The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion

by Jeff Baham

  “I can remember three lines that snaked from the attractions, all the way to the ‘hub,’” recalled former Cast Member Steve Simmons, who was working at the park when the Haunted Mansion opened to the public. “The three things were the Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and the Jungle Cruise.” As the “hub” was the center of Disneyland, the amount of time that people would be waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion during the first busy season was often three, maybe four hours—or more. “They had to bring in extra people for crowd control, to make sure the lines stayed separated. So yes, [attendance] did pick up.” [3]

  On August 11, the press were invited to take a trip through the brand-new Haunted Mansion attraction. Each official attendee was given a special press package, which included a “Press Ghost” pass containing a dangling glow-in-the-dark miniature Randotti skull, which would be worn throughout the evening. The journalists were invited to a late-night gathering in New Orleans Square’s exclusive Club 33—a private members-only restaurant Walt Disney had hidden inside of New Orleans Square—and were wined and dined there until nearly 12:00 a.m., when a recording of Peter Renoudet as the “Ghost Host” interrupted the festivities and welcomed the reporters to the Haunted Mansion. Then they were escorted to the new attraction for a special midnight preview.

  “[The press] was more ‘wined’ than ‘dined,’” recalled Simmons. “Disney wanted to ensure that they had positive reviews of the Mansion. That line going from Club 33 to the Haunted Mansion was not a straight one.”

  The fifty lucky members of the press who had been invited to the august opening dutifully reported on the impressive attraction they witnessed, garnering a good deal of attention for the Haunted Mansion. Syndicated columnist Jack Smith found the mystique of the entire preview evening as news-worthy as the spook house itself. Quoting from Jack's column:

  “Meet us by 10:30 p.m.,” the invitation had read, “at the Club 33, in New Orleans Square (left at the Plaza, through Adventureland, turn left at the One-of-a-Kind Shop, go to the first door past the Blue Bayou).” Only a man with no adventure in his heart could ignore an invitation like that. It sounded like something one might find scrawled on a scrap of paper in the pocket of Sam Spade, rest his soul."

  As it turns out, the event did not come off without a hitch—or perhaps an actual ghost in the machine. As the press were en route to the Haunted Mansion, led by their hostess for the evening, Disneyland’s 1969 ambassador, Sheri Bescos, a harried technician took Bescos aside and told her she needed to stall, since a full third of the ride vehicles were not playing the audio narration correctly.

  “So I kind of took them down by the river and we did a leisurely walk along the river,” Bescos recalled. “I stopped a couple of times and talked about [the Mansion], because I was trying to stall. I would stop and we would talk about the fact about how long it had been there, and that Walt had gathered ghosts from around the world, and there were some problems after his passing, and so it’s taken us this much longer to get the number of ghosts we needed to get it open.” Before too long, the problem was ironed out, and the press were invited to the ribbon cutting and their first ride. [4]

  The actual press release presented by Disneyland went on to describe the Haunted Mansion as follows:

  HAUNTED MANSION TO HIGHLIGHT $10 MILLION EXPANSION PROGRAM FOR DISNEYLAND’S SUMMER ’69

  Highlighting what is expected to be the biggest summer season in the Magic Kingdom’s 14-year history is the much-anticipated ‘Haunted Mansion.’ The ‘Haunted Mansion’ will be Disneyland’s most frightfully entertaining adventure. It will be furnished with ectoplasmic ghosts, mischievous spirits and happy spooks from all over the world…Walt Disney and his staff at WED Enterprises, Inc., began designing the ‘Haunted Mansion’ more than 10 years ago. Researching haunted homes and castles, supernatural occurrences, and psychic phenomena, the designers are creating a spine-chilling atmosphere to attract happy haunters.

  The “wine-ing and dine-ing” proved to be a successful gambit, and the press went on to dutifully report on the amazing new attraction to newspapers throughout the country. Writer Bob Thomas, who both reported on the company for news outlets and also authored books about the company, gushed over what he had seen:

  Walt Disney dearly loved to scare people—in a nice sort of way—and one of his dreams was to create at Disneyland a home for the world’s most famous ghosts. Many times I listened to him spin ghostly tales he planned to dramatize in a Haunted Mansion at the Anaheim park. The projects went through many states, and an underground shell and the mansion exterior were built during one of the periodic overhauls of Disneyland. But Walt was never satisfied with the illusions, and he died before his dream could be realized.

  Thomas went on to interview Card Walker from Disneyland and Dick Irvine, representing WED, in the article:

  “Then there was the matter of how to conduct the people through the ride,” [said] Walker. “At first we thought it might be a walk-through, with 30 on a conducted tour. But that was difficult to manage, and besides, people don’t scare as easily in crowds.” “So we made it a ride-through, with three people in a car—their crypt, so to speak,” said Irvine. “The cars could be programmed to face the right direction, tilt back and keep moving. They provided the capacity we need for rides at Disneyland—2,300 per hour.” [5]

  New promotional materials were published quickly, to capitalize on the anticipation that had built up over the years. Newspaper advertisements were booked when the attraction finally opened, encouraging guests to revisit the park (and featuring Marc Davis’s sketches of the hitchhiking ghosts, who would come to be the ride’s unofficial mascots). A sample advertisement reads:

  If you think pale moonlight is romantic, visit the Haunted Mansion…you may have a change of heart. Delightfully dreary. Frightfully entertaining. Our latest census shows 999 haunting creeps in active retirement…and there’s always room for one more .

