Fun fact for you- that "Egyptian mummy" is actually the caretaker seen shaking from fear by the gate with his dog. If you notice to the left is the same dog, being ever faithful to his owner and staying by his side. Since he is was "scared to death" and is recently dead, his body is still in its embalmed state but now part of the happy haunts.
Actually, the mummy and the old man next to him are there as a joke about how there used to be mummy seances in the victorian era; wherein they would open up a mummy sarcophagus and try to get the mummy's spirit to speak to them. The joke there, is that by the time the mummy starts speaking, the man has grown so old that he can't make out what the mummy is saying. And it doesn't help that his voice is muffled by his bandages.
My Aunt Betty's first husband, Ernie Prinzhorn, did the marquee graphic for the Haunted Mansion. I remember as a very young child visiting them; in the foyer of the house you were greeted by a huge painting of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders... and then, turning left & going into the living room, you passed by an original oil painting of the Three Ghostly Hitchhikers.
This is very well done! I was impressed with what you included in this video. I myself have been a Disney "Historian" for over 40 years. I was really impressed with how you pointed out the 2 feels of the ride (Claude Coates atmospheric first half, and Marc Davis' second). To clear up one of two minor things, the moving busts was actually an accident discovered by Yale Gracy when he walked behind a Lincoln life mask mold and noticed that the president was following his movements. By illuminating it from behind, the image seemed to become convex instead of concave. (Just my opinion, but I really think you should have mention Gracy more. He was the mast of illusion for the haunted mansion. He took the ideas and made them work. He was a very integral part of the creation of the Mansion.) The Ghost Host was supposed to be the Master of the House, but the Captain Gore aspect had been abandoned well before that. (With the exception of the hung master). The Master of the House eventually became Master George Gracy thanks to cast member stories and a headstone that used to sit outside of the Mansion with Master Gracy's name, again a reference to Yale Gracy. You might also want to mention that not only did X Antencio write the script, he also supplies the voice of the ghost trapped in the coffin and the emergency spiel whenever the ride stops. (He's also the voice of the famous skull and cross swords in Pirates of the Caribbean.) All in all, I find your videos VERY well made, entertaining, respectful and intelligently done. I will be spending time on your channel watching these. I promise not to nit pick on everything. :)
E Darkslade are you referring to the current soundtrack for the pirate? Because the original was also Thurl Ravenscroft. I heard that audio got basically destroyed over the years though, so they revoiced it.
Great observation. Thurl did record a soundtrack for the skeleton pirate, but it was not used on the ride. That was always X. I expect they did that since he wrote the story line for the ride. Thurl's version was used on the Pirates of the Caribbean record. (He was also the narrator). Paul Frees, J. Pat O'Mally and Thurl did a majority of the pirate voices on the ride.
The knight was removed because as a cast member, they carried some kind of remote shut off button. It was supposed to be used for emergencies like someone having a heart attack or puke on the track. Unfortunately, some people did harass the cast member wearing the suit who would spitefully press the button. This gag only lasted about a month or two before being removed.
I remember actually going past the Black Widow Bride, and she stared at me with her hatchet in her ghostly hands. Add that with the fact that my Doom Buggy got stopped right in front of some angry and spooky eyes the first time I went on the Haunted Mansion recently and the fact I got spooked to the *screaming point* on my second ride through, and I think it's safe to say either two possibilities: 1. I'm a bit of a scaredy cat (which would be logical because I had to ride *ALONE* ) Or 2. The Haunted Mansion is still working it's spooky magic on anyone it can.
These secrets and history videos are what brought me to Fresh Baked about 8 years ago. And I haven't looked back since. Such a wonderful channel that keeps me in my happy place when i can't be there in person.
I could no longer stand the fact that the second part of this video was being blocked by RU-vid on smart phones and overseas, so I've made some needed edits and compiled the video into one piece. As such, here are our Secrets and History of the Haunted Mansion!
I think the Haunted Mansion record is responsible for the perpetuation of the Hatbox Ghost mythos. The Campbell drawing was awesome. Second scariest thing in the book!
Thank you for telling the original backstory. I heard a cast member telling this story and wondered if he was making it up or if that was true. Great work!
The way they implemented the hatbox ghost looks really out of place and comes off as just silly, like a typically bad CGI effect in a live action movie.
When I was 14 my brother and I weer on this ride. We lived in Riverside so we went to Disneyland a lot. This time however we jumped out of our seats because a cast member was in that suit of armor. Only happened that 1 time out of hundreds of times riding this ride but every time I am on this ride now I always am on the look out for him just past the clock scene.lol Will never forget.. Kudos Disney....Kudos lol
This is the first Fresh Baked Disney video I saw, and remains to be one of my favorites. If I were not obsessed with The Haunted Mansion, I may not have found you guys!
when you mentioned the cast member in the suit of armor i nearly peed my pants, i literally remember that so vividly on my first visit to the haunted mansion but nobody else in my family remembered that so i convinced myself that i imagined it. now i get to prove everyone wrong! thanks FB!
