Phantom Manor

**Phantom Manor** is an omnimover dark ride at Disneyland Paris. It is based on and inspired by the Haunted Mansion, but with a new story and darker tone, tying it into Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the rest of Frontierland.

## Background

After the success of the mines in Big Thunder Mountain, Henry Ravenswood, the owner of the Big Thunder Mining Company, built a manor on the highest hill in Thunder Mesa, moving in with his wife Martha and his daughter Melanie. As the years passed and Thunder Mesa began to decline, the manor declined with it. A string of suitors vied for Melanie's hand, but they all met a grim fate at the hands of her possessive father.

Melanie became engaged to a train engineer, who promised to take her away from Thunder Mesa forever. Ravenswood vowed that he would stop the wedding, no matter the cost. He perished in an earthquake in 1860, caused by the Thunderbird's wrath, and the wedding went on.

The day of their wedding, Melanie waited for her groom to appear, but he never did. Despite all signs that he jilted her, she believed that he would return - unknown to her, the malevolent ghost of her father had manifested and hung him from the attic's rafters. She remained in her wedding dress for the rest of her days, singing sad songs, and wandering around the manor, waiting for him to return. The manor was left to rot on the dead end of town, as Thunder Mesa moved on.

The story of the Ravenswood family became one of myth and legend. Some unlucky mortals managed to wander into its doors, discovering the secrets of what really happened.

## Attraction Experience

### Queue/Pre-Show

Guests walk through the attraction's queue, winding around the gardens of the manor. An old music box played from a gazebo, and murmuring voices can be heard underneath a shelter. A butler or maid opens the front door to the manor and ushers them into the foyer.

The Phantom begins speaking, telling them how nice it is to have guests. The wallpaper is ruined, the candlelights flicker, and a portrait of Henry Ravenswood and his daughter sits against the wall. Ravenswood is clutching onto her shoulders tightly, she wears a wedding dress, and the manor behind them is in ruins. As the Phantom continues, the portrait changes to one of them during happier times. The room is restored to its former glory, and a panel opens, leading into a secret room.

Four portraits sit on the wall of Melanie and her suitors. When the doors close, Melanie disappears from the portraits, and the room appears to stretch, revealing their grim fates.

* Captain Rowan D. Falls, captain of the Mark Twain Riverboat... in a boat above a waterfall
* Ignatius "Iggy" Knight, a dynamite manufacturer... in a cavern filled with lit explosives
* Barry Claude, an oil-field master... in a tree stump, where a bear is right underneath him
* Sawyer Bottom, owner of the Thunder Mesa sawmill... on a log going down his sawmill

The Phantom remarks that everyone is doomed at Phantom Manor, noting the lack of windows and doors in this room. The lights in the room go out, and lightning flashes from the attic above. The Phantom appears above, holding a noose. The Phantom apologizes for scaring us prematurely, and a panel finally opens.

Guests enter a portrait gallery, with paintings that change when lightning flashes.

* A cowboy and his horse standing on a hill overlooking a storm... become skeletons, looking at skeletal buffalo in the sky.
* Henry Ravenswood in a duel with another man... who is shot with his back still turned.
* Henry Ravenswood... with his face changed to a skeleton.
* A ship at sea... burns.

At the end of the hallway, Melanie stands in her wedding dress, while her singing is heard behind it. In the background of the painting, the visage of her father can be faintly made out. Guests enter the loading zone, overlooking a large staircase. A storm rages on outside, and Melanie looks out one of the windows, holding her bouquet.

### The Ride

Once guests board their doom buggy, they travel into the manor. They pass a living suit of armor, then turn to see a seemingly endless hallway. Melanie stands at the end, with the Phantom looming over her. The guests pass by a Phantom piano player, playing a funeral march, while pictures of Melanie's suitors are propped up around it. They enter a dimly lit corridor, where the doors shake, as ghosts try to get out. After passing a grandfather lock striking 13, they enter the seance circle where Madame Leota summons ghosts to come to the doomed wedding, and escort Melanie throughout the night.

