When hinges creak, in doorless chambers…

And so begins the narration to one of the most famous Haunted Attractions of all time… Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion was one of Disneyland's most anticipated additions ever, and was added to a theme park, at the cost of $7 million. Turning to Disneyland's own press releases at the time, one can sense the excitement behind the attraction:

"Highlighting what is expected to be the biggest summer season in the Magic Kingdom's 14-year history is the much-anticipated 'Haunted Mansion.' To be completed in late summer, 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… Researching haunted homes and castles, supernatural occurrences, and psychic phenomena, the designers are creating a spine-chilling atmosphere to attract happy haunters…"

Since opening some 33 years ago on August 9, 1969, the Haunted Mansion has been regularly spooking its patrons silly, day and night, as one of Disneyland's most popular attractions.

Walt Disney actually wanted to put a haunted house in Disneyland as early as 1953, while the theme park was still being developed. He put veteran animator and designer Ken Anderson on the project, and Anderson came up with many ideas for a decrepit, timeworn house intended to sit at the end of a mysterious dead-end lane veering off of Disneyland's Main Street. But Walt didn't envision this haunted house looking so obviously "haunted." He wanted it to remain neat and clean, to fit the tidy appearance Disneyland was famous for. In his own words, he instructed the attraction's designers to "let the ghosts take care of the inside, and we'll take care of the outside." So in the end, a neat, antebellum manor was created and set into a part of the park that would become an area themed to resemble the Louisiana bayous and Mississippi delta. This mansion (said to be based on Johns Hopkins University's "Evergreen House," which was built in 1857 in Baltimore, Maryland) was erected in Disneyland Park in 1963.

However, the attraction itself wasn't completed along with the architecture. The empty manse sat forlorn at the edge of Disneyland's "Rivers of America" moat for many years, as Walt Disney's vision for the park took a different turn and he placed his top designers and artists to work creating attractions for the 1964-1965 World's Fair. After the massive success of those projects, many were brought back to Disneyland and installed as permanent features, which left the Haunted Mansion sitting alone near the bank of the river in a far corner of Disneyland for years while Disney's designers were occupied with the new attractions.

Because Walt was such a powerful and creative leader, his death in 1966 had a strong impact on WED (the design department Walt had set up to create and engineer the theme parks.) The company had to regroup, and WED went through a sort of emotional and creative reformation in the aftermath of Walt's passing, as the Haunted Mansion attraction waited in limbo. Disney had never fully realized his concept for the attraction, and this was now becoming problematic for the WED team of "Illusioneers and Imagineers," as Walt liked to refer to them. Should the attraction to be walked through, or a dark ride? Should it be genuinely chilling, or spooky and silly all at once?

Disneyland's growing popularity answered the question of "ride vs. walk-through." The attraction would be a ride out of necessity, to take as many patrons per day through the doors as possible. Marc Davis, one of Disney's most talented and proficient artists, would provide the ultimate answer to the question of "silly vs. spooky" with his wonderfully witty gags which appear throughout the attraction. In fact, Davis knew Disney so well that he never had any doubt as to the appropriate direction the attraction's design should take. However, aspects of the "silly vs. spooky" conflict, which was never resolved in some of the artists' minds during Disney's life, remain apparent in the final manifestation of the Haunted Mansion. The attraction is subtly divided into a "darker" first half and a "lighter" second half, with many of Davis' humorous vignettes toward the end of the ride, and much of Yale Gracey's, Rolly Crump's and Ken Anderson's creepier illusions and visions toward the beginning. It is a testament to the talents of all the "Imagineers" involved that the Haunted Mansion works so well as a whole, and retains its widespread popularity more than three decades after it first opened.

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. A brick and cast-iron fence surrounds the property, with a well-manicured lawn in front that winds past some exotic flora that add a mysterious touch to the landscaping by Disney landscape artist Bill Evans (featuring magnolia, cypress, and a distinctive macadamia tree that hangs oppressively over the queue line.) In one of the more recent of the frequent "rehabs," in which the attraction is freshened up by Walt Disney Imagineering (or WDI, which is the current manifestation of Walt's original WED division), a humorous pet cemetery was added adjacent to the front lawn. An antique hearse, which is 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 as well.

[SIDEBAR]

The Infamous Hearse of Brigham Young

For many years, Disneyland employees (also known as "Cast Members") liked to surreptitiously spread the rumor that the antique hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion was the actual hearse that carried the corpse of Mormon president Brigham Young to his final resting place. However, this rumor was proven to be nothing but such, when it spread all the way to Glen M. Leonard, director of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Museum of Church History and Art. "Historical evidence shows no hearse was used" to carry the body of Young, according to Leonard. Further research done by a Salt Lake City television news channel demonstrated that the hearse was likely a model used in the 1890s, which is a decade or two too young to have been used to carry Young's corpse. However, the hearse is, in fact, an authentic antique relic, which was purchased, fully restored, from King Richard's Antiques in Whittier, California for around twenty thousand dollars. There was nearly even a bidding war for the thing, as a buyer from Knott's Berry Farm was on his way to the shop, check in hand, to snag the carriage even as "the Mouse" snapped it up. Disney has since replicated the hearse to install a duplicate effect in front of the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World in Florida. The original owner of Disneyland's hearse remains unknown, and despite what those crafty Disney "Cast Members" may say, it is a certainty that it did not tote the remains of Brigham Young.

