The Haunted Mansion is a spooky tour of an ominous haunted house in Liberty Square at Magic Kingdom theme park, where a supernatural Ghost Host introduces you to his closest 999 dearly-departed friends.
Don't worry-too much. While Haunted Mansion contains some mildly frightening subject matter, there is no gore, the ghostly residents are friendly and the experience is appropriate for all ages.
Enter the mysteriously well-maintained exterior of an 18th-century mansion and find yourself in an ornate estate where anything can happen-and often does. Walking past the entrance foyer and into the ghostly portrait chamber, the air cools and the sense of dread begins to grow. Suddenly, you realize that you are in a room with no windows and no doors!
Moving along, you board a "Doom Buggy" and begin your supernatural journey. Your Ghost Host takes you through several dusty rooms, where you can see eerie signs of ethereal awakening. Soon, you encounter the mansion's resident medium, Madame Leota, who invokes the mansion's ghost and ghouls to show themselves.
At the end of your tour, to help you remember your visit to the mansion, a team of 3 cheery hitchhiking ghosts volunteer to follow you home. It's no use trying to dissuade them; they're deadly serious about their duty.
The Haunted Mansion is the imposing colonial manor darkening the eastern banks of the Rivers of America in the northwest corner of Liberty Square.
Touring Tips
- The Doom Buggies can seat two comfortably, although it is possible to squeeze two adults and a small child (or 3 children) into one.
- The ride system at Haunted Mansion is a continuous-loading OmniMover, which allows for a steady flow of guests. Although this is a slow-moving, smooth ride, each "Doom Buggy" vehicle is programmed to dip and turn at specific moments, thus directing your attention to important show elements. Be aware that at some points your "Doom Buggy" travels backwards as it goes downhill.
- The premise of the Haunted Mansion is obviously that of a creepy haunted house, but the ride is intended for the entire family. Many of the scenes are more humorous than frightening, but since every child has different fears, parents should be aware that the attraction features lots of dark rooms, spooky noises and voices, and a few potentially scary scenes with skeletons, bats, spiders, and lots of ghosts and ghouls.
- Child Swap (aka Rider Switch) is available at this attraction. This allows one guardian to wait with a child while another rides, then they can switch so the other guardian can ride without having to wait in the line again. Ask a Cast Member for the current procedure.
Facts
- It takes about 7 and a half minutes for your Doom Buggy to make its way along the 960-foot track of this attraction.
- This is a ride-through tour of a haunted house in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", preceded by a walk-through show in the queue. The attraction showcases a number of age-old tricks, advanced special effects, and spectral Audio-Animatronics.
- The line queue is themed after the English Tudor style found in lower Hudson River Valley in New York, the stately Haunted Mansion looks down on Liberty Square. As you enter the courtyard of the Haunted Mansion, you can now see, touch, hear and play with several new, interactive elements added into the queue experience.
- Legendary voice artist Paul Frees -- known to many as Boris Badenov from "The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show"-- is the attraction's narrator, or "Ghost Host."
- In the back of the pet cemetery (top left), there is a headstone of Mr. Toad in tribute to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which closed in 1998.
History
The attraction's roots date back to even before Disneyland was built, when Walt Disney had just hired the first of his Imagineers. The first known illustration of the park showed a main street setting, green fields, western village, and a carnival. Disney Legend Harper Goff developed a black-and-white sketch of a crooked street leading away from main street by a peaceful church and graveyard, with a run-down manor perched high on a hill that towered over main street.
While not part of the original attractions when Disneyland opened in 1955, Disney assigned Imagineer Ken Anderson to make a story around the Harper Goff idea and the design of his new 'grim grinning' adventure. Plans were made to build a New Orleans-themed land in the small transition area between Frontierland and Adventureland. Weeks later, New Orleans Square appeared on the souvenir map and promised a thieves' market, a pirate wax museum, and a haunted house walk-through. After being assigned his project, Anderson studied New Orleans and old plantations to come up with a drawing of an antebellum manor overgrown with weeds, dead trees, swarms of bats, and boarded doors and windows topped by a screeching cat as a weathervane.
