Whoopi Goldberg scattered her mother’s ashes at Disneyland.
Whoopi Goldberg scattered her mom’s ashes at Disneyland
The ‘View’ co-host’s mom, Emma Harris, passed away in 2010 and the 68-year-old actress decided to honour her by spreading her remains while on her parent’s favourite ride at the theme park, It’s a Small World.
However, because the practice isn’t allowed, Whoopi resorted to faking sneezing fits as cover while she randomly “scooped some of her up” to spread the ashes around the ride.
Speaking on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’, she said: “No one should do this. Don’t do it.
“My mother loved Disneyland, we took her to Disneyland.
“When I was a kid, the World’s Fair was (in New York) and it was the introduction of Small World, she loved Small World.
“So in the Small World ride… Periodically I’d scoop some of her up and do this [giant sneeze] and I’d say, ‘My god this cold is getting worse and worse.’
Whoopi then used her sneeze technique by the park entrance.
She added: “And then we got over to the flowers that say Disneyland and I said, ‘Oh look at this’ and [sneezed].”
Despite trying to conceal her actions, the ‘Color Purple’ star confessed to Disneyland bosses afterwards.
She said: “I told them I did it. I wanted to make sure, actually, that I hadn’t done something that was dangerous, ’cause it hadn’t occurred to me. But there’s a reason they don’t want ashes just floatin’ around.”
Theme park staff have previously admitted they have to clean up ashes around once a month, with rides being shut down due to “technical difficulties” when they are actually being deep cleaned.
And one ride is chosen far more frequently than others for scattering ashes.
An unnamed custodian told the Wall Street Journal in 2018: “The Haunted Mansion probably has so much human ashes in it that it’s not even funny.”
