Phantom Manor

Phantom Manor

Attraction façade
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Area Frontierland
Status Operating
Opening date April 12, 1992
General statistics
Attraction type Omnimover dark ride
Manufacturer Vekoma
Designer Walt Disney Imagineering
Theme Haunted attraction
Music Grim Grinning Ghosts (Buddy Baker, Xavier Atencio, John Debney)
Length 785 ft (239 m)
Vehicle type Omnimovers
Riders per vehicle 1 to 3
Duration 6 minutes
Hosted by Gérard Chevalier as The Phantom (French Version)
Vincent Price as The Phantom (English Version)
Audio-Animatronics 92
Must transfer from wheelchair

Phantom Manor is an attraction located in Frontierland at Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris. It is Disneyland Paris' version of the Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, although a lot of scenes from the Haunted Mansion have been reimagined to coincide with a darker theme. It opened with Euro Disneyland on April 12, 1992.

The attraction combines a walk-through portion with Omnimover vehicles, and features special effects and Audio-Animatronics. This version of the popular Haunted Mansion rides has a different plot line which is similar to that of The Phantom of the Opera. It is also designed to be scarier and darker than the other Haunted Mansion rides. The ride also has a unique soundtrack featured in the American and Japanese versions.

History

While planning Euro Disneyland, Tony Baxter, executive designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, decided that certain staple Disney attractions would have to be modified for the new park. The Haunted Mansion was among these, and was given a darker tone than the original attraction. Jeff Burke was assigned the role of executive producer for the construction of this park's version of Frontierland and, with help from Imagineer Bob Baranick and show writer Craig Fleming, it was decided that the story related to Phantom Manor would have to be congruent with that of Thunder Mesa, the fictional town portrayed in Frontierland. A similar treatment was given to the Paris version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

A major influence for the story of the ride was Gaston Leroux's novel, The Phantom of the Opera, the secondary plot focusing on the abandoned bride Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, as well as many European gothic legends, which were altered for a Western setting. The architectural style is Victorian Second Empire, and the Manor bears a strong resemblance to Bates Manor from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Imagineer Marc Davis disliked the derelict aspect of the building, stating "Walt would never approve of it." Like the other Haunted Mansion rides, only the first scene takes place in the mansion structure itself, the remainder of the ride takes place in a building hidden from park guests.

Story

The story of Phantom Manor was inspired by the never-built Western River Expedition, which was a Pirates of the Caribbean-style attraction designed by Marc Davis for Walt Disney World's Frontierland.

Henry Ravenswood (born 1795) was a Western settler who struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and founded the Thunder Mesa Mining Company, thus creating the city of Thunder Mesa (Frontierland as a whole). Ravenswood became rich and built himself a Victorian manor high on Boot Hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain, where he raised a family and had a daughter, Melanie Ravenswood (born 1842).

Big Thunder Mountain was rumored by natives to be home to the Thunder Bird, a powerful spirit possessing a treasure. According to the legend, its wrath could be materialized into a terrible earthquake. However, Ravenswood would not believe such stories. Time went by, and the gold in Big Thunder Mountain became scarce, making miners dig deeper into the mountain.

Melanie grew from a young girl into a beautiful young woman, and became engaged to a train engineer who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding, but his useless attempts were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed him and his wife Martha (born 1802). It seemed the Thunder Bird had been awakened, and the family was never heard of again. After several years, the story of what really happened came out from underneath the rubble:

On Melanie's wedding day, a mysterious Phantom unknown to anyone appeared in the house. While Melanie was preparing in her room, the Phantom lured her groom up to the attic where he hanged him by the neck from the rafters.

In the ballroom, the bride sat alone. Hours went by with no sign of the groom. Guests slowly filed away, leaving Melanie alone in the house with the staff of maids and butlers. "Some day", she told herself, "he will come". And so, having never taken off her wedding dress or dropped her flower bouquet, in preparation for her loved one's return, she wandered the house aimlessly, singing melancholy songs of lost love.

But the Phantom was still in the house, laughing at her human devotion to her intended husband. One after one, he invited his dead, demonic friends from the afterlife to fill the house in an eternal party. A dark curse fell upon the house, and the shape of the house was slowly transformed by the evil forces. No one ever set foot in the house ever since.

Inside and outside, the house was decaying with age. Dusty cobwebs covered every inch, the disheartened staff not caring, for it was rumored that Melanie had lost her mind. She wandered the house for years and years, singing softly to her groom, while all around her demons and ghosts reveled and danced. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the wedding. The Phantom's eternal laughter still carried through the walls of the house. Outside, the once beautiful grounds were falling apart and crumbling. The gilded staircase and structure were dotted with mold and trees and every plant on the grounds died. As if sensing the evil inherent in the house, nothing living ever trod there. Even so, Melanie kept her hopes, waiting for her love's return, and never figured why he didn't show up at the wedding.

