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{Ghost Host} Welcome, foolish Mortals, to the Haunted Mansion.

I am your host, your TPM host.

Our tour begins here at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World where the Haunted Mansion opened

in October of 1971.

Home to 999 happy haunts, countless stories-

{Sound Engineer} Uhh the Ghost Host can stop there.

{TPMvids} Yea but don’t you think it’ll fit in better with me mentioning the countless

stories have echoed through the halls, from legends, to secrets and even some hidden details

you’ve probably never even noticed.

I mean did you know that these benches at the exit have snakes painted on them?

{Sound Engineer} Hmm I never noticed that.

{TPMvids} Well then lets tour the mansion from top to bottom as we count down the Top

10 Spooky Secrets of The Haunted Mansion.

Number 10 The original Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland

in August of 1969 but did you know that everything inside the attraction at Walt Disney World

is the exact same age as Disneyland?

When the Haunted Mansion was being conceived they already knew Florida would be getting

their own version of the ride.

Since both attractions were scheduled to open within two years of each other, Imagineers

ordered duplicates of everything from the ride system right down to the sets and animatronics.

Once everything had been built one set went directly into the attraction at Disneyland

and then the other went into a warehouse for storage.

When Magic Kingdom began construction, the haunted Mansion was said to be the easiest

attraction to instal and it was completed by April of 1971- 6 months before Magic Kingdom

opened.

Number 9 With the Haunted Mansion placed in Liberty

Square, the building’s architecture takes on the Dutch Gothic Revival Style.

From the mid to late 1800’s, this style was used a lot for houses in rural areas and

the Haunted Mansion was actually inspired by two real mansions.

One is the Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

It was built in 1874 and it still stands today.

You can see some similarities on the facade but when it comes to the layout, the Haunted

Mansion was based off the Rathbone Estate in Albany, New York.

It was built between 1842 to 1845 and although the building is no longer around today, the

layout is almost identical.

Imagineers gave the Mansion in Florida more of a cartoony-like appearance and there’s

a legend that the stone turrets on top of the building are actually oversized chess

pieces.

This secret is mentioned in the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at Magic Kingdom but according

to this book, written by Imagineer Jason Surrell this isn’t true.

He goes on to say that it’s just merely a coincidence that the turrets resemble some

chess pieces since these designs were part of the architectural period and style.

So I guess this little secret and legend is pretty much busted but next time you’re

at the mansion, see how many different chess pieces the turrets resemble.

Number 8 If you don’t use standby at the Haunted

Mansion, you’re missing some fun hidden details in the interactive queue.

Much like how the windows on Main Street feature tributes to imagineers, the Tombstones in

the queue at the Haunted Mansion do the same thing bit for the Haunted Mansion.

Here’s a few prominent Imagineers you you can spot.

When you first enter, on the right hand side you’ll see Grandpa Marc the Patriarch named

after the one and only Marc Davis.

Marc was responsible for creating many of the comical characters in the attraction including

the portraits in the stretching room.

Next to Grandpa Marc you can find Francis Xavier named after Francis Xavier Atencio.

Better known as X Atencio, he was the imagineer who wrote the iconic Ghost Host dialogue as

well as the lyrics to Grim Grinning Ghosts.

In the centre you’ll find Master Gracey laid to rest who’s named after Yale Gracy,

the imagineer responsible for creating a lot of the special effects in the attraction.

There are so many other tributes on the tombstones so next time you walk through the queue keep

your eyes peeled; you never know who you might see.

Number 7 Disney puts a lot of detail in the pavement.

In the Haunted Mansion queue you may notice the caretakers footprints along with some

dog prints but a the real secret here we’re talking about here is the hidden wedding ring.

It’s really small so you’re gonna have to look extra hard to find it but it’s right

next to the captain’s crypt and it’s only visible from the standby queue.

The ring is that little silver thing in the pavement.

The right side here is facing the front of the organ and to left is where standby merges

with Fastpass.

Now this wedding ring is said to belong to the bride Constance who threw it out of the

window, but this secret and story actually began as a fan legend.

This here is the original wedding ring.

It had a past life as a pole in the queue that was cut to free up space.

After a maintenance cast member tried removing the leftover metal and broke the tip of their

screwdriver, the wedding ring was born.

Around 2006 Disney did pave over the original ring and it didn’t return until the interactive

queue was built in 2011.

Imagineers remembered this fan legend and placed a wedding ring in the pavement to tell

this story and officially make it part of the Haunted Mansion canon.

Number 6 The dialogue spoken by the Ghost Host is iconic.

He’s voiced by the legendary Paul Frees but did you know that the original host for

the attraction was supposed to be a Raven?

It’s actually the very same raven that can be seen in the Conservatory or in the Seance

room on the chair.

He actually appears 4 times on ride at Magic Kingdom but during the development Imagineers

began to realize that since the Raven was so small, it was getting lost in all the chaos

happening around it.

It was difficult to draw attention to this little bird.

