Last post for a few days!
So, this being an alternate reality, bear in mind that this Haunted Mansion was designed with a lot more room than what actually exists in Disneyland today. That being said, there are a few more scenes and ideas present that are not featured in the real-world alternative. At several points I even detail refurbishments that never happened. Feedback, as always, is appreciated!
Again, Jason Surrell's
The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic and Chef Mayhem's DoomBuggies.com are the biggest source of reference for this ride-through experience.
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The Foyer
“When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls… Whenever candle lights flicker… Where the air is deathly still… That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight.”
The Ghost Host, the unseen presence that will escort our tour of the Mansion, begins his ominous narration in the musky Foyer, underscored by “Grim Grinning Ghosts” arranged as a melancholy funeral dirge. The Ghost Host is voiced by Disney regular Paul Frees. Frees has become such a beloved part of the experience that many patrons deliver the dialogue right along with him. Imagineers originally planned for the Ghost Host’s narration to be delivered “live” by a marble bust that suddenly came to life. This, however, was eliminated when they found that guests were preoccupied talking among themselves and either too excited or nervous about what they were going to see to really pay attention.
Instead, our attention is drawn to a formal portrait of the master of the house hanging on the wall above the fireplace. An antique chandelier flickers little light into the dark chamber. As the Ghost Host delivers his infamous narration, the image in the portrait transforms, Dorian Gray-style, from that of a handsome young man to that of a rotting corpse. The room’s lighting is dramatically sapped of “life” at the conclusion of his transformation - even the wallpaper loses its color. It is a chilling premonition of the Ghost Host’s fate, which we are about to witness firsthand in the coming Portrait Chamber… Contrary to popular belief, the Ghost Host is not the master of the house - Gracey or otherwise - but merely one of the 999 happy haunts.
At the conclusion of his opening monologue, a panel in the Foyer wall slides open to reveal one of two identical Portrait Chambers.
The Portrait Chamber
(The Stretching Room)
In the Portrait Chamber, we see four large paintings of former guests of the Mansion, or at least as they appeared in their “corruptible, mortal state,” which are all Marc Davis originals. Grinning gargoyles wait above each wall panel, holding onto flickering candles, designed to seem as if they are staring at each occupant in this claustrophobic gallery. The portraits are cast in a deep purple and faintly yellow light upon the vertically striped wallpaper. Our Ghost Host continues…
“Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your Host, your Ghost Host. Our tour begins here… Where you see paintings of some of our guests as they appeared in their corruptible, mortal state. Kindly step all the way in please, and make room for everyone. There’s no turning back now…”
A macabre servant of Gracey Manor bids one final world of friendly warning… “Kindly drag your bodies away from the walls and into the dead center of the room…”
Suddenly, the panel slides shut, sealing us inside the octagonal space. The lighting shifts. Without warning, the entire room begins to “stretch,” and the portraits elongate to reveal the comically grim fate of their subjects. A dramatic musical underscore, added in 1993, plays beneath the famous dialogue:
“Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination - hmm? And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows, and no doors… (Chuckles) Which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out! (Laughs) Of course, there’s always my way…”
Lightning flashes to reveal a corpse, our Ghost Host, dangling from a hangman’s noose in the cupola high above. The lights wink out, and a shrill scream fills the air.
At the scene’s conclusion, a panel in the wall of each of the two Portrait Chambers slides open to reveal one long, dimly lit corridor.
The scene is a nod to Ken Anderson’s Captain Gore story, in which the captain hanged himself in the attic after murdering his young bride. The room that stretches was a creative solution to an operational problem. In order to meet the park’s capacity requirements, the attraction was housed in an enormous show building outside Disneyland’s berm. Imagineers needed to move guests belowground to the show building “outside” the park. So, in the Stretching Room, the ceiling remains in place while the floor lowers, taking guests fifteen feet underground to a corridor that transports them under the railroad tracks and into the show building itself. The four “stretching” portraits unfurl to reach their full dimensions, extending from three to eight feet, as the elevator makes its descent. The four portraits, all in which were conceptualized by Marc Davis, “stretch” to reveal a beautiful woman with a parasol on a frayed tightrope above the jaws of an alligator; a middle-aged man holding a document standing on a lit barrel of dynamite in boxer shorts; a smiling elderly woman holding a rose sitting on the tombstone of her (murdered) husband; a confident man in a bowler hat sitting on the shoulders of two frightened men waist-deep in quicksand.
The ceiling is a theatrical scrim, a piece of fabric that is opaque when lit from the front (and painted to look like the chamber’s ceiling) and translucent when lit from behind, in this case by “lightning,” revealing the long-since decayed corpse of the Ghost Host hanging from the previously unseen rafters.
Imagineers, in 2011, implemented a state-of-the-art three-dimensional audio system for the Portrait Chamber to create the illusion that the Ghost Host is gliding around the room as he delivers his infamous narration. When the room begins to stretch, a low rumbling emanates from the floor, and the walls begin to moan and groan as guests actually hear and feel the chamber elongating around them.
John Debney’s sweeping instrumental for the "Secret Room" of Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris was retained as an underscore for the classic Stretching Room, first introduced to the Mansion in a 1993 refurbishment, complete with Katherine Meyering’s haunting vocal track. Once the Ghost Host’s fate is revealed and the lights go out, we hear the disquieting fluttering of bats’ wings accompanying the familiar descending scream - as though the supernatural commotion has disturbed their peaceful slumber. If one listens closely as they file out of the Portrait Chamber, they might hear the playful, childlike whispers of the gargoyles urging them to “stay together” and, ultimately, “get out!”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to frighten you prematurely. 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.”
