There are 12 Disney Parks, located at six different resorts, and many visitors call these locations the happiest places on Earth. But Reddit user u/memezdankton wanted to learn whether the employees agree with this description.
A few weeks ago, they submitted this question to the platform: "Former Disney theme park employees of Reddit, what are some dirty secrets or stories you can tell us about your time there?"
With 4.2K upvotes and 1.7K comments, it has people sharing really juicy, dark, and surprising secrets about what is happening behind the sparkling facade. Here are some of the most memorable ones.
#1
Disney Employees started referring to Disneyland as Mousechwitz due to working conditions.
Management told them to stop, so they used Duckau instead
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195points
#2
A true story that is "dirty" ethically.
Before I worked for them, when I was just an annual passholder, I got overcome by the heat and humidity, almost had a heatstroke, at the bathrooms outside the EPCOT entrance. Two security guards wanted to take me to the park's First Aid, but a Disney manager refused. "He gets in the park when he buys a ticket." Manager walks away for a minute. Security guards say "man, I can't believe this" and "what an operation." 30 mins for Reedy Creek Fire Dept. to show up. I was so sick I didn't even pull out my AP until they got there. Security guard #1 says "NOW can he go to First Aid?" Suddenly that manager is all about helping me - and so apologetic! He pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to First Aid. "Can I get you some water, sir?"
Big f**kin' phonies.
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192points
The question struck u/memezdankton's mind when they were watching a show on YouTube. "It's called Defunctland, and they basically review failed theme parks and theme park attractions, and I saw an episode on Disney," the Reddit user told Bored Panda.
"That got me thinking as to what is going on inside these parks, and what secret dramas and intrigues happen behind closed doors," they explained. "Plus, I really like reading stories on Reddit."
u/memezdankton has been to Disney parks twice. "Before the thread, my opinion has always been that there must be a lot going on behind the scenes for the 'magic' to happen, like everyone being in character with guests."
#3
If anybody tells you to have a magical day, they mean you were a gigantic a**hole and hated dealing with you. We call it the Disney F**k You.
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189points
#4
People sexually harass the characters super frequently. I was working with Ariel and cast members will always count down before they take a photo so people have time to get into position. I counted down and this teen boy decided to try to rip off one of Ariel's shells. I had to open his camera and expose his film so the photo didn't get developed and passed around. I found out later that I was supposed to take it to the Kodak shop to have the film developed and that one removed - but I'd always heard the rumors about ruining the film and nobody really trains you on that so I just went with it. The little a**holes deserved it.
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185points
The comments their post received only strengthened this notion. The biggest revelation for u/memezdankton was the scope of the show the employees have to put up. "Honestly, I was surprised as to how much work goes into the acting. Literally, each person out in the park is 'in character,' which often leads to funny stories behind the scenes after these people rest from a long day of being cheerful and happy."
In fact, Disney employees aren't technically "employees." They're "cast members." And not just the ones who play actual Disney characters. Everyone working in the park, whether they're ride operators or food servers, is a "cast member."
#5
I had a friend who was a gorgeous red head in her early twenties. She got cast to play Ariel at Disney World. She returned home after a few months saying that they were pressuring her into getting breast implants. To quote her (quoting her manager), "There is no way Ariel has such small boobs."
160points
#6
I used to occasionally work at one of the outdoor carts in front of the castle at Disneyland. There’s water in various areas of the park, so we got lots of ducks, and in the springtime, the babies would hatch and walk around with their mothers. People don’t always pay attention to where they are going and sometimes step on one of them, usually killing them. If I was able, I would step away from my cart to escort a family of ducks to safety.
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145points
Of course, working in Disney theme parks is more than just constant misery. For example, when Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida closed its doors in April 2020 due to the pandemic, close to 43,000 people were abruptly furloughed. Later, thousands were permanently let go and many mourned the career of their dreams at 'the most magical place on Earth.'
Have you worked in a Disney theme park as well? We would love to hear your story. If you're up for it, tell us about it in the comments.
#7
I think the worst part about character harassment is that Disney does not prosecute the guests, at least when I was there. When I was working in the 2000s, there was someone whose wrist was broken by a drunk guest who grabbed and twisted it really badly. They refused to prosecute, and I think she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage in her wrist, which really sucked because she was also a gymnast.
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133points
#8
Both hands had to be visible in photos (e.g. one outstretched and the other on someone’s shoulder). The biggest no-no is hands behind backs not visible due to the possibility of someone saying you grabbed them inappropriately.
130points
#9
My mom was working in the nurses' station and got a call for a costume character who had heat exhaustion (the costumes get extremely warm, especially in summer). He was advised to remove the costume and walk to the nurse building to recover, but wasn’t allowed to. They were so busy trying to make sure that nobody saw him out of costume that they literally risked his health.
