Disneyland's limbo-like load area.
"And now, a carriage approaches to take you into the boundless realm of the supernatural. Take your loved ones by the hand please, and kindly watch your step."
The Load Area is where guests board their doom buggies to travel deeper into the Haunted Mansion.
Attractions[]
Each version of the attraction has a different take on this space (hence the rather generic title).
Disneyland[]
Leaving the Portrait Corridor behind, guests set foot in a large, dark space, described as a "limbo of boundless mist and decay" in the Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion. The space seems much bigger and more surreal than any previous room, barely illuminated by chandeliers that hang down from the darkness, and choked with cobwebs. To the right, a last vestige of the corridor extends into the space, with an ominous door with blue light occasionally flickering through the ornate grill at the top, and a portrait of a woman that gradually ages before the viewer's gaze; nearby, a cat statue sits with a gleaming light in one of its eyes.
An endless procession of doom buggies descends a staircase on the right before climbing another staircase on the left, and beyond is an eerie vista of greenish fog. Guests step onto a moving walkway that keeps them at pace with their buggy so they can board smoothly, and once inside the Ghost Host insists on lowering their safety bar for them, as an invisible force does just that. The buggies whisk guests past a pair of carved griffins in the base of the banisters before ascending the stairs to the 2nd floor, and the Endless Hallway.
Walt Disney World[]
Guests leave the Stretching Room and walk down a short hallway before it opens into a bigger room appearing to be a portrait gallery, where a line of doombuggies move out of one corridor and down another. As guests proceed to their vehicles, they might notice the series of eerie paintings hanging on the walls around them: these are a few of the Sinister 11 portraits. In this version instead of going up a staircase to the next scene, guests' DoomBuggies move into a small room where they pass underneath of staircase with a floating candelabra above it as well as another Sinister 11 portrait on the wall.
Portraits[]
- The Arsonist
- Jack the Ripper
- The Mariner
- The Hatchet Man
- The Ogre
- The Witch of Walpurgis
- Count Dracula
Tokyo Disneyland[]
The Loading Zone in Tokyo Disneyland is virtually identical to the of Florida except for the scene's complete lack of portraits due to the Sinister 11 appearing all together in a different scene.
Phantom Manor[]
Leaving the Portrait Corridor, guests come to the Grand Staircase, a large hall where the doom buggies travel past a sweeping set of stairs in the back of the room, rising to a landing and forking off to the left and right in front of a trio of massive windows, which look out onto roiling storm clouds. The figure of Melanie Ravenswood stands on the landing, her back to the room as she faces the tumult, her veil billowing behind her. As lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, guests board their doom buggy and depart up a different staircase into the unknown.
Trivia[]
- The French music video for "Beauty and the Beast" was shot at Phantom Manor's Grand Staircase under bright lighting to fit the romantic mood. The lightning effect is still visible through the window in the video.
- Keys in the servants quarters of the Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion identify this room as having the name of the, "Picture Gallery".