Haunted Mansion

[careship]

On top of the Haunted Mansion there are chess pieces - couple of pawns, rooks, kings, queens, etc. - decorating the roof like mini-towers. The chess pieces are there because the building's architect and attraction's chief designer loved chess. All of the pieces are there accept for one which is a knight. The reason there is no knight chess piece on the roof of the mansion is because it is always "night" inside the Haunted Mansion. the mansion is built this way as a pun: chess is the GAME OF LIFE!

 

[EmeraldDolphin]

interesting stuff... I'll keep looking for more of your secrets!
I never even noticed the chess pieces... how un-observant of me...

 

[hail2pitt1103]

I read in an Eyes and Ears (the cast newsletter) last year in the urban legend section that it wasnt true that the lead designer was a big chess fanatic, although they never said why the pieces were there. the chess is the game of life theory is definitely plausible though

 

[Woody13]

There is a knight inside the HM. A knight in the game of chess makes a very unusual move. You can guess the rest.

 

[JLW11Hi]

I heard that when they were designing the building, they had a miniature model of the mansion, and were trying to think of something to make it more interesting, so they took chess pieces, which were pretty much to the model's scale, and put them on top of the model.

 

[HMGhost13]

Though widely known...

Haunted Mansion was the last ride, Walt Disney had influence on.

Haunted Mansion took the longest of all other rides to open.

 

[General Grizz]

...I believe Test Track may have beat it (taking longest to open).

 

[HMGhost13]

Originally posted by grizzlyhall
...I believe Test Track may have beat it (taking longest to open).

nope. production for Haunted Mansion started in the late 50's. facade was built in early sixties ride officially opened late 60's.

taken from HiddenMickeys.org

Test Track is the longest delayed attraction after the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

and...

The development of the Haunted Mansion goes all the way back to 1959 and Ken Anderson. There were a number of reasons it took so long, mainly that it was handed to four different development teams. They also pulled all they're people to work on the '64 World's Fair project. The Haunted Mansion never opened before the official opening day, which was some 6 years after it was built!

 

[jaimjaim25]

and if you look hard enough, you can see behind the 'mansion' the actual building that holds the ride

 

[General Grizz]

Ohhhhhhhh...I thought it was the definite Haunted Mansion. The Museum of the Weird...now THAT took forever! :lol:

 

[Woody13]

Originally posted by jaimjaim25
and if you look hard enough, you can see behind the 'mansion' the actual building that holds the ride

Also, the Haunted Mansion show building is adjacent to It's A Small World show building. Both attractions share the same control center. That's why the dolls in IASW look so "creepy"!

 

[tenchu]

Freaked me out the first time i saw this.

http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/showphoto.php?photo=2521

 

[Figment1986]

wow, is that one of the largest Attration buildings??

 

[HMGhost13]

Originally posted by grizzlyhall
Ohhhhhhhh...I thought it was the definite Haunted Mansion. The Museum of the Weird...now THAT took forever! :lol:

no the definate Haunted Mansion. Museum of The Weird was scrapped almost as quickly as it was thought of. i could go throught he whole history but http://www.doombuggies.com tells it best.

 

[mkt]

Originally posted by Figment1986
wow, is that one of the largest Attration buildings??

it's definitely up there... PoTC's is a bit bigger though

 

[space42]

Originally posted by mkt
it's definitely up there... PoTC's is a bit bigger though

yup.. and "The Great Movie Ride" tops them all as the largest show building at WDW.

 

[mkt]

Originally posted by space42
yup.. and "The Great Movie Ride" tops them all as the largest show building at WDW.

oh yeah... that's an enormous building

 

[Magickdndm]

This is my first post so I figured it should be about my favorite ride, though I really don't have to much to say, but I did finally see the "wedding ring" in the cement.

 

[JLW11Hi]

Originally posted by Magickdndm
This is my first post so I figured it should be about my favorite ride, though I really don't have to much to say, but I did finally see the "wedding ring" in the cement.

What ring??

 

[Magickdndm]

It's found outside the ride, supposedly it was the ring the bride in the attic threw.
Other sources say it's just an old indent in the concrete where a pole once was, but after seeing it, it really does look like a ring. I can post a pic of it later if you'd like.