The happy haunts have a message for you from the other side. Their mansion isn't about fear and jump scares; it's about forgiveness and letting go.

More is written about the Haunted Mansion than any other Disneyland ride. Its laborious 12 years in the making, its multiple premise and repeated refusal by Walt, disagreements about whether it should be funny or scary (which was a discussion still in flux when Walt passed away), the invention of the people conveyor, as well as its multiple interesting characters all add to the mythology, backstory and delight of the Haunted Mansion.

Walt wanted the mansion exterior to be pristine in his park. The grounds, including a people and pet cemetery, comply with the well-manicured pillared mansion.

You start with the cast who usher you into the elevator and then the Doom Buggies; they are the only Disneyland cast instructed to NOT smile to guests.

After the entrance hall, you ride from the séance room with Madame Leota to the banquet room with ghosts dancing, hanging from chandeliers, blowing out candles, swooping in through the walls from the room next door. Then to the attic with the opportunistic bride who somehow gets a new string of pearls when one after another of her husbands meet their untimely, peculiar deaths. Then to the graveyard with ghosts playing, singing and drinking, disembodied parts all greeting you with grins. And finally, you’re visited by the hitchhiking ghosts—which one will follow you home? Gus, Ezra or Phineas?

Message from This Ride

This ride asks how many haunts might be following you around, and how quick are you to add one more? What ghosts have you allowed to come home with you? What old, dead, decayed ideas, thoughts or conclusions take space in your life?

Are you a person who sighs a lot? Have you considered that those sighs might be the ghosts that haunt you? Your regrets, embarrassments, moments that have escaped that you would do anything to recover and do over. These are the haunts of self-anger and even hatred.

Every time we forgive ourselves for a perceived wrong-doing—or forgive others for hurting us—we send a haunt away from us. Next time you catch yourself sighing, see it for the ghost-of-the-past that it is. Then take in another deep breath and sigh out release.

Alternatively:

Are you someone’s ghost? Do you refuse to let people forget the wrongdoing they did to you? How many years of punishment do they have to endure before you let them go?

Think of this: negativity directed at another is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die.

Free yourself by allowing yourself to forgive. Do it for your own sake. It is a matter of life.

Continued in "Disneyland Wisdom"!

It's just popcorn, right? You buy a bag, maybe even spring for a souvenir container, and then eat it till it's gone. But there's a kernel of profundity down there at the bottom: popcorn represents potential and preparation.

Disneyland popcorn is some of the best in the world. It is popped with coconut, corn and canola oil, but that’s just the beginning. Every one of the eight popcorn carts throughout the park is bedecked with “Roastie-Toasties,” little mechanical people that turn the drum of full popcorn. Each cart has its own Roastie-Toastie theme: there is a Rocketeer in Tomorrowland, the Abominable Snowman from Matterhorn in Fantasyland, on Main Street you will find Dapper Dan, and Davy Crockett is in New Orleans Square—unless it is Halloween. Then the Ooogie Boogie picks up the crank. You find the rest!

Message from This Snack

Popcorn is a miracle of nature. Not only is life trapped in the seed, but a totally different form is waiting to burst out if put to the fire.

Popcorn symbolizes positive growth, new ideas and potential, and Disneyland popcorn adds the benefit of a little help, a little bit of magic. If you notice the unexplained, know that your little “Roastie-Toastie” is helping you out.

Alternatively:

There is so much to enjoy in just watching good things happen to popcorn. We are happy spectators: oh the sound! the smell! the anticipation! Your preparation and hard work is paying off. There isn’t much you have left to do but to enjoy the process.

Continued in "Disneyland Wisdom"!