10 Things You Never Knew about Disneyland – Debunked

I was just told about a post over at Hubpages: 10 Things You Never Knew about Disneyland – and while the list looks impressive, there is little fact to their claims. So, here we go with my answer to this blogpost, enjoy!

1) No Sleeping – With exception to the newly renovated (and ultra exclusive) “Walt’s apartment” in New Orleans Square, sleeping is expressly prohibited in all areas of the park. Fact:People are frequently found sleeping throughout the park.  No policy currently exists to actually prohibit sleeping, however any activity which presents a safety hazard will be addressed.

2) Evacuate! – Due to recent CAL-OSHA and DOSH regulations, any attraction that breaks down at Disneyland must have all guests manually evacuated, no matter how routine the breakdown may be. Fact: While the term “breakdown” is vauge, it is not uncommon for an attraction to be cycled to clear a problem. Typically a ride will stop for a period of time, and then restart again when safe to unload guests. It is frequently safer to cycle the ride then to manually unload guests in the middle of the attraction. Additionally there is no verifiable regulation cited, nor located.

3) Smoking? – Smoking is only permitted in a few secluded areas of the park. All photos found within Disneyland park depicting Walt Disney smoking have been doctored to have the cigarettes removed. Fact: The no smoking policy is relatively recent, and the few places it is permitted are hardly secluded. During Walt’s life, it was not uncommon nor unglamorous to smoke, and it was even depicted in Walt Disney animated movies. There would be little reason to doctor these photos.

4) Disneyland Underground – Contrary to the popular myth, there are very few underground pathways beneath Disneyland. Many cast members can’t even get to their destination points via backstage routes and have to cross on-stage (in public areas). Fact: The source of this is probably confusion with the Utli-doors of Walt Disney World, which were designed to address the problem mentioned in this claim. However, the use of the term “can’t” is the problem. Virtually every area is accessible via backstage areas, however some of them are very inconvenient. So cast members will cheat, and cross on-stage areas with the wrong area costume.

5) Ride Cameras – Some Disneyland attractions have only a few cameras throughout the ride, while other have several. However, in both cases, the cameras are to be watched by only one attractions cast member at a time that in the majority of cases is distracted or simply not paying attention. Fact: Most rides have a large number of cameras, and every major refurbishments seems to bring even more cameras. Most of them are very inconspicuously placed. For many attractions the cameras are monitored by a dedicated person.

6) Breakdowns – Despite the paranoia of many guests in fear of their own safety, attractions hardly ever break down to due any kind of mechanical failure. The vast majority of attraction breakdowns are caused by cast member incompetence or difficult guests that interfere with the efficient operation of the attraction. Fact: The speculation is closer to the reason for most deaths, however break downs are more often related to safety mechanisms, such as the PLC systems.

7) Stealing is Okay – Plain clothes security cast members routinely patrol stores and common areas of the park. However, they are instructed to NOT intervene with shoplifters who are witnessed stealing less than 5 keychains. You can’t make this stuff up. Fact: In park arrests are performed on a daily basis, from simple park ejections to an actual police arrest, regardless of how minor the offense or shoplifting is.

8) Courtesy – Parkwide, the term “courtesy” is used as code to alert other attractions cast members of a particularly good looking guest that might be present. For example, a cast member might announce “courtesy row six” over the PA, and that would signal other members of the crew to casually take a look at and admire the person in question. I’d like to take this moment to apologize for desecrating what many cast members may consider to be the biggest and most valuable Disneyland secret of all. Fact: There is no global, universal keyword, however wherever there are teenage cast members, there will always be terms to call attention to guests, good or bad looking, male or female.

9) Hold it Right There – As any teenager who has ever caused any trouble at Disneyland should know, security will attempt to scold you and intimidate you. However, legally, they can do no such thing. Disneyland cast members are not officers of the law, therefore detaining you against your will would be false imprisonment. Security will try to get you to voluntarily do as they say, but regular cast members will not attempt to detain you. BUT, in some cases they will use underhanded tactics to keep you stationary until security can arrive. For instance, if a vehicle filled with troublemakers returns to the station before security has a chance to arrive, they may be given the option to ride again, having no idea that the attractions cast members are simply buying time. Fact: This has been used for years my shoplifters or other troublemakers on private property, however Federal and State laws have specifically strengthened the ability for amusement park security to detain, question and investigate alleged misconduct of guests.

10) Ugly Cast Members – Back in the day, Walt Disney made it very clear that he wanted pleasant looking people interacting with guests at his world class theme park. The less visually appealing folks were given jobs in non-public areas, such as the kitchens or costuming, while the lookers were given jobs at the main gate, attractions, etc. However, today that has all but gone out the window, and you can spot some seriously disturbing looking folks in the most blatant locations. Fact: While this synthesis may appear correct on the surface, I doubt you would be able to find policy which shows that this is true. My own hypothesis is that there are far few attractive people today, then there were then. 🙂

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my little poke back at the original author and his ideas. ri