Happiest Quiz on Earth
Walt Disney World opened in 1971 in this U.S. state.
A) California
B) Florida
C) Texas
D) Georgia
Answer: B
Fun fact: The resort covers about 25,000 acres, which is nearly twice the size of Manhattan.
This masked killer stalks Haddonfield, Illinois, in Halloween (1978).
A) Michael Myers
B) Ghostface
C) Jason Voorhees
D) Pinhead
A. Michael Myers
Fun fact: The famous mask was a cheap Captain Kirk mask from a costume shop, painted white with the eye holes cut bigger.
This is the smallest country in the world by area.
A) Monaco
B) San Marino
C) Liechtenstein
D) Vatican City
D. Vatican City
Fun fact: Vatican City is about 0.17 square miles, which is smaller than many golf courses.
The name “Halloween” comes from “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before this Christian holiday.
A) All Souls’ Day
B) All Saints’ Day
C) Candlemas
D) Easter
B. All Saints' Day
Fun fact: “Hallow” is an old word for saint or holy person. All Saints’ Day is November 1.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
FALSE
Fun fact: The Empire State Building is hit by lightning about 20 to 25 times a year.
This Walt Disney World theme park opened on April 22, 1998.
A) Epcot
B) Hollywood Studios
C) Animal Kingdom
D) Magic Kingdom
C. Animal Kingdom
Fun fact: Animal Kingdom opened on Earth Day on purpose, because the park is built around nature and animal conservation.
This is the only horror movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A) The Exorcist
B) Get Out
C) Jaws
D) The Silence of the Lambs
D. The Silence of the Lambs
Fun fact: Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor as Hannibal Lecter even though he’s on screen for only about 16 minutes.
Botanically, this fruit is a berry.
A) Strawberry
B) Pineapple
C) Banana
D) Cherry
C. Banana
Fun fact: Strawberries, pineapples, and cherries aren’t true berries at all.
This famous 1938 radio broadcast aired the night before Halloween and is said to have caused a nationwide panic.
A) The Shadow
B) Dracula
C) The War of the Worlds
D) Frankenstein
C. The War of the Worlds
Fun fact: Historians now think the “mass panic” was mostly exaggerated by newspapers. Very few people were actually fooled.
Vikings wore horned helmets into battle.
FALSE
Fun fact: The horned helmet idea mostly comes from costumes made for a Wagner opera in 1876. No real Viking battle helmet with horns has ever been found.
This 1976 attraction was Walt Disney World’s first water park. It closed in 2001 and was left abandoned for years.
A) Typhoon Lagoon
B) River Country
C) Blizzard Beach
D) Discovery Island
B. River Country
Fun fact: River Country was themed like an old-fashioned swimming hole, and its water came straight from Bay Lake through a filtration system.
This is the name of the demon that possesses Regan in The Exorcist (1973).
A) Pazuzu
B) Baal
C) Valak
D) Paimon
A. Pazuzu
Fun fact: Regan’s bedroom set was refrigerated so you could really see the actors’ breath in the possession scenes.
This planet takes longer to spin once on its axis than it takes to orbit the Sun.
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Mars
D) Jupiter
B. Venus
Fun fact: Venus also spins backward compared to most planets, so on Venus the Sun rises in the west.
Before pumpkins were used, jack-o’-lanterns in Ireland were carved from these.
A) Potatoes
B) Turnips
C) Apples
D) Gourds
B. Turnips
Fun fact: The name comes from the legend of “Stingy Jack,” a man who tricked the Devil and was left to wander the earth with only a coal inside a carved turnip to light his way.
Woolly mammoths were still alive when the Great Pyramid of Giza was being built.
TRUE
Fun fact: A small group of mammoths survived on Wrangel Island, off the coast of Siberia, until about 4,000 years ago, centuries after the Great Pyramid was finished.
Cinderella Castle stands this many feet tall.
A) 147 feet
B) 172 feet
C) 189 feet
D) 199 feet
C. 189
Fun fact: The castle has no real bricks. It’s made of steel and fiberglass, and there’s a hidden luxury suite inside where guests can win a night’s stay.
This 1976 film was the first movie based on a Stephen King novel.
A) The Shining
B) Carrie
C) Christine
D) Salem’s Lot
B. Carrie
Fun fact: Carrie was King’s first published novel. He threw the early draft in the trash, and his wife Tabitha pulled it out and told him to finish it.
This is the official name for the # symbol.
A) Pilcrow
B) Octothorpe
C) Interrobang
D) Ampersand
B. Octothorpe
Fun fact: The pilcrow is the ¶ paragraph symbol, and the interrobang is a question mark and exclamation point combined (‽).
This U.S. state grows the most pumpkins.
A) California
B) Ohio
C) Pennsylvania
D) Illinois
D. Illinois
Fun fact: Most of the pumpkins grown in Illinois are a variety used for canned pumpkin, not for carving.
Humans only use about 10% of their brains.
FALSE
Fun fact: Brain scans show we use almost every part of the brain, and most areas are active even while you sleep.
In 1999, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh opened in Fantasyland, replacing this original 1971 dark ride.
A) Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
B) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
C) Snow White’s Scary Adventures
D) The Skyway
A. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Fun fact: Mr. Toad still has a tribute in the Pooh ride, a picture of him handing the deed to Owl. He also has a small grave in the Haunted Mansion’s pet cemetery.
This is the vampire’s name in the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu.
A) Count Dracula
B) Count Orlok
C) Count Yorga
D) Lord Ruthven
B. Count Orlok
Fun fact: The film was an unauthorized copy of Dracula*. Bram Stoker’s widow sued and won, and a court ordered every copy destroyed. A few survived, which is why we can still watch it.
This was the first chemical element named after a person who was still alive.
A) Curium
B) Nobelium
C) Mendelevium
D) Seaborgium
D.Seaborgium
Fun fact: Glenn Seaborg could write his address using element names. Seaborgium, Lawrencium (for Lawrence Berkeley Lab), Berkelium, Californium, and Americium.
In medieval England, poor people went door to door on Halloween and offered prayers for the dead in exchange for these.
A) Soul cakes
B) Pumpkin bread
C) Honey candies
D) Silver coins
A. Soul Cakes
Fun fact: This practice was called “souling,” and it’s considered one of the earliest ancestors of trick-or-treating.
Pluto hasn’t finished a single full orbit around the Sun since it was discovered.
TRUE
Fun fact: Pluto was discovered in 1930 and takes about 248 years to go around the Sun once, so it won’t finish its first full lap since being found until around 2178.