When I was a Disneyland CM working at TDA, I would always geek out when I saw Imagineer VP Kim Irvine in the halls. She is the daughter of Leota Toombs and the voice of Madam Leota for Haunted Mansion Holiday, and her office was on the same floor as Yellow Shoes (Disney's in-house ad agency). Btw, I was one of those people who attacked the knight back in the late 80s (87 or 88) when he jumped out from around the corner. Scared the crap out of me. I popped him on the head on impulse. I still feel bad about that.
What an amazing video to watch......especially for people like me who are obsessed with anything Disney. I've only been to Disney Land once, but I've been to WDW at least 12 times or more. I definitely need to go back to California and the original DL.
It’s funny because I noticed over the years people. Some people are so end of Disneyland like me and my one friend in the 90s I mean we would go there every single day. We knew everything about Disneyland and I haven’t been to California adventure not because I’m not into it anymore I’m not but I still like Disneyland . It’s just that it’s so expensive now used to be a lot cheaper in the 90s.
A favor... will you please make more Secrets and History vids. I love watching these... and you have a great narrator voice! Sometimes I will just play your videos while I'm on the computer just for the comforting background noise!
Amazing video. Have to tell you, you blow my mind. Here I thought all this time that the whole ride was in the mansion. Never would I've guessed that in was a huge building behind it. Which the more I think about it and as many times I've ridden it, I'm thinking I should figure this out by now, but sadly nope I hadn't. So when you show the pic of aerial view I had to stop the video and fully take in the fact that the ride was not in mansion and my brain deal with the truth...lol!
The knight in armor does appear sometimes as (s)he jumped out at me once. (S)he also knocked on the emergency exit door when I knocked from the outside while waiting in line. Totally caught me off gaurd at the time but in retrospect it was awesome for the extra effort to play along with us (my folks and wife).
Just went there a few days ago and they had to stop the ride for some reason and I was right in front of the ghost. I didn't know it was so popular until I saw this video.
was watching this with wind whistling outside, the branches scratching at the windows, and i have an ambient thunder storm playing on another screen...spoooookyyy ;)
The Haunted Mansion has been my favorite ride since I was like 12 once I started getting into paranormal stuff lol. Before that, I was deathly afraid of the ride XD
Well... that was very well put together! Well done fresh baked! (You guys now have a new subscriber).... I am a very big haunted mansion fan let Alone disney fan. Im glad i found your channel! You should also mention the countless hidden mickeys in the ride. The place setting in the dance hall with the hundred leagues under the sea organ is one.... it's very easy to spot! But I never knew what those green buildings were on the monorail.... now I know it's just the haunted mansion. To me that's really cool. Where on earth did you find all that info? I knew half of it but still... I guess asking cast members wouldn't hurt. Thanks again for that... *if you are reading this long, you are such a Disney fan*
+Mercer Akeson The part where he mentions the buildings seen while riding the monorail is not actually the Haunted Mansion. You are not able to really see the Haunted Mansion from the monorail. There is a green building you pass by on the monorail as you are making your way toward the esplanade; however that building is not actually connected to an attraction, it is a backstage facility. There are several hidden Mickeys within the Haunted Mansion, as these are some of my favorites. The candelabras in the queueing room prior to entering the stretching room are hidden Mickeys. Throughout the year, there is usually a hidden Mickey made out of plates on the table in the ballroom scene; however, this hidden Mickey is moved by cast members from time to time and is not always present. During the transition to the Nightmare before Christmas, some of the "snow" on the floor is made into a hidden Mickey. There is also a clock in the attic scene that has a hidden Mickey. Additionally, the chair sitting next to the endless hallway has a hidden Donald Duck near the top of the chair. I love finding all the hidden Mickeys throughout the park. I always challenge my friends and family to find as many as they can throughout our visits. I always win, but I have an unfair advantage, being a former Disneyland/Disney cast member.
Jamie Clelland The better question is where does the Master Gracey thing come from. The reality is the name Master Gracey was originally nothing more than a name on a tombstone in front of the Mansion. The term "Master", in those days, was reserved for young men. Boys not yet old enough to be called sir. He in fact could not have been the owner of the home. But it became something of a pet thing that fans and CM's grew in to, believing him to be the owner. The Captain Blood story comes directly from historians and original backstories written by Disneyland writers and artists.
I don't see any mention of when you're looking in the mirrors you'll sometimes see ghosts on the ride with you. It's happened to me every time I've gone on the ride. I'd still like to know how they do that illusion.
Thanks for the wonderful video history of my favorite attraction across all DisneyParks. PS. Composer Buddy Bakker wrote and arranged the melody/music for Grim Grinning Ghosts, with lyrics by X Atencio
Pirates turned out to have the best film adaptation - thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer and the scriptwriters having a lot of creative freedom with the storytelling to make a standalone movie.
