Disneyland

It's been a while, but I figured it was about time to post something odd like I used to (check out the archives). Disneyland begins an 18-month celebration of its 50th birthday this week. A great opportunity to dig up some obscure Disneyland facts.

On Splash Mountain, high-spirited women sometimes lift their blouses for the cameras that snap souvenir pictures. These girls-gone-wild photos are usually destroyed by park employees, but more than a dozen were smuggled out and posted on an Internet site called "Flash Mountain."

When it opened in 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean used real human skeletons as props. In an upcoming book, Imagineer Jason Surrell writes, "Because the original Imagineering team felt that the faux skeletons of the period were just too unconvincing, the grotto sequence originally featured real human remains obtained from the UCLA Medical Center. The skeletons were later returned to their countries of origin and given a proper burial."

Late at night, on rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World, amorous couples regularly try to make the Happiest Place on Earth even a little happier. They're apparently unaware that virtually every inch of every ride is observed by security cameras or hidden employees. Sometimes they're startled by a warning from a loudspeaker; occasionally they're greeted at the exit by applauding employees.