is haunted mansion scary?

[2BusyPlanning]

We found it helpful when they got older (6 or 8) to use the word "silly". It's not really scary, it's just silly. But yours might be a little too young for now.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Personally, I find IASW more frightening but I get your point. HM is dark and has some creepy noises and I guess some of the images could be called scaryish but they are quite Disneyfied. (Is that a word?)

I remember when DD21 was 3 and we took her on it. She handled the stretch room and the attraction just fine right until the hitch hiking ghost part and while she didn't get panicked and freaked out she talked about the hitch hiking ghosts for the rest of the trip so it clearly made an impression on her. However, when DS16 was 4 and 5 he rode it and laughed the whole time.

 

[simonsmom]

the room they put you in before the actual ride was the scariest for my kids. my suggestion would be to tell them to hold your hand and keep their eyes closed until you tell them to open. the room becaomes pitch black but if their eyes are already closed they won't notice.

 

[hereyago]

I first started taking DD12 to Wdw and HM when she was 5. I took glow sticks and she used them for bracelets when we went in HM and she did fine, except now it has become a tradition.


This is the same girl who at age 3 or 4 was scared of Scooby Doo character at a local theme part. I have a picture of Scooby kneeling down on his /her knee and holding out the paw to dd.

 

[iteachlit]

I can think of a few parts that are more "intense":

1. The stretch room when the lights go out. The hanging body / lightning could frighten young kids.

2. The portraits in the attic. The bride is not very nice. If you pay close attention to the paintings, you can see what she's done to her husbands. The bride is also a pretty creepy effect.

3. The tombstones in the graveyard. Even though I know they are there, the heads that pop up always "get" me. Every time! The heads are the only fast effect in the whole attraction. Since they are at the end, you don't really expect them.

None of these scare me, BTW. Exiting through a gift shop scares me. Thankfully, HM doesn't have one of those.

 

[100acrewoodsfan]

I agree with the pp that said it's not so much scary as creepy. I personally hate the ride and try to avoid it if at all possible. I just don't like those types of things, I'd rather be stuck in IASW. However, almost everyone else I know loves the ride and will go out of their way to ride it. I think it depends on each individual person. If they like things like Scooby Doo they should be ok if not I might skip it. Watch it on Youtube and then you can better decide for your family.

 

[Pixee]

I don't remember how old I was. Somewhere around 5 I think and I did not make it in. I don't remember when I freaked, I just know I ended up waiting outside with my Mom. My sister and Dad came out and my sister said 'It's a good thing you didn't come with. There was a ghost riding along with us.'

Last year we were in WDW for my niece's 7th birthday. She wanted to ride with me, so I was holding her hand. She did not like the stretching room and was holding my hand pretty tight while we were waiting to get onto the buggies. Then someone else left through the chicken exit. That was it. As soon as she saw there was a way out she bolted. One second she was there holding my hand, the next moment *zoom* she was gone. My mom ended up following her out and waiting with her. Just like she waited with me so many years ago.

 

[Eljay]

I wouldn't call HM "scary", it's more like Victorian spooky.
I think it would help if you told your child that it's all for fun and that they are never in any danger. Also, as others have said, when you are actually on the ride in your Doom Buggy, nothing comes close or touches you.

Have fun and don't miss this Disney classic!

Video really can't do it justice, but you'll get an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62BM_CV_FM0

 

[mjaclyn]

I am definitely in the minority here, but I HATE Haunted Mansion. I have never been remotely interested in ghosts, the occult, spirits, etc. and it completely freaks me out. HM does scare me because I really don't like the subject matter. That being said, DH brought DD 3yrs on it during our last trip to WDW (I waited outside) because she kept begging him to take her into the 'scary house'. She's watched the Disneyland sing along video over and over so is used to seeing the HM in that movie. I had visions of her crying so hard they'd have to stop the ride and escort her off, or clinging to DH the whole time and she'd end up traumatized. The fact is, she loved it. I asked her if she was scared and she said 'no' that her favorite thing was the spider webs. Personally, I don't think children that young really grasp what is 'scary' in terms of ghosts and things like that. She just sees what's there and doesn't get immersed in the story (if that makes sense). I think if anyone would be scared it would probably be your 6 year old. If your 2 year old is afraid of the dark that would be something to consider as well, but if they are fine with other dark rides it might be okay for them.

 

[Mardi Grogs]

Keep in mind that the majority of the ride's 'lightheartedness' comes from the humorous voice-over that plays in your ride vehicle. The thing is, this is (a) hard to hear at times and (b) not something young children might grasp. As much as us older folk love the ride I would say it has almost exclusively dark/frightening scenes.

I've seen too many kids kicking and screaming being pulled onto that ride, if you're worried a child might be scared I wouldn't force them.

 

[Kmango]

I think Haunted Mansion can be scary, depending on the child. Other rides to watch out for:

Snow White's Scary Adventure. I feel like a lot of people ignore that 3rd word, which leads to a large amount of small-child terror.

Stitch. WAY scary for little kids. And you can't even hold them when they get scared because you're all strapped down.

Great Movie Ride. The whole cowboy/mobster hijacking thing can be a little too real for some kids. I know it terrified me as a child.

