Buckle up for the wildest, most hilarious Disneyland tale you’ve ever heard!
Picture this: Whoopi Goldberg, the queen of sass and laughter, spills the beans on a Late Night with Seth Meyers episode. She’s got a story that’s as unbelievable as it is side-splitting. So, back in the day, after her beloved mom, Emma Harris, passed away in 2010, Whoopi did something that’s an absolute Disney faux pas. Ready? She turned Disneyland into a sneezing zone for ashes!
Yep, you heard that right. Whoopi kicks off with a stern warning: “Nobody should do this. Seriously, don’t.” But did that stop her? Nah. “My mom adored Disneyland,” she said. “So, we decided to take her there one last time.”
Now, let’s rewind to little Whoopi days when the World’s Fair was in New York, and the iconic Small World ride made its grand debut. Her mom fell head over heels for that ride. Fast forward to the present, and here’s Whoopi, armed with a secret stash of mom’s ashes, ready to turn this wholesome ride into a scene straight out of a comedy sketch.
“So, there I was on the Small World ride, and every now and then, I’d scoop some ashes and go ‘ACHOO!’” Whoopi mimicked with Oscar-worthy precision. “I kept saying, ‘Wow, this cold is really getting to me!’” She didn’t stop there. The ash-sprinkling shenanigans continued right at the park entrance, where she pulled another sneeze act in front of the Disneyland flowers. Classic Whoopi!
But wait, the plot thickens. Whoopi, being the responsible rebel she is, eventually came clean to Disney. “I needed to make sure I hadn’t done anything hazardous,” she confessed. Turns out, there’s a very good reason Disney isn’t a fan of ashes wafting around like pixie dust.
Disneyland staff spilled the beans back in 2018 that rogue ash scattering happens more than you’d think—like once a month, according to the Wall Street Journal. When this happens, rides shut down due to “technical difficulties” (wink, wink) because they need to bring in the ultra-fine HEPA vacuum cleaner for an ashy cleanup.
And if you think Small World got the worst of it, think again. The Haunted Mansion? Oh boy, that place is practically an ash festival. “The Haunted Mansion probably has so much human ashes in it that it’s not even funny,” revealed a custodian.
So next time you’re at Disneyland, remember: Some spirits aren’t just spooky—they’re Whoopi’s sneezes!