And don’t mention check-out time:

Disneyland Hotel workers who compete in departmental costume contests on Halloween Day have been warned to be careful. A management memo reminds employees to “conduct your work duties without SPOOKING the guests.”

After all, the room rates are scary enough.

The memo continues: “Please avoid costumes that could be perceived as grotesque, frightening, racist, political or revealing.”

And, oh yes, there’s this contribution from Disney’s ever-vigilant legal department:

“Also to be avoided are costumes that represent Disney characters.”

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GHOSTLY PRESENCE: One recent night, Paul Madwin of West L.A. drove by Ship’s on Olympic Boulevard and was surprised to see its signs lit up. After all, the 39-year-old eatery went out of business several weeks ago. One of the signs that was burning bright said: “Never Closed.”

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THE QUOTABLE VALLEY: In the new movie, “Get Shorty,” a Hollywood actor (Danny DeVito) explains why he went East to research a role as a Mafioso. “I’m Italian,” he says. “But I was born in Tarzana.”

“Get Shorty” is thus destined to find its way into the book, “Great Movie Lines Uttered About the San Fernando Valley,” as soon as someone writes it. Some other candidates for what would be an admittedly thin tome:

* “An Inconvenient Woman” (1991): Jules Mendelson (Jason Robards), a powerful financier who’s on the run because he’s covering up a murder, is reminded by a friend: “Jules, we’re in the Valley. No one is going to recognize you.”

* “Ghostbusters II” (1989): Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) tells a ghost who has materialized in Manhattan that if it had a brain “in that huge melon on top of your neck, you’d be living the sweet life out in Southern California’s beautiful San Fernando Valley.”

* “Sunset Boulevard” (1950): An agent explaining why he’s too broke to loan money to screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden): “Last year somebody talked me into buying a ranch in the Valley.”

Amazing how topical “Sunset Boulevard” remains.

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OPEN WIDE: Gregg Stockdale sent in a photo of a dentist’s sign that he spotted near his child’s school in Pomona. He added: “With Halloween coming up, I thought this would be a good reminder for kids not to overindulge on that day.”

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WE KNEW CALIFORNIA CUISINE PORTIONS WERE SKIMPY: Kenneth Tervalon of Simi Valley found what appears to be a rather expensive diet plate in Hollywood. “If I wanted a whole burger,” Tervalon pointed out, “I figure it would cost me about 12 bucks.” On the other hand, it’s a good way to keep adults from overindulging.

miscelLAny:

“Bigfoot hibernates for the winter,” says the UFO & Bigfoot Museum in Venice, which is closing for the season. Last event: A party on Halloween Night. Admission is free to those in costume. You can even come as a Disney character. Or a Disney lawyer.