To be fair, it is also reasonably certain that invisible ghost horses have never pulled this carriage, though we give Disneyland extra credit for including the horseshoes in this clever queue display.

[END SIDEBAR]

The winding queue also creeps past a fully occupied mausoleum wall. Originally, it also passed a small graveyard atop the adjacent ivy-coated hill (though the gravestones have since been removed.) 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. "Here lies our patriarch / Dear departed Grandpa Marc" was dedicated to Marc Davis; "Dear departed Brother Dave / Chased a bear into a cave" was dedicated to Dave Schweninger, who worked with Davis to bring his sketches and concepts into three-dimensional reality. Many of the WED designers and engineers had a tombstone honoring them, and often they were presented with a duplicate to take home to plant in their gardens.

After being ushered through the front doors of the mansion by a somber Cast Member into a cobwebbed foyer of sorts, 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 creek, in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls… Wherever candlelights flicker, though the air is deathly still; that is the time, when ghosts are present - practicing their terror, with ghoulish delight…"

Suddenly, usually before the patrons have fully absorbed the subdued surroundings, they are again directed into a small octagonal gallery, which has four large oil portraits hanging on every other wall. Valances under the paintings support eight large stone 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:

"Here, in our gallery, you'll see rare paintings of some of our guests, as they appeared in their corruptible, mortal state…"

Even as the Ghost Host prattles on, something strange begins to happen. The paintings begin to elongate… or is it that the walls are somehow stretching?

"Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis," the Ghost Host notes. "Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination?" The patrons are now noticing that the formerly placid portraits have stretched to reveal darkly comical acts of murder and mayhem… all four of which are based on artwork created by Marc Davis. Meanwhile, the Ghost Host continues: "Consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows, and no doors…" After quickly glancing around, the patrons notice that this is indeed the case. Whichever wall had opened to allow them access to this stretching gallery has since locked them in, with no clear means of escape. "…which offers you this chilling challenge… to find a way out!" Then, slyly, the Ghost Host offers the patrons an aside: "Of course, there's always my way...."

Suddenly, with a crash of thunder, the candles are all extinguished, and the ceiling to the gallery completely disappears, giving the guests their only glimpse of the Ghost Host's rotted physical being, which is dangling from a rope hanging from the rafters high above. The Ghost Host's suicide (his apparent "way out," so to speak) is an atypical black moment in the attraction, although relating the narration to the quick, spooky special effect is probably above the heads of most impressionable guests. With a high-pitched scream reverberating through the room, all the lights now extinguish, leaving the patrons crammed into the tiny gallery in total blackness, until, seconds later, a panel of the wall slides open, allowing them to stumble out into the hallway beyond.

The stretching gallery (or "expanding room," as the set is known to the Haunted Mansion "Cast Members") is actually an Otis elevator, with a cleverly concealed panel hidden off to one side which is operated by one of the staff (after they fill the room and call out for the patrons to "drag their bodies to the dead center of the room.") The elevators serve a purpose beyond simple effect: they are designed to secretly take patrons down below ground level. The actual Haunted Mansion façade that the patrons see while in line is only large enough to hold a few workrooms and the two elevators (there are two identical stretching galleries, side by side, both of which are used on heavy traffic days.) Once below ground, the patrons are actually taken beyond the berm of Disneyland, and the attraction takes place in a large, non-descript warehouse that is not visible to patrons.

The Otis elevators have a tremendous load capacity for descending (12,000 pounds), but they were not designed to take guests back up. Their maximum lift capacity is 2,000 pounds, and even then, they are only to be used to carry patrons back up in an emergency. There are other exits the guests can use below ground.

The disappearing ceiling is a common theatrical trick created by painting a false ceiling on scrim material. Once the elevator has fully descended, the lights inside the gallery are extinguished, so that patrons can no longer see the painted front. Simultaneously, dim lights from behind the scrim are lit in a few bursts simulating lightning, illuminating the small attic rafter set containing the swinging corpse.

Leaving the gallery behind, the patrons now find themselves creeping down a long, plush hallway containing more artwork on one side, and windows framed with thick, luxurious draperies on the other. Outside the windows, the weather appears to have taken a turn for the worse, as it is thundering regularly, and lightning strikes flash as rain pelts the ground. The five paintings in the hallway (again, based on ideas conceptualized by Marc Davis) metamorphose from rather pleasant scenes into unsettling visages: for example, a sweet young woman becomes a decrepit hag; a stately roman goddess becomes a stone Medusa. (These changes are created by rear projection onto blank "canvases.") Davis' concepts for these pieces stem directly from original ideas Walt Disney had devised in the initial stages of design for the haunted house. In fact, as early as 1964, Walt Disney was quoted in the New York Sunday News describing his vision for the Haunted Mansion, wanting "something nice for the hall, like werewolves, a Medusa, marble busts that talk, and ordinary-appearing pictures that will change into horrors before the visitors eyes."

Seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, the disembodied voice booms throughout the hallway as patrons continue moving forward. "I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely," the Ghost Host chides. "The real chills come later. Now, as they say, 'look alive,' and we'll continue our little tour… and let's all stay together, please."

Continuing down the hallway, patrons find themselves approaching two stony-eyed, stern looking marble busts set into the walls, surrounded by thick moulding. The unsettling stare of the busts becomes even more unpleasant when each patron discovers that the gaze from the statues' eyes appears to follow them down the hallway and around the adjacent corner!