The earthquake that killed her parents all those years ago cut a huge gouge in the west half of the property and in the crumbling ghost town of the old Thunder Mesa. The deserted buildings were rumored to be called Phantom Canyon, the dark supernatural version of the town, and anyone who entered the ghastly old town at night never came back.

Today, no one knows if Melanie Ravenswood is still alive in that old house on the hill. If she is, then she is well over 100 years old. Her beautiful voice still carries over the town at night though, through the walls of the house and night air. And sometimes, people still see lights in the house.

Some nights, when the moon is full and the sky is clear of clouds, you can still hear the lonely mourning of the bride, the maniacal laughter of the Phantom, and the faint tinkle of glass and the laughter of party guests. Whether she is alive or not, what is well known is that poor Melanie never really left the crumbling mansion. She waits for her groom until Judgment Day.

Many people believe the Phantom to be Melanie's late father, Henry Ravenswood, seeking vengeance from beyond the grave. Others believe that it is the pure spirit of evil, and that a curse was upon the young girl.

Attraction

Like the Haunted Mansions located in other Disney parks, only the introduction of the ride (the Octagonal Portrait Gallery) takes place in the visible Manor. The actual ride itself takes place in a show building hidden behind the Manor.

Phantom Manor's Omnimover portion is for the most part similar to original Disneyland Haunted Mansion's system, since the Omnimover layouts of both are almost identical, but not completely. The main difference is that Phantom Manor is slightly longer, primarily to accommodate the Phantom Canyon scenes that substitute for the graveyard scenes in the other rides. Many scenes from the regular Haunted Mansions are replicated, but altered to incorporate the new Western theme and plot, such as the Octagonal Portrait Gallery, the Portrait Corridor, the Endless Hallway, the Conservatory, the Corridor of Doors, Madame Leota’s Seance Room, the Ballroom, and even the busts singing Grim Grinning Ghosts.

Outside queue

In the original Haunted Mansions at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, the mansion was designed to look clean and aesthetically pleasing. Phantom Manor, however, is designed to look clearly derelict and stands at the top of a small hill, looking out onto the southern side of Big Thunder Mountain, with a commanding view of the washed out trestle, the mine elevator, and the second lift hill. The Manor's grounds are untended, overgrown with weeds and scattered with dead vegetation.

A music box plays a slow version of Grim Grinning Ghosts from inside an old gazebo.

Upon entering the grounds, guests can see a bat guard box and a plaque on the wall which reads Phantom Manor — Non Omnis Moriar (Latin for "I shall not die completely"). A derelict gazebo stands on the lawn that has a tea set laid out. Originally, these used to move to mimic two people pouring and drinking tea, at night, the light in the gazebo flickers. The gazebo also contains a music box playing within (since 2001, this music box track is also used in Disneyland's version for use on the annual seasonal overlay). This is also the only mansion in any of the parks that has guests enter the ride through the front door. Shadows and lights can be seen from within the house at nighttime. Melanie can also be seen from a window in the façade carrying a candle from one window to the next.

The Foyer

Guests walk up the pathways towards the Manor, along the porch and queue outside the house where they wait for admission. A cast member dressed as a macabre servant opens the doors and invites a small group of them into the foyer. This foyer contains a dusty chandelier and two mirrors, and is lined with dark wood panelling. The voice of the Phantom sounds from the ceiling and around the room, politely welcoming guests, telling them the Legend of this place, and inviting them to explore the Manor further. Melanie's face fades in and out of the smallest mirror during the narration.

The Phantom was originally voiced by Vincent Price, but legal agreements that required the narration to be primarily in French meant that a French actor, Gérard Chevalier, was brought in to record a French version of Price's narration, which was only used for the first few months of the attraction's operation. Chevalier used to be a dub for Price in many of his movies. However, a small piece of Price's recording is still in use: the Phantom's evil laughter.

Guests then enter an octagonal room with four portraits of a young Melanie, pictured in more felicitous times. Melanie is having a picnic with her fiancé in one portrait, holds a parasol in the second, picks roses in the third, and steps through a stream in the fourth. The Phantom comments about the gallery and asks the visitors if they have noticed that the walls are stretching.

The room actually appears to stretch and the paintings grow taller — revealing Melanie is in some haunting situations including: having a picnic with her boyfriend as ants, along with a rattlesnake, scorpion, spider and beetle raid their food, riding a boat about to go down a vertical waterfall, picking roses from above a tombstone while a skeletal zombie emerges from the ground, gripping a small rake in one hand, and wading through a small stream as an aquatic monster reaches for her foot.

