The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is an attraction located in Liberty Square
History
Like many of the original Magic Kingdom attractions, the Haunted Mansion began as an idea for Disneyland. Before the park was even built, Walt Disney and artist Harper Goff were working on an idea for a haunted house type attraction. The original sketch by Goff, was titled "Church Graveyard and Haunted House", and featured a Gothic style mansion on top of a hill. The Mansion was going to be located off an alley on Mainstreet USA and then Frontierland, but the project was eventually put on hold. When Disneyland opened in 1955, The Haunted Mansion was nowhere to be found. The project was brought back however when Walt decided in 1958 that he wanted to expand Disneyland with a new land called "New Orleans Square".
Construction on the Haunted Mansion took place in 1962, put problems plagued the new attraction. Story line problems were a constant for the Haunted Mansion, and in 1964 Disney's attention was turned towards the World Fair instead of Disneyland. Another blow to the struggling project came in 1965 when Walt Disney, the driving force behind the project died. With Walt gone, Imageneers were divided about what tone to give the mansion. Imagineer Marc Davis wanted to present the ride in a comical matter, giving the mansion a lighter tone. Another Imagineer, Claude Counts thought the Haunted Mansion should be a real haunted house and wanted to give the ride a darker tone. Eventually, Imagineers decided on a compromise. The beginning of the attraction was given a darker tone, and had scarier ghosts. Later in the attraction the ghosts would become more "silly" and the "swinging wake" would begin. With the story line and tone of the Haunted Mansion finally decided, the attraction finally opened on August 9, 1969.
Disney Imageneers
The main Disney Imageneers that worked on the designing and construction of the Haunted Mansion were:
- Ken Anderson (storyline)
- Yale Gracy & Rolly Grump (special effects)
- Claude Counts (plot/storyline)
- Marc Davis (character design/storyline)
- Blane Gibson (sculpting-many of the ghosts including the hitchhiking ghosts and the singing busts were sculpted by Blane Gibson)
Disney World Construction
During the time the Haunted Mansion was being finalized in Disneyland, plans for a identical version in the not yet open Walt Disney World. Props and sets for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion were copied and shipped to Florida. Unlike the Disneyland version however, the Haunted Mansion was set in the American Northeast, not New Orleans (due to the fact that Liberty Square replaced New Orleans Square in Walt Disney World). The change in location is evident in the architecture. Unlike the Gothic feel of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, the version in Walt Disney World is built with a colonial/Hudson River Valley architecture. In fact, the Harry Peacher Mansion in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania was the influence for the Disney World Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion opened with the park on October 1, 1971.
