This Week in Disney Parks Photos: Celebrating 45 Years of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park

Erin Glover

by , Director, Publicity, Walt Disney Animation Studios

We’re doing something a bit different for this week’s post to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland park. You might have noticed the rotating banners we have at the top of the page this weekend, many of which are unique angles on the exterior of the classic attraction. I loved these photos so much, I wanted to show them to you (to borrow a phrase) as they appeared in their original, uncropped state …

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I love this imposing view of the entrance, with the mansion looming behind, framed perfectly between the iron gates.

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Continuing through the gates, we get this ominous view of the mansion, with the pet cemetery to our left and the ghost-horse driven hearse on our right.

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Drawing closer, we can see the gorgeous iron of the mansion’s wrap-around porches (a must for any southern estate, you know).

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One of my favorite areas of the Haunted Mansion is the pet cemetery guests wander past on their way through the queue. I particularly love Rosie, who – sadly – “bought the farm.”

I hope you have enjoyed our celebration of 45 years of grim, grinning ghosts at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland park. What are your favorite memories of this iconic Disney Parks attraction? Tell us in the comments!

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Comments

  • Erin that’s a great experience. I generally love the deadpan way the HM cast members play their parts so well myself.

  • Oh I love the pet cemetery too! These pics are beautiful! I love Haunted Mansion!

  • Erin,
    When do they redecorate the Haunted Mansion for Christmas/Nightmare? Will the rest of the park be decked out for Christmas, too?
    Thanks,
    Ricardo

    • Hi Ricardo – Jack Skellington will begin turning the Haunted Mansion into Haunted Mansion Holiday later this month, in time for it to open when Halloween Time begins on September 12. He will remain there through the holiday season; and yes, Holidays at the Disneyland Resort includes holiday decor across the entire resort. Hope you can join us!

  • The Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride in all of the Disney Parks Resorts so, naturally, I have ridden it several times. But my favorite memory of riding it was when I was with a friend of mine. Both of us know the ride by heart, but a part of us still gets that fun, “creeped out” factor that comes with the looming mansion. One of the workers caught on to our on-edge excitement of being on the ride for the umpteenth time. As we made our way into the “dead center” of the stretching room, we saw him out of the corner of our eyes come into the room, well on the other side of us. After the crack of thunder and the shrieking scream, the lights came back on and there he was, right in front of us! We screamed and laughed it off with him. But it didn’t stop there. Somehow he must’ve passed on the word to his other cast members about us and as we boarded our Doom Buggy and were just about to enter into the mansion, a group of them popped out from behind our buggy and scared us once more, giving us another fright. It was so great to have the bit of spice thrown into what would have ended up being just another ride around the mansion. It was fantastic and I will never forget it!

  • Some archival photography of the mansion would have been a nice addition to this article.

  • Hello!

    I love it, I love it, I love it! Excellent photographs in this post and you’re right, the Haunted Mansion does indeed look ominous in an elegant sort of way. The imagineering detailing throughout the queue is entertaining too. The stretching room and the imagineering details captivate me.

    Antebellum mansions, especially spooky ones, always fascinate me.

    Happy 45th to the Haunted Mansion!

    Jackie

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