The Graveyard is the setting of the climax of the ride, where all of the Happy Haunts finally materialize and come out to socialize, while singing Grim Grinning Ghosts.
Description[]
The Graveyard has been inconsistently depicted as either a public cemetery next door to the Mansion or a private graveyard in the Mansion's backyard, essentially an extension of the outdoor Family Plot.
Appearances[]
Attraction[]
Following leaving the Attic window, the Doombuggies move down the balcony outside the house and down a flight of stairs backwards. A raven caws at guests from a tree branch. The shapes of rising spirits can be seen everywhere.
Upon reaching the ground, the graveyard Caretaker can be seen with his dog, the two of them utterly petrified by the sight before them. Music is all around, while playful spooks pop-up from behind their tombstones. To the left, a group of five phantoms play a flute, a horn, a bagpipe, a harp, and pound on a tombstone to create an unearthly vibe. A King and Queen balance on a see-saw while a Duchess swings from a tree branch while she drinks a cup of tea. In the very back a skeletal wolf is seen howling at the moon.
On the other side of the path, five Singing Busts come into view, bearing very vividly lit, expressive faces. Other ghosts materialize, gathering around a hearse and drinking tea. A Mummy sits in his sarcophagus, trying to make contact with an elderly spirit who is just too deaf to understand him. Two "Phantoms of the Opera" blast their ghostly voices into the night. A Beheaded Knight, his Executioner, and his Prisoner all sing as a trio, while the poor ghost behind them tombs himself up. At the end of this scene is the Crypt's main entrance.
Haunted Mansion Holiday[]
As guests leave the Attic window, the first sight is a huge mound of snow that tops off with a spiral, glowing jack-o-lanterns lighting up from within. Snowflakes fall while orange Christmas lights hang from trees everywhere, some of them being put together by a Vampire Teddy Bear. The entire graveyard is covered in snow, while two massive ice angels with jack-o-lantern heads play their horns.
Instead of a Caretaker, Jack Skellington, dressed as Sandy Claws, and his dog Zero greet guests to Jack's ultimate vision of Christmas. The singing busts, now topped with Jack-O'-Lanterns, wish guests their own "Scary Christmas and a Haunted New Year". All previously mentioned ghosts appear as well, each with their own Christmas tree. The Pop-Up Ghosts now wear Santa hats, and exclaim, "Hohoho!" As guests approach the End Crypt, a third ice angel blows its horn directly at the guests, while the Vampire Teddy Bear sits next to him with his own small horn.
Phantom Manor[]
In Phantom Manor the graveyard was replaced by the Catacombs and Phantom Canyon.
Tales from the Haunted Mansion[]
Named the Eternal Grace Cemetery in this book series, it lies at the base of the large hill the Mansion is perched atop along Route 13 and plays a key role in Volume I's story "The Dare".
The Haunted Mansion: Storm & Shade[]
The book's cemetery does not physically exist on the grounds of the Mansion, but within a supernatural pocket dimension that makes up the Mansion's ever-shifting interior.
Trivia[]
- In Colin Campbell's illustration of the graveyard there is a plaque which reveals the name of the graveyard to be Whispering Glade Cemetery. This is a reference to the 1965 Black Comedy film The Loved One which served in part as the inspiration behind Little Leota's character and which centred around the "Whispering Glades Funeral Home".
- Many of the tombstones in the cemetery have the names of imagineers written backwards such as Snevets Nor (Ron Stevens).
- Some of the tombstones are dated as far back as 1506 which was 212 before New Orleans was founded, and 103 years before Hudson River Valley was first settled by European colonists meaning that those tombs likely wouldn't have been brought for their residents's mortal lives but rather by the spirits who came to the manor post-mortem.
- This segment of the ride has changed considerably from when the Haunted Mansion opened (c. 1971). After leaving the attic, the buggy speakers played two sounds: a heartbeat growing in intensity, and a succession of louder and louder shrieks. When the buggy faced the darkened cemetery, illuminated spirits would shoot from behind tombstones into the air, timed to the shrieks. All very effective -- and ultimately determined to be TOO SCARY, judging from the 180-degree mood swing in the entertainment now provided. While the heartbeat (toned way down) remains part of the ride soundtrack for this segment, those wonderful shrieks are apparently lost in the dustbin of history.