This unnerving effect is created by the use of inverted "statues" pressed into a black wall. Rather than coming out toward the viewer as a real statue would, the Haunted Mansion's busts are sunken into the wall. They are composed of a translucent material that allows them to be lit from behind from a single immobile source, creating the appearance of smooth, white stone. However, since the shadows in the crevices of each statue change as the viewer changes position, the viewer's mind construes the shadows' movement as being an indication of movement by the statue itself. Therefore, each viewer will simultaneously sense the statues' movement as turning directly toward him or herself.

Patrons turn a corner, and find themselves in a misty, candlelit loading area, where they wait to board carriages to take them on the rest of the tour of the Haunted Mansion. The two or three-person vehicles are part of what Disney calls the "Omnimover" system, which was first utilized at Disneyland in Monsanto's "Adventure Thru Inner Space" attraction, in which patrons were shrunk through a "Mighty Microscope" to visit the world of the atom. In that case, the Omnimover vehicles were termed "Atomobiles." In the case of the Haunted Mansion, they have been named "Doom Buggies."

Running on a continuous loop track, the 131 Doom Buggies (spaced 6 feet apart) travel 1.36 miles per hour, and they complete the run through the attraction in about six minutes. Even at this leisurely rate, the Omnimover system can move 2,618 guests through the Haunted Mansion every hour. In the winter, the speed is reduced imperceptibly by 30 seconds per loop through the entire cycle.

[SIDEBAR]

A Look Underneath the Hood of the Doom Buggies

The Omnimover system that operates Disneyland's Doom Buggies lies nearly four feet below the visual floor level of the Haunted Mansion. It is set a on a track of twin steel pipes, with twin cam paths; one of which controls the nearly 360-degree rotation capabilities of the Doom Buggies, and one which handles the vertical "tipping" aspect (which tilts the carriages back while descending, so that patrons aren't forced to fall forward.) It uses ten motors which are interspersed throughout the entire ride track, each of which control two tires that spin next to each other in opposite directions. Each Doom Buggy has a fin below which is propelled when it is squeezed between the tires, known as a "pinch wheel" system. The number of motors in operation at any given time can also slow the system's speed, and if two consecutive motors (or any three) are not operating, the ride will be shut down for repairs.

The Doom Buggies' audio track is fed to the carriages in pairs. Every second car contains a receiver that will pick up the Ghost Host's narration as it passes over a transmitter, and there are seven different transmitter zones throughout the ride. The audio is powered by an alternator and a 12-volt battery, (which will power a string of about 20 carriages), in a system similar to that of a car audio system.

[END SIDEBAR]

There is a 30-foot loading belt, which moves at about 60 percent of the speed of the vehicles, upon which patrons walk as they are about to board their Doom Buggy. This helps guests board without needing to stop the system. Nevertheless, occasionally the Omnimover will need to be halted (to help a handicapped person load the carriage, for instance), and this means that every Doom Buggy will cease in its tracks for that period of time. However, this is typically for a few seconds at most, and the average patron takes advantage of being stopped in their Doom Buggy to quickly survey the highly detailed surroundings of whichever set they happen to be parked in. This is generally a treat, rather than a distraction.

After passengers are seated, the front of the Doom Buggy (which had doubled as a stair step up into the carriage) automatically raises, bringing a lap bar over the patrons' legs. ("Do not pull down on the safety bar, please; I will lower it for you," the Ghost Host warns through stereo speakers, installed at ear level into the back of the Doom Buggies.) The carriages then continue into the attraction building by gliding up an ornate staircase which is guarded by gilded griffin statues, barely visible in the flickering gloom; yet another example of Disney's remarkable attention to detail.

Turning a corner, the carriages pass a rattling suit of armor as they turn to face a seemingly endless hallway. Midway to the horizon, a candelabrum can be seen floating lazily up and down in midair, an effect created simply by hanging the prop from thin cables which control the motion, and by masking the set (which seems endless because of full-length mirrors at the end of the hall that reflect the scene on into infinity) with simulated haze (created by hanging a very thin scrim a few feet in front of the candelabrum across the entire hallway.) The Doom Buggies are integral to the success of effects such as this throughout the Haunted Mansion, because they precisely control the patron's viewing angle and the length of time the patron will spend viewing each set. In this sense, the Omnimover system is almost cinematic in its control over the viewer's perception of the attraction, as it only presents what the director wishes for the viewer to see. Each Doom Buggy can rotate on both the vertical and horizontal axis, allowing the vehicle to tilt back while it moves up and down, and to turn left and right to face any direction the set designer wishes.

[SIDEBAR]

Live Actors Add Unpredictability to the Haunted Mansion

For a few seasons in the mid '80s, Disneyland experimented with the addition of an actor in a suit of armor placed strategically after the endless hallway. Since the patrons are unable to see around the back of their Doom Buggies, it was fairly simple for the actor to place himself in a position that wouldn't be seen by the visitors until they spun around right in front of him. Former Cast Member Kyle Clark recalls a stint as the suit of armor:

Meanwhile, patron Rowena Gilbert recalls her encounter with the suit of armor:

"My mother and I couldn't believe it when halfway through the ride, this suit of armor, which was standing still until we reached him, suddenly threw his spiked mace right in front of us, nearly hitting us both in the face! We both screamed and watched in sheer horror as this suit of armor, which we'd stupidly thought wasn't a real person, stepped away from where he was standing and jumped on the front of our little Doom Buggy and grabbed us both. I cannot tell you how terrified we both were to be grabbed by this suit of armor in a dark haunted house, as he continued to wave his spiked weapon in our faces and shake his fists at us… while all the time we were screaming…"

This, naturally, led to new regulations on the knights' behavior, limiting their ability to touch any patron, or to use especially strong tactics on children and elderly guests. The results were mixed. The living suit of armor definitely succeeded in providing one of the attraction's few real shocks, and young and old alike would nearly always be caught completely off-guard. However, as in the case above, the surprise was more harrowing than a typical guest at Disneyland might hope for. "I still to this day cannot understand why he wouldn't leave us alone, as it was pretty obvious that we were terrified almost to the point of going into severe shock!," Gilbert added. "You could practically hear us screaming throughout the entire Disneyland Park, I think...but my dad, however, thought it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen in his entire life and couldn't stop laughing at us!"

