Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is one of the most popular rides and a park staple at Disney parks across the globe! It is personally one of my favorite attractions and it’s a must-do ride whenever visiting. This haunted and spooky ride leaves you feeling creeped out but enchanted as you watch dancing ghosts, floating heads and around each corner is something more creepy than the last! The Haunted Mansion opened in August of 1969, since it has had just minor changes, so it has kept its original creepy and rich history since its opening. There are a lot of interesting facts you may not know about the Haunted Mansion, so let’s explore this haunting and creepy ride!

This Attraction Is All Over The World

The Haunted Mansion is located in a different land at each Disney park, which makes this attraction unique with just that alone. You can find the Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square in Disneyland California, Liberty Square in Disney World Magic Kingdom in Florida, Frontierland at Disneyland Paris (where it is called the “Phantom Manor”), and Fantasyland in Disneyland Tokyo. In Hong Kong Disneyland there is an attraction called; Mystic Manor, although it is similar, it is not apart of the Haunted Mansion family. Each mansion has its own architectural look, the original Disneyland Haunted Mansion has a Southern Plantation style look, while Disney World and Tokyo have a more estate brick style. In Paris, their Haunted Mansion has a Victorian style. All equally spooky!

Headstone Names

The headstone names are not made up, but they are actually names of important Imagineers and creators of the Haunted Mansion. The headstones honor people such as Marc Davis, Claude Coats, X Atencio, Leota Toombs, Rolly Crump, Harriet Burns, Fred Jorger and Yale Gracey. Yale Gracey was the chief Imagineer for the special effects, and X Atencio did the music for the attraction, also the music for Pirates of the Caribbean. Leota Toombs was the model Madame Leota (the floating head.)

The Original Haunted Mansion

The plans for the original Haunted Mansion is nothing like what we get freaked out by today. Originally the thought for the attraction was to be a walk through wax museum which would be known as the Museum of the Weird. Imagineer Rolly Crump created strange props, although the museum was never built, a lot of it’s elements created by Crump are in the attractions we know today. The original mansion in Disneyland California, was left untouched after Walt Disney’s death in 1966. Imagineers had to figure out the right direction for the attraction, which eventually opened in August of 1969.

I could go on and on with interesting and spooky details of Disney’s Haunted Mansion. I mean, there are 999 hauntings in just one attraction! But I hope learning these interesting facts about the beloved and spooky Haunted Mansion we all love to be scared by, leaves you craving this ride for your next visit! Hopefully next time you will have a new found appreciation for the headstone names!