Author Archives: knmckeon

Haunted Winnie the Pooh Ride at Disneyland

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Cast Member at Disneyland
Residence: Fullerton, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/2020
Primary Language: English

KS is a cast member at Disneyland.

KS: Allegedly, in the New Orleans square/ Critter Country group of attractions the most haunted one is Winne the Pooh. You’ll hear little kids running. Winnie the Pooh, the whole building itself is super haunted because someone actually died in it. A cast member did. She was like crushed between two panels. (Upon my reaction) Yeah, it’s gross. So we hear like little kids running around. You’ll hear like laughter and shit. Sometime you’ll feel things like tugging on your clothing when it’s pitch black. Specifically in the Tigger scene, which I think is super ironic ‘cause he scares me in the daytime. Winnie the Pooh is the haunted building in that area.

Me: Do you have any experience with the hauntings in Winnie the Pooh. 

KS: One of my good friends was closing, and when you close a ride you have to do a walk through the ride. She was by herself for that part, and she felt something pull on her shirt. The shirts are billowy but not enough to even come close to getting caught on anything. So she looked over her shoulder and there was no one there, and then she heard laughter up ahead. The whole ride is completely powered off at this point. Only the lights are on so someone can walk the ride. There’s no reason or way she could’ve heard laughter, but she heard it. Then she ran out of the ride like a bat out of hell. She came back out and everyone was like “where the hell did you go?”, and she was like “there’s demons in there”.

Context:

Context:

I asked a friend who currently works at Disneyland if the Haunted Mansion was actually haunted, and this is what they had to say instead. 

Thoughts:

I find it very interesting that the “Haunted” Mansion, despite having a well known ghost attached to, is not regarded as the most haunted attraction. I’ve heard of the Haunted Mansion ghost, but never of the Winnie the Pooh haunting.

Danish Christmas Almond Game

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: La Habra, CA
Performance Date: 4/29/2020
Primary Language: English

A Christmas Eve tradition.

Text:

Informant: As far as traditions like that. My aunts are Danish, and we do this thing on Christmas eve where every person gets this like lemon dessert. Everyone in the house gets one, and only one has an almond underneath. I’ve never known what it’s supposed to represent or whatever, but the person with the almond has good luck for the rest of the year. Also, the person who gets the almond has to host the party for next year. We do that on Christmas Eve.

Context:

I asked a group of friends if they had any holiday traditions. This was one of their replies.

Thoughts:

This is very similar to a game my neighborhood plays every year where a bundt cake is cut, and whoever has a plastic baby Jesus in their slice has to host the Christmas party the next year.

Irish Sleeping Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: La Habra, CA
Performance Date: 4/29/2020
Primary Language: English

An Irish belief about sleeping with socks on.

Informant:

Irish Catholics are super superstitious. We can’t sleep with our socks on or else you’re sleeping with the devil. Which is so weird to me. It was something that my mom told us growing up. Her aunt used to tell her that when she was a kid. It definitely goes back farther. I think what it has to do with is like if you sleep with your socks on, that’s what people would do if they’re having one night stands. They would sleep together with their socks on so they could get up and leave quickly. It symbolizes that you’re not where you’re supposed to be. 

Context:

I asked a group of friends about any superstitions they were raised with. This was one of their responses.

Thoughts:

I was also raised Irish Catholic, and I have personally never heard of this one, but both the superstition and the informant’s interpretation of it make sense to me given the deeply entrenched Catholicism in Irish culture.

Skinwalkers

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Disneyland Cast Member
Residence: Fullerton, CA
Performance Date: 4/29/2020
Primary Language: English

Text:

Informant:

My mom’s family came from Mexico and they moved up into California through the desert. They have these stories that have been passed down about skinwalkers. They’re kind of like witches that can take the shape of something else, but there’s something physically wrong with them. If they took the shape of your mom, the eyes would be too big or the teeth would be too sharp or the fingers way too long. There’d be something really weird that would let you know something’s wrong. That side of my family has always said one of the skinwalkers married an ancestor so we’ve partially got skinwalker blood in our veins. 

I was taught at a very early age to always keep every single seat in the car covered with something when you’re driving through the desert. If it is empty, that’s how they get in the car. I don’t know what they do though. (a beat) Marry your ancestor I guess. I don’t know what the threat is, but I still always keep every seat in my car filled so I never have to find out. 

Context: I asked a group of friends to share anything they knew about cryptids. This was one of their replies. The informant is of hispanic descent.

Thoughts: I am slightly familiar with the concept of skinwalkers as a Navajo legend, but not as a hispanic one.

For more on skinwalkers see: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/navajo-skinwalkers/

Indrid Cold

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/29/2020
Primary Language: English

Text:

Informant: Ok, so this guy. Oh my god. I’m obsessed with him. I love him. Basically, in West Virginia — the same place my boy Mothman is from– this guy got into a car accident. He was saved from the wreckage by this guy who had a really creepy smile. He just kept smiling. The guy who crashed his car was like “Woah who are you?”, and creepy smile guys was like “My name’s Indrid Cold”, but Indrid Cold didn’t use his mouth. He told the guy telepathically. The reigning theory on this guy Indrid Cold/ The Smiling Man/ The Grinning Man is that he’s come from a race of aliens who all smile and grin. He was the one to try and first contact Earth. I heard about him on a podcast years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with him ever since. While I don’t know if he was an alien, I know deep in my heart that he existed. 

Context:

I asked a group of friends to share what they knew about cryptids. This was one of their replies.

Thoughts: I’m considered myself fairly well-versed in the world of cryptids, but upon learning of Indrid Cold I learned that there were ones I had never heard of.