  Paul Frees was hired to record a few radio advertisements as well. In one ad, Frees can be heard reprising his role as the Ghost Host, but some other ads that Disney produced with Frees relied more on his penchant for comical voices. “Daddy, will you tell me a human story?” a young ghost asks in one of the humorous ads. Other ads feature a recently-deceased silent movie vamp, an old-timer who died in 1720, and a dead Olympic “hide-and-seek champion.” Early marketing was designed to increase people’s curiosity by making it clear that there was a sense of character and history to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, quite unlike the spook house that might be found at the summer fair. This haunted house was quite correctly perceived to be unlike any other ever created.

  Disneyland also celebrated the attraction in the park itself, with various promotions, souvenirs and celebrations—such as the co-branded Carnation “I Scream” Sundae, which came complete with a little red plastic spoon picturing the three hitchhiking ghosts. Silkscreened posters advertising the confection were displayed at the park during the promotion. Soon, plaster souvenir tombstones that could be customized with a guest’s name were on sale, glow-in-the-dark plaster skulls and mechanical haunted house banks were sold in the Disneyland magic shops, and the Haunted Mansion had begun its eternal search for the elusive final ghost needed to fill its ranks. After all, as the Ghost Host advertises in the ride, “We have nine hundred and ninety-nine happy haunts here, but there’s room for a thousand…any volunteers?”

  Part Two

  The Experience

  Crowds descend

  Here is a typical crowded morning at the Haunted Mansion shortly after it opened to the public. The bronze plaques announcing the attraction are still shiny bronze, untouched by the patina that would quickly develop. Lines in the early days when the public’s curiosity was at its peak could stretch to three, even four hours at times.

  Photo courtesy of Gregg Ziak.

  Pass to the other side

  The Disneyland “FastPass” queue for the Haunted Mansion is an ominous sign of things to come.

>   Photo courtesy of Steve Silvas.

  Pass to the other side

  The Disneyland “FastPass” queue for the Haunted Mansion is an ominous sign of things to come.

  Chapter Eight

  Act One—Ghoulish Delight

  As is the case with everything at Disney’s theme parks around the world, attention to detail is paramount at the Haunted Mansion. The Disney parks are well known for their themed queues, and the Haunted Mansion is no exception to this rule. At Disneyland, a brick and cast-iron fence surrounds the property, with a well-manicured lawn in front that winds past some exotic flora which add a mysterious touch to the landscaping by Disney landscape artist Bill Evans. The grounds contain plants that are carefully groomed to maintain a proper, well-tended appearance, while still offering a hint of sorrow. The Haunted Mansion was placed in a pre-existing grove of Magnolia trees, and a few still remain around the Disneyland facade. The neatly tended lawn is adorned with carefully placed sections of Mondo grass, to give a loose, overgrown effect around planters and props. A number of drooping plants and trees are used in the landscaping, to give a “weeping” appearance, as if the flora itself were in mourning. Medusa’s Head, Weeping Mulberry, and Weeping Juniper are all examples of this style of planting. Calla Lily, Lambs Ear, and English Holly are other familiar varieties used in this lush display.

  The Magnolia trees also double as sneaky staging areas for lighting effects. Spotlights with “gobos,” or lighting stencils, are hidden in the tree branches and positioned so that they can project mottled blue shadows on the front of the façade at night, giving the Haunted Mansion the continuous appearance of being dappled by moonlight.

  During one of the Haunted Mansion’s “rehabs,” in which the attraction is freshened up by Walt Disney Imagineering (or WDI, the current manifestation of Walt’s original WED Enterprises), a humorous pet cemetery was added adjacent to the front lawn in 1993. In a clever sight gag, a tombstone for a pet skunk is set apart from the rest of the pets’ markers, surrounded by plantings of Society Garlic, intended to give guests waiting in the queue a pungent whiff of the skunk’s past life. An antique hearse apparently being pulled by an invisible “ghost horse,” detectible solely by the saddle and reins which hang mysteriously in mid-air, was permanently parked next to the front lawn in 1995. While rumors persist that this hearse was the one that carried the body of Joseph Smith in 1844, this is not true. The hearse was purchased at auction—and the scene was such a success that a similar hearse was purchased to display in front of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion as well.

  Although Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion may most closely resemble Walt’s personal vision, the other two Haunted Mansions (in Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland) more closely resemble a haunted colonial manse, with large, imposing brick facades, heavy wrought iron, and landscaping that appears to have run amok. Where Disneyland’s exterior theme relies on paint and cast iron, Walt Disney World’s Mansion features heavy brick and patina. According to Imagineer Tony Baxter, the differences between California’s southern plantation and Florida’s colonial fortress facades are due, in part, to the existing architecture of the regions, and a desire to create something that doesn’t seem too familiar to local guests. [1]

  A pet cemetery, a later addition to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion queue, provides humorous yet wistful epitaphs to various pets owned by the residents of the mansion. Photograph by Jeff Baham.

