It should come as no surprise that Walt Disney’s first theme park resort — Disneyland — is packed full of fun facts and a wild history.

Haunted Mansion in Disneyland

If you’ve ever spent time at Disneyland Park, you know that there are little hidden tidbits everywhere. From fascinating ride facts to wild park architecture, learning about Disneyland can be just as fun as visiting it (ok, maybe not that fun, but still). But there’s still one major ride detail we need to get to the bottom of…

If you’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, you’re familiar with the part of the ride where you transition from Madame Leota’s Seance Circle into the Grand Hall, where tons of ghosts and ghoulies have a raucous time. It is in this part of the ride where a major Disneyland Easter egg is hiding in plain sight.

©Disney

The Haunted Mansion utilizes the “Pepper’s Ghost” trick — the practice of using the reflection of a mirror to project images. While you ride above in your Doom Buggy, beneath you are the room’s animatronics that are projected through a glass panel to appear like ghosts in front of you. But while you ride through the Great Hall, if you decide to focus on the glass instead of the ghosts, you’ll notice something odd.

As you near the Attic, you’ll see a spider and “web” oddly placed on a glass panel. As local legend has it, this spider prop is actually blocking the remnants of a bullet hole.

©Disney

There are a few tales that have not been verified but still dominate discourse for those who are familiar with this Disneyland quirk. The first is that during the summer of 1974, someone literally walked into Disneyland with a pistol and shot the glass wall. The .22 caliber bullet was not only found on the Haunted Mansion but on two other attractions as well during police investigation — or so says the legend.

In this story, the glass panel was too large to replace without removing the roof of the building so Disney just decided to cover up the hole by disguising it as a web and placing a fake spider to hide it. When Disney World opened its version of the Haunted Mansion, the legend says that Disney put the spider in the same spot as a nod to symmetry.

Hatbox Ghost in Disneyland

Another story takes a simpler approach. Disneyland used to sell BB guns, and in this version of the tale of the glass breaking, the incident happened due to an overzealous child with one of the aforementioned BB guns. Different story, similar result.

While nothing has ever been confirmed and these are just legends, one thing is for certain — the web and spider do exist and their placement in the glass is odd enough to justify the legends. No one seems to agree on the story of how the spider showed up, which only heightens the intrigue of it all.

Haunted Mansion is closed and under construction

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is currently in the midst of a MAJOR refurbishment, but we’ll be sure to update you with any news as it is released in addition to the latest Disneyland news, tips, and more!

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What are some of your favorite Disneyland myths? Let us know in the comments!