[END SIDEBAR]

"We find it delightfully unlivable here in our ghostly retreat," the Ghost Host says as the Doom Buggies continue into the murky depths. "Every room has wall-to-wall creeps, and hot and cold running chills!" Moving deeper into the Haunted Mansion, the carriages turn to face an old conservatory that contains many types of exotic plants and flowers, all withered or rotting away. Two large decomposing wreaths are also on display, positioned on either side of a coffin that contains a restless inhabitant. A large black raven caws incessantly from atop one of the wreaths as the coffin's tenant tries to force his way out by pushing up on the nailed-down coffin lid from within. "All our ghosts have been 'dying' to meet you. This one can hardly contain himself," the Ghost Host quips, as muffled cries of "let me outta here!" can be heard issuing from the rattling coffin. The eerie, green-skinned hands coming from within the coffin and the raven are two of the many robotic beings that inhabit the attraction. These robots, known as "audioanimatronics" in Disney-speak, are samples of the type of creation for which Disneyland is famous throughout the world.

Leaving the conservatory and continuing down the halls of the Haunted Mansion, the patrons are carried through a corridor of many doors, all of which seem to be barely containing the restless spirits trying to break through. Eerie sounds, screeches, and howls emanate from behind each door, while bronze knockers and door handles are rattled wildly by unseen forces. "Unfortunately, they all seem to have trouble getting through," the Ghost Host notes ominously. Freakish family portraits of skull-like visages cover the walls, which are papered with a repeating pattern of stylized demonic eyes and heads. The Doom Buggies spin past a large needlepoint sampler reading "Tomb Sweet Tomb," and a grandfather clock in the corner solemnly starts to toll to the hour of… thirteen?

"Perhaps Madame Leota can establish contact," the Ghost Host decides. "She has a remarkable head for materializing… the disembodied!" As the Ghost Host is speaking, the Doom Buggies make their way into a dim parlor, and take their place around a large séance circle. All around the room, ghostly musical instruments and other objects float in response to the supplications of the ghostly Madame Leota, a glowing, chanting head, speaking from within a misty crystal ball planted on the center of a thick, ornate table covered with Tarot cards and signs of the supernatural. Perched behind her on a large gilded chair behind the table is the raven we first met in the conservatory, flapping its wings in response to the eerie occurrences taking place. As Leota chants, the instruments respond one by one with otherworldly charm, and a mysterious, ectoplasmic vapor in the corner of the room winds around like a serpent with a fading tail, never quite materializing into whatever three-dimensional form it may be attempting to take.

The floating objects are illuminated dimly with UV black lighting, which causes them to glow and limits the amount of illumination on the black cables supporting them. They are attached to a simple motor-driven lift mechanism that rotates slowly, causing the props to seem to float slowly and mysteriously. The mysterious 'ectoplasm' is an interesting effect which is also motor-driven, and activated by a light on the tip of the mechanism. This contraption is positioned behind a semi-opaque portion of the wall, which is coated with phosphorescent dye. When the small yet intense point of light passes directly behind the wall, it activates the phosphorescence, which glows through the wall and is visible to the patrons in the Doom Buggies. As is the case with all light-activated phosphorescent materials (such as a typical "glow-in-the-dark" toy), the phosphorescence quickly fades, leaving a faint tail trailing the moving point of light.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat… call in the spirits, wherever they're at!," Leota cries out. "Rap on a table, it's time to respond… send us a message from somewhere beyond! Goblins and ghoulies from last Hallowe'en… awaken the spirits with your tambourine! Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond… let there be music, from regions beyond! Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell… give us a hint, by ringing a bell!"

The animation of Madame Leota's face is the first truly amazing effect in the Haunted Mansion, achievable only through technology. Leota's chanting visage is a projection of a real human face, filmed while speaking the lines. The "actress" is Leota Toombs, who was working for WED at the time of the Haunted Mansion's development, using her own costuming and modeling skills on other attractions such as "It's a Small World" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." Toombs also took a shot at recording the audio for the scene as well, but the Imagineers were looking for something a little darker and more threatening, so they turned to one of their tried and true voice talents, Eleanor Audley. Audley is pure villainess, having previously voiced the wicked characters Maleficent (for the Disney film "Sleeping Beauty") and Lady Tremaine (the evil stepmother from Disney's "Cinderella."). Audley gives Madame Leota an aural dark menace, while Toombs provides a striking, grim visual. With the natural glow that comes along with the projection process, the effect is quite eerie.