  Back at Disneyland, the winding queue creeps past a fully occupied mausoleum wall. Originally, it also passed a small graveyard, which was first planted in a small plot of grass inside the queue, and was then moved atop the adjacent ivy-coated hill, though the gravestones were finally removed in 2000. The stones were inscribed with pithy statements about the deceased they represented, all of whom were actually folks that worked in some way on the Haunted Mansion. “In memory of our patriarch / Dear departed Grandpa Marc” was dedicated to Marc Davis; “Master Gracey / Laid to rest / No mourning please / At his request” was dedicated to Yale Gracey. Many of the WED designers and engineers had a tombstone honoring them, and when the original props were removed from display a year after they were first installed, they were offered to their namesakes as souvenirs to take home, to keep in their offices, or, as X. Atencio did with his marker, plant in their backyards. Replicas were installed outside of the Mansion to replace the original props.

  Around the northwest side of the Haunted Mansion, where there was originally a wheelchair entrance that has since been replaced by a ramp in front of the building, there is an old pet cemetery, which had been installed back in the 1980s. There had originally been a mechanical room off to the side and beneath the patio level of the house, and Imagineer Kim Irvine decided that the flat rooftop might just as well be themed to match the rest of the property, so they covered it with a thin layer of sod, developed a simple layout for a pet cemetery, and visited a statuary shop to find some animal forms for the markers. [2]

  Today, guests pass a newer, denser pet cemetery while they wait in the queue, but this earlier pet cemetery, while still in place, is no longer part of any public access to the attraction, so it’s somewhat rarely seen (although if you ask the right cast member nicely, you may earn a sneak peek.) Tributes to the family dog, cat, rabbit, skunk and bullfrog are placed here, with clever inscriptions, such as this one, dedicated to “Miss Kitty”:

  After losing eight lives /

  you still had no fear /

  You caught a snake in your ninth /

  and that’s why you’re here.

  In the spring of 2016, construction activity began on the ivy-covered hillside behind the Haunted Mansion, which was fenced off and hidden from view. Trees needed to be removed because their roots were too dense for the minimal amount of soil atop the faux hill, and a new retaining wall had to be constructed before new trees could be planted. This gave the Imagineers a chance to revisit a past feature of the ivy-covered hillside.

  On August 26, a week before the Haunted Mansion re-opened from its month-long refurbishment to add the annual holiday overlay, the walled-off hill was unveiled to reveal the installation of a brand new graveyard (which appeared to date back well over a century), with replicas of the eight original tombstones that were dedicated to some of the original WED Imagineers replaced, along with four never-before seen tombstones that were created to honor other Imagineers.

  Clockwise from top left: Rolly Crump, X. Atencio, Yale Gracey and Marc Davis are all memorialized with faux tombstones in the original 1969 queue for the Haunted Mansion, which only lasted nine months; "Cousin Victor", a.k.a. Disney architect Vic Greene, had a tombstone in the original queue which was removed in 1970 and never reappeared until the new hillside cemetery was installed in 2016; this early sign at the entrance to the Haunted Mansion would not guarantee guests a return trip from their perilous tour; this hillside cemetery was installed circa 1974, and included two of the original queue tombstones, plus ten others; another angle from the original queue plot. Photograph courtesy of Gregg Ziak.

  Above, top: The original pet cemetery. Above, bottom: The 2016 hillside family plot. Photograph courtesy of Gregg Ziak.

  At Walt Disney World, similar tombstones remain alongside the queue in front of the attraction, along with a special tombstone for Madame Leota, which reads: “Dear Sweet Leota / Beloved by All / In Regions Beyond Now / She’s Having a Ball.” The Leota tombstone is especially eerie because it is animated, and every few seconds the stone visage of Leota engraved into the tombstone will open its eyes, nod slightly, peer around, and close its eyes again.

  Back at Disneyland, after being ushered through the front doors of the Haunted Mansion by a somber Cast Member into a cobwebbed foyer, patrons are first introduced to the Ghost Host, a deep, wandering, disembodied voice that will become the attraction’s narrator as the patrons progress through the ride. On busy days, the crowd will still chat loudly in the small room after they have been herded inside, often making it difficult to hear
the Ghost Host as he begins his address by musing to himself:

  When hinges creak, in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls…Whenever candlelights flicker, where the air is deathly still; that is the time, when ghosts are present—practicing their terror, with ghoulish delight…

  Frequently, visitors to the Haunted Mansion will also hear a chorus of echoes from other Disneyland veterans, reciting the lines with aplomb. The narration that accompanies the attraction is as familiar as the Pledge of Allegiance to many of the park’s repeat visitors.

  After being introduced to the Ghost Host in the foyer, the patrons are directed into a small octagonal gallery, which has four large oil portraits hanging on every other wall. Valances under the paintings support eight large bronze gargoyles, each frozen in time with a malevolent grin and two flickering candlesticks, one in each fist. The Ghost Host resumes his address to the patrons: