Haunted Mansion

**Haunted Mansion** is a Omnimover dark ride attraction at Disneyland Park in New Orleans Square. The attraction takes guests into an estate inhabited by 999 ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and spirits.

## History

The idea for the Mansion precedes Disneyland and WED Enterprises, to when Walt Disney hired the first of his Imagineers. At the time, the park that they were developing this attraction for was supposed to be located across from the studios. In 1951, the first known illustration of the park showed a main street setting, green fields, western village and a carnival.[2] 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.

Disney assigned Imagineer Ken Anderson to create a story using Goff's idea.[1] 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.[3] Anderson studied New Orleans and old plantations and came 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 weather vane.[1]

Disney, however, did not like the idea of having a run-down building in his pristine park.[1]He visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, and was captivated by the massive mansion with its stairs to nowhere, doors that opened to walls and holes, and elevators.[2] Anderson envisioned 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 well-known Disney villains and spooks.[1] Imagineers Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey recreated Ken Anderson's stories in a studio at WED Enterprises.

In 1961, handbills announcing a 1963 opening of the Haunted Mansion were given out at Disneyland's main entrance.[4] Construction began a year later, and the exterior was completed in 1963.[3] The attraction was previewed in a 1965 episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color,[4] but the attraction itself would not open until 1969. The six-year delay owed heavily to Disney's involvement in the New York World's Fair in 1964–1965 and to an attraction redesign after Walt's death in 1966.[1]

After the fair, many Imagineers such as Marc Davis, X Atencio and Claude Coatscontributed ideas to the project.[3] By this time, Ken Anderson had left the project. Rolly Crump showed Walt some designs for his version, which included bizarre things like coffin clocks, candle men, talking chairs, man-eating plants, tiki-like busts, living gypsy wagons and a mirror with a face.[2] Walt liked these ideas and wanted to make the proclaimed "Museum of the Weird", a restaurant side to the now-named Haunted Mansion, similar to the Blue Bayou at Pirates of the Caribbean.[1] Though this concept was never realized, some of its aspects found their way into the final attraction When Walt put Imagineers Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey in charge of creating the visual illusions for the attraction, they had an idea to make the "Museum of the Weird" into a separate section that you could walk through and discover all the amazing illusions from around the world. Guests would be able to see transparent ghosts and other eerie apparitions, by using the Pepper’s Ghost technique that was used in the theater since the early 1800s.[1] Crump and Gracey were eventually given an entire warehouse to house their developments and one evening forgot to switch off the mechanics before leaving for the day. The cleaning crew were met with surprise as Crump explained, “Once, we got a call from personnel saying that the janitors requested that we leave the lights on in there due to the creepiness of all the audio-animatronic ghosts and such. They complied, but put motion sensors in the room that would extinguish the lights and turn on all the ghost effects when triggered. The next morning, they came in and found all the ghost effects still running and a broom lying in the center of the floor. Personnel called and said that the janitors would not be back.”[5]

Marc Davis and Claude Coats, two of the mansion's main designers,[6] disagreed whether the ride should be scary or funny. Claude, originally a background artist, wanted a scary adventure, and produced renditions of moody surroundings like endless hallways, corridors of doors and other characterless environments. Marc, an animator and character designer, proposed many zany spook characters and thought the ride should be silly and full of gags. In the end, both artists got their ways when X Atencio combined their approaches and ideas, creating an entertaining transition from dark foreboding to "spirited" fun. The ride narration was performed by Paul Frees in the role of the Ghost Host. The attraction's theme song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts", was composed by Buddy Baker with lyrics written by X Atencio.[1]It can be heard in nearly every area of the ride,[2] with various instrumentations and tempos.

After Walt Disney's death in December 1966, the project evolved significantly. The Museum of the Weird restaurant idea was abandoned. The Imagineers had also objected to a walk-through attraction's low capacity, going so far as suggesting building two identical attractions to accommodate twice as many guests.[1] A solution appeared with the development of the Omnimover system for Adventure Thru Inner Space.[2] Renamed the '"Doom Buggy", the system's continuous chain of semi-enclosed vehicles offered high capacity. The cars could be set to rotate in any direction at any point, allowing the Imagineers to control what guests saw and heard throughout the show.[2] And because each car held from one to three, it was a convenient way to divide guests into smaller groups — a better fit with the story of people wandering "alone" through a haunted house.

## Attraction Summary

Entering the queuing area through a pair of ornate gates, guests find themselves in the antebellum-era mansion's well-tended gardens and courtyards. The queuing path leads guests past a pet cemetery,[9] a mausoleum with pun names, a cemetery at the top whose tombstones bear the names of the Imagineers who created this attraction, and a white carriage hearse led by an invisible horse which occasionally nickers. Stepping onto the porch, guests are admitted inside the mansion through a doorway on the far right of the house into the Foyer, lit by a large, flickering, cobweb-covered chandelier and surrounding candelabras.

