There are 12 Disney Parks, located at six different resorts, and many visitors call these locations the happiest places on Earth. But Reddit user u/memezdankton wanted to learn whether the employees agree with this description.

A few weeks ago, they submitted this question to the platform: “Former Disney theme park employees of Reddit, what are some dirty secrets or stories you can tell us about your time there?”

With 4.2K upvotes and 1.7K comments, it has people sharing really juicy, dark, and surprising secrets about what is happening behind the sparkling facade. Here are some of the most memorable ones.

Read More: 30 Of The Spiciest Work Secrets Shared By Former Disney Theme Park Employees

#1

Disney Employees started referring to Disneyland as Mousechwitz due to working conditions.

Management told them to stop, so they used Duckau instead

Image credits: WimbleWimble

#2

I think the worst part about character harassment is that Disney does not prosecute the guests, at least when I was there. When I was working in the 2000s, there was someone whose wrist was broken by a drunk guest who grabbed and twisted it really badly. They refused to prosecute, and I think she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage in her wrist, which really sucked because she was also a gymnast.

Image credits: jon98gn

#3

Both hands had to be visible in photos (e.g. one outstretched and the other on someone’s shoulder). The biggest no-no is hands behind backs not visible due to the possibility of someone saying you grabbed them inappropriately.

Image credits: PropofolPopsicles

#4

My mom was working in the nurses’ station and got a call for a costume character who had heat exhaustion (the costumes get extremely warm, especially in summer). He was advised to remove the costume and walk to the nurse building to recover, but wasn’t allowed to. They were so busy trying to make sure that nobody saw him out of costume that they literally risked his health.

Image credits: thistakestoolongtodo

#5

I worked in reservations. They give you a name, that is not your own and you better use it. My name is not Robyn Leigh, but in Disney reservations, it was.

Image credits: honeybunhitta

#6

My SIL got a the role of Cinderella at Disneyland Paris.

She had to practice Cinderella’s autograph over and over because although different actresses play her all over the world, the signature of the character has to be identical anywhere it’s signed for consistency.

Image credits: jennyrob669

#7

This was years ago at DL but there used to be a show of Tinkerbell flying through the sky before fireworks started in the summer. They would put the spot light on her as she went down a zip line and go to black just as she crossed to a back stage area. The novelty of it was that there was no sophisticated mechanism to stop her. There were literally a couple of guys in a tower at the end of the zip line holding a mattress that she would crash into to stop. Nightly, CMs would gather at the base of the tower backstage just to see this happen. As soon as she crashed, everyone would go back to their locations.

Image credits: hashtagdisposible

#8

No one can actually ‘die’ in a park. They remove the dead person and declare them dead outside the park. Also haunted mansion people can’t smile, a favorite pastime is to get them to crack.

Image credits: lzytm

#9

When someone pukes on a ride, it’s referred to as a “protein spill” so that it doesn’t sound as gross.

Image credits: KP_525

#10

You have to be in specific height ranges to play the different characters. Because Mickey’s height range is so short he’s usually played by a woman. Likewise for Donald, although the most successful and best known Donald that I knew while I worked there was a little person.

Image credits: leopoldisacat

#11

I worked at Kilimanjaro Safaris in Animal Kingdom. A little secret: we got paid a dollar more than all other attractions because we not only spiel, but drive 35+ guests in a truck on an uncontrolled trail. If we wanted to, we could’ve driven right out into the river where the crocs are and told you all to “run.” Hence the extra dollar an hour to keep us from doing something so crazy

Image credits: RecoverFar801

#12

A friend of mine worked at Disney World. According to her Epcot is the best place to work. When she was at the Magic Kingdom she said she went home crying all the time because the moms were so mean.

Image credits: nerdmoot

#13

Someone lost a finger on the pirates ride. Also it’s not filtered so we tell you to keep your hands out of the water for multiple reasons.
1) so you can keep your limbs
2) you could get an infection
We weren’t supposed to talk about the finger thing really.

Image credits: pirate_for_life

#14

I went to college with a woman who played Snow White. She said she wanted to quit on her very first day because she had so many screaming, vomiting, angry, hungry, drooling children handed to her for photos. She said it was the absolute worst. I’m not sure how long she stuck it out for but I know it wasn’t long.

Image credits: Witty-Message-2852

#15

The “secret” tunnels under MK and Epcot. They smelled so bad. It’s where all the garbage went to. We had a subway and another restaurant just for cast members. They would close down cast parking without telling the cast members in appropriate time. Mandatory overtime when needed without double time. I can keep going.

Image credits: uhsorrybro

#16

Disneyland first interview papers include a blank outline of a person to indicate where you have tattoos. It’s referenced if you want to change positions internally, to indicate how said tattoos could be revealed, based on what your new uniform would be.

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Image credits: case_sensitive