128points
#10
I worked in reservations. They give you a name, that is not your own and you better use it. My name is not Robyn Leigh, but in Disney reservations, it was.
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119points
#11
My SIL got a the role of Cinderella at Disneyland Paris.
She had to practice Cinderella's autograph over and over because although different actresses play her all over the world, the signature of the character has to be identical anywhere it's signed for consistency.
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106points
#12
This was years ago at DL but there used to be a show of Tinkerbell flying through the sky before fireworks started in the summer. They would put the spot light on her as she went down a zip line and go to black just as she crossed to a back stage area. The novelty of it was that there was no sophisticated mechanism to stop her. There were literally a couple of guys in a tower at the end of the zip line holding a mattress that she would crash into to stop. Nightly, CMs would gather at the base of the tower backstage just to see this happen. As soon as she crashed, everyone would go back to their locations.
106points
#13
This is not a secret, more just an observation of the culture. It really kind of makes me sick and disappointed with humanity.
As a cast member at Disney World in 1979 I learned quickly that putting people in uniforms brings out the worst in the instinct to “other" people. Certain cast members in specific uniforms were very high in status, and other cast members were very low. Since you wore your uniforms all the time your status was immediately spotted and people tended to treat you better or worse based on your status.
So here’s the pecking order that I observed. Many cast members told me of this pecking order. Low status to high.
The street sweepers who emptied the trash cans.
The folks in the yellow jumpsuits who sold the popcorn.
The folks in turn-of-the-century garb who worked in the stores of Main Street.
The retail workers in the other lands with costumes that matched the themes.
The ride operators whose costumes were themed to match the land such as tomorrowland, frontierland etc.
The ride operators of space mountain, who were near the top of all the ride operators.
The monorail operators. They were the absolute pinnacle of ride operators who did not have some kind of performing role.
The ride operators of the jungle Cruise. They were close to the status of the people in the entertainment division because they had lines and really had to be entertaining.
Anyone in the entertainment division, like the kids of the kingdom, the performers, singers, and musicians. And they weren’t just a little bit above everyone else, they were stratospherically above everyone else.
The tour guides, all females, in the English riding (horse) outfits with jodhpurs, complete with a riding crop and a fetching little cap on their heads. These girls basically were the top employees who wore uniforms. They met all the VIPs including hollywood stars, politicians, billionaires etc. They could get to the front of any line. They were unstoppable, and they certainly acted like they knew it.
Now everyone I tell this to always asks, “weren’t the characters the most important people and have the highest status?” Sadly—and this is really where it gets sick—they were kind of treated like freaks. All the Goofy‘s had to be really tall thin men, all the Mickeys and Minnies had to be either short women or little people. They worked very odd shifts, a half an hour on a half an hour off, and they always had people around them to help, which also made them seem weird.
So all in all my summer at Walt Disney World demonstrated to me the power of clothing in establishing a hierarchy of status. It is a sad commentary on humanity, but a fact nonetheless.
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106points
#14
I just have to say one thing...people suffering from heat stroke or whatever and need to take their costume off...should be able to. F**k that "ruining the magic" BS. If your kids believe these Disney characters are real...then maybe you just shouldn't lie to your kids...idk...
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100points
#15
When the princess face characters come backstage they have to take off their dresses so they don't get dirty while they're on break so the princesses are usually walking around in a smock and bloomers if you see them back there. There is some serious cognitive dissonance when you walk back and see Snow White in her bloomers on her phone cursing up a storm.
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98points
#16
No one can actually ‘die’ in a park. They remove the dead person and declare them dead outside the park. Also haunted mansion people can’t smile, a favorite pastime is to get them to crack.
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96points
#17
We actually care a lot about the guest experience. If someone drops their ice cream, I can get them A new one free of charge. It’s called “keeping the magic”.
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90points
#18
When someone pukes on a ride, it's referred to as a "protein spill" so that it doesn't sound as gross.
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89points
#19
In the Indiana Jones ride near the giant snakes after the bridge there is a large metal slab on the ground. Under that slab is an opening that falls into a large empty space. The opening is in the middle of the space and about 10 feet high. There is no rope, no ladder and no stairs to reach the opening from inside the space. There are no other ways to get out of that space other than the opening in the ceiling and there are no lights in the space. You could literally fall in there and be trapped forever in darkness if someone doesn’t come and help you out. It is for this and many other reasons that there is a checkout system on the ride. If you enter the ride on foot, you take a card. When you return from the ride you turn in the card. If any cards are missing than the ride cannot be turned on and a search party must go out until that person is found.
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87points
#20
You have to be in specific height ranges to play the different characters. Because Mickey's height range is so short he's usually played by a woman. Likewise for Donald, although the most successful and best known Donald that I knew while I worked there was a little person.
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85points