Friday, November 9, 2012

Disneyland's Esmeralda





On Fortune Friday this week, we talk about Disneyland's very own Fortune Teller who sits inside a glass box in front of the Penny Arcade on Main Street. For 25c she will not only tell your fortune, she will provide your lucky number and color. 

Seriously, Esmeralda has been lying to me for a quarter since I was seven. She has promised me no fewer than ten fortunes, three double crosses and at least seven more husbands than I have. She has changed my lucky color and number almost every time I've visited her and she is always willing to tell me more if I give her another quarter. 

This video shows Esmeralda in action.



Still, a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth just isn't the same without a visit to my old friend - questionable hippy head band, fortune telling skills and insatiable need for quarters aside. 

It's hard to say exactly how Esmeralda got her name, but is also the name of the fortune telling gypsy in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, both in the original novel by Victor Hugo (published in 1831) and the Disney movie. 

Our fortune teller loves social media, she has her own Facebook page, "Esmeralda's Fortunes" and her own Twitter account @DisneyProphecy. You can see a video of her in action above.





Of course, Esmeralda isn't the only fortune teller in Disneyland, her fortune telling brethren include Fortune Red the fortune telling pirate in New Orleans Square and Shrunken Ned in Adventureland, but we'll save their tales for another day. 

If you would like to read more about Fortune Friday, click here

1 comment:

  1. I remember her well and you have to be careful remember what happened in the movie Big with the Fortune Teller Tom Hanks spoke too?

    ReplyDelete