In 1969, when Disneyland premiered the Haunted Mansion, the effect was accomplished using regular bin loop film projection, shining Leota's face onto a static neutral-colored head inside of a large crystal ball. Wild white hair surrounded the head and filled the rest of the ball, and purple backlighting gave the set an otherworldly glow. The projector would leave a tiny highlight reflected in the glass ball, but that didn't keep people from being mystified by the effect ("holograms" is the most common answer given when patrons are asked how they think the trick is accomplished.) However, the effect was actually devised by WED's Yale Gracey back in the early '60s. He simply dreamed up the idea one day, went to find an old reel of a talking head (and ended up using some television footage that Hans Conreid had done for the studio), and started shining it on various items and props until he found an old bust of Beethoven. When he shined it on that and turned out the lights, the thing sprang to life. Walt loved it, and it became the basis for the Madame Leota scene.

In the 1980s, the system was replaced with a new technology patented by WDI, in which the film (since transferred to laser disc) was projected (via fiber optics, carried into the head through the neck) onto the backside of the opaque static face from inside the middle of the head. A tiny lens was used to project an extremely wide angle, allowing the projection to cover the entire inside of the front of the head. The benefit to this technology was mobility; the head could now be moved about, as the lens remained constantly fixed inside, only needing to be tethered through a fiber optics cable. In fact, this allowed the scene to be altered slightly, in which the table itself could be moved up and down as if it were floating along with the rest of the objects in the room. The small reflection in front of the crystal ball was also eliminated, since the projection was from within.

However, the system had its pitfalls as well. The opaque head that allowed the projection to show through from within necessarily allowed for a dimmer, more muted image than the bright incandescent projection from without. The image was also more distorted when viewed from the sides, a result of the wider angle of projection. Since the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay was installed in 2001, Madame Leota has returned to her former externally-projected glory, her table again firmly planted in place, with four new lit candles surrounding the ball, their highlights reflected by the crystal to distract viewers from the projector's reflection.

Leaving the séance circle, the Doom Buggies move through a dark hallway toward a large balcony overlooking a grand hall. Crazy, discordant pipe organ music fills the hallway as the Doom Buggies turn to peer over the balcony rail. Referring to the séance the patrons just left behind, the Ghost Host resumes his narration:

"The happy haunts have received your sympathetic vibrations, and are beginning to materialize," he says. "They're assembling for a swinging wake, and they'll be expecting me. I'll see you all a little later…"

The grand ballroom below the balcony is the centerpiece of the Haunted Mansion's most perplexing illusions, and is also one of the most talked-about scenes in all of Disneyland. Activity abounds in all corners of the room, and the few seconds that it takes the Doom Buggies to pass over the balcony make it impossible to take in all of the detail in a single trip. The entire ornate scene is coated with dust, and each prop seems to suffer from decades of rot and decay. In one corner of the room, transparent ghosts float into the hall through a doorway opened to the stormy elements, next to a parked hearse. These ghostly party guests enter the ballroom and disappear into thin air. Near the doorway, there is a large fireplace (burning with a ghastly green flame) with an ornate mantle, supporting an eerie marble bust and an eerier transparent apparition. An elderly lady rocks in an antique rocking chair, as she disappears and reappears with each rock back and forth.

In the center of the room sits a huge musty banquet table, set with rotting food and long-dried floral arrangements. At the head of the table, a huge putrefied birthday cake sits alone. Above the table hangs a massive crystal chandelier, coated edge to edge with dust and cobwebs. Suddenly, the table springs to life as a ghostly birthday party appears, the guests seated around the table (apparently from many ages and historical eras) appearing out of thin air. At the head of the table, the birthday ghost also suddenly appears, blowing out all 13 candles and causing each of the party guests to vanish as well, all in an instant. More party ghosts hang from the chandelier, appearing and disappearing at will. The large windows above the grand ballroom allow more wandering wraiths and banshees to fly into the room, while the large curtains rustle in the stormy wind.

Two large portraits of dueling gentlemen hang above the hall, each subject holding an antique pistol, with his back to the other. In an instant, the ghosts of the two duelists emerge from the two portraits, turn, and fire away, reenacting their tragic fate before fading back into the paintings. Below, six transparent ghostly couples dance a waltz, circling the ballroom floor as they spin in unison to the twisted refrains from the organist. Next to the dancers, at the end of the ballroom, a ghostly organist sits at the dusty pipe organ. An evil grimace forms at his lips as he pounds away, with wispy skull-faced spirits swooshing out of the pipes along with his crazed rendition of the Haunted Mansion's theme song.

The ballroom scene is the first to dramatically introduce the familiar tune heard throughout the Haunted Mansion ride, although it can also be heard subtly playing in the foyer, the Doom Buggy loading area, and in Madame Leota's séance circle. However, the ballroom rendition is a remarkable cacophony of organ pipes in an amazing dissonant version of the haunting refrain, which was written by Buddy Baker, one of Disney's greatest musical talents. The full version of the song, which includes "X" Atencio's wonderful lyrics, is called "Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song)."

The appearing and disappearing ghosts in the grand ballroom set are based on a large-scale version of a popular dark ride staple effect known as "Pepper's Ghost." It's a fairly simple trick, based on a common theatrical illusion (which became common around the turn of the century) that was named for John Henry Pepper, a professor of chemistry at the London Polytechnic Institute. In 1862 he published a manual (entitled Wonders of Optical Science) that outlined this effect among others, and "Pepper's Ghost" became famous, largely through stage performances of Dicken's A Christmas Carol, which adopted the illusion immediately. The "Pepper's Ghost" effect was also made popular by magician Harry Kellar, who created a routine called the "Blue Room" illusion based on the same principles.