Despite praise from other Imagineers, Disney did not like the idea of a run-down building in his pristine park, hence his well-known saying, "We'll take care of the outside and let the ghosts take care of the inside." For inspiration, Disney journeyed out to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California and became deeply captivated with the massive mansion with its stairs to nowhere, doors that open to walls and holes, and elevators. Anderson came up with stories for the mansion, including tales of a ghostly sea captain who killed his nosy bride and then hanged himself, a mansion home to an unfortunate family, and a ghostly wedding party with previous Disney villains and spooks like Captain Hook, Lonesome Ghosts, and the headless horseman. Some of the Universal Monsters were even planned to appear.
The Haunted Mansion was an opening-day attraction at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, opening in 1971. This attraction was developed at the same time as the Disneyland version, resulting in a very similar experience, though the slightly larger show building allowed the addition of several new scenes. The attraction was placed in Liberty Square, a small land that was a tribute to colonial America, as the Magic Kingdom did not have a New Orleans Square. Thus, the exterior was given a Dutch Gothic Revival style based on older northeastern mansions, particularly those in older areas of Pennsylvania and in the Hudson River Valley region of New York. The mansion is surrounded by large oak trees adorned with Spanish moss, red maples, and pines, all of which are native to Florida.
At Walt Disney World Resort, the Haunted Mansion closed for refurbishment on June 8, 2007 and reopened September 13, 2007. Changes to this version of the attraction during the refurbishment included the addition of a new audio system for the Ghost Host that makes it seem as if the spirit is circling above visitors' heads, new red, blue, and gold wallpaper (related to the paper at Disneyland but instead of green, it has blue), different and enhanced lighting throughout the attraction, and new stretching sound effects for the stretching room. The gargoyles in the stretching room now whisper with messages of "Stay Together", and emit child like giggles after the stretching room sequence. An exclusive Escher-esque staircase scene has replaced the empty dark banister area covered in cobwebs and the giant orange spiders. After the staircase scene, there are all new ghoulish eyes that glow while monstrous sounds echo through the halls. The foyer music has been changed to a lower key as well as taken out of the corridor hallways, though it can still be heard briefly in the conservatory. The original attic sequence is now replaced with the new Disneyland attic scene including the five changing husband portraits and featuring the new Constance. The other major Disneyland enhancements were also implemented at Walt Disney World including the floating version of Madame Leota with a much clearer projection, and The Sinister 11 (the portraits with the following eyes) were replaced with the changing portraits from Disneyland's portrait gallery. Seven of the Sinister 11 are now located in the loading area of the ride (These include Jack the Ripper, Arsonist, Mariner, Vampire, Witch of Walpurgis, and the Ghost Host) while the other four are located in various parts of the mansion. The voices of the graveyard ghosts minus the deaf old man, the singing busts, and the mummy were re-recorded with new singers, and the audio tracks now seem to come from the singer when near them. The once blue/purple ghosts are now green as well. A sharp-eyed guest will also notice that the Hitchhiking Ghosts now have empty sockets for eyes. The Doom Buggies have been fixed to a much more quiet sound than the high squeaking sound before the refurbishment.
In early October 2010, construction walls went up in the queue area of the Haunted Mansion, blocking the view of the small graveyard just outside the entrance. A new effect has also been added to the ride: a hand points to the left on the back of the Doom Buggies as guests exit. In March 2011, the remodeled queue area was revealed, with new tombstones honoring Imagineers; a "murder mystery" for guests to solve involving the sinister Dread family; the Composer's tomb, which features musical instruments that play "Grim Grinning Ghosts" when touched; the Mariner's brine-filled sepulcher, whose ghost sings and sneezes from within; a crypt for the poetess Prudence Pock, which features a cryptic message written on the sides of the tomb on moving, haunted books, and Prudence's ghost writing invisibly in her poem book.
Hidden Mikeys
- In the ballroom scene, look at the arrangement of plates and adjoining saucers on the banquet table.
- In the graveyard scene, look at the left hand of the grim reaper forms a Mickey outline with his fingers.