Haunted Mansion - DL vs WDW (know history?)

[MagicalMomAZ]

I watched the WDW special on the Travel Channel today & it left me curious.

The HM in DL is a big New Orleans mansion....but in WDW it LOOKED like a church! It looked brick but it had crosses all over it.
Is WDW also set in the French Quarter?

Anyone know if there's a "story" behind each one. I've heard a few theories on the DL one, a bride loses her groom & her ghost haunts the mansion...

Any info is great - I love to understand the "why's" to the parks!

 

[spacemermaid]

As WDW's Magic Kingdom doesn't have a New Orleans Square, the Haunted Mansion there is in Liberty Square, which is Colonial-themed. Because an antebellum style mansion wouldn't fit in with the theming of Liberty Square, the WDW Mansion was built in Dutch Gothic style, popular during the Colonial era. It does kind of look like an old church, though.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I saw that special too. We don't get tv but it just happen to come on while I was at my parents house. I knew it was different but was surprised to see it. I guess I didn't think about what it looked like. I read somewhere when they made the DL one the original story was going to be something about a fisherman's widow or something but they didn't go with it. Now there seems to be a loose story about a crazy bride.


I also thought it was strange to see the view down Main Street with a giant castle dominating the buildings on the street. They kept showing that and it seemed very odd to me. I thought it kind of took away from the shops but I sure would like to go and see all this for myself someday.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

The one attraction that is in a different land in each of the Disneyland Parks is the Haunted Mansion.

New Orleans Square - w antibellum architecture in DL
Liberty Square with Dutch Gothic (based on an actual masion) in WDW
Phantom Manor in Frontierland in DL Paris
Haunted Mansion in Fantasyland in DL Tokyo (looks like WDW though)

(FYI - there is no HM yet in Hong Kong...)

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

Very cool info ladies! Thanks!

I was googling & found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Mansion

I had no idea there were so many differences!! And it also mentions changes in the DL attraction in '06 - I have not been thru HM since '02....I'd really like to see the changes. Umm....hence my odd fixation w/ going to HM on our next trip. I REALLY want it to be open in February!!!!!!!

 

[spacemermaid]

There's a great book that I got a few years ago, called "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies", by Jason Surrell. It has in-depth backstories to each of the Haunted Mansions & also Phantom Manor. Lots of interesting concept art and photos of the completed Mansions/Manor. It's definitely worth checking out!

 

[Disney Dreams]

I watched the WDW special on the Travel Channel today & it left me curious.

The HM in DL is a big New Orleans mansion....but in WDW it LOOKED like a church! It looked brick but it had crosses all over it.
Is WDW also set in the French Quarter?

Anyone know if there's a "story" behind each one. I've heard a few theories on the DL one, a bride loses her groom & her ghost haunts the mansion...

Any info is great - I love to understand the "why's" to the parks!

There is actually a backstory to the HM at DL that connects the HM and Pirates of the Caribbean. The short version is that the mansion is that of a dead sea captain (who is now in the ghost form) who murdered his bride and then hung himself. The party in the ballroom scene is their wedding party and the bride at the end ("Hurry Back") was his to-be bride.

When New Orleans Square opened (not an original area of DL), this was chosen as the area to place the HM in and it was designed to be a antebellum mansion.

At WDW: There is no NOS. The HM is in Liberty Square. Because of this, the HM was given a style based on northeastern mansions from long ago.

At Tokyo: It is almost an exact replica of the HM in WDW.

At Paris: It's more of a Victorian Style (and called Phantom Manor)

At HKDL: There isn't one (yet?).

- Dreams

 

[Mike_M]

There's a great book that I got a few years ago, called "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies", by Jason Surrell. It has in-depth backstories to each of the Haunted Mansions & also Phantom Manor. Lots of interesting concept art and photos of the completed Mansions/Manor. It's definitely worth checking out!

I have this book too and love it. Highly recommend it. The Author (Who is an Imagineer) also has two other books on rides at the parks. One for POTC and a third book that covers all the Disney Mountains (Matterhorn, Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, etc...)

OP, I notice you said that you are heading to DL in Feb. I think that HM is usually closed that month for conversion back from the Nightmare before Christmas overlay. Three years ago which was my first trip back to DL in 13 years, it was still closed the 1st week of March which meant I had to wait for our next trip which was over a year later to finally ride it. Good luck.

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

OP, I notice you said that you are heading to DL in Feb. I think that HM is usually closed that month for conversion back from the Nightmare before Christmas overlay. Three years ago which was my first trip back to DL in 13 years, it was still closed the 1st week of March which meant I had to wait for our next trip which was over a year later to finally ride it. Good luck.

I KNOW!!!!! I'm struggling w/ choosing a date bc of this. What I want is:
1) Winter
2) No holiday crowds
3) HM

LOL - finding a date is tougher than I imagined!