"Pepper's Ghost" essentially combines two scenes into one by forcing the viewer to see a superimposed image through reflection. In the case of the Haunted Mansion ballroom, the Doom Buggy track runs directly between the two sets. The carriages face a giant sheet of plate glass, through which they view the scenery and props from above, peering down into the set. Below and behind the Doom Buggies, the appearing and disappearing "ghosts" are placed into a second black set in a mirrored position related to where they are to appear interspersed with the scenery and props. As they are illuminated, their reflections in the glass will appear to interact with the scenery in the ballroom set.

But illusion alone cannot make a bad set convincing. Disneyland is also famous for the use of specialized robotics, or "audioanimatronic" figures, as they are known throughout the Disney theme parks. Richard Tremblay, a veteran Disney technician who has worked on the Haunted Mansion attraction for over seven years, discusses the Disney robots:

"The design of an animated figure begins with what is called the base frame. It is the foundation upon which the visible figure is mounted, and also a location for various working parts that bring the figure alive, including hydraulic and pneumatic distribution hardware, actuators, and other hardware that contributes to the working of the animatronic figure," Tremblay explains.

This type of figure is mounted in place, and is more or less limited to movement that does not involve leaving the base. But there are many figures in the ballroom that move, fly, and even dance. This is accomplished with a series of turntables to which the (generally static) figures are attached. Tremblay continues:

"There are four large rotating turntables in the banquet hall (and another one in the graveyard. These are called 'show action' equipment. There are two turntables in the banquet scene, with three dancing couples on each turntable. There is also the 'visitors' turntable with the figures horizontally rotating in a circle. From the ride, these all reflect off the glass to make it look like they are floating in and out of the door that is open with the hearse in it. The overhead 'banshee' turntable has several horizontal figures rotating on it, and it gives the effect of ghosts floating in and out of the blowing curtains window. There is also a 'skull wheel' that rotates over the organist, and this, too, is a motor driven mechanism."

After passing over the ballroom's balcony, the Doom Buggies carry the patrons through a dark doorway into a musty, neglected attic. Dust and cobwebs cover all sorts of old remnants of the Haunted Mansion's mortal owners' previous lives. Trunks, statues, paintings, and lamps are strewn about, and the Doom Buggies spin their way through the clutter.

Permeating the darkness, a human-sounding heartbeat throbs through the dusty air. Meanwhile, ghastly spooks pop up from behind trunks and out of chests with screeches and shrieks, frightening the occasional patron caught unaware. Finally rounding a corner that will lead the Doom Buggy out a window and to freedom from the Haunted Mansion's spooks, patrons are brought face-to-face with the source of the rhythmic beating: a plaintive bride, her pale hand clutching a flickering candle, and her face hidden in the shadows except for the glowing embers of her eyes. Slowly holding up her candle, she balefully watches as the Doom Buggy passes her by and heads toward the window.

In 1969 when the Haunted Mansion first opened, there was an additional character in the attic: a spooky old "Hatbox Ghost," who stood across the track from the bride. The Hatbox Ghost was an ambitious, close-up special effect that was supposed to make the elderly ghost's skull-like head disappear and then reappear in the hatbox he was toting in one claw-like hand, while the other hand quivered on an old cane. Designed by Yale Gracey, the effect relied on lighting to illuminate the "real" head, and then extinguish as another light illuminated the "hatbox" head, creating the illusion that the head was vanishing from the first position and reappearing in the second. While the concept was inspired, the execution wasn't as effective as the WED engineers had hoped, and Marc Davis himself made the call to pull the effect from the attraction. Though the effect wasn't in place for long, some veteran Haunted Mansion fans remember seeing it in place in the first days of the Haunted Mansion's operation back in 1969.

During an '80s "ride rehab," which is a process that takes place every few years in which a Disney theme park attraction is closed for a period of time and reviewed with a fine-toothed comb, the attic scene was updated to tell more of a story. A piano was added to the attic, with a projected animated shadow of a cloaked pianist pounding the keys, which are playing themselves. The invisible pianist is playing a mournful version of Wagner's "Bridal March," set in a minor key. In fact, the whole attic scene was re-themed to make the bride more of a centerpiece. The pop-up ghosts are now dressed in top hats and black bowties, and instead of screeching, they shout, "I do!" in ominous tones. The bride herself was spruced up as well, with her face painted to show a little more detail, her gown gussied up with fancier lace, and her hair lengthened and expanded to form a crazy, wavy halo of ghostly style.

Making a hasty escape, the Doom Buggies carry the Haunted Mansion's patrons out a broken window, and over the rooftop while looking out over an amazing tableau of ghostly grandeur. The carriages turn toward the horizon, looking down over a "lively" graveyard that is set adjacent to the Haunted Mansion. In the distance, scores of wispy spirits rush up from their graves to disappear into the cloudy skies. Lightning flashes and thunder crashes while owls hoot and cats howl. The Doom Buggies quickly turn and lean backward as they descend from the roof level down to the ground between a grove of dead trees, their branches reaching out toward the fleeing carriages. The raven that you had passed in the Mansion makes another appearance, cawing madly at you from one of the dead branches overhead.

Reaching the ground, the Doom Buggies turn back around and head toward the cemetery's gates, passing a caretaker, his knees knocking and mouth agape, too frightened to speak. The caretaker's bony dog stands next to his master, whimpering with fear. Entering the gates of the graveyard, a mysterious haze seems to fall over the entire landscape as the carriages spin back and forth between the tombstones. Patrons will recognize the familiar strains of "Grim Grinning Ghosts," as they pass a ghostly band of medieval minstrels performing the tune with a ghoulish jazz groove. Owls hoot along with the music and wolves howl in the distance, as tombstones shake to the beat, and every grave in the entire graveyard seems to have turned its quarry loose to join the jamboree.

