Today marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. One of Disney's iconic dark rides, the Mansion remains a favorite of countless theme park fans around the world.
Disney brought the Mansion to Walt Disney World and the Tokyo Disneyland when those parks opened, then tweaked the concept into Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris, combining it with concepts from the never-built Wester River Adventure at Walt Disney World to transform the Mansion into an old-west adventure for European fans.
Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor is not a Mansion installation per se, but definitely builds upon its guest experience to deliver a supernatural dark ride that resonates with an Asian audience. (We're still waiting for some form of the Mansion to materialize in Shanghai.)
Here are some of our favorite posts about the Mansion:
Getting fired from the Haunted Mansion: Smiling is a job requirement for Disney's cast members. But not at the Mansion.
How many ghosts do we really need in Disney's Haunted Mansion? Many fans love to recite the Ghost Host in the Stretch Room, but is it time to go back to allowing the ghosts to tell their own story?
Vote of the Week: Which is the world's best Haunted Mansion? Theme Park Insider readers opted for the Orlando version in this 2013 poll.
Happy haunting, Mansion fans! What is your favorite Mansion memory?
Tweet
Disneyland held a special celebration for the Haunted Mansion's fiftieth anniversary and the footage I've seen fron attendees makes me wish I had been in California for this last night! The Haunted Mansion has a special place in my dark ride attraction loving heart- and inspired me to always have room for 1,000, so can always enjoy all the other dark ride "volunteers " too:)
I still love on You Tube the old "Wonderful World of Disney" special on the opening of it with Kurt Russell and the Osmond Brothers.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Disney had a limited subscription Haunted Mansion box. It only lasted 3 months, but if you had an iPhone and one of the 999 available subscriptions you had 3 boxes of mystery and fun. Going to Disneyland, not another Disney park, allowed you to interact with 3 areas of the park. The fortune teller on Main Street would lead you across the street where you would knock on the door and a ghost would answer. There was a thing to do by the Rivers of America. Lastly, the music making machine in the back of the Frontierland store would play the Haunted Mansion Theme. Another bonus allowed you to skip the line on the Haunted Mansion, as you were a guest of Mr. Gracey. One was escorted to special doom buggies, although I didn't get the special audio to work. In retrospect I realize this was a test for the location based Play Disney app, but it was still lot's of fun to participate.