Haunted Mansion Mystery?!?!?!?

[GrumpyDad2B]

During our recent trip, my wife and I were first in line for the next group to be let in to the HM. Directly behind us was a family with a small kid who was pretty scared and crying. The doors opened and a CM says in a Haunted Mansion voice "WE NEED THREEEEE FAMILIES ONLYEEEE PLEEEAASE" So in we went with two other groups including the crying kids family. So we get in the stretch room and they spread us all out seperating the families including getting the scared kid to stand by himself. We are standing in a circle and facing the middle of the room. The whole time he is setting us up the room is streching. Then when the lights go out I guess one of the CM's ran away from where he was a yelled right behind me when the lights came on. Then the doors open and that was it. Meanwhile the poor kid is scared to death. He made it through but it was really strange for them to do that. I havent been able to figure out why. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar.

 

[Metro West]

I've had the CM's yell behind me as well. I think it's just the fact that some CM's get into their roles more than others...IMHO.

 

[kilee]

Are you saying you were the only 3 families in the room???

 

[GrumpyDad2B]

Yes, my wife and I, plus about 7 other people. My first thoughts were they were trying to make it not as scary for the kid. I dont think they did it too well when they seperated everybody around the room.

 

[bbump]

Did anyone in your party look up at the ceiling to see a dangling body when the lights flash?
Just wondering..... I heard it was a Disney Theme park secret that alot
of people overlook.

I admit, I've never looked up in the stretching room, but I plan on checking this out on our next trip.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Did anyone in your party look up at the ceiling to see a dangling body when the lights flash?
Just wondering..... I heard it was a Disney Theme park secret that alot
of people overlook.

I admit, I've never looked up in the stretching room, but I plan on checking this out on our next trip.

1st, OP - I have no idea why they did that! Only 3 families, and then to separate them! Guess the CM really got into it.

2nd, bbump, oh yes!!! It is especially cool if you are at the HM at night! I looked right up when the room got dark and you can see a hanging body (they flash the light on up in the ceiling section) before they open the door and your board the ride.

 

[Mellie0119]

I saw the body for the first time on our last trip, it's pretty neat, unless you were told, you'd likely never know it was there. My HM CM story from DL, my senior year of high school, a good friend and I were in the HM, had gotten in our Doom Buggy and were starting up the staircase, we were being pretty silly, acting scared and such, well the CM decided to give us a thrill, we were talking to each other and he ran up behind the buggy and stuck his head in and said something (can't for the life of me remember what it was) it starteled us pretty badly, we yelled so loud, we laughed and laughed for the rest of the ride. I've never had more fun on that ride!

 

[ReggieB]

The cast member pointed the hanging guy out to us when we were there with my DS in 2003 (he was 3 at the time) I looked up thought oh wow, then uh-oh and had to say to my son, "good grief what is that on the carpet" Trust me with my son you don't need to get into those conversations, they last forever!! As for if the ride was a bit too old for him, he liked the visuals (especially the ghosts at the end) but he thought the ride was way too loud, the speakers need to be turned down in those cabs!

My DH allways jokes that I would be a great cast member at Haunted House, as I do grumpy ("face like a wet weekend" is the expression he uses!) very well!!! Yeah, he's a real comedian......

 

[dis-happy]

the ride was way too loud, the speakers need to be turned down in those cabs!

ITA!!!!!!

One thought about the 3 families---perhaps there was a back up of people waiting for the doom buggies so they limited the number of new people coming in for that rotation.

 

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

Did anyone in your party look up at the ceiling to see a dangling body when the lights flash?
Just wondering..... I heard it was a Disney Theme park secret that alot
of people overlook.

I admit, I've never looked up in the stretching room, but I plan on checking this out on our next trip.

Perople miss that!?! Oh my you MUST look up when that happens! It's like a flash of lightning so usually people look up and see it there since the flash is above you. I guess I am a part of the herd though, allowing Disney to direct me by visual cues (lights flashing) rather than lookking aroun dfor other secrets. Definitely do it at night though and look up! It's neat!

I've heard of the small group in the stretching room before though as well. My husband and I on our last trip (I think they thought we were newlyweds, everyone kept saying Congratulations and we chuckled a lot explaining we weren't even engaged yet.) got put in the stretching room completely by ourselves,(it was sooo not busy) the CM tried the screaming bit and pouted b/c we just turned around and smiled at him, rather than jumping. LOL Poor guy felt deflated he told us. (We worked at haunted houses in high school, got used to screams lol).

