one was looking.” In an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” she said she fake-sneezed some ashes into a flower bed as well. They didn’t get caught, she wrote, but when she told a worker what they had done later, she said they were neither surprised nor “happy about it.” Goldberg warned that employees keep an eye out for ash-wielding scofflaws. “You might find yourself escorted to the parking lot pretty quick,” Goldberg wrote. “Don’t do what I did. I’m sure you don’t want your loved one’s final resting place to be an industrial vacuum bag.” On the “Las Culturistas” podcast last month, Grande said that her mother tells her family “too often” that she wants her ashes sprinkled over Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World. “I’m like Mom, it’s Christmas; do we have to talk about this right now?” Grande told hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. “And she’s like, ‘Yeah, you have to make sure that that happens.’ And I’m like, ‘Mom, I don’t want to make sure that that happens.’” She added that the castle is sometimes a working stage. “You’re going to be sprinkled on people’s heads who are dressed as Tinkerbell waiting for their cue,’” she said. ‘A sacred responsibility’ Disney isn’t the only place survivors seek to memorialize lost loved ones. There have been reports of ashes being left — authorized or not — at Machu Picchu, the Metropolitan Opera House and college football stadiums. Some national parks allow visitors to scatter ashes, but only if they follow a list of rules. Homer Elwood, who owns Gray Funeral Home in Clinton, South Carolina, said that he has had families who planned to spread ashes on famous golf courses or shot into the air in cannonballs or shotgun pellets. For the departed, he said, it reflects a mindset: “I don’t want to be on a shelf, I don’t want to be in a niche somewhere.” Elwood said Disney could probably turn customers’ desires into a business opportunity if the company wanted. “People would pay probably a large sum of money if they put a private niche somewhere on the property, whether it’s Cinderella Castle wall or something,” he said. “That could be a real moneymaker for them.” Disney representatives did not address questions from The Washington Post about such an idea earlier this year. Mary-Frances O’Connor, a psychology professor and neuroscientist who studies grief, said that the task of spreading ashes in a loved one’s desired spot can be an important final mission. “Knowing that you carried out the final wishes of your loved one can feel like a very sacred responsibility at a time when you can do nothing more for them,” said O’Connor, who has written two books on grieving. “For people who have so much love and caring and are finding nowhere to put that, that sacred responsibility can feel very valuable and give purpose.” |
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