Phantom Manor

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