Fun Facts: The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion was an opening day attraction at WDW when it opened in 1971. It is a dark ride attraction which features animatronics and unique effects to give life to ghosts and spooks. Guests to the mansion begin their trip in an outside queue which winds around grave markers and tomb stones. The tombstones often contain the names of imagineers who helped design the ride.
As you head into the mansion you find yourself in the "stretching room" where the portraits of various occupants of the mansion expand to show how they met their demise. The effect of the stretching portraits makes you feel as if the room is getting smaller. All the while, a haunting voice narrates your passage.
As you depart the room you head into another short queue where you are loaded into doom buggies that will carry you along the ride. The buggies can swivel and rotate so that you see various parts of the mansion at different times.
As you travel through the mansion you are transported through rooms and encounter the souls who continue to occupy the premises. Some spooks like Madame Leota have become pop culture favorites. Effects designed by Walt Disney himself are utilized to give the rider the impression that they are seeing relics from the after life move about the home.
The Haunted Mansion is a timeless attraction - one that will never be replaced. It has endured for nearly fifty (50) years (dating back to the 1969 opening at Disneyland). I can't think of a better place to be on Halloween night than at the Haunted Mansion.
Comment below and let us know your favorite part of the Haunted Mansion!
*Photograph courtesy of BigFatPanda.com (via YouTube.com)
*Photograph courtesy of A Cousin Mickey Doesn't Talk About (via YouTube.com)
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