Bringing Your Loved One’s Ashes to Disney World is a Terrible Idea

We need to talk about death. I know. Not exactly the subject you want to discuss when thinking about “The Most Magical Place On Earth.” It’s the one mystery in life that you never want to solve. Each of us deals with it in our own way based on our own beliefs. But bringing and spreading your loved one’s ashes to Disney World is a terrible idea.

Apparently, stories of people spreading ashes at a Disney theme park go back to the days when it was just Disneyland Park in California. It sounds like such a comforting idea.

Your loved one has just passed away, and now you want to bring their ashes to their favorite place on Earth, right? It sounds like the perfect afterlife resting place for any Disney fan, but the reality will make you think twice about this longtime practice at the parks.

If you’ve ever been about to get on a ride, and it shut down unexpectedly, there actually is a chance that someone dumped ashes, and now a clean-up crew has to come through and get rid of them. That’s right; the chances are that someone dumped some ashes on the ride, and it had to be shut down for cleanup.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Disney has created a code for this. It’s the “HEPA Cleanup,” named for the type of vacuum needed to suck up your loved one’s ashes. Your idea suddenly doesn’t sound great when you think about it like that. Instead of spending eternity at a magical place like Disney, they are now going in the trash.

Custodians at the Parks told The Journal:

It is grisly work for us, but a cathartic release for the bereaved, who say treating Disney Parks as a final resting place is the ultimate tribute to ardent fans. The Haunted Mansion probably has so many human ashes in it that it’s not even funny.

I like to think I’m young, but I know I’m not. And when I think about dying, I don’t want to be vacuumed up and thrown out next to a half-eaten Mickey ice cream bar. Spreading ashes at Disney isn’t for the dead; it’s for the living. There are better ways to honor the life of your deceased family members.

When my time comes, I’d rather my family enjoy a beer in Germany or take a ride on Soarin’ rather than drop me off in a planter box in EPCOT. Remember me smiling at the fireworks rather than a random spot where you dropped me in a Park. Remember our good times together in the Disney Parks rather than the sadness my passing has brought you.

I know it seems like an honorable gesture, and I respect that, but it doesn’t end up how you hope it will. Disney allows you to create great memories, and those will live on with you. It’s those that will be permanent. It’s those that you should hold onto.

And someday in the distant future, someone will have those memories of me at a Disney Park.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiments of Disney Fanatic as a whole.