The Haunted Mansion verbal tour
Here is my verbal tour for the Haunted Mansion. For layout of this article, like mharrington, I am using the Haunted Mansion book by Jason Surrel. So enjoy the ride:
Grounds:
The grounds have the tombstones as usual, as well as the pet cemetry. One hidden feature will be that some of the tombstones resemble chess pieces and contain chess-related epitaphs (e.g. "he failed to make his move"). Towards the end of the cemetry, there will be a headstone with a similar feature to Madame Leota's at Florida's. Expect this is for "Master Gracey".
The Foyer:
When you step into the house, there is a portrait over the fireplace. Instead of turning into a skeleton, he fades away as the Ghost Host explains how his life ended in misery. One of the passages opens up to reveal the Chamber (renamed version of the portrait chamber).
The Chamber:
Upon getting in, the portraits show Master Gracey, a beautiful bride in a gown, another handsome young man and a maid. As the ghost host begins his narration, the portraits begin to reveal their grim fates: Master Gracey's legs are old and withered, the bride is holding a long sycthe with a letter on the end, the other handsome young man is about to be shot by someone and one of the maid's dishes has a hand poking out of it. The ghost then says "The master took the easy way out. But of course, there's always my way!" before we see a skeelton hanging from the rafters with a rope around his neck, before the lightning flashes again to reveal this is Master Gracey. A secret door opens to allow guests into the corridor.
The Corridor of Sorrow:
Inside this corridor, there are some transforming portraits, but these effects are like California's, where the lightning flashes to reveal their fates. At the end of the corridor is a portrait of a bride and a man, which does not change, but instead the eyes follow the guests.
Load Area:
Here the load area is the entrance depicted in Paris and the film. Once guests get in their doom buggies, soon the fun begins.
The Libary:
Guests arrive in the libary, where the moving busts are. The ghost host begins to say "The Master is expecting your stay to be an extended one!". Just then, everything in the libary disappears, and a hidden passage appears in front of you which allows you to continue on.
The Endless Hallway:
When we are near the endless hallway, the maid stands in the bride's place, telling them that something is wrong about the house, to which the ghost replies "She is right!" as we see the endless hallway, where the candelabra floats. One by one, each of it's three lights goes out.
The Music/Conservatory room:
This scene is a mixture of the music room and conservatory. The hands appear out of the coffin as a figure in a long cloak laughs away, while playing the funeral music. We manage to follow a load of spiders to the Corridor of Broken Hopes and Doors.
The Corridor of Broken Hopes and Doors:
Each of the doors represent somebody's broken hopes and dreams. One door represents somebody trying to get in to save their loved one, another represents somebody taking out their anger on the door, and the breathing door represents death. As we approach the end of the corridor, the clock representing the devil is there, and as the clock strikes thirteen, we here the ghost host say "Broken dreams and hopes are what Madame Leota specializes... and you're invited to the awakening!".
The Seance Circle:
As we arrive in the Seance Circle, we see Madame Leota telling her incantations as she speaks of jealousy towards one of the bride's grooms. As she reaches her final incantation, she flies upwards and in a suprising green light, she disappears. Before we get into the grand party hall, we see the shadows in the room become ghosts, horiffically glowing their evil eyes.
The Grand Party Hall:
Here the Grand Party Hall is the wedding party, where everyone is having a great time. Out of the organ are screaming skulls that gradually turn into musical notes. On the balcony is the cloaked figure once again, disappearing and reappearing saying that he will have revenge on whoever married his bride! An evil laughter fills the room and suddenly the ghosts fade away, apart from the figure.
The Treasure Room:
We appear in the Attic, which is now the Treasure room, where the bride with the axe from the beginning is there, expect she does not have an axe. She instead holds rotted flowers, as her heart beats slowly come to a stop. The cloaked figure appears one last time, but shows he is none other than the other handsome man from the portrait chamber! The hatbox ghost is here at last, but he says "There is not much time left! The Master's hours are numbered!" as his head disappears from his body and reappears in the box and vice versa.
The Graveyard:
We arrive in the graveyard by "falling" through a window, although the doom buggies are still inside the ride building. Here the caretaker and his cowardly dog are there. As we go past them, everyone is having a party of a time, where the singing busts sing of a duel, besides their usual lyrics. Near the entrance to the crypt, the raven looks on as the handsome man appears in his usual clothes, holding a gun and is aiming it straight at the doom buggies! Luckily for us, Master Gracey appears as a skeleton with a white around him, and causes the hamdsome man to fade away at last, taking Madame Leota's green light with him, signalling their demises and last stop on our haunted tour.
The Crypt:
As we arrive at the crypt, we see those hitchhiking ghosts asking to be picked up. Here the first mirror is all of the hitchhiking ghosts together, the second is Master Gracey and his bride and the last is the dim shadow of the handsome man. We then get off at the unload area.
Little Leota:
On the way out of the Mansion, Little Leota stands their saying her usual "Hurry Back" as we leave. She also moves around a bit more. As we leave the building, the mausoleum reads all the people who died at the mansion.
And that ends the tour of the Haunted Mansion. See the next post for the story behind the mansion. Comments welcome.