In the Foyer, the deep, resonant voice of an invisible spirit (Paul Frees) sets the tone of the attraction with a short opening monologue, accompanied by a funeral dirge variation of Grim Grinning Ghosts.

"When hinges creep in door less chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candle lights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time, when ghosts are present, practicing their terror, with ghoulish delight....."

A pair of sliding doors open to one of two similar octagonal rooms, which are actually large slow-moving elevators with fake woofing walls that do not reach the ceiling. The invisible spirit teasingly welcomes the guests (referring to them as "foolish mortals") and introduces himself as their "Ghost Host" who will take them on a tour of the Haunted Mansion. The room contains four paintings, one on every other wall, each depicting a person from the chest up; previous guests "as they appeared in their corruptible mortal state". The portraits are flanked by eight leering, candle-holding gargoyles. At this point a cast member will often instruct guests to, "...kindly drag your bodies away from the walls to the **dead** center of the room". A sliding wall panel closes in front of the doorway where the guests entered, trapping them inside the room. As the Ghost Host delivers his spiel, the room begins to "stretch" vertically. As the floor and fake walls descend, the real white walls and portrait frames (located behind the fake walls) elongate, revealing the grim fates of the previous residents depicted in the paintings, symbolized in humorously macabre situations: a beautiful young girl holding a parasol is shown to be balancing on a fraying tightrope above the jaws of an alligator; a middle-aged bearded man holding a document is shown to be standing atop a barrel of dynamite in his boxer shorts with a candle lighting the fuse; a smiling elderly woman holding a rose is shown to be sitting on the tombstone of her late husband George, who is depicted as a stone bust with an axe in his head; and a confident-looking middle-aged man in a bowler hat is shown to be sitting on the shoulders of a frightened-looking man, who sits on the shoulders of a third man who is waist-deep in quicksand, an expression of terror on his face.[9] As the Ghost Host challenges guests 'to find a way out' of this seemingly windowless and doorless chamber, he concludes his speech with, “Of course There’s Always My Way”.

With a sudden thunderclap, the lights go out and the ceiling disappears. A ghastly vision manifests above: the skeletal corpse of the Ghost Host dangling from a taut rope inside an octagonal cupola with four curtainless windows (rather than the hexagonal cupola with six curtained windows seen on the exterior), illuminated by flashes of lightning. Seconds later, the room plunges into darkness, and a bloodcurdling scream is heard — falling from the ceiling to the floor, ending with the sound of the corpse hitting the floor.

The Portrait Gallery, which guests walk through after exiting the Expanding Room.

As the chamber is re-lit, a wall opens, exposing a Portrait Gallery. As lightning flashes from the windows on the opposite side of the gallery, the portraits transform into images of ghosts and monsters in synchronization with the lightning. At the corridor's far end  are two statuary busts depicting a strict-looking man and woman. The statues appear to turn and gaze at guests, following their every move.

Turning a corner, guests enter the Load Area, where a seemingly endless stream of black carriages, known as Doom Buggies, descend one staircase and ascend another. Beyond the track, clouds drift past a limbo of boundless mist and decay. The guests then board the carriages, accompanied by the Ghost Host (who lowers the safety bar and provides a safety spiel).

Once guests ascend the pitch-black Staircase to the second floor, they come across a moving suit of armor, and a chair which appears to be embroidered with a hidden abstract face. The Doom Buggies also pass by the end of a seemingly Endless Hallway. Halfway down the hallway is a candelabra, floating eerily.

Turning away from the Endless Hallway, guests travel past a glass Conservatory filled with dead, withered plants and flowers. In the middle of the room is a coffin occupied by a restless "guest", plaintively wailing for someone to "Let me out!'. Perched near the coffin is a black raven with glowing red eyes.

The Doom Buggies continue down a Corridor of Doors. The sounds of pounding, shrieking, calls for help, screams, knocking, and maniacal laughter can be heard from behind the doors. Knockers and handles are moved by unseen hands and some doors appear to be "breathing." The walls, covered in demon-faced wallpaper, are adorned with daguerreotypes of screaming and grinning corpses, and a large painting of the Ghost Host with a noose around his neck and holding a hatchet. A demonic grandfather clock chimes 13 as its hands spin counter-clockwise and the shadow of a claw passes over it.

