The heiress to the Disney fortune has criticised the company’s top boss after discovering Disneyland workers are being forced to “forage for food in the garbage” during a secret visit.

Abigail Disney decided to take matters into her own hands and tour California’s Disneyland undercover after receiving a Facebook message from an employee struggling to make ends meet.

The 59-year-old said she found “The Happiest Place on Earth” was in fact full of people forcing smiles onto their faces as they tried not to bend under the pressure of not being able to pay basic bills.

She told Yahoo News: “Every single one of these people I talked to were saying ‘I don’t know how I can maintain this face of joy and warmth when I have to go home and forage for food in other people’s garbage’.”

The documentary filmmaker said she was “livid” because her grandfather Roy O Disney taught her to “revere these people that take your tickets, that pour your soda”.

Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history Show all 7 1 /7 Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history Walt Disney described his park on television in 1954 2018 Disney Enterprises, Inc Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history The original Disneyland sign on Harbor Boulevard welcomed guests from 1958 to 1989. Its bold colors, shapes, and kinetic exuberance make it an icon of midcentury design Collection of Dave DeCaro, davelandweb.com Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history The drawbridge to Sleeping Beauty Castle was lowered for the ﬁrst time on opening day, and only once since: when the redesigned Fantasyland opened on May 25, 1983. The castle sits at the center of Disneyland and is one of the world’s most recognizable structures, with spires that rise as high as 77 feet (about 24 m), but it wasn’t the ﬁrst concept Walt had in mind. A palace for Cinderella and a castle for Robin Hood were considered in the planning stages Getty/The LIFE Picture Collection Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history In good company — Walt Disney is joined in 1964 by some of his most adored characters. Many starred in what Walt called “classic stories of everyone’s youth” that, in Fantasyland, had “become realities for youngsters of all ages to participate in.” Lawrence Schiller, Polaris Communications Inc Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history The buildings of the Rainbow Ridge mining town were designed by art director and set designer Bill Martin, who recalled they were a favorite of the Disneys: “I remember that Walt and Lilly would often walk along the pathways between those little buildings when they stayed at the park overnight.” Although the attraction is long gone, the little town can still be seen in the queue to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Collection of Dave DeCaro, davelandweb.com Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history Monstro the Whale, from Pinocchio, guards the entrance to the Storybook Land Canal Boats. His giant blinking eye and spouting blowhole sometimes surprised guests posing for photos 2018 Disney Enterprises, Inc Walt Disney’s Disneyland: A visual history Walt Disney’s Disneyland £ 40 Taschen

Ms Disney, whose grandfather co-founded The Walt Disney Company with her great uncle Walt Disney, has called out the company’s chief executive Bob Iger for taking home almost $66m a year.

The company’s lowest-paid worker received $135 (£108) compared to Mr Iger’s $180,000 (£145,000) a day in 2018, according to the Financial Times.

Ms Disney said Mr Iger needed to do more to close the gap between his earnings, which are about 1,000 times more than the average employee, and other Disney workers.

She added: “Bob needs to understand he’s an employee, just the same as the people scrubbing gum off the sidewalk are employees and they are entitled to the same dignity and human rights as he is.”

Abigail Disney, granddaughter of The Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy O Disney. (Frederick M Brown/Getty Images)

The heiress said she recently wrote Mr Iger an email telling him he was a great chief executive, but adding: “I would want to be known as the guy who led to a better place, because that is what you have the power to do.”