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

No clue, I think, and it's my opinion only, that there was probably a back up of people.

My first time thru HM was when I was 6 years old, I swear it has some bearing on why I love ghosts and the like. Admittedly, I rode the ride with my hands over my eyes, peeking thru my fingers. The lady wishing me to come back scared the bejezuz outta me then.

 

[Lynn4Mel]

Has that hanging body ALWAYS been there????? OMG!! I have been to WDW tons of times and gone on the HM everytime and has never seen it. Duh at me!!! Going to make a point of watching next time!

 

[Feralpeg]

I can't believe the number of people that don't look up. We've been there dozens of times and just recently, I said something about it in front of my sister. She didn't know what I was talking about. The next time we went, I pointed it out to her. She'd never noticed prior.

 

[Cestlavenus]

Huh, I've never had them yell like that... it seems almost "out of character" for that ride, since the cast members always seem to going for quiet, creepy, emotionless, etc. Yelling would kind of break the mood for me.

I've had some great memories on the ride, more than any other at Disney I think. Some bad ones too - I broke my hand on the conveyer belt getting into the vehicles! (please don't be worried that you'll get hurt on this ride, I'm just a clumsy moron. ) Btw, the cast members were *so* nice, I'm thinking partly because my friend and I had been flirting with one for the last hour or so. (We kept re-riding and everytime he walked with our vehicle as far as he possibly could, so we made a big show out of being "scared," etc. That may not sound like flirting but trust me, it was going on. ) Of course, I got to take the van out from behind the scenes to get my arm x-rayed, so that was actually kind of cool. And cute flirting guy actually asked if he could go with us to the first aid center where he waited for the van with us! Yay!

But the best memory I have is another time my friend was with us. We were in the seat just ahead of my parents, and my dad was holding this walking stick that my friend had bought in Adventureland for her brother. Apparently at one point the cars got close enough for my Dad to knock on the back of our car with the stick. Our faces for the rest of the ride? =

 

[hezreck]

The first time I rode this was on our honeymoon. We were the last people to be squeezed in the stretching room. The doors closed and we were all facing the center of the room. I didn't know what was going to happen, and all of the sudden the CM right behind me put his chin on my shoulder. It scared the **** out of me!

 

[Cestlavenus]

Oh one more thing, a little weird, about the hanging dude. Has anyone here played the video game Silent Hill 3? Its a horror game - at one point you're going through a "haunted mansion" attraction in a creepy amusement park, and in one room the lights go out for a minute, there's a flash of light, and you can see a body hanging through a window for a second.

I *swear* this is a tribute to Disney's Haunted Mansion! It's hard to explain, but it happens exactly the same way it does on the ride.

Or maybe I love WDW too much and I'm starting to see it everywhere.

But I don't think so, since it seems like the park in the game was based on Disney to some extent. They even have an extremely creepy mascot called Robbie the Rabbit.

 

[barkley]

as a little kid i went to the haunted mansion the first year it opened in california. my mom had warned my cousin before we left not to take me on any scary rides but did she listen..........the room starts stretchin and i start screaming "i want my daddy, i want my daddy now" at the top of my lungs, my cousin trys to shut me up and i start adding to my rant "don't touch me". the room gets stretched to the halfway point and all of a sudden the lights come on, the room squishes back together and myself and my cousin get kicked off the ride (a cast member warns her that if she tries to take me back on it she'll get kicked out of the park). over 30 years later my cousin still shudders at mention of the incident.

p.s. i went on the ride later that night with "my daddy" and have loved it ever since.

 

[Metro West]

Did anyone in your party look up at the ceiling to see a dangling body when the lights flash? I admit, I've never looked up in the stretching room, but I plan on checking this out on our next trip.

The body that's hanging in the tower is the earthly remains of Master Gracey...the Ghost Host. In the portrait gallery he offers you "this chilling challenge..to find a way out..BAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! Of course, there's always my way"!

The Hanted Mansion is my all-time favorite attraction anywhere! I'm one of those people who knows the Ghost Host spiel word for word and often recite it right along with Master Gracey in the gallery.

 

[missygayle]

The Hanted Mansion is my all-time favorite attraction anywhere! I'm one of those people who knows the Ghost Host spiel word for word and often recite it right along with Master Gracey in the gallery.

I'm one of those people too. We went on it first thing on one of the MNSSHP nights and everyone in the room was reciting it. It was great! (It was also Oct 30th)

 

[imatoad]

I've never worked there, but something tells me the CM's are highly encouraged to be animated themselves, and I love it, makes the whole experience better.