Ariana Grande's mom Joan wants ashes to be spread at Disney World. Can she do that?
To many, including Ariana Grande's mom Joan, Disney is the happiest place to be. This is why the singer's mother has one wish: to have her ashes scattered at the iconic Cinderella's Castle.
Ariana, who was a guest at Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers' Las Culturistas podcast, got real about one of her mother's wishes.
The three talked about the different attractions at Disneyland and Disney World in the United States where Ariana revealed her mother's wish to have her ashes scattered at the Florida theme park.
“When it comes to the Disney [theme park] in Florida,” Ariana began, “first of all, we get Cinderella’s Castle. Which is, you know, also a landmark.”
“My mom tells us too often that she wants her ashes sprinkled over it. And I'm like, ‘Mom, it's Christmas. Do we have to talk about this right now?' And she's like, ‘Yeah. You have to make sure that happens,’” she continued.
Ariana told her mom she does not "wanna make sure that that happens" and that she is concerned about the potential consequences.
“I think there's actors back there working. So you're gonna be sprinkled on people's heads who are like, dressed as Tinker Bell waiting for their cue,” the Wicked star joked.
“Totally. There's like a hotel room in there,” Bowen added, referring to the Cinderella Castle Suite.
“I've been in there because I performed at the castle one time and I got to change in there, which was really cool," Ariana said, adding that the place is "really beautiful and it feels very real."
But is this allowed?
According to a 2018 report from the Wall Street Journal, it is illegal. Those who will attempt to disperse ashes "will be escorted off the property," a representative from Disney said.
If it was discovered that a park guest had scattered cremated remains in the vicinity, the managers would close the ride for "technical difficulties" and call for a "HEPA cleanup." It would require a HEPA or ultrafine vacuum cleaner to remove the small particles.
Despite the rules, some visitors have scattered ashes in various locations within the parks, including flower beds, Magic Kingdom lawns, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the moat underneath the flying elephants of the Dumbo ride, and the Haunted Mansion.
“The Haunted Mansion probably has so much human ashes in it that it’s not even funny,” one custodian told WSJ.
Ariana is currently on a press tour to promote her upcoming musical film Wicked. The two-part film is an adaptation of the hit musical and stars Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana as Glinda.