The Haunted Mansion is a horror/thriller themed dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. This haunted house-based attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies" and a walk-through show is displayed to the queue line. Each location differs slightly in design, utilizing a range of technology from centuries-old theatrical effects to modern special effects, including Audio-Animatronics.
The ride was in development for over a decade after Disneyland opened and was one of the last projects begun under Walt Disney's direction. The Haunted Mansion inspired two loosely similar but distinct attractions, Phantom Manor and Mystic Manor, at Disneyland Park (Paris) and Hong Kong Disneyland, respectively. Franchise media includes television specials, merchandise, comic strips and a pair of feature films; The Haunted Mansion released in 2003 and Haunted Mansion released in 2023.
Ride summary Disneyland
Guests enter the grounds of the antebellum mansion through its front gate and walk through the gardens containing a pet cemetery and a carriage led by an invisible horse. Already an instrumental of the ride's theme song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts", can be heard. Once inside the mansion's foyer, the deep voice of the invisible Ghost Host (voiced by Disney Legend Paul Frees) introduces himself.
A wall opens up and the Ghost Host leads guests into an octagon shaped art gallery. This room contains a quartet of paintings, each depicting a person from the chest up. The wall closes behind the guests and the room stretches vertically. As it does, the portrait frames appear to elongate, revealing the subjects' grim but humorous fates. This iconic Stretching Room is actually an elevator used to transport guests underneath the railroad berm to where the main attraction is located. The Ghost Host challenges guests to "find a way out" and cackles, commenting, "Of course, there's always my way" as the room goes dark. The ceiling vanishes and lightning flashes to reveal the cupola, in which hangs the Ghost Host's skeletal remains from the rafters by a noose. The room goes dark again, a shriek is heard, followed by the sound of bones shattering. The Ghost Host apologizes for frightening the guests "prematurely" as the lights dimly return and a wall opens.
The Ghost Host leads guests into a portrait corridor connecting the Stretching Room to the loading area. This corridor is actually a tunnel that passes under Disneyland Railroad and connects the facade to the ride building, where the actual ride takes place. The subjects of the portraits on the right flicker briefly into macabre versions of themselves when lightning flashes from the windows on the left. The Ghost Host notes "we have 999 happy haunts here" with "room for 1000". At the end of the corridor are two busts who appear to "follow" the guests with their gazes due to the Hollow-Face illusion. In the loading area, black carriages called "Doom Buggies" descend one staircase and ascend another to the second floor, while fog is pumped into the back of the room. While most guests load their Doom Buggies via a moving carpet synced to the Doom Buggies, the carpets and Doom Buggies are frozen when loading and unloading wheelchair bound guests. There is also a brightly lit exit corridor accessible here acting as an official wheelchair exit, leading to an elevator back to the Mansion's entrance.
Once guests are loaded in their Doom Buggies, they ascend to the upper floor as the Ghost Host gives a bilingual safety spiel. Guests then pass by a candelabra floating down an endless hallway. Near the hallway's entrance is a moving suit of armor and a chair with an abstract face. The Doom Buggies then turn to view a glass conservatory filled with dead flora where a funeral is set up. Inside a casket, a zombie is heard calling out for help to escape; his bony hands are seen trying to pry the casket lid open. The Doom Buggies then travel down a hallway of doors where pounding, calls for help, screams, knocking, and maniacal laughter can be heard from behind the doors. Knockers and handles move independently, and some doors appear to "breath." A demonic grandfather clock chimes thirteen as the minute hand spins backwards and the shadow of a claw passes over it.
Guests enter a dark séance room that contains occult objects. Madame Leota, a blue-haired medium whose disembodied head appears within a levitating crystal ball, summons the Mansion's spirits. Floating musical instruments in the surrounding background respond in turn to her spell.
The séance circle is followed by a mezzanine overlooking a spacious ballroom where many ghosts enjoy a birthday party. Ghosts fly into the room from a crashed hearse and the windows. Several ghosts sit at the table where one blows out the candles of a birthday cake. When the ghost girl blows out the candles, the other ghosts seated at the table disappear, then reappear when she "inhales" again. Playing on the chandelier over the dining table are several drunken ghosts holding glasses of red wine. Six ghost couples waltz to music played by a gentleman's spirit on a pipe organ; several wraiths fly out of its pipes as the haunting refrain echoes throughout the scene. Hanging on the wall are the portraits of two duelists who come to life and fire their revolvers at each other. This Ballroom Scene is the most famous and elaborate use of the "Pepper's Ghost" illusion in popular culture.
Guests enter the attic filled with portraits and wedding gifts. In each portrait, the same bride is seen with a different groom, who disappears only to reappear a moment later. Guests then see the shadow of a pianist playing a sinister version of the "Bridal March". Nearby is the ghost of the bride, Constance Hatchaway, holding the same candelabra seen earlier as she floats while her heart glows pinkish red and beats in time with the music. Sitting next to her is an ominous one-eyed cat.
