A Ghostly Rundown of the Haunted Mansion

“Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion”

The Haunted Mansion is one of the most iconic, and popular, attractions in the Magic Kingdom. It is also one of the opening day attractions at the Magic Kingdom, making this attraction a must do.

The Mansion, itself, sits atop a Hill in the Liberty Square area of the Magic Kingdom. This adds to the mysteriousness of the overall attraction, as you can’t ever get very close to it (other than the entrance to the ride). As you go through the queue, you will pass a number of gravestones with creative epitaphs written on them. You will need to watch out for Madame Leota!

Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash

The cast members here really add to the attraction, as they are always in character. You won’t see any smiles from them here, but they definitely add to the immersiveness of the attraction.

SPOILER ALERT!

IF YOU HAVE NEVER RIDDEN THIS ATTRACTION AND WISH TO BE SURPRISED, YOU MAY WANT TO STOP HERE. THE REST OF THE POST WILL GIVE AWAY SOME DETAILS OF THE ATTRACTION.

Stretching Room

This is where the fun really starts! As you enter, you will be taken into a closed off room where you will be instructed to move your bodies to the “dead center” of the room. This is the preshow area where you will meet your “ghost host” and start your spooky adventure. Some strange things will start happening, and the room will appear to be “stretching.” Suddenly, you’ll hear some thunder, the lights will go out, and you’ll hear a shocking scream! This is when you will be taken to the loading station. Some people consider the stretching room to be the scariest part of the attraction. The attraction, itself, is more “spooky” and fun than scary.

Does the ceiling go up, or am I moving down?

WHILE THE ROOM IS STRETCHING, AND YOU SEE THE PICTURES EXPAND, YOU MAY BE LEFT WONDERING WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON. IS THE FLOOR MOVING? THE ANSWER IS THAT THE CEILING IS GOING UP. THIS IS ALSO THE CASE IN THE TOKYO VERSION. HOWEVER, IN CALIFORNIA, AND DISNEYLAND PARIS, THE ROOM ACTS AS AN ELEVATOR, AND IT ACTUALLY TAKES GUESTS DOWN TO ANOTHER LEVEL.

999 Happy Haunts

Once you leave the stretching room, you will wait in a small line to board your “doom buggy.” This is what will carry you through the mansion. The Haunted Mansion is an omnimover attraction, meaning that the “doom buggies” never stop moving. You will have to walk along a conveyor belt to board your buggy.

The ride itself will take you, slowly, through a number rooms, where strange things will be happening. You will encounter hundreds of ghost spirits. Each room is very different and unique. A room with a self-playing piano, a séance room featuring Madame Leota’s head inside a crystal ball, and a haunted graveyard are just some of areas you will travel through. Pay close attention to the ballroom. Ghosts will be disappearing and reappearing all over the room, you likely won’t see them all your first time riding. When you are almost out, the ghost host will inform you that there are “999 happy haunts here, but there’s room for a thousand. Any volunteers?” (cue the evil laughter).

Pictures

Your photo will be taken near the beginning of the ride, you may not even know it’s happening. It will show up in your account automatically if you are wearing a MagicBand or have your mobile device set up to receive photos.

Your photo will be taken near the beginning of the ride, you may not even know it’s happening. It will show up in your account automatically if you are wearing a MagicBand or have your mobile device set up to receive photos.

Two Different Visions

You may notice that the first half of the haunted mansion feels much spookier than the second half. There is actually a story to this! Two of the imagineers who oversaw the design of this attraction, Claude Coats and Marc Davis, disagreed on the ambience they wanted to convey. Claude’s vision was for the attraction to be serious and scary, but Marc wanted the attraction to be lighthearted and silly. The two never came to an agreement. Finally, another imagineer, X Atencio, decided to put the two ideas together, which gave us what we have today. A near perfect attraction1 Everything in the ride blends together so seamlessly, it’s almost as if the attraction was meant to be this way.

Photo by Disney Photo Imaging LLC

There are plenty more interesting facts that could be talked about with this attraction, but I am going to keep it brief and end here. I hope you enjoyed this little overview of the Haunted Mansion attraction in the Magic Kingdom. With all of the detail and history of this attraction, this should be on everybody’s “must do” list. Just watch out for those hitchhiking ghosts!