 

[Queenofspoons]

To be suspefic, what are your kids really scared of, most of the ghosts are funny not scary, but theres stuff like the hanging man in streaching room, the ax welding bride in the attic, the pop up spooks in the graveyard, and possibly the whole hitchking ghost mirror effect that could scare scare them.

But the whole mood of the ride isnt horribly decayed and mangled corpses reaching out to grab you, its more about grim grinning ghosts coming out to socialize instead of scaring.

 

[RMulieri]

From an adult standpoint..Not scary.
As a kid it terrified me.I had to be bribed by my parents to go on
My daughter first went on at age 4, she was scared to death.We took her back a year later and she asked to go back on and now loves it..Be prepared for anything.If you DO decide to take the kids on, I would NOT do it at the beginning of your trip, otherwise it may be hard to get them on anything after that if they are afraid

 

[plutotek]

My son's first time, at 5 yrs old, was rather amusing. It was the only time you could say that my adopted Asian son looked like me, because we stopped in front of one of the doors that moves in and out, and his eyes got as round as saucers, but he kept insisting he was okay (yes, I laughed). Even when I was considerably younger, I never found it scary, but I also set up a haunted yard every year for Halloween, so I'm kinda immune to it.

 

[sam_gordon]

For some reason, I remembered HM being more funny/entertaining than scary. So we took DS (5) on it the last time we were there... it scared the bejeezes out of him! I felt bad the entire ride.

I agree it's not an "intense" scary, but for a young kid, it may not take much.

 

[Gigi22]

A number of us who can still remember watching the original Walt Disney show on Sundays in our living rooms with our parents would have a hard time ever thinking of the HM as scary. It is the nostalgia factor. Walt Disney was clearly so proud of the HM experience, it just couldn't be scary--it was magical, just like going to Disneyland would be, if only we could go!
A small child might find aspects scary, but there are humorous parts too--the narration, the gravedigger's dog, the inscriptions on the tombstones in the queue area, and the hitchhiking ghosts thumbing a ride at the end of the attraction. If you can possibly find a copy of the old Disney show where Walt was showing off Disneyland, play it for your child--the show did a really good job of putting the various rides at the parks in perspective.

 

[Bullseye]

Not scary, but if you use your imagination, a little spooky. All children are little different as far as their "scare level", so it's hard to say. My DD has gone on since age 2 and was never really scared. We actually try to pretend we are scared to lend a little mystery to it for her. A Disney classic ride and a must do every time to the MK.

 

[estherhead]

I have my kids watch the entire ride on Youtube before we go if there is a doubt. If they are scared watching it on youtube, they'll be terrified in person. It's worked for us over & over. My eldest is a scaredy-cat and I had her watch Haunted Mansion ride on you-tube. She decided to skip. The next year she decided to ride because she had felt like such a chicken the year before (her younger sister had ridden it & said it was AWESOME!) TOTALLY freaked her out. She should have gone with her post-youtube watching emotion.

 

[ktlm]

I have my kids watch the entire ride on Youtube before we go if there is a doubt. If they are scared watching it on youtube, they'll be terrified in person. It's worked for us over & over. .

I 100% agree. I know it might be a spoiler for an adult who has never been to WDW, but it is really great to keep a kid from being scared on the questionable rides. I would also watch it on YouTube by yourself before you show your child. When DD was 3, we showed her Snow White, Haunted Mansion, and POTC on youtube and SHE got to decide whether she wanted to ride them. We actually had 2 trips when she was 3 and the first one she decided not to ride POTC, but she really wanted to ride Snow White and HM (in fact, I can't tell you how many times we watched it on youtube before the trip- over and over and over). She loved Snow White, we had to ride it 3 times in a row and twice another day. Her 2nd WDW trip last year, we also rode it 4-5 times. POTC, she rode the 2nd trip. She rode it 3 times, but then something spooked her and she refused to ride it again and she wouldn't ride it at DL this year either. HM she rode on that 1st 3 year old trip and she didn't seem too scared while she was on it, but she decided she never wanted to ride it again. I hate any haunted house type stuff, and I'm okay with HM as an adult. It is very creepy though. In fact, when I was 8, I panicked at the stretching room and wouldn't get on the ride and they had to get me out the chicken exit!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'll just say the HM at WDW is very idfferent from Knoebel's.

The one at K's is cheesy and loud. The one at WDW is, IMO, the opposite spectrum of what I'd call a Haunted Mansion.

Even though HM was created in the 70's, and though t has had a few updates over the yes, most of the key special are original or nearly so. It uses some classic parlor tricks, but truly reflects the quality of WDW workmanship. Simplty put - even though it uses classic techniques it was WAY ahead of i's time in terms of quality.

I've been going in WDW's HM since I was a small child and was never afraid. I have known some kids wh0o were afraid. On the other hand, If you read teh DIS, you will honestly discover folks who are afraid of just about every ride at WDW. There was recently an entire thread of folks who won't stay at the BWK because teh pool has a clown image in it's pool area! Another whole gropu is afriad of the singing dolls on IaSW - one of the truly tame rides at WDW.