A True Disneyland Ghost Story
Disneyland is one of the most haunted places I’ve ever been — and I’m not talking about the Haunted Mansion. I’ve see things there that I can’t explain… shadows of people walking around… a figure standing beneath a tree… I’d love to tell you that they are happy spirits enjoying the parks — but that’s not my feeling…
I’ve written a piece called “The Locker Ghost” where I describe one of these real-life sightings. I’m not sure what to make of ghosts, but anything is possible, right?
This story was originally published by Haunted OC (April 2020): https://hauntedoc.com/haunted-disneyland-stories/
THE LOCKER GHOST
In August of 2019, I saw something at the Disneyland Resort that rattled me to my core. It was just a subtle, creepy moment, but it’s stuck with me ever since.
After Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, my sister and I headed to the theme parks for a late lunch. Since we had bags filled with merchandise from the Expo, we rented a locker near the Disney California Adventure entrance. The parks were crowded that Saturday, and we saw several people wander out of the nearby restroom, wiping the sweat from their foreheads.
The locker area was small, wonderfully cool, and thankfully uncrowded. It was just us and a young girl with fair skin that I noticed out of the corner of my eye. She crouched against the far wall, digging out of a bottom-row locker. As my sister and I chitchatted about our first ride, we kept our voices low as not to bother her. After a couple of minutes, I realized that the girl had been crouching for quite a while. Though I couldn’t tell how old she was, I thought it was odd that she was alone for so long.
I didn’t want to rudely look directly at her, so I kept track from the corner of my eye. The girl played with her long, yellow skirt as if dusting it off. I thought the pattern was out of place: either red polka dots or strawberries. It looked like something a person might wear on Dapper Day.
Suddenly, the girl turned around. I stopped keeping track of her and focused on my sister who was stuffing her things into our locker. Still, I could sense the girl’s eyes on us. I looked again from the side, hardly able to see her in my peripheral vision. She was standing now, staring at us. I noticed her short, dirty blonde hair and the skirt’s length as it cascaded to her ankles. She was taller and older than I expected, probably a young teenager.
What was she doing?
Why was she looking at us?
It was just too weird, and I needed to know…
I quickly crammed my bag into the corner locker and shut it. I could still see the girl watching us. All at once, I gave up my reservations and turned around.
No one was there. The locker area was totally empty. There wasn’t a thing that resembled a yellow dress or a girl with fair skin. For a moment, I stared at the emptiness with goosebumps racing down my arms.
“Are we going over to Disneyland?” asked my sister. She looked toward me and noticed my flustered face. “What’s wrong?!”
“Did you see that girl?” I shook. “Near those lockers?”
“Yeah, I saw someone,” my sister muttered. She had noticed the girl, too! But, I didn’t have to explain; my sister was already staring at the empty row of lockers near us. I watched the color swiftly leave her face. “No… no… no!”
I’d told my sister about the ghosts I’d seen at Disneyland before. And now she’d seen one, too. The moment was haunting and darkened the sunny afternoon.
My sister reopened the locker and yanked our things from it. With our arms full, we rushed toward Disneyland, gripping our bags and unable to shake the ghostly girl from our minds.
D. T. Vaughn is an author, playwright, and theme park enthusiast. His award-winning dark fantasy novel, The Midnight Glass, is now available. To get updates on other stories by Mr. Vaughn, please subscribe to his free e-mail newsletter here.
