Build Your Own Fortune Teller Machine

Ever since I first walked down Main Street USA at Disneyland and saw Esmeralda I have been fascinated by Fortune Teller machines. And now I've found a company that will make you any kind you want - your ideal fortune teller machine - custom made. They'll even sell you the little fortune cards that come out of the machine. 

You can get a fortune telling Sherlock, like the one above.

Or why not get Big Al, the Fortune Telling 1920s Gangster:

Here's the Zoltar Machine - a similar machine was featured in the Tom Hanks movie, BIG:

Here's a demonstration of how the character machines work:

Now I just have to decide which one to get and where to put it...

Disneyland's Shrunken Ned

If you go deep in the the jungle of Disneyland's Adventureland and stop at the first shop on your right, you may be able to find Shrunken Ned, the Jungle Witch Doctor. Shrunken Ned is a fortune teller machine that dispenses health advice, despite his lack of a body. He's one of four machines in the park: Esmeralda, Fortune Red, and the Fortune Telling Lamp. I attribute my love of fortune telling machines to Esmeralda who has been lying to me since I was small child.

Getting advice from Shrunken Ned is easy. You pop your quarter into the machine and put your palm on the wooden hand painted (pictured below) and Shrunken Ned will do his work. 

Here's a video of Shrunken Ned in action: 

Once Ned is done talking, the machine will spit out a card for you with a drawing of Ned on one side, and dubious health advice on the other. 

I have to say that he was right about me needing more sleep.  

Santa Cruz Boardwalk: Fortune Teller Machines

Ever since I was a kid going to Disneyland, I became enamored of fortune telling machines. To this day, the fortune telling machine on Main Street at Disneyland, Esmeralda, remains my favorite. She's been lying to me for a quarter for as long as I can remember. 

I'm not sure what fascinates me so. Whether it's the fake, mechanical facial features or the jerky movements the fortune is being told. I found these three beauties at the beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. The poor pirate above has had so much rum, he can't even keep his head up straight. 

The Granny machine below is particularly scary. 

    

The third machine on the boardwalk is a clear attempt to copy my dear friend at Disneyland, Esmeralda. Of course her name is "Estrella," so I'm sure the manufacturers didn't do it intentionally (ha).

"Estrellas"

Disneyland's Esmeralda

More photos of "Estrellas"

I had never seen these types of machines so despite my cracks, I was happy to find them. You can read about Mystery Playground's other fortune teller machine finds here. 

Fortune Teller Machines: Fortune Red

I do love a good fortune telling machine. So here's Fortune Red. Fortune Red resides near the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland's New Orleans Square. When you put in your 50 cents (double the price of my favorite fortune telling machine, Esmerelda) the song Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me plays. While the song plays, Fortune Red points to a cool pirate map and supposedly makes up your fortune. 

But if you look at his face up close, he's a little scary in a plastic monster pirate way. Fortune Red - don't you know that smoking is bad for you? 

Once the music stops, a little card pops out with your fortune in pirate speak. As an aside, did you know that you can change your Facebook language to pirate? Anyway, here's what Fortune Red had to say last time I visited him.

Zoltar

I love old fortune telling machines. 

Here is Zoltar. You may recognize him as the magical fortune telling force as seen in the ancient Tom Hanks movie, Big.  This particular Zoltar lives in a magic shop inside the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas.  He charges a whole dollar for his wisdom (my absolute favorite fortune telling machine, Esmeralda at Disneyland, only charges 25c.) 

If you buy a Zoltar fortune, and something from the store they give you a free little magic trick. The free magic trick wasn't so hot. 

Here's what old Zoltar had to say when I fronted him the buck:

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.