 

[DisneyFairytale]

I know 1 secret about the haunted house. It was told to me by one of the cast members when I was wheelchair bound last year. I think the staff felt sorry for me

When you are going across the balcony and you are looking down into that main room, where the big dinner table is, and the dancing ghosts, well if you look right in front of you, there is actually a glass window.

That window was actually installed by helicopter, thru the roof, because it was to big to be brought in by manual labor.

So, in the 1970's a drunken man, shot a handgun thru that glass. They didn't(or couldn't replace or) want to replace that glass window so if you look, near the last pillar of the ride, at about eye level, they placed a spider right over the bullet hole, the glass is cracked around it actually looking like a spider web.

I tried looking some info up on the web about it, but knowing Disney the press probably never got it's hands on it.

 

[fairycat]

I know 1 secret about the haunted house. It was told to me by one of the cast members when I was wheelchair bound last year. I think the staff felt sorry for me

When you are going across the balcony and you are looking down into that main room, where the big dinner table is, and the dancing ghosts, well if you look right in front of you, there is actually a glass window.

That window was actually installed by helicopter, thru the roof, because it was to big to be brought in by manual labor.

So, in the 1970's a drunken man, shot a handgun thru that glass. They didn't(or couldn't replace or) want to replace that glass window so if you look, near the last pillar of the ride, at about eye level, they placed a spider right over the bullet hole, the glass is cracked around it actually looking like a spider web.

I tried looking some info up on the web about it, but knowing Disney the press probably never got it's hands on it.

Yup the spider has been there for years, and it is the very reason I get so mad at people who take flash pictures (though I do laugh at the same time). Since the glass will ruin all flash photos of the ballroom.

One extra tidbit, I heard in one rumor, they thought that the gun used might actually have been a BB gun stolen from the Frontierland shooting gallery. Don't know if it's true but its kind of interesting either way.

To actually fix the glass I heard they would actually have to remove the HM's roof because the entire thing is one huge room length piece of glass.


And one fun thing if you can while at the mansion if the line is short, ask a CM if they will let you see the Pet Cemetary on the side of the mansion. It is right by where you leave ECV to ride. I love the statues over there!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

cool nice info

 

[AlexMouse]

I was just there and she wasn't floating any more! What's up with that? Just temporary or did that take that effect out already?

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

I was just there and she wasn't floating any more! What's up with that? Just temporary or did that take that effect out already?

I read on the wiki link that there were changes in '06 - have you been on since then??

 

[mechurchlady]

Grand Canyon Diorama also has a bullet hole. It would be expensive to replace as as stated the only way to get the glass into Haunted Mansion is through the roof or a very large hole in the walls.

 

[AmericanItGirl]

The only HM with a full back story is Phantom Manor. Both the WDW and DL HMs are supposed to have similar stories (because they have identical ghosts), but there are many versions out there (most were created by CMs who worked the attractions). However, some formal stories have come out within the past decade. There's the story from the movie, which can work for both locations, the story put forth in the comic books, and a new one that's being hinted at by the naming of the ghost bride and the portraits with her husbands.

 

[AlexMouse]

I read on the wiki link that there were changes in '06 - have you been on since then??

Yes. I thought that the floating Leota was something they added more recently, possibly as part of the '06 changes that you mention?

That's why I was surprised to see her sitting on the table again.

The floating effect was REALLY good, the few times I saw it.

 

[Brian Shepherd]

I watched the WDW special on the Travel Channel today & it left me curious.

The HM in DL is a big New Orleans mansion....but in WDW it LOOKED like a church! It looked brick but it had crosses all over it.
Is WDW also set in the French Quarter?

Anyone know if there's a "story" behind each one. I've heard a few theories on the DL one, a bride loses her groom & her ghost haunts the mansion...

Any info is great - I love to understand the "why's" to the parks!

As WDW's Magic Kingdom doesn't have a New Orleans Square, the Haunted Mansion there is in Liberty Square, which is Colonial-themed. Because an antebellum style mansion wouldn't fit in with the theming of Liberty Square, the WDW Mansion was built in Dutch Gothic style, popular during the Colonial era. It does kind of look like an old church, though.

ABOVE WDW

ABOVE DLR
THESE pics are the best I had from my collection

 

[fairycat]

I was just there and she wasn't floating any more! What's up with that? Just temporary or did that take that effect out already?

That is a temporary thing. It seems like sometimes she has issues getting her ball in the air. You will see her in her base for a while and then she is back in the air. I think the effect must have some occassional issues.

 

[Huff]

I've always thought the DL HM was about a psycho bride who killed all her husbands. Notice the paintings of her and her husbands where each husbands head disappears. At the end of that scene you see her holding onto a hatchet.

Loleta was not floating this past weekend. Last month she was but it was a poor effect. The cables were reflecting a ton of light and thus could easily be seen ruining the entire illusion.

Decades ago Loleta never floated as far as I can remember. Seems that was a more recent change.