Step into a world of gravediggers, ghosts, and doom buggies – welcome to Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion has thrilled guests in theme parks worldwide since its eerie debut on August 9, 1969. When the first and original Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened its creaky gates to the public, this iconic attraction immediately spooked and enchanted visitors of all ages.
Origin and Legacy: Walt’s Haunted Vision
The attraction’s opening wasn’t until after Walt’s death, but he still had a large part in the planning. Originally planned as a walk-through attraction, Walt discussed his original intentions for the attraction with Imagineer Ken Anderson in 1957. According to Mental Floss, the attraction would be a guided haunted house experience, where butlers or maids narrated your exploration of the house.
When Hinges Creek in Doorless Chambers
Even before you step inside, the Haunted Mansion sets a haunting stage. Along the path to the estate’s door is a graveyard with some intriguing names and phrases. Claire Voince, Wee G. Board, Hal Lusinashun, Rustin Peece, and Paul Tergyst are some resident spooks who make their home in the Haunted Mansion graveyard.
The human dearly departed are not the only spectral residents outside the mansion’s doors. An animal graveyard can also be found, and if you listen closely, you might even hear the eerie howling of a long-lost companion.
Is This Room Actually Stretching?
The ride begins when you enter the foyer, and the ghost host instructs you to stand in the dead center of the room with the rest of the foolish mortals by the ghost host. Surrounding the room are portraits of previous mansion guests pictured as they were in their “corruptible mortal state.”
Exiting the stretching room, you are directed to your doom buggy ride vehicle and begin your 10-minute mansion tour.
Spooks Come Out for a Swinging Wake
Of all the wonderfully done scenes in the ride, the grand hall ballroom scene is the most famous. This scene is a masterpiece of illusion, where spectral dancers twirl in a mesmerizing display. This ethereal effect has entranced audiences for over 150 years. It is called Pepper’s Ghost and is achieved by dim lights shining on solid white animatronic figures with blue hands and faces. The light reflects on the transparent glass around the room, making it appear that the figures are inside.
The ballroom dancers twirl around before your eyes, yet their ethereal presence leaves many mystified. Many have confidently speculated about the technique behind the translucent effect, only to be proven wrong. In an issue of Disney Magazine, Bill Nye explained that the effect is achieved “with light bouncing off of smoky particles. The light hits the smoke and changes direction as it heads towards your eyes in exactly the same pattern as light bouncing off of three-dimensional objects. You see 3-D people in smoke, so they look like they’re not quite there, like a ghost.”
As brilliant as Bill Nye is, the Pepper’s Ghost effect is far simpler and has stood the test of time.
Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts
Throughout the ride, your ghost host will narrate the scenes as you encounter them. Pay close attention to the mansion’s fascinating backstory of love and betrayal.
Meet Constance Hatchaway, the Black Widow Bride, formerly known as the Beating Heart Bride. Legend has it she has married and murdered five unfortunate gentlemen and taken all their wealth for herself. Pay attention to the portraits of her ill-fated spouses for clues about their deaths.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
During the holiday season, the mansion at Disneyland undergoes a temporary but magical makeover, welcoming beloved characters from Disney’s Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack, Sally, and all their friends are waiting for you to experience their version of the season.
Mansions Around The World
The shifts slightly from theme park to theme park. For instance, at the Phantom Manor in Paris, the bride, named Melanie, is said to have been engaged to an engineer, but her overbearing father disliked the notion and vowed to stop the wedding at any cost. Shortly after making this vow, the bride’s father and his wife perished in an earthquake.
On the fateful day Melanie was to be married, her father’s phantom hung her groom, leaving Melanie heartbroken and alone.
From Spooky Specter to Silver Screen
The stories of the Haunted Mansion have fascinated people for years, and in 2003, Eddie Murphy starred in a feature film directed by Rob Minkoff based on the popular attraction. Many of the movie sets were based on scenes from the ride, and several quotes are also used in the movie. Now, in 2023, a new Haunted Mansion movie directed by Justin Simien and starring Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto, and LaKeith Stanfield brings fresh thrills to the silver screen.
Come For a Visit, Stay for an Afterlife
As spectral hitchhikers join you in your ‘doom buggies’ and Madame Leota sets the room’s objects into a mesmerizing spin, it’s abundantly clear that the Haunted Mansion offers an experience unlike any other.
Legend has it that the Haunted Mansion is home to 999 happy haunts, but there is always room for one more. Any volunteers?