Whoopi Goldberg does not recommend people to do this but the comedian admitted she honored the memory of her late mother by secretly scattering her ashes while riding a popular attraction at Disneyland.
Goldberg shared her revelation while appearing as a guest on Late Night with Seth Myers to promote her new memoir, My Mother, My Brother, and Me.
In her book, Goldberg paid tribute to her late mother, Emma Johnson (née Harris), who died in 2010 from a stroke, and Goldberg's brother, Clyde K. Johnson, who died in 2015.
After The View host shared anecdotes from the book like how her mother was a "remarkable" woman, Myers noted how Goldberg did something special with her mother's ashes "probably without permission," following the cremation.
Goldberg turned to the studio audience and prefaced her story by insisting "No one should do this. Don't do this" before mentioning how much her mom loved going to Disneyland.
"When I was a kid, the World's Fair was here, and it was the introduction of Small World. And she loved Small World," " said Goldberg, referring to the 1964 New York World's Fair boat ride featuring audio-animatronic dolls representing different cultures. The ride would find its permanent home two years later in 1966 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California
Sensing the studio audience knowing where she was going with this, Goldberg said that while she rode the attraction following the death of her mom, she brought the ashes with her and scattered her remains throughout "it's a small world" while faking a sneeze.
“So, in the Small World ride, periodically, I scooped some of her up, and I do this," she said while demonstrating the sneeze.
You can watch her reenactment in the clip below.
Whoopi Goldberg Explains How She Came Up with Her Name, Talks The Change Comic Bookyoutu.be
Goldberg feigned astonishment over her sneezing while performing the unconventional ritual, saying:
“I said, ‘My God, this cold is getting worse and worse.’"
She continued:
"And then we got over to the flowers where it says 'Disneyland,' and I was like, ‘Oh, look at that! [sneeze].'”
While the studio audience seemed to enjoy Goldberg's story, social media users were not amused.
Many of them mentioned it was counterintuitive to spread the ashes at a loved one's favorite place since their remains don't, well, remain there.
Afterward, Goldberg said she alerted Disney cast members to what she was doing, explaining:
“I told them I did it. I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t done something that was dangerous because it hadn’t occurred to me."
"But there’s a reason they don’t want ashes just floating around.”
According to SF Gate, guests bringing their loved one's ashes and scattering them around Disney parks is a common occurrence despite it being highly discouraged due to human remains being considered a biohazard.
Detected presence of them on the floors or sets inside attractions like the popular Star Wars experience, "Rise of the Resistance"–which utilizes a trackless ride system–could result in long delays and ride closures under the guise of "technical difficulties."
Termed “HEPA cleanup" in Disney cast member parlance, this indicates that a special vacuum is required to remove the ultrafine remains, which means your loved one's ashes would wind up in the trash bins instead of forever among the "it's a small world" dolls or the ghosts residing inside the "Haunted Mansion."
Furthermore, guests waiting in already long lines for Disney attractions are inconvenienced during the cleanup, and anyone caught engaging in the practice of spreading human remains in the parks could be removed or even possibly banned.
A rep told Journal, "This type of behavior is strictly prohibited and unlawful. Guests who attempt to do so will be escorted off property."
In the state of California, where the original Disneyland opened in the city of Anaheim in 1955, scattering human cremains without permission on private property is a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code Section 7054(a).
The violation can result in six months in jail and a fine of $500 as of 2018, according to the Southern California Defense Blog.
One Disney custodial staff member claimed that the Haunted Mansion attraction "probably has so much human ashes in it that it's not even funny."
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