Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader directs your attention to Miceage.com for an interesting little piece about a new craze at Disneyworld/Disneyland. (Your Maximum Leader has Tommy to thank for that link.)

The story… People are dumping the cremated remains of (presumed) loved ones in Disney rides. Here is more:

Speaking of vandalism, there’s been a growing list of incidents perpetrated on attractions at Disneyland that are not only illegal but that are increasingly, well… let’s just say disturbing.

The big problem isn’t graffiti or hot-to-trot teens in a back row, it’s park visitors smuggling in the cremated remains of their loved ones and then spreading the ashes inside a favorite attraction. The Haunted Mansion is by far the most popular location for this, but you’d be surprised where else people are dumping cremated remains at Disneyland.

[…]

Sometimes however the cremated ashes aren’t found until the end of the night when the Cast Members close down the rides and walk the tracks looking for lost and found. Just last month that situation occurred when a Cast Member at the Haunted Mansion found several piles and a trail of ashes alongside the ride track. The Anaheim Police and Disneyland Security were summoned, and judging by the large amount of ashes this deposit was likely a small group of deceased people, or perhaps a very large married couple. The police identified the substance as human remains, and the custodial crew came in for the clean up.

To respond to this growing problem, Disneyland’s custodial department recently had to purchase special vacuums with very sophisticated HEPA filters that can capture the gritty ash of human remains while also capturing the small bone fragments that can also be present after cremation. The Cast Members who work in Attractions know the code words when calling the custodial hotline, and they tell the custodial dispatcher that they need a “HEPA Cleanup” as soon as possible.

[…]

The residue is often found at the end of the night however, and most of the people who carry out a last request by spreading a loved one’s remains at The Happiest Place On Earth likely don’t know the less-than-reverential end they meet at the hands of the ultra-efficient Disneyland Custodial Department.

Eeeeewwww. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t know what to make of this other than this is yet another sign of people growing more rude and coarse as our civilization slowly declines. Of course, in addition to being rude, this is downright unsanitary. Your Maximum Leader isn’t exactly what one would call a germaphobe; but tossing around Auntie Ruthies remains while sitting through a Disney ride is just disgusting…

Carry on.