Pet Cemetery

The front-most Pet Cemetery found at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland

The Pet Cemetery is a location found at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland and Disneyworld which is used as a graveyard for deceased animals.

Description

History

The Pet Cemetery was first installed at the New Orleans Square Mansion in the 1980s on the west side of the Haunted Mansion by the original wheelchair accessible entrance. This pet cemetery proved popular enough for an expanded version to open in 1993 at the front of the Mansion closer to the queue. The epitaphs were written by Imagineer Chris Goosman and the area was designed by Imagineer Kim Irvine. The original 80s Pet Cemetery would be removed in 2024 to make way for the new gift shop.

The Pets at Disneyland:

The Original Pet Cemetery

• Big Jake the dog who's epitaph reads, "Here lies my good dog Jake chasing a toad down a well was his one mistake."
• Miss Kitty the cat who's epitaph reads, "In memoriam. Miss Kitty, after losing eight lives you still had no fear. You caught a snake in your ninth and that's why you're here."
• Bully the frog who's epitaph reads, "You didn't drink, you didn't smoke, I just cant figure out what made you croak."
• Stripey the skunk, "In loving memory of our pet Stripey, you may be departed but your scent will linger on."
• Penny the Elephant, "Where Pachyderms reside with worms within a tomb most elegant. You'll find long gone our mastodon Beloved Penny, the elephant." Above the tomb is the statue of a mouse which presumably scared Penny to death due to the myth that elephants are terrified of mice.
  • Penny's tomb is in reality a cleverly disguised exhaust chimney for the Disneyland Railroad.

The New Pet Cemetery

• Fifi the poodle.
• Old Flybait the frog, "He croaked. August 9th, 1869."
  • His date of death is a reference to when the Mansion first opened.
• Rosie the pig, "She was a poor little pig but she bought the farm. 1849."
• An unnamed cat with no epitaph which is surrounded by the small headstones of five birds.
• Another cat statue sitting in a birdbath.
• Kai the Koi Fish who's epitaph reads, "He has gone to a Betta place."
• An unnamed rabbit.
• An unnamed squirrel who's tomb resides underneath the shade of a tree.
• Freddie the bat who died in 1847, the epitaph is written upside down and says, "We'll miss you."
• Buddy the dog, "Our friend to the end."
• Lilac the Skunk who died in 1847, "Long on curiosity short on common scents."
• A brick wall holds several plaque memorials.
  • Long Legged Jeb the spider, "Got tangled up in his very own web."
  • An unnamed fish who's date of death was October 10th, 1867.
  • An unnamed pet rat ,"In memory of my Rat whom I loved, now he resides in realms above."
  • An unnamed pet snake who's epitaph reads, "Here lies my snake, whose fatal mistake was frightening the gardener who carried a rake."
  • A statue of a bird perched on top of the wall, possibly intended as the Raven, with a plaque below featuring the death date of July 11, 1864

Tokyo Disneyland

• Digger, placed closer to the Family Plot by Mister West: "Digger. We finally know where the bones are buried"
• Skimmer the Duck: "Our Duck Skimmer, Shouldn't have visited the neighbors for dinner."
• Fluffy the Cat who's epitaph has nine different dates of death as opposed to one based on the superstition that cats have nine lives.
• Buzz the Squirrel: "Our Squirrel Buzz. He stopped to see if the cat was there. It was. July 17, 1859"
• An unnamed hedgehog and rabbit next to Buzz's base.
• Rosie the Pig: "Finally made it to hog heaven. 1849."
• Old Flybait: "He croaked. November 21, 1853"

Haunted Mansion Holiday

During the Haunted Mansion Holiday seasonal overlay the pet cemetery is decorated with ribbons on the tombs and a few editions to the cemetery grounds can be found.

• Sparky from the Tim Burton's Frankenweenie is added to the cemetery.

• Also added during the overlay is the grave of an unnamed monkey dressed in clothes and holding cymbals, meant to resemble the classic children's toy which previously had incarnations in the attic sequence of the attraction.

In Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare at Tokyo's Haunted Mansion, the garden of Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas is also added to the Pet Cemetery.

Magic Kingdom

The mansion of Liberty Square has a much smaller pet cemetery found on a hillside near the ride’s exit. Unlike the Disneyland Pet Cemetery the epitaphs on these tombs are written in old copper making it much more difficult to read the epitaphs.

The Pets:

• Waddle the duck who died in 1928, "Little Waddle saw the truck but little Waddle didn't duck."
• Rover the dog who died in 1898, "Every dog has his day, too bad today was your last."
• J. Thaddeus Toad's statue can be found on his tomb in this cemetery.
  • There is a popular rumour that the obscured tomb's epitaph reads, "Here lies Toad, it's sad but true. Not nearly as marketable as Winnie the Pooh."
  • Mr. Toad is the beloved protagonist of the story the Wind in the Willows and one of the stars in Disney's Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Toad was given his own attraction in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World called Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, eventually the the Magic Kingdom's version of the ride was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Mr. Toad's grave was put up in the Haunted Mansion as tribute.
• Eric the snake who Died in 1882, "Met his fate at the blades of a garden rake."
• Maisy The poodle who died in 1923, "So prim and proper and never lazy, all you do now is push up daisys."
• A Cat named Whiskers whose epitaph reads "9 lives go so fast, poor Whiskers couldn't make it last."
  • It also has nine different dates of death as opposed to one based on the superstition that cats have nine lives. They read:
    • "1855: BAD CATNIP
    • 1856: A SHOE AT TWO
    • 1857: SOUR MILK
    • 1858: HAIRBALL
    • 1859: ONE BAD YEAR
    • 1859: SAME YEAR
    • 1860: LOCAL DOG
    • 1861: FELL OFF LIMB
    • 1862: NINE LIVES ALWAYS GO SO FAST, POOR WHISKERS COULDN’T MAKE THEM LAST"

• Jed the Cockatoo who died in 1889.
• An unnamed monkey who died in 1871.

Trivia

• Several of Disneyland's pet tombs have designs that appear to be inspired by the artwork of director Tim Burton, namely from his poem The Nightmare Before Christmas, its 1993 film adaptation, and Frankenweenie.