Ghost Report: The ghost of Walt Disney - There are several ghosts believed to haunt Disneyland in Anaheim, California. One of these spirits is believed to be Walt Disney himself.
The spirit of Walt Disney has been witnessed by several people at the amusement park. From guests to employees, these reports do indicate the possibility of Walt returning to his beloved "family park" to make sure things are working up to his specifications and quality.
This project was more than a passion for Walt. It was an obsession. Many had told him that his dream would not become a reality for more reasons than one, and his brother Roy even told him that the financial risk was just too much to even think about taking on such a monumental task.
To obtain financing, Disney wanted to produce a television program to finance the development of the Disneyland amusement park. After being turned down by both CBS and NBC, Disney eventually signed a deal with ABC (which had merged with United Paramount Theaters in 1953) on March 29, 1954. The show contained teasers for Walt's park, as well as episodes representing life in one of the park's main "Lands": Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Frontierland. It had opening titles used from the early shows until the show's move to NBC in 1961, showing the entrance to Disneyland itself, and the "lands", one of which was then identified as the main feature of that evening's program.
With this weekly show, Walt was able to obtain the financing to complete his dream park, plus he was able to share the progress of the construction with his viewers. This was a great marketing move since it built up the anticipation and dreams of many families and youngsters all over the country that would tune in each week for the show.
Was the root of Walt's obsession that he wanted to create the park in order to have a "family friendly" location to come and spend the day in a clean, safe, and quality environment, or was it because people told him that he couldn't make it happen? Either way, he was completely driven to have this project completed.
Walt's Apartment at the Park
Most who visit Disneyland, don't realize that as soon as you pass under the train tracks and enter the park, there is an apartment to the left, above the "Disneyland Fire Station" that was Walt's personal apartment. Walt would stay here when the park was being built so that he could watch his dream come alive. It was also easier for him to just stay here instead of making his 45-50 minute drive back and forth to his home in Los Angeles. Later on, the he would stay here, sometimes with family and bring special guests in as well. The apartment is quite small, only 500 square feet, and doesn't even have a bedroom. It has a kitchenette, a bathroom, and a large family room that still has the wooden desk that Walt would sit and work at.
The one feature that most should focus on is the light in the window. If you visit Disneyland, make sure you look up and see if that light is on. If it is, that represents that Walt is there in the park. To this day, employees keep that light burning all the time to represent Walt's spirit; however, there are those employees that believe, that it cannot be turned off anymore.
A lot of the reports about Walt's sprit surrounds this apartment. One of them relates to that light in the window. One night an employee was cleaning the apartment and she had gone in and turned off the light for the night. We she came down to leave, she looked up and the light was on again. She went back upstairs and turned it off once more. Again, when she went outside, the light was on. This time she went back up and turned off the light and stood there. The light came on again by itself and she watched the event happen with her very eyes. The light has remained on ever since.
Walt was a lifetime smoker. In fact, he actually passed away due to lung cancer. Another claim surrounding the apartment is the smell of cigarette smoke around the patio and steps outside of the apartment. This is were Walt would go to smoke in secret away from park guests and others.
The following is a YouTube short that we put together for our new series called Ghost Reports. These are very short (less than 1 minute0 videos that will help us document paranormal activity reports that we have found.
The follow video (not produced by us) documents some of the activity that takes place at Disneyland and has some more details and examples especially the security camera footage that was captured showing someone (or something) walking down a path within the park:
There have been those who have made other videos debunking this security footage, claiming that Disney had reused the tapes and this recording was the result of bleed through from other footage on top of the live recordings. Is that possible? Maybe it is, but it is also possible it is a recording of a spirit. Who can tell for certain without having the actual tape or recording and analyzing it.
Walt's Train
There is another report about the Disney train too that goes around the outside of the park. Employees believe that Walt will still take out one of the trains late at night when the park is closed.
Walt loved trains. He even had a train at his home on Carolwood which he named the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, that you could ride around the property. Of course his dream park would have to have a full sized steam engine that would take guests around to the different sections of the park. Unfortunately, the house on Carolwood and the railroad no longer exists as it was torn down and another mansion was built on the property in 2001.
A control panel at the park shows the location and activity of the trains that circle around the park. On several occasions, an employee has witnessed a train come onto the control panel and have heard the whistle of the train out in the distance, but after some inspection, all of the engines were stored safely for the night. This happens so often that the "old timers" at the park would call this, "Walt's train."
If it was possible to come back and enjoy some of the places you enjoyed while you were among the living, it would make sense that Walt would come back to Disneyland all the time. If you are ever in the park, make sure you look up in the window and see if the light is burning. Maybe, stop on over and give a little wave to Walt.
Let us know if you have visited Disneyland in Anaheim down in the comments below, and if you have had any experiences of your own. You can see more photos from our visit, by click on the "More Photos" button below.