The Phantom mentions that the chamber has no windows and no doors, offering their guests a "chilling challenge": to find a way out. After his maniacal laughter echoes away and when he adds that there's always his way, the lights go out — lightning and thunder effects fill the space as the ceiling turns invisible, showing the Phantom hanging the Groom (who had his hands tied to his back) by the neck from the rafters with a noose in the attic while laughing maniacally. Then suddenly, lights go out completely and the guests are shrouded in darkness. The gallery's lights slowly come back on and a hidden door opens, revealing a hallway lined with portraits.

Like in the Disneyland version of the ride, the Octagonal Portrait Gallery is actually a cleverly disguised OTIS elevator. The floor is lowered and the ceiling is raised slowly at the same time to provide the stretching illusion. This serves the double purpose of both dramatic effect, while lowering guests from the Manor to where the actual ride begins at real ground level in a separate warehouse-style show building behind the berm, hidden by a forest of trees to render it invisible from riders on Big Thunder Mountain and the rest of the park. The ceiling above is actually a scrim, which conceals the Phantom hanging the groom until it is backlit from above.

Inside queue

Stepping out of the Stretching Room, guests walk down the Portrait Corridor, which takes them from the Manor visible from within the park over to the show building that houses the actual ride. As the guests walk down the corridor, they see four portraits, slowly morphing into more macabre images, all of which were taken from the California (and have since been added to Walt Disney World) version of the ride:

At the end of the hallway stands a large portrait of Melanie Ravenswood, wearing her bridal gown.

Guests then turn a corner and enter the loading area, a large hall with the Grand Staircase leading to the upper floor. One can see a ghostly, foggy landscape with flashes and bolts of lightning through the huge window above the stairs. Old furniture line the walls, and sitting on a shelf is a bust of a stern-looking woman, who stares at guests and seems to follow them as they pass by. An unbroken train of black Omnimover vehicles known as "carriages" move through the centre of the room, alongside a moving platform to enable easy loading.

The ride

Guests board the carriages, each accommodating two to three persons, and then move upwards into a dark space, past a young Melanie bowing to passing guests while holding a candelabra, singing the entire time.

A twitching suit of armor then comes into view, although this effect is not obvious and can be missed in the semi-darkness. Beside the armor is a seemingly Endless Hallway, with the vision of Melanie appearing and disappearing in the distance while the candelabra that she is holding remains in view.

On the left side of the Corridor is a Conservatory containing a piano. At first glance, it seems to be playing by itself, but one can notice a ghost pianist's (presumably the evil phantom) shadow falling on the carpet (this effect is achieved by the use of mechanical keys). A large, red-eyed raven sits on a music stand next to the piano and squawks madly.

The carriages then travel through a corridor lined with doors. As guests pass each door, they hear pounding, knocking, or shouting behind it, and the knockers seem to move by themselves, as if their inhabitants are struggling to get out. When the last door is reached, guests can see two skeletal hands clutching at the top, trying to force their way through. The carriages pass a small hall containing a demonic grandfather clock, with a large "13" on its face (instead of the usual 12) and its hands spinning backward as it chimes. The walls are lined with wallpaper covered in demon eyes, of which start to glow green.

The carriages then enter a round Seance Room, where a crystal ball sits on a floating central table and at one time, ghostly shapes appeared in the windows surrounding the room. In it is Madame Leota's disembodied head. Behind her is a raven perched on a chair. As guests watch her, she summons ghosts and dark creatures to a mysterious ball in both English and French (translated in English below):

  • Goblins and Ghoulies, creatures of fright, we summon you now, to dance through the night!
  • Esprits et fantômes, sur vos fiers destriers, escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée! (Spirits and ghosts, on your proud stallions, accompany the beautiful bride through the night!)[1]
  • Warlocks and Witches, answer this call! Your presence is wanted at this ghostly ball!
  • Des douze coups de minuit aux mâtines sonnantes, nous valserons ensemble, macabre débutante! (From the twelve knolls of midnight to the morning bells, we shall waltz together, gruesome debutante!)[1]
  • Join now the Spirits in Nuptial Doom, a ravishing Bride, a vanishing Groom...
The ghosts in Phantom Manor's ballroom are all from the 1800s, attending Melanie Ravenswood's wedding reception, which replace the "ghosts from all over the world" of the regular rides.