The doom buggies enter a balcony overlooking a ballroom where ghosts dance and party, while Melanie and the Phantom overlook from below. They enter Melanie's boudoir, where she cries in front of a vanity. The face of the Phantom can be seen in the mirror. The guest exit through a window and come face to face with the Phantom, who laughs as he holds a shovel. A demonic hellhound growls, as they descend into a freshly dug grave. They enter the catacombs, where skeletons and corpses exit their graves and sing "Grim Grinning Ghosts", accompanied by the Singing Busts.

They exit the catacombs into the ruins of Phantom Canyon. A mayor greets the guests, tipping his hat and his head with it, and a ticket taker sits in his booth. A bandit and a sheriff are stuck in a shoot out. An apothecary tries his different potions. A piano player, showgirl, and bartender are in a ghostly saloon. Across the road in a hotel, two ghosts are playing cards. They confront the Phantom once more, who gestures towards an empty casket and a noose hanging from a tree, while laughing at them.

The doom buggies escape through the crypts, passing the final resting places of Melanie's suitors. Barry Claude's skeleton hand broke out of his grave, holding a diamond ring. They pass in front of a set of mirrors, as Melanie sits in the doom buggy with them, asking them to marry her. Guests make it out just in time, disembarking from their doom buggy. Melanie calls out to them to hurry back, as they exit into the living world. Guests can take either a short path back into Frontierland or a long path through the Boot Hill cemetery.

## Connections

### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

In addition to the story connections, the mountain range can be seen in the background of Phantom Canyon.

### Country Bear Jamboree

In Boot Hill is a wooden tombstone which shows an anthropomorphic bear that died the November 13 of 1865. Said bear bares a resemblance to the bears of the Country Bear Jamboree and is wearing a coonskin cap.

### Fortress Explorations

The Thunder Mesa Daily Messenger seemingly implies that the Society of Explorers and Adventurers investigated Ravenswood Manor in 1882.

### Haunted Mansion

Aside from the similar layout, similar scenes, similar ride vehicles, and similar soundtracks, several characters from the Haunted Mansion can be seen in Phantom Manor, such as Madame Leota and the singing busts.

In *Disney Kingdoms: The Haunted Mansion*, a picture of Ravenswood Manor can be seen hanging in the Ghostly Materials Gallery, alongside the Museum of the Weird and other mansions, which are all connected by way of the Endless Staircase. The Hatbox Ghost, who is one of the few that can navigate the stairs, has visited many haunted mansions all over the world, including the manor, believing that they're reminders of the inevitability of death to celebrate life.

### Jungle Cruise

Given his name and profession, Captain Rowan D. Falls is likely a relative of Albert Falls, the founder of the Jungle Navigation Company.

## Cast

* Vincent Price - **Henry Ravenswood/The Phantom** (English)
* Gerard Chevalier - **Henry Ravenswood/The Phantom** (French, 1992 - 2018)
* Bernard Alane - **Henry Ravenswood/The Phantom** (French, 2019 - present)
* Katherine Lench Meyering - **Melanie Ravenswood** (singing)
* Oona Lind - **Madame Leota** and **Melanie Ravenswood** (speaking)
* Paul Frees - **Mayor of Phantom Canyon** (archive recording)
* The Mellomen - **Singing Busts** (archive recording)

## Trivia

* The attraction's score was composed by John Debney, adapted from "Grim Grinning Ghosts" by Buddy Baker and X. Atencio.
* Show writer Jeff Burke cited *The* *Phantom of the Opera,* specifically the Broadyway musical, as an inspiration for the attraction. It influenced the grand gestures of the Phantom and Melanie's singing voice.
	+ In spite of the official story, many fans speculated that the Phantom was not Ravenswood, citing the original Phantom Manor's ambiguity, its *Phantom of the Opera* influence, and portrayals of the character at Disneyland Paris. The 2019 refurbishments clarified that Ravenswood was indeed the Phantom.
* The name "Ravenswood" is a play on the name of voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft - one of the singing busts.
* The Mayor of Phantom Canyon shares a face mold with Dreamfinder from the original *Journey Into Imagination* at Epcot.