Spinning around, the Doom Buggies pass a quintet of singing marble busts, which sing along in haunting harmony to the groovy ghost band:

"When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake, spooks come out for a swinging wake! Happy haunts materialize, and begin to vocalize… Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize!" the busts sing. "Now don't close your eyes and don't try to hide, or a silly spook may sit by your side… shrouded in a daft disguise, they pretend to terrorize; Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize!

"As the moon climbs high o'er the dead oak tree, spooks arrive for the midnight spree. Creepy creeps with eerie eyes start to shriek and harmonize; Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize! When you hear the knell of a requiem bell, weird glows gleam where spirits dwell… restless bones etherealize; rise as spooks of every size… ha ha ha HA HA!"

Passing the busts, the Doom Buggies turn to and fro, allowing patrons glimpses of ghosts from many historical eras. Playful spooks ride bicycles around and through the tombstones, while a Victorian tea party takes place among the open graves. A king and queen balance on a teeter-totter over a gravestone, while other ghosts toast each other from within their loosened caskets. All around, ghosts sing along and play merrily as they "socialize" throughout the cemetery. Among some unlocked crypts, an unearthly operatic duo sing a mad melody, while an executioner sings a duet with his victim-a knight, who holds his singing, decapitated head in his arms…

The graveyard set is the largest, and most whimsical, of all the Haunted Mansion's scenes. Largely the work of Davis (who designed the gags, skits and sketches) and Dave Schweninger (who brought Davis' artwork to robotic life), the graveyard presents a series of vignettes with more details than a patron could absorb in ten rides through the set. Davis' situations create a wonderfully zany world, and Schweninger captured them in three dimensions with uncanny realism. "Marc was my mentor, my friend, and my partner starting with the G.E. Carousel of Progress for the New York World's Fair and ending with the Mickey Mouse Review for Walt Disney World," Schweninger recalls. "I left sometime later, and he worked with me on various attractions for my own company. He was the best."

Many show elements combine in the graveyard to create the appropriate effects and mood for the attraction. A "hazy" mist seems to coat each scene, which is the simple result of layers of wall-to-wall scrim that surround the Doom Buggy path. Multiple layers of scrim are placed in various locations, adding to the perception of depth in the showroom. Lighting is key to this scene (as it is to most every scene in the Haunted Mansion, for that matter.) Tremblay, our Haunted Mansion technician, shares some insight into the illumination of the attraction:

"In the Haunted Mansion, black light illumination is the main show lighting key, especially in the Graveyard, séance circle and attic scenes," he explains. Referring specifically to the graveyard, he continues: "'Backlighting' of props, trees, buildings, etcetera, is done with fluorescent black lighting. Black light blue fluorescent lamps are used for these effects, generally to give the moonlight bluish tint to those elements."

Once the atmosphere is established with backlighting, other methods are used to light specific characters or scenes. "On the ghost figures, there can be a combination of one or more lamps used to illuminate them," Tremblay explains. "The pop-up figures in the graveyard and the attic are illuminated with 100-watt Mercury spotlight lamps, while other ghostly figures are lit with 100-watt Mercury floodlight lamps, to illuminate a larger area. These are installed in a 'bullet' fixture with a built-in ballast."

Lighting is also key to helping patrons differentiate between the quick and the dead, albeit subliminally. "Other lamps are used on 'still alive' beings such as the caretaker, the cats, the owls, the dog near the mummy and the ravens. These lamps are dim, white lights used to 'give life' to the living," Tremblay explains. "So as you can see, in the Haunted Mansion, show lighting is as important, if not more so, than the animation within."

The singing marble busts are another of the Haunted Mansion's showcase effects, and are again created by projecting filmed faces onto static busts, in an effect similar to that in Madame Leota's séance circle. The five busts, singing along to "X" Atencio's lyrics for Buddy Baker's fine tune, are portrayed by vocalists Thurl Ravenscroft (the lead vocalist, who is famous for his "Grrrrrr-REAT!" portrayal of Tony the Tiger), Jay Meyer, Verne Rowe, Bob Ebright, and Chuck Schroeder. Each of the vocalists that were filmed also sang their own part in the attraction's soundtrack recording. Dick Ebright, son of Bob Ebright, recalls his father's work:

"I remember dad telling me that one day when he was working at Disney, he was approached by someone and asked if he would consider having a plaster bust made of his face and head for use at Disneyland. According to dad, they were looking for singers that had interesting looking faces, and Bob sure fit. The bust of him at the park is a "dead" ringer!" Ebright recalled.

The graveyard also presents the Haunted Mansion's largest display of "audioanimatronic" creatures. In the case of the Haunted Mansion, many of the robots were created with translucent materials, allowing patrons to actually see their inner-workings, which give the beings a skeletal appearance. Some of the ghosts may also share expressions created with the same basic forms as animatronics from other Disney attractions. Tremblay explains:

"There are several facial profiles, and if you look closely, you will see that the facial features of a figure in one show can often be seen in a character in another show. In other words, Disney makes the most of the molds they designed," Tremblay explained. "It is very costly to make these molds and face skins, so by making certain generic designs, they need not make an individual mold for every single human figure in all of the parks. So what sets them apart? Wigs and costumes. By varying hair and face hair styles, and with the differences in costumes, the WDI people can mix and match, and when the finished product is unveiled, you couldn't guess that any two were the same."