Since the black Raven fits the motif of this sinister story, they kept it as a silent character

but then switched gears to create the disembodied Ghost Host.

When designing the new interactive queue in 2011, Imagineers also added the Raven onto

the organ to get you familiar with the character before you even enter the ride.

Number 5 Now it isn’t the Haunted Mansion without

ghostly spirits.

Visiting the Haunted Mansion during the day is one thing but at night this certain spooky

energy fills the attraction.

The windows are all illuminated and in some of them you’ll see the flicker of candlelight

but if you keep a watchful eye you may spot some ghosts lurking in the distance.

Silhouettes of some of the 999 happy haunts walk by the windows from time to time like

right here.

There’s four different windows on the mansion where these ghosts are visible so next time

you’re at the Haunted Mansion, try and take about 5 minutes to see how many times these

Silhouettes show up in the windows.

Number 4 One of the 999 Happy haunts is Madame Leotta.

Now before entertaining the mansion, be sure to keep a watchful eye on her tombstone.

She’s keeping a watchful eye on you before she sends those sympathetic vibrations your

way.

Madame Leotta the floating physic medium is a pretty famous Disney parks character and

she was actually modelled after an Imagineer.

Yale Gracey, the Imagineer we mentioned earlier, needed a model to a pose as a head to test

an effect so he asked fellow Imagineer Leotta Toombs to step in.

Leotta looked so great that she became the official face of the character and they even

went on and named it after her as well.

Now Leotta was a very soft spoken woman so they brought in Elanor Audley to dub her voice.

You may recognize Audley’s voice as Lady Termaine in Cinderella and Maleficent in Sleeping

Beauty,

{Madame Leotta} Wizards, and witches, wherever you dwell.

Give us a hint by ringing a bell

but you can however hear Leotta’s voice asking you to hurry back.

{Baby Leotta} Hurrry back!

Number 3 One of the most commonly used illusions found

on Disney rides is the Pepper’s Ghost effect.

The ballroom scene of the Haunted Mansion is the most commonly talked about example

and it’s actually one of the largest Pepper’s ghost set ups there is.

The simple yet effective illusion has been around since 1862.

It was commonly used in stage set ups and it’s all about using a piece of glass and

reflection.

The easiest way to understand how the illusion works is to look at any window.

In these display windows you see the reflection of the guests walking around and this pretty

much the same concept as Pepper’s Ghost used in the Haunted Mansion.

As your doom buggy travels along the ride track, there’s a large pane of glass that

extends 30 by 90 feet in front of this scene.

Hidden above and below you there are physical ghost animatronic figures painted with exaggerated

colours and they’re all placed against black backdrops.

When they are illuminated their image is reflected onto the glass and creates a composite of

ghostly spirits in the physical room in front of you.

Number 2 Did you know that some familiar faces from

other Disney attractions can be found in the Haunted Mansion?

Disney recycles animatronic molds to create new characters so they turned the auctioneer

from Pirates of the Caribbean into the Ship Captain spinning in a circle right here.

In the iconic Pirates of the Caribbean jail scene, the tall slender pirate in the middle

was recycled into the ghost with the crown at the dining table in the ballroom scene.

In this promotional footage from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion it’s really easy to see

the resemblance.

Also that whistling pirate, well he can be found a few times in the Haunted Mansion.

He was recycled as the ghost blowing out her candles on the table, and as you make your

way into the graveyard scene, a few of the instrument playing ghosts on the left hand

side were also recycled from the same mold.

Another character that can be found in the Haunted Mansion is the Grandma from Carrousel

of Progress.

She can be seen right here in the ballroom scene.

Now Pirates of the Caribbean and Carousel of Progress were not opening day attractions

at Magic Kingdom, but The Haunted Mansion was.

So this means that these characters were in the park before their attractions.

Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t open until 1973 and Carousel of Progress opened in 1975.

Number 1 As you exit the Haunted Mansion its easy rush

out to catch your next fastpass but if you’re guilty of this, you might be missing out on

another hidden Haunted Mansion secret.

On the left hand side there’s a pet cemetery where many animals have been laid to rest,

but if you take a look at the the top of the hill you’ll spot Mr. Toad.

From 1971 until 1998, Mr. Toad’s wild ride was able to be found in Fantasyland.

It’s where the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is today.

8 years after the ride closed, Mr. Toad was placed in the pet cemetery in 2006.

He’s had a couple spots in the graveyard but now is more prominently featured.

You’ll notice the other animals have epitaphs written on the stone and there’s a myth

among cast members that Mr. Toads says Here lies Toad, It’s sad but true, not nearly

as marketable as Winnie the Pooh.

When you zoom right in, you can see there’s nothing on the stone, but next time you’re

exiting the Haunted Mansion, don’t forget to say hi to Mr. Toad who resides in this

deadly new humble abode.

So what's your favorite detail or secret in the Haunted Mansion?

I’d love to know!

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