Also, when they filmed the ballroom scene they forgot that the film would be reversed because it's being reflected, so that's why the ladies are leading in the dance
Last time I rode Haunted Mansion, I was squeezed into one doom buggy with two friends and we got stuck in there for over 30 mins, listening to the "stay in your... doom buggy" message over and over. We got bored sitting by the dancing ghosts and eventually pulled out our phones and the light on our faces made us show up all spooky in the reflective glass! It was fun, that's how we figured out how it worked :)
Awesome video! The only mistake I found was when you stated the glass in the ballroom scene was one giant piece that stretches the length of the hall. There are in fact several glass pieces that are the height of the hall but not the width. Each "pillar" that you see as you travel through is the support and separation of each glass piece standing side by side. However, the ceiling would still need to be removed to change the glass, regardless
OMG I love the feel and detail of your video series. This is fantastic. Would love to collaborate sometime. We wanna showcase the adventures at Disneyland from the perspective of how it's accessible for people with disabilities. Would love your thoughts! Disney playdate someday with your team haha!
as a disabled person, I can tell you it's pretty accommodating, the only issues are in the restrooms built in the '50s and not ADA some of the original rides have this problem as well, but if you can transfer from a wheelchair to the ride seat you'll be OK on some rides where they'll give you a "return time" hallways in are too narrow you can enter through the exit which saves a lot of waiting time, in fact, a while back people in wheelchairs were "renting" themselves out as a way to cut the lines which is when they started the "return time" tickets your return time is based on the speed of the line so you don't really cut it, but you can do other things until your time comes up
Mistress Lilian O’Maley Gracey. Atlanta socialite, first wife of George Gracey Junior. Former circus tightrope walker. She was a spoiled rich girl who fell in love with a circus tightrope walker named Alex. When the circus left town and she tracked him down. Unfortunately upon finding the circus troupe, she was too late, as Alex had fallen to his death. Lillian joined the circus as a tightrope walker to stay connected to her late love Alex. Later, George Gracey Jr. met her at the circus, fell in love with her, and convinced her to marry him and move into the mansion. She fell into depression after being tormented by Madame Leota, “Little Leota”, and being ignored by her husband because of his obsession with the spirit world...plus the questionable “paternity” of Little Leota took its toll on her. Madame Leota convinces Lillian to perform her tightrope act one last time for everyone in the mansion, and as Lillian did so, she fell and landed into the jaws of a hungry alligator.
At the end, she says, " come back and join us, next time, bring your death certificate" that is so epic, and gives the idea, come back to Disneyland Haunted Mansion.
As far as I understand the Haunted Mansion was being considered for several different areas in Disneyland. At one time it was considered as part of International Street which was set to be built in 1956 but was cancelled due to unknown reasons. The Captain Gore story was for the version which was to be part of a Frontierland expansion. The decision to build New Orleans Square didn't take place until 1961. Walt had been exploring the idea in of developing the land that was being used for Holidayland because he was unhappy with that land. There was also a version being considered briefly for Fantasyland which was to feature Mickey, Goofy, and Donald trying to evict ghosts from an old mansion. The mansion facade design that was used stems from a Ken Anderson design for the outside of that attraction. The Fantasyland version was never seriously being considered because Walt wanted something to occupy the space where Holidayland once stood.
I am a cast member and a mansion maid. Please do not ask us for death certificates because they are an internet rumor. We are asked this question thousands of times a day and it can be distracting toward the safety of our guest while we are loading them onto buggies. Thanks!
Hey! Thanks for asking. The pet cemetery does exist but we no longer bring guest back there due to an unsafe walkway. The same pet stones exist through the queue.
Last time I was at Disneyland, we had a cast member wave us over to the Haunted Mansion AFTER closing time. It's that kind of personal attention that brings me back.
Shipley/Lydecker house (demolished) was the model. Stuff you missed in History podcast interviewed the author who wrote the authorized book. He corrected an error he first published about Evergreen.
David, thank you so much for making these! I know they are a lot of work and probably a huge pain, but I absolutely love them!! This one is my favorite because Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride. I've watched it like 5 times. :)
Ohhhhhhh about the hatbox ghost, idk if you know this, but if you waited just a little more, you would talk about the hatbox ghost being back into the ride! I was surprised when I saw it! I was like "YES! IT'S BACK!!!"
Also, the suit of armor was used by cast members as an emergency stop mechanism. It had a button in it they would push if they saw any reason to stop the ride as they walked around. It was never used to scare the guests. In fact, the reason it is no longer in use that way was because the guests (mostly rowdy teenagers) would try to scare the cast member causing them to do an emergency stop, delaying the ride.
I know that the room with the orb that has the woman in it is currently broken since the ghosts that circle around are not there right now. Went on it 3/11/2016 and it's somewhat empty because of that.