"This is not to say that there are only a few different facial styles," Tremblay clarifies. "There are many, but when a mold can be utilized to make a face for the 'Carousel of Progress' figure, and the same mold to make the face of a Pirate, then it is good sense to do so."

Tremblay goes on to speak about other differences in the animatronics' features. "The shapes of various body sizes are created by the plastic body beneath the skin and clothing. The facial molds for the skins utilize a certain 'skull' type, and they are molded to tightly fit that skull. Inside the skull and body plastic (Butyrate) are installed the framework and mechanisms that give the figure life." Other details are covered in the "finishing" process. Tremblay continues: "Our 'Artist Preparators' maintain the skins and animal furs, such as the raven's feathers, the caretaker's dog's hair, the owl feathers, and the like. Then our costuming department manufactures and maintains all the outfits you see throughout the park, including the Haunted Mansion ghosts. This refurbishing is done on a weekly basis, as the costumers and artists make periodic show checks of their own and schedule their work as needed."

"So when people squawk about the cost to spend a day in the park, it is too bad they don't have a clue as to what it takes to keep a place like this going," Tremblay points out.

In the case of the Haunted Mansion, the characters are also quite unique in appearance because of the ultraviolet lighting and florescent coloring used on the features. "We have special UV Mercury lamps to bring out the black light painted features," Tremblay says. "The painting of figure face skins, props, animals, and other things is the job of the 'Artist Preparators.' They have a special room lit with black light, and this is where they do most of their work, under the same conditions as in the shows so that they can see how their artistry will look there."

The UV illumination does present its own set of problems, however. Tremblay explains: "Because the figures are exposed to ultraviolet rays from the lamps all day, year after year, the paint fades and the effect dims. When this occurs, then they must be redone. The skins are stretched over a figure part made of Butyrate. When a skin is to be refurbished, a clean X-Acto knife cut is made, just long enough to remove the Polyvinyl Chloride skin from its animatronic form. Upon completion of the renewal, the skin is returned, placed back on the head, hand or whatever, and 'buttered' back in place," Tremblay explains. "'Buttering' is the process of cauterizing the cut halves together with a buttering iron, which is nothing more than a soldering iron with a special butter-knife-shaped tip. While holding the two halves together with one hand, the other passes the hot buttering tip between the halves, and the halves are held together until the melted cut surfaces cool and weld themselves together. It is really an art form, because the skins are very valuable, and when the buttering is done, you are not supposed to even see the seam where the cut was made," Tremblay says. "So as you see, there is a lot more to maintaining an animatronics figure or prop than just replacing bad bearings and actuators."

As the Doom Buggies prepare to leave the cemetery through the opening in a large crypt (under the watchful glare of the ember-eyed raven), the Ghost Host returns for a final send-off:

"Ah, there you are! And just in time. There's a little matter I forgot to mention: beware of hitchhiking ghosts! They have selected you to fill our quota, and they'll haunt you until you return!"

As the Doom Buggies move into the dark crypt, they pass a chamber in which the three "hitchhiking ghosts" wave their thumbs at the passing carriages. The three famous ghosts have become unofficial mascots for the ride, and are often the most common recollection a patron will have from his or her trip through the Haunted Mansion. The trio of animatronic characters includes a stumpy, hairy bearded ghost holding a ball and chain; a tall, skeletal ghost; and a portly, grinning ghost toting a large handbag. Turning away from the hitchhikers, the Doom Buggies face a series of large mirrors on the walls of the crypt. Inside each mirror, each patron can see himself or herself sitting with one of the hitchhikers, the ghost grinning wildly and turning his head back and forth until the carriages pass the last mirror, and the ghost vanishes. This simple effect is created with two-way mirrored glass that both reflects the patrons from the front, and also allows the illuminated hitchhiking ghost figure behind to glow through. The figures are attached to a looping track behind the mirrors that duplicates the motion of the Doom Buggies, so that each ghost will appear to be seated inside the patron's carriage.

"Now I will raise the safety bar, and a ghost will follow you home!" the Ghost Host states, and the Doom Buggies come up alongside a moving walkway, which will lead the patrons off of the carriage and on out of the crypt, ending their visit through Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. As the guests are carted toward the exit on the moving walkway, they pass one final special effect: A tiny female "ghost hostess" who encourages them to "Hurry back!" Another projected, animated face effect, this diminutive "ghost hostess" (commonly referred to as "Little Leota" by the Cast Members, due to the similarity between this effect and the séance circle effect) stands with billowing robes, calling out to the passing guests:

"Hurry back… hurry back… and don't forget your death certificate, if you decide to join us! Make final arrangements now. We're just dying to have you…"

The filmed visage of "Little Leota" was enacted by Leota Toombs, the same actress who performed the part of Madame Leota. However, in this case, Toombs was allowed to read the lines used in the attraction herself, as the somewhat sultry quality of her delivery suited the character.

Finally, the moving walkway ends as the light grows brighter, until finally, the Haunted Mansion's patrons emerge from the dank crypt into the sunlight and Disneyland's New Orleans Square, facing the waters of the "Rivers of America" rippling under the Mark Twain Steamboat. As the smells of churros and popcorn again fill the air, the patrons prepare once more to immerse their senses into the next magical Disneyland attraction.