Whoopi Goldberg Scattered Her Mother's Ashes at This Unexpected Location as Tribute

Whoopi Goldberg, the famous actress and co-host of The View, recently shared a surprising story. She revealed that she scattered her mother's ashes at a popular Disneyland ride. This happened back in 2010, shortly after her mother passed away, at the classic Small World boat ride, according to HuffPost. "My mother loved Disneyland," Goldberg explained on Late Night With Seth Meyers. She went on to describe how she and her brother, Clyde K. Johnson, carried out this unusual tribute.

"So, in the Small World ride, periodically, I’d scoop some of her up and I’d do this poof, and I said, ‘My God, this cold is getting worse and worse!’ And then we got over to the flowers where it says, ‘Disneyland’ and I was like, ‘Oh, look at that! Poof.’" However, Goldberg was quick to add a warning, "No one should do this. Don't do it," she cautioned viewers. She recognized that her actions might have been inappropriate or even dangerous. In fact, Goldberg later informed Disneyland staff about what she had done. "I told them I did it. I wanted to make sure, actually, that I hadn't done something that was dangerous, because it hadn't occurred to me." "But there's a reason they don't want ashes just floating around"

This isn't the first time Goldberg has shared this story. She wrote about it in her memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, published in May. In the book, she provided more context about why this ride meant so much to her mother. "It was her vision of what human beings should be. These children of the world: all colors, religions, and cultures together. Disney had made it seem possible that all the kids of the world would hold hands in unity," Goldberg wrote, as per The New York Post. 

The memoir also revealed that Goldberg and her brother were "subtle about it, kind of sneezing Ma out here and there when no one was looking." She added, "We didn't get caught, but I confessed it later to a park employee. They weren't surprised, and they certainly were not happy about it." 

Surprisingly, Goldberg's actions aren't unique. Disney parks reportedly have a code for dealing with scattered human ashes: 'HEPA cleanup.' A Disneyland custodian told The Wall Street Journal in 2018, "The Haunted Mansion probably has so much human ashes in it that it's not even funny." 

Furthermore, in a July 2023 episode of The View, she expressed a preference for cremation, saying she wants to be 'dust in the wind.' Goldberg added, "I'm going to be going around the world, I'm going to be everywhere. I might be in your backyard – I don't know. I don’t want people to feel obligated to come to the cemetery. If you want to remember me, remember me."