Haunted Mansion Overview | Disney’s Magic Kingdom Attractions

At Magic Kingdom, guests can board their own “Doom Buggy” and tour the mysterious building in Liberty Square called the Haunted Mansion. The eerie voice of the Ghost Host guides guests through the home of 999 “happy haunts” to view the many supernatural and creepy aspects of the estate. The enigma and overall frightening atmosphere will certainly make guests want to “hurry back” just as one of the ghosts invites them to.

Ride Overview

The Haunted Mansion is an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom but the spooky ride actually originated at Disneyland Park in California. The Florida version of the Haunted Mansion was created using a duplicate set of audio animatronics from Disneyland and was intended to be longer and more elaborate than its West Coast counterpart. Because Disney World has Liberty Square instead of New Orleans Square, its theme is a bit different than Disneyland’s version. The architecture and overall aesthetic is inspired by the classic horror tales of the North Eastern United States.

The Haunted Mansion is a slow and dark ride with omnimover style vehicles called “Doom Buggies”. These buggies and the narration of Master Gracey, the ghost host, take guests on a spirited tour through the eerie estate. The mansion features dancing ghosts, staircases to unknown destinations, witchy rituals, and a musical graveyard. Due to the mansion’s slightly frightening content, this ride might not be suited for all guests. 

The Haunted mansion has many unique and ghostly rooms. Gracey takes guests to the library which is filled with only ghost stories and marble busts of writers. In the Conservatory, the buggies pass a coffin with a spirit who appears to be not at rest quite yet. In the Seance circle room, Madame Leota, who is a floating head in a crystal ball, communicates with spirits who have begun to materialize. In the ballroom, many ghosts celebrate a birthday by dancing. The attic tells the story of Constance who is a bride with many deceased husbands. The graveyard is where the “Grim Grinning Ghosts” are socializing and singing. Before the ride ends, guests are warned of the “Hitchhiking ghosts” that might follow them home.

Map

Location & Wait Times

The Haunted Mansion is located in Liberty Square at Magic Kingdom. The ghostly attraction is just past Rapunzel’s Tower and sits on the waterfront of the Rivers of America. Because Haunted Mansion is so iconic at Magic Kingdom, wait times for this attraction range from moderate to high. Wait times tend to be the lowest in the morning and from late afternoon into the evening. 

Queue Experience

The Haunted Mansion queue is essential to establishing the horror atmosphere of the attraction. The outdoor portion is interactive with hands-on aspects such as a musical crypt and a secret library to entertain guests as they wait. Guests enter the mansion and are led through the foyer to the stretching room which is where the ghost host first greets them. 

The stretching room is decorated with four portraits of some of the past tenets of the home. As the room stretches, the fates of people in the paintings become apparent. Master Gracey then points out to guests that they may be trapped in the room as it has no windows and no doors. After the ghost host offers his suggestion of how to escape, a secret door opens to a hallway that leads to the loading area. 

The loading area houses seven of the “Sinister 11” portraits that are throughout the attraction. The portraits have changed location a few times throughout the 50 years of Haunted Mansion’s history. Currently the paintings of The Arsonist, Jack the Ripper, The Mariner, Hatchet Man, Witch of Walpurgis, Dracula, and Old Man can be seen as guests board their doom buggies. The “Sinister 11” images are unique to the Florida and Tokyo versions of the Haunted Mansion.

Written by

Emily Murray

Contributing Writer

For as long as Emily can remember, Disney has played a huge role in her life. Her infatuation with Disney resulted in many hours spent rewatching Toy Story and creating multiple powerpoints to convince her parents to book yet another vacation to the “Most Magical Place on Earth”. In 2015, Emily followed one of her dreams and moved to Orlando, Florida where she spent just over five years working for the mouse in three separate roles. Emily is passionate about writing and using words creatively and concisely. She loves to make others laugh and hopes to sprinkle a little bit of magic into everything she does.