You Might Spot a Cat Roaming Disneyland! They Serve An Important Purpose
While there are some hidden details of Disneyland that you can actively seek out, like the Little Man who lives in a tree in Adventureland or the secret guest book you can sign at a certain attraction, there is one particularly interesting secret of the park that you may encounter unexpectedly during your day.
Around the park, you may have seen these critters of Disneyland occasionally emerge from hiding to rear their cute heads. The feral cats are actually present at the happiest place on earth for a reason and serve an important purpose that some visitors may not know about. Although these adorable creatures stay hidden and usually only come out at night, you may spot them wandering around during the day.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about why these roaming cats live at Disneyland and what their job is!
Feral Cats at Disneyland
You may be wondering why there is a colony of feral cats at Disneyland, but this is no mistake—the cats serve to keep the rodent population at bay (except for our favorite mice Mickey and Minnie).
There is a bit of interesting history behind the presence of these secret feline Cast Members at the happiest place on earth. While the Sleeping Beauty Castle opened alongside Disneyland in 1955, guests could not actually go inside of it yet.
According to The Cats of Disneyland website, shortly after the park's opening when Walt and his Imagineers went inside the castle to start planning for what would become a walkthrough attraction (which today is one of the best secret spots at Disneyland), he found that feral cats with an infestation of fleas had taken up residence inside. They took care of the issue by adopting these cats out to Cast Members.
Disneyland was meanwhile facing a rodent problem, and there were still several feral cats living around the park that would come out at night to hunt. Because they were only out and about when the park was empty and avoided humans, Disneyland decided to keep them around as pest control, which was a great deal for the cats who could enjoy a peaceful life with plentiful food and none of the dangers that feral cats would typically be exposed to.
Disneyland developed a system to care for the cats that remains largely the same today. The cats had feeding stations set up around the property, and they were all captured and spayed/neutered before being re-released. Cast Members look after the cats and refill their food, give medical treatment if necessary, etc.
Today, the cat population still exists at Disneyland, and there are reportedly around 200 of them. They typically only come out at night and remain hidden during the day, and guests are discouraged from getting too close to them if they do happen to emerge.
If a cat starts getting too friendly with humans, it will be adopted out to Cast Members (as will any accidental kittens that are born).
You'll most frequently spot these Disneyland cats in the trees around the final drop of the Grizzly River Run attraction. We have also seen the cats along the route of the Disneyland Railroad. Generally they are away from the highly populated areas of the park where they can easily escape to a wooded spot.
The cats have amassed quite a following, and in addition to The Cats of Disneyland website, they have multiple platforms on social media, including Twitter (@disneylandcats), Facebook (facebook.com/disneylandcats), and Instagram (@disneylandcats). On the website, you can even find profiles for the multiple cats that visitors have spotted repeatedly at Disneyland! I love this particular shot of a cat out in the open in front of the Pixar Pal-A-Around.
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The Disneyland cat photos seen in this article are courtesy of Bridget @californiadisneybliss on Instagram.
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