A Tribute to the Haunted Mansion – Celebrating 40 Years

I tend to focus my attentions on the Disney World theme parks in Florida, but we mustn’t forget Walt’s first theme park; Disneyland in California. Recently one of the parks iconic attractions celebrated its 40th anniversary so I thought I’d pull together a tribute to the Haunted Mansion for your reading/viewing pleasure.

Walt imagined the Haunted Mansion before Disneyland had even opened -- but the attraction was put on hold as the Imagineers focused efforts on the World Fair. This actually worked in our favour, as the original walk-through attraction became something much better with the use of the omnimovers to transport guests through the Mansion.

Disneyland Official Haunted Mansion Video

Let’s kick things off with a look at the official video released from Disneyland. Take a look at the making of the attraction with Walt and the Imagineers.

Family Spends Night in Haunted Mansion

Yes, you read that right. The Sutton family won a competition on their local radio station and spent the night in the Haunted Mansion being entertained by various ghostly cast members, eating eyeball deserts and sleeping in a coffin.

Here’s an interview with the family talking about their once in a lifetime Disney experience.

And another video showing footage of their night in the Haunted Mansion.