The Portrait Corridor & Grand Staircase
“There are several prominent ghosts who have retired here from creepy old crypts all over the world. Actually, we have 999 happy haunts here - but there’s room for a thousand. Any volunteers? (Laughs) If you insist on lagging behind, you may not need to volunteer.
And now, a carriage approaches to take you into the boundless realm of the supernatural. Take your loved ones by the hand, please, and kindly watch your step. Oh yes, and no flash pictures, please. We spirits are frightfully sensitive to bright lights.”
The Portrait Chamber exits into a long, dimly lit hallway filled with portraits of “prominent” denizens of the Haunted Mansion… The left side of the corridor is lined with windows that overlook a moonlit landscape in a rainstorm, intermittently illuminated by violent flashes of lightning. Portraits hang on the wall to the right, the subject of each transforming into a nightmarish image with each flash of lightning - the beautiful Medusa turns into a hideous Gorgon; a proud galleon devolves into a ghost ship; a gallant knight and his steed both become skeletons; a vampire, Count Dracula, transforms into a grinning bat-creature; and a beautiful young woman reclining on a couch is transformed into a white tiger. Dusty mirrors, framed certificates, macabre silhouettes and even tribal masks with horrific expressions fill the gaps between the portraits. At the far end of the hallway, an ominous-looking taxidermy mount of a grizzly bear stands against the wall. Is this haunted bear actually growling, or is it your imagination? Hmm?
Most, if not all, of the portraits are based on Marc Davis concepts - another showcase for his decidedly lighter approach to the Haunted Mansion’s macabre material. In a January 2005 enhancement to the Disneyland attraction, the Imagineers updated the transforming portraits with new technology that enabled them to realize the original design team’s creative vision of images that would change in perfect time with the lightning flashes “outside.”
From 1969 - 1992, guests would proceed into a “limbo of boundless mist and decay,” at least according to The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion, a record album released in 1969. This strange, cloud-shrouded room was the Doom Buggy Load Area and featured little more but seldom screams, lighting fixtures and rubber spiders caught in giant webs. Guests stepped onto a moving walkway and climbed into their Doom Buggy, where the Ghost Host was waiting to escort them on their tour of these happy haunting grounds.
This, however, changed in 1993 following the success of Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris.
In mid 1992, Imagineers began looking for ways to "plus" existing Disneyland attractions with some of the more contemporary ideas and technological advancements featured in the recently opened Disneyland Paris. Phantom Manor, "Euro Disneyland's" darker and more "adult" version of the Haunted Mansion, had introduced a cinematic score by John Debney, as well as a number of improvements and additions that considerably perfected the classic Mansion. A 1993 refurbishment would boldly swap the Mansion's original score by Buddy Baker for Debney's sweeping and sorrowful soundtrack. The Mansion's existing "Bride" character was altered and her backstory was expanded, and a new scene, the "Grand Staircase" was introduced. The unique refurbishment was nicknamed "The Phantom Mansion."
The Grand Staircase effectively replaced said "boundless mist and decay." An enormous picture window at the top of the staircase looks onto a sinister, moonlit landscape illuminated by flashes of lightning. As the lightning flashes, the scene is drained of all color, becoming a melancholy, monochromatic grey landscape. The brilliant scene has remained since the '93 enhancements, unlike the Debney score. Buddy Baker's original soundtrack returned to the Mansion in 1999 for the attraction's 30th Anniversary. Debney's score, of course, remains in the Portrait Chamber to this day.
A supernatural wind blows to the tune of “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” The sculpted bats that top the stanchions throughout the Portrait Corridor and Grand Staircase are original designs, another testament to the Imagineers' attention to detail. There are three styles of bat - two-winged, right-winged, and left-winged - to accommodate the various turns and switchbacks.
We board a Doom Buggy of our own at the foot of the Grand Staircase. The ethereal outline of a phantom hearse and its ethereal driver ride alongside our carriage in the picture window.
“Do not pull down on the safety bar, please. I will lower it for you. And heed this warning: The spirits will materialize only if you remain safely seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside. And watch your children, please.”
A pair of carved griffins bid our farewell, or our "bone voyage," as we ascend a staircase to the second floor, and into the...
The wind howls well into a dark corridor on the second floor before us, a rather sinister collection of macabre portraits and cobwebs galore. The portraits, however, the "Sinister 11," steal the show with their eerie, glowing eyes that follow our every move. The axe-wielding Ghost Host cut free of his noose; Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the latter holding her removed head; the chained Ghost of Jacob Marley; the haggardly, once beautiful "December" in a formal pose; Ivan the Terrible; the phantom of a Mariner lost at sea; Guy Fawkes with his favorite keg of gunpowder; a stern and middle-aged couple; a four-armed Frankenstein's Monster; Jack the Ripper; the solemn Witch of Walpurgis and her trusted cat.
The Sinister 11 are based on unused designs by Marc Davis for changing or "talking" portraits. Marley is an exception, an artistic variation on the "Burning Miser" by Marc Davis. The four-armed Frankenstein's Monster comes from an early story treatment by Ken Anderson, though the humorous design ultimately came from Marc as well. The eyes are cut out of the original portraits and the "half-eyeballs" are set behind the portrait and backlit, giving the impression that they are following the viewer. The subjects allude to the one-time idea of having the Haunted Mansion house fictional and historical villains alike, a concept heavily realized here.
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More to come!
Also, Officer Zzyxx, Sonny's cousin who was recently removed from Tokyo Disneyland, will be placed in my Alien Encounter's exit. He will, of course, explain that he is in fact a distant cousin of Sonny Eclipse to passers-by. 