The Doom Buggies drift out of an attic window and onto a balcony towards the Hatbox Ghost amidst a starry night sky. They then fall backward underneath dead trees bearing humanoid faces. Reaching the ground, they turn towards the gate of a private cemetery, where a frightened caretaker holds a lantern and a shovel with his scrawny dog whimpering in fear at his feet. Around the corner, ghosts have risen from their graves and are partying enthusiastically. Ghouls also pop up from behind the gravestones, some of which appear to move. In the graveyard are multiple comical sights, such as a skeleton's hand popping out of a hole in a tomb, a duo of ghosts singing opera, a king and queen balancing a seesaw on a gravestone and a duchess sipping a cup of tea. Throughout the scene, five busts sing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" alongside the Phantom Five--a ghost band consisting of a lyrist, a trumpeter, a floutist, a bagpiper, and a percussionist using bones for drumsticks--and the other ghosts of the graveyard singing in chorus. Near the end of the graveyard, the candelabra floats by once more.
The Doom Buggies enter a large crypt where the Ghost Host warns guests about hitchhiking ghosts as the vehicles pass a group of three ghosts thumbing for a ride. Around the corner, in large mirrors, the guests see that one of the ghosts from the trio is in the buggy with them. The guests then disembark their Doom Buggies and begin to leave the mansion. As guests ride an escalator back to the surface, a small ghost known as Little Leota encourages them to "hurry back".
Magic Kingdom
The Haunted Mansion was an opening-day attraction at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, where it is part of Liberty Square. During the production and assembly of the props and audio-animatronics for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, duplicates of everything were being made for Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion. It was decided that the Florida version of the attraction would be slightly longer and more elaborate than its California counterpart with extra scenes such as the library and the music room. Paul Frees recorded additional voice-overs, including dialogue as the "Ghost Host", to accompany the extra scenes in the ride. Because of the ample space within the park, the attraction's show building is much larger and not restricted by any railroad berm.
In the Foyer, there is a portrait of the Aging Man from the Disneyland version. Unlike its Disneyland counterpart, the stretching rooms are not elevators and instead have the ceilings rise. After this, the door opens to the Doom Buggy loading area.
Upon boarding, guests pass under the staircase, with a candelabra floating above, then pass the changing portraits as seen in the queue at Disneyland. An on-ride photo is taken in this section. Then the guests go through the library where busts of ghost writers stare and follow them when they pass by as also seen in the queue at Disneyland. Once they enter the music room, an invisible pianist plays a sinister version of “Grim Grinning Ghosts” and into the Endless Staircase, where footprints can be seen and candelabras are blown out occasionally by unseen ghosts.
Passing by bat-eyed wallpaper that glows in the dark, the guests see the Endless Hallway, but the Hatbox Ghost appears next to it from a blue door, his footprints visible in front of the Hallway. The conservatory and corridor of doors are similar to the California counterparts.
In the seance room, Madame Leota is seen floating and reciting her spell as instruments play. A green specter floats alongside the instruments. The Doom Buggies enter a ballroom scene near identical to California before proceeding to the attic. Here, the piano player can be heard, but not seen. Florida's bride character, Constance Hatchaway, gleefully recites twisted wedding vows and threateningly holds a hatchet. Voiced by Kat Cressida (who's best known for voicing Dee Dee in Dexter's Laboratory), Hatchaway is the inspiration for similar bride characters in Muppets Haunted Mansion and the theatrical 2023 film.
The Doom Buggies pass through the cemetery, where many of the ghosts are singing Grim Grinning Ghosts and into the crypt, where the Hitchhiking Ghosts are playing around in the mirrors. Little Leota appears above the vehicles as guests disembark and pass a mausoleum and then a pet cemetery.
Tokyo Disneyland The Tokyo Disneyland version of the Haunted Mansion was an opening day attraction and is located in Fantasyland. This version is largely a duplicate of the Magic Kingdom version as it ran throughout the 20th century, without the changes it received during its 2007 refurbishment. Minor differences include a haunted painting of a man vaguely resembling Peter Lorre whose face pops out and stretches, a tall, legless ghost in the Séance Room, and more advanced lighting. To those unfamiliar with the Florida ride before its 2007 refurbishment, the most notable differences from the American parks will be the absence of Florida's Endless Staircase scene and a unique attic scene. Tokyo's attic is a sparsely decorated, with pop-up ghosts scattered about and a more enigmatic bride character without any dialogue or background lore. This attic is faithful to how California and Florida's attic scenes appeared throughout the 90s and early 2000s.
History Development The idea for the Mansion precedes Disneyland and WED Enterprises, dating to when Walt Disney hired the first of his Imagineers. At the time, the park they were developing the 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 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.