Disneyland has been around since 1955, which means it has played home to some wacky secrets for quite some time.

The Disneyland Resort is packed with a ton of history — and you can experience most of it at the parks today. From secret ride features to the remnants of old attractions to wild ideas that never came into fruition, if you go searching for Disneyland for some fascinating secrets, then fascinating secrets you will find!

One of the most interesting tidbits we learned about Disneyland has to do with a radioactive attraction that almost existed at the park!

The Tomorrowland Uranium Hunt is an attraction we’re certainly glad Disney abandoned. It would’ve given guests a Geiger counter — a device that measures radiation — as they travel through a walkthrough attraction where the goal would be to measure radiation to try to find actual uranium that would’ve been tucked into tight spaces in the walls. Oh, and you would’ve got to take a little chunk of uranium home. Yeah…that’s not great. Fortunately, this concept never became a reality.

We love a great Disneyland souvenir, but radiation exposure ain’t it.

While that secret is absolutely wild, there are at least 7 other secrets we know about that may blow your mind, starting with a baby alligator that got loose in Jungle Cruise.

Walt Disney initially wanted real animals on the attraction, so a pen of baby alligators was installed near the entrance for guests to see while they waited in the queue.

The alligators were rented from a local reptile farm, and sometimes guests didn’t even know they were real, so they’d throw things like popcorn and toy alligators — which is clearly dangerous. Additionally, the tiny baby alligators would occasionally the pen and go for a swim in the waterways of the ride.

Obviously, this was a bad idea on Disney’s behalf and probably a secret they’re not too proud of.

Another secret (or fun fact) is over in Fantasyland where the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland rides are…or rather, this secret IS both of these rides combined. Let us explain…

If you’ve ever been on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, you’d definitely remember that the final showroom is…umm…the bad place, for lack of better phrasing. This room is heated to enhance the sensation of traveling through that mythical area. We point this out because, according to the D23 website, “Alice in Wonderland was Disneyland’s first two-level ride-through attraction.” Due to “spatial constraints,” Alice had to be built on TOP of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

The building constructs get super apparent when you enter the room of the Card Soldiers, which is unusually hot. This is because you’re actually feeling the heat from the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride scene below! Heat rises, after all!

While this next secret is well-known at this point, it still blows our minds. We’re talking, of course, about the bullet hole that remains in Haunted Mansion!

In 1974, a guest shot at the glass window in the ballroom scene and it left a pretty noticeable bullet hole. Disney can’t just simply remove the pane of glass because it would require removing the roof, so the company instead installed a spider and a web over the hole, which is still noticeable to this day!

We’ve already brought up some things Disney probably regrets, and this next secret is likely another one that gives us the heebie-jeebies.

When Pirates of the Caribbean opened, the ride featured real human bones!

When the ride first opened in 1967, skeletons from the UCLA Medical School were used since they — clearly — looked more realistic. Well, that didn’t fly for very long, and now prop bones occupy the attraction, except for one real skull on the bed headboard early in the ride.

Any folks out there understand Morse code? You’ll get a kick out of this next secret!

The Disneyland Railroad takes you on a trip around Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom, with stops in Main Street, U.S.A., New Orleans Square, Toontown, and Tomorrowland.

Notably, the New Orleans Square station features a nod to Walt Disney himself. If you listen closely, you’ll hear a telegraph machine playing Walt’s opening day speech from July 17th, 1955, in Morse code. Specifically, the code translates the first two lines of the speech:

“To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.”

Did you know Disneyland is home to a little man who lives in a tree?

The Little Man of Disneyland is named Patrick Begorra, and he made his first appearance in 1955 in one of the Disney Little Golden Books. This tiny man is a leprechaun who lives in a miniature house at the base of a tree in Disneyland’s Adventureland. You can actually see his house near the entrance of the Indiana Jones Adventure ride!

We’ve mostly stayed at Disneyland Park, but we’re gonna give some love to Disney California Adventure and point out some secrets in Cars Land!

For starters, many of the ride vehicles in Cars Land — such as the baby tractors in Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree –have special license plates that feature the initials of Disney Imagineers who helped bring the land to life!

These are just a few secrets Disneyland holds, but there are TONS more — maybe even hundreds!

We visit Disneyland every week, discovering new secrets, rediscovering old ones, and gathering as much information to bring back to you — the reader! For all the latest updates and fun tidbits, stay tuned right here at DFB!

Disneyland’s 50 Best Hidden Secrets

Share some of your favorite Disneyland secrets in the comments below!

The post An Abandoned Radiation Ride, and 7 Other Disneyland Secrets You’ve Never Heard Before first appeared on the disney food blog.