Disneyland’s marketing team came up with what they thought was a brilliant plan to get some PR with the teen crowd, but it almost blew up in their face, and many hourly Cast Members (CM’s) are furious they were forced to be a part of the event. Last Friday, Lindsay Lohan was invited by Disneyland to spend the evening in both Anaheim parks to celebrate her 20th birthday. Lohan had a small gaggle of her friends along for the ride, and their limousines arrived at the Grand Californian Hotel just after 10pm on Friday. It was immediately apparent to the hotel Cast Members that the "party" had already begun in the limo ride down from LA, but the youngsters went ahead and coasted on a thick layer of LA attitude right into the California Adventure park (DCA) just as it was clearing of day visitors.
After midnight, Lohan and her party were escorted over to Disneyland as it was clearing of its day visitors. There, they found a half dozen E-Ticket attractions that were kept running for them compliments of Disney. Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain were all stops on the exclusive after-hours tour. And the CM’s working those attractions were also concerned about the safety of some of the members of the party, as there was a definite whiff in the air as the increasingly rowdy group visibly stumbled into the loading area of each ride.
Between the obvious smell, rude behavior and the snotty attitude the entire party displayed, there were very few Lindsay Lohan fans working at Disneyland by the end of that night. At 1:30am, with Disneyland completely deserted, the birthday party was then loaded onto the Sailing Ship Columbia. As the ship cruised around a darkened Rivers of America with Mickey Mouse on board and catered desert being served by costumed pirates, the party took its most alarming turn as some party guests used the darkened ship to engage in very inappropriate behavior for the happiest place on earth.
You should know anyone who is thought to be smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol in Disneyland, particularly underage minors, always faces a quick trip to the Security office and often an introduction to the Anaheim Police officers who are always on duty at the Park. Yet somehow, despite the many cast member concerns, that policy was not a concern of the gaggle of park management accompanying this late night event. Apparently the Disneyland marketing department wanted this event to go off without a hitch, and there were several professional photographers there that night taking pictures to be offered to the media. Disney wants desperately to increase its hip factor with the teenage demographic, and this birthday party for Lohan was staged to get some exposure with that group, regardless of the apparent condition of the party guests.
By 2am the Disneyland portion of the birthday party was over, and the group was escorted as best as possible back to the Grand Californian Hotel for the rest of the night. The next morning, as word spread amongst the angry Cast Members who were told to operate the attractions for a group they were sure they had seen and heard as impaired, management went into damage control mode
MiceAge
Anyone shocked by what they read? What was Disneyland thinking?
