The Stories Behind Disneyland’s Hidden Wonders

Yes, this urban myth is true—there are feral cats that roam Disneyland, whose job is to control the rodent population. (They even have their own Twitter account.) Though they are more often seen late at night, daytime sightings do happen. “I’ve seen them, especially in the Big Thunder Mountain area … They are not domesticated or anything, but I believe they are fed and taken care of,” confirms Arthur.

The story goes that Walt Disney originally found a feline colony taking up residence in Sleeping Beauty Castle. Instead of getting rid of them, he allowed the cats to stay, provided they earned their keep. He laid down only one rule—no chasing the park’s two most important mice, Mickey and Minnie. 

The Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride was the last attraction Walt Disney worked on before his death in December 1966. When it opened in March 1967, the ride was revolutionary for the use of audio-animatronics in its storytelling. But it may have been notable for other reasons, too: “When it opened, my understand is that most of [the skulls and bones] were procured from medical institutions. There weren’t really good, realistic fake skeletons out there at the time, so they had to use real ones,” says Arthur.

As the years have passed, most of the bones have been swapped out for fakes—except, possibly, for one skull. “There is nothing official, but I have heard it is the one in the headboard above the bed. When they did get rid of the real ones, that one was molded into something,” says Arthur. 

Walt Disney wanted everyone who stepped through the gates of his park to feel like a child, no matter their age. One of the ways he chose to do this was by using the architecture and photography technique known as forced perspective. The technique involves shrinking (or enlarging) objects to scale in order to make a building or object seem larger (or smaller) than it actually is.

While the entire park has elements of this, the most profound examples are Sleeping Beauty Castle and the buildings on Main Street. Many of the shops on Disneyland’s main road are built to three quarters scale on the first story, five-eighths scale on the second story, one half scale on the third story. This gives the illusion of a full three-story building without the building actually being as high as a three-story building. 

“Walt brought in a lot of set designers and a lot of people who worked on films, who employed a lot of principles from there, including forced perspective. Part of the reasoning was that Walt wanted [Disneyland’s buildings] to be more personal … and to make you feel like a kid because everything is bigger,” says Arthur.  

If one listens closely while waiting for the Disneyland Railroad at the New Orleans Square station, a tapping sound can be heard coming from the Telegraph Cable Office. This tapping is actually a message coded in Continental Code (and not in Morse Code, a frequent misconception).

There is some uncertainty about exactly what it's saying. Originally part of Frontierland, the telegraph was supposed to tap out a portion of Disney’s famed opening day speech. In order for it to be ready to go for July 17, 1955, a memo was distributed on July 8 with an early draft of Disney’s remarks. Of course, as anyone who has spoken in public knows, sometimes what is written on paper is not what comes out. While the variation in what got coded into the telegraph and what Disney actually said is slight (a few added words), it's unclear whether the telegraph was ever updated. However, an amateur ham radio operator did some digging and claims that he helped to fix a missing gap in the message. 

Disneyland holds a special place in the lives of many, so it's only natural some might wish it to be their home forever. While the park has never confirmed that they have caught people scattering human ashes, according to multiple Disneyland sources, it does happen somewhat frequently, and it's a health hazard.

The Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean seem to be the most popular spots for the practice. When it happens, health code regulations dictate that rides have to be shut down for draining and cleaning.