Knott’s Cinco de Mayo Fiasco Had Precedent at Disneyland

At Knott’s Berry Farm’s Cinco de Mayo debacle promoted by KIIS-FM DJ Rick Dees, the rowdy youths were mainly outside the park--those who didn’t get in on the 5-cent admission.

But a similar promotion at Disneyland for Halloween in 1994 produced not only horrifying gridlock, brawls and frustrated customers outside the Magic Kingdom but a crime wave inside.

“It was a nightmare,” recalled Deena Ipolito, a sales clerk at the Emporium on Main Street that day. As co-workers relayed stories of clashes outside the gates, where a free-admission promotion had ended at 8:30 a.m., Ipolito witnessed “rampant shoplifting” by revelers decked out in costumes they had worn to get in free.

“We were calling security so much they finally said, ‘There’s nothing we can do,’ ” she said. In the end, Disney posted guards at every shop entrance. “It was something to see. Not exactly what you expect from Disneyland.”

Ipolito was called in early. “When I got to work, Rick Dees was still telling people, ‘Come on down! Get in for free!’ And we thought, ‘What is this guy thinking?’ We already had people climbing the gate because they couldn’t get in.” Dees didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Ipolito and other workers wound up with big overtime checks for time spent cleaning up “the worst mess I had ever seen.” She still has a T-shirt from the company reading, “I survived” the ill-advised promotion.

Disneyland spokesman Tom Brocato said there were fewer problems at Disney’s 1994 Halloween promotion than last week at Knott’s, noting that no one was arrested. Six arrests were made at Knott’s, where park boss Jack Falfas said he had never heard the Disney Halloween horror stories in his 1 1/2 years in Buena Park.

Until after his own problems, that is. “I’ve heard about them now,” Falfas said. “Plenty.”