Guests enter a dark Séance Room full of floating objects. Madame Leota (Eleanor Audley), a medium whose disembodied head appears within a misty crystal ball with blue hair, summons the Mansion's spirits, levitating mysteriously above a table littered with tarot cards and a wispy green spirit moves off in a corner of the room. The raven seen moments ago in the Conservatory can now be seen perched on the back of the chair at the table. As she incants,

floating objects and instruments respond in turn. Before exiting the Séance Circle, guests pass a large, ancient tome entitled "Necronomicon: Book of the Dead" resting on a stand, with the book opened to pages 1312 and 1313. Page 1312 contains a cloaked version of Ezra the HitchHiking Ghost, while page 1313 contains Leota's incantations. After leaving the Séance Circle, guests move along a balcony overlooking a birthday party taking place in a Grand Hall, with a number of ghosts dancing and reveling. Ghosts are seen entering the room through a broken door, where a hearse has crashed with its coffin (and its contents) sliding out. Eerie phantoms are seen flying in and out of the windows above. A merry ghost is seen sitting atop the mantle of a fireplace with a mysterious green fire, with his arm wrapped around a bust. An elderly ghost is seen rocking back and forth in a chair, a book in her lap. Many ghosts have gathered around a dinner table, where a ghost is blowing out candles on a birthday cake. A massive chandelier hangs above the table on which a couple is perched and another ghost named Pickwick swings from by his cane. Another balcony is seen across the room, where a curtained doorway is situated between two portraits of dueling gunmen. From time to time, the ghosts of both duelists appear and shoot at each other with their pistols. A number of elegantly dressed couples are seen below, waltzing to a discordant version of the attraction's theme song played on a pipe organ (Captain Nemo's organ set piece from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)[2] by a ghostly gentleman wearing a top hat, while banshees float out of its pipes.

The Doom Buggies then proceed to the Attic, an irregularly shaped room cluttered with gifts, personal items, mementos and wedding portraits. In each portrait, the same bride is seen with a different groom, whose heads disappear only to reappear a moment later. With each successive photograph, the bride gains another string of pearls. The sound of a beating heart fills the room, and a shadowy spirit plays a grim version of the "Bridal Chorus" on an old harpsichord. Just before the Doom Buggies escape the Attic, the ghost of the bride from the pictures, Constance Hatchaway [2] is encountered, shrouded in cool blue light, and uttering words reciting the traditional wedding vows. As she raises her arms, a hatchet appears and disappears in her hands between vows. The Doom Buggies drift out of an Attic window and onto the balcony, coming face to face with the Hatbox Ghost amidst a starry night sky filled with wispy spirits rising from the Graveyard below. The Doom Buggies turn around, and tip backward down a 15-percent grade surrounded by dark, ghoulish trees with knotted expressions. The red-eyed raven (previously seen in the Conservatory and Séance Circle) caws at guests from a branch overhead as guests enter the Graveyard. The Doom Buggies then reach the ground and turn towards the gate of the Graveyard. There stands a caretaker and his dog, the attraction's only "living" characters. The caretaker cowers in fright, an expression of terror on his face, while his emaciated dog whines and whimpers. The dog is said to be based on Walt's childhood dog Rover, and also appears in the Carousel of Progress. Around the corner, a ghostly band of minstrels plays a jazzy rendition of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" as a family of cats and two owls join in harmony. Ghouls pop up from behind tombstones, a king and queen balance on a teeter-totter, and a skeletal hellhound howls from behind guests. The Doom Buggies travel down a hill and turn to see five expressive haunted busts singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" in barbershop harmony. Next, guests encounter a ghostly tea party surrounding a hearse stuck in the mud. A bony arm protrudes from a crypt with a wine glass in its hand, while banshees ride bicycles in the distance. An Egyptian mummy sits up in his sarcophagus, holding a cup of tea and singing along, while the ghost of a "wise old man" from the Renaissance period holds an ear trumpet to his ear in an attempt to make out the muffled words of the mummy. The Doom Buggies then turn and pass a group of singing ghosts (an operatic pair, a decapitated knight, a masked executioner, and a prisoner) standing in front of a series of crypts. A bony arm holding a trowel protrudes from a partially walled-up crypt, its occupant attempting to finish the job.

As the Doom Buggies approach the entrance of a large crypt, and the Ghost Host speaks one final time. Entering the Hall of Mirrors, the Doom Buggies pass a group of three ghosts thumbing for a ride. Around the corner, in large, ornately framed mirrors, the guests see that one of the ghosts from the trio is in the carriage with them.

While passing through the Hall of Mirrors, the same Singing Bust spirits from the Graveyard sing a somber tune in the background while guests proceed to the exit.

The guests then disembark their Doom Buggies and ascend back to the "living world." The last apparition they see is the tiny Ghost Hostess, also known as "Little Leota," who encourages them to hurry back.