Whoopi Goldberg honored her mother at Disneyland in a way you’re really not supposed to
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Whoopi Goldberg wanted her late mother to spend eternity in one of her favorite places.
“The View” host is a well-known fan of Disney, and, during an interview on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” last week, she revealed that her mother Emma Harris, who died in 2010, also loved spending time at Disney parks.
So much so, Goldberg said she scattered some of her mother’s ashes on the “It’s a Small World” attraction at Disneyland.
“No one should do this,” Goldberg told Meyers about her decision.
“My mother loved Disneyland, and so we took her to Disneyland. She loved ‘Small World,’” she added.
Goldberg, who was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2017, said she did inform the park after the fact because it occurred to her it may have been dangerous.
“There’s a reason they don’t want ashes just floating around,” she said.
Goldberg is right. Spreading human ashes on the properties is strictly prohibited and unlawful, but that hasn’t stopped other fans of Disney parks from trying to honor their loved ones in a similar way.
In 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that when someone spreads ashes at Disneyland or Disney World, it is given a code “HEPA cleanup,” or unofficially and informally a “Code Grandma.” The incidents, which the Journal estimated happened monthly, are considered biohazards and that have caused rides to be shut down for cleaning.
Goldberg shared the story while discussing her new memoir, “My Mother, My Brother, and Me,” which she described as a “love letter to parents and the people who raised me.”
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