Guests leave the Seance Room and move along a balcony, looking down into the Ballroom, where a ghostly wedding party takes place. Melanie stands on a staircase, singing and looking up at the Phantom who stands in an open window, laughing at her as lightning flashes behind him. Ghostly guests enter the room, bringing in wedding presents, then sitting around the dining table, where a moldy wedding cake is waiting for them. Drunken ghosts swing precariously from the chandelier above the table. Elegantly dressed pairs of ghostly dancers twirl around the Ballroom, as a spirit organist sits at a massive organ, playing a haunting waltz on it as wraiths fly out of its pipes. Apart from plot-related retheming, this scene is similar to the regular Haunted Mansions' ballrooms.

Leaving the Ballroom, the vehicles enter the Bride's Boudoir (which replaces the attic scene in the regular rides). A dying fire is cackling in the fireplace, then guests see Melanie is now an elderly lady and she has given up looking for her long lost groom, she sits weeping at a giant mirror filled with the shape of an enormous skull, while a music box plays, as well as an old gramaphone. The mirror with the skull is a reference to the legend of Bloody Mary. The clock displayed in the room has a blade pendulum, in reference to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum", which was also the basis for a movie featuring Vincent Price.

The carriages leave the Bride's Boudoir through open double door, and glide across a terrace and then into a stormy graveyard, past the Phantom with a shovel (whose skeletal face is revealed) standing before an open grave, with an undead dog growling beside him, the Phantom laughs as the Doombuggies pass by. This is Phantom Manor's version of the friendly but frightened groundskeeper and his dog in the other Haunted Mansions. The carriages then travel underground, presumably Boot Hill, and see a series of coffins being opened by their skeletal residents as well as the skeleton hands attempting to pry open a coffin from the inside, usually in the conservatory scene in the Haunted Mansion. Four white marble busts then come into view, bearing the expressive faces of four Phantoms singing Grim Grinning Ghosts, as the dead skeletons join them in a dance.

Through a hole, the carriages then enter Phantom Canyon, which is a twisted, supernatural version of Thunder Mesa. Great rifts in the earth surrounding the vehicles suggest that an earthquake has happened, which reenacts Thunder Mesa's turning point from a prosperous community to a ghost town. An eerie-looking animatronic figure stands before a ramshackle train station, offering the riders train tickets to the Underworld. Guests then pass a ruined town hall where the mayor (who speaks clips of dialogue from Paul Frees, the original rides' Ghost Host) stands, inviting guests to be the Manor's 1000th ghost. As he tips his hat, his head comes with it. A shootout follows between a bank robber fleeing on a mule and a cowardly sheriff, with Big Thunder Mountain in the background. Guests see a pharmacy where a green-faced pharmacist drinks a potion of some-sort, followed by a saloon whose front wall has caved in. Inside it, there is a dancing showgirl, a bartender, and a man playing a honky-tonk piano. Every once in a while, a hand with a candelabra appears out of the piano. Four invisible gambler figures play poker nearby.

Much of Phantom Canyon was derived from a planned scene of a wild mining town called Dry Gulch in the Western River Expedition at the Magic Kingdom, later retooled into their version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Phantom Canyon occupies a space that in the regular Haunted Mansions is used for the graveyard scene.

Another cackling figure of the Phantom, this time a revolting corpse in rags, leads guests into the exit of the ride. As they see the silhouette of the Manor ahead, they enter a dark passage, where Melanie's skeleton, floating and radiating a ghost-like glow is pointing to the way out. The vehicles enter a subterranean chamber lined with large, gilt-framed mirrors in which the ghostly image of the Phantom can be seen above the carriages along with a reflection of guests themselves. The Phantom then violently shakes the carriages before dissipating in a twinkling of lights, but not before hearing one last laugh. Vehicles travel through a wine cellar, where cast members await to help them disembark their carriages, and they walk toward the exit.

Post show

As guests travel towards day light, a tiny figure of Melanie stands to the side of the passageway behind bars, telling guests to "hurry back" and to "bring their death certificates". Finally, guests exit into Boot Hill, a Cemetery filled with humorous gravestones, as well as ride-oriented gravestones for the Ravenswoods and several others. If one should turn around to look back at the house, they can see the Phantom looking out the window over the exit and down at them, before he closes the curtains. It is easier to see him at night, since there is a light shining behind him. In the Cemetery, one can hear Melanie's beating heart in her tomb, both a reference to the original Haunted Mansion bride, whose red beating heart could be seen through her chest, and Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.

Soundtrack

Other information

Incidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "A Guided Tour of Phantom Manor: Nuptial Doom". Ravenswood Manor - A Tribute to Thunder Mesa in Disneyland Paris. ravenswood-manor.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Tavss, Jeff (April 4, 2016). "Disneyland Paris worker found dead in haunted mansion ride". ABC News 10. Retrieved April 6, 2016.

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