Haunted Mansion by Reece Smith

The Haunted Mansion 

by Jace Smith

The Haunted Mansion is in Liberty Square of the Magic Kingdom park in Disney World and in New Orleans Square in Disneyland. In both locations the Haunted Mansion has a garden outside. The one in Disney World has gravestones telling how people died. They’re all somewhat funny and fictional. Also there’s a carriage before you go into the garden which looks nice except it’s black and there’s an invisible horse with a harness on it. Then you have statues of family members as well as a mausoleum looking building. On the side of that building are instruments carved into the building and when you touch them they make that instrument’s sound. Then there’s some graves off to the left and a bookshelf off to your right there are books sticking out which you can push in and other books pop out. 

Then you’ll head to the doors where you’ll head through a hallway and eventually get into a large room with paintings of people. Here you’ll meet the caretaker/owner of the mansion and find that the paintings aren’t so pleasant. There also should be a door that you can ask a cast member about if you don’t want to go on the ride because you’re scared or if a child with you doesn’t want to. If you wish to go on the ride then you’ll head down another hallway to the cars/seats. This is where the Haunted Mansion becomes a dark ride where you’re in what the narrator that you hear on the ride calls a doom buggy. It's just a black chair that you sit in that’s curved like a half dome and can sit 2 to 3 people. However do be warned that it also turns on its own so you can go down backwards or sideways as well as up backwards or sideways. 

You travel through the mansion seeing all kinds of ghosts and ghouls as well as heads in crystal balls. You travel through the mansion past windows and paintings that change in lightning and door knobs that turn themselves.   Also there will be several rooms with dancing ghosts or singing ghosts. Despite the frightful scenes there’s no need to panic unless you want the ride to go faster. On your tour of the mansion the narrator/owner will talk about the house how it can fit one more ghost and that can be you. Also in the graveyard near the end the ghosts are quite lively and if you’ve ever seen Haunted Mansion the movie you might recognize some of these scenes. However the ride came first and the movie was based off the ride not the other way around. At the end the narrator/owner will warn you of hitchhiking ghosts who will follow you home and you get to an area where there’s mirrors in front of you and it looks like a hitchhiking ghost is in your doom buggy.  In 2019, Walt Disney World added a photopass to the haunted mansion to remember your frightful ride.