May 2009

Long before Eddie Murphy’s movie of the same name, The Haunted Mansion, has  always been another hit at the Magic Kingdom. Located in Liberty Square, overlooking the small river that runs through the park, you cannot pass by the ride without hearing the ghoulish sounds from inside, and maybe a couple of hellacious screams too.  While you wait to enter the Haunted Mansion, the line winds you through a graveyard and actors telling you to ” Fill the Dead Space “.  As you approach the doors to the ride make sure you take a look at the headstones, your sure to get a chuckle out of the these.

As you are waiting to get on the ride, take a look at the building itself.  Along the rooftop is adorned with chess pieces, everything  from the pawns to queens.  The only piece that is not there is the knight. That’s just fine though, because it is always ( K ) night inside, as the players who entertain you in line say.  Another nice touch to the architecture of the house is the weather vane that sits atop, it’s a bat, quite fittingly for this house.  The original idea  for the house was for it to look like an early 1800′s Southern style mansion, however the Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe, PA turned out to be the final inspiration and the mansion looks more like a an old home in northeastern United States.

Once you enter you will be led to a strange room,  this is the staging area before you are loaded onto the ride.  There are portraits of the former owners on the wall,  and while you wait a story is being told about them as either the floor goes down or the ceiling goes up (can you tell which it is?).  The portraits elongate as well not as faltering as before. The story stops and a flash of lightning shocks the audience, they look up and it seems as if some one has been murdered.  With that set up for the ride, the door opens and you on your way to ride through the mansion.

As you are walking to the chairs of the ride, you will notice two  busts that resemble Romans , they do not take their eyes off you and follow you every where you got just as if the know your fate.  As you sit down your in your set, you are in  for a treat!  Some of the best wall to wall creeps with a few laughs thrown in throughout the Haunted Mansion ride.  There  is everything from ghostly needle-point, to a ghostly wedding reception that has a banquet hall full of dancers with a very unique face in a suspended in mid-air crystal ball. Just a side note of trivia about this neat crystal ball, the face in within it belongs to Disney’s own Leota Thomas.

The special effects on this ride are outstanding!  It’s spooks and ghouls even rivals the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  There are not as many animatronics on the Haunted Mansion ride,  but it does have a lot to offer in the ways of fun and wow!  Make sure to look at the chandler during the dance a drunken patron has take his final drink from there.  And as one of the last parts of the ride, make sure you look into the mirrors closely as you may or may not have a ghost on your lap as you pass by.  Oh, and don’t forget to read some more gravestones on your way out.

This ride is more for an older patron to the park, as it is a little frighting  for the little ones because the ride is essentially in the dark.  If your children are accustomed to the dark and being “spooked” for fun, the Haunted Mansion ride is definitely one ride worth the wait, and maybe even a second ride, as there is so much going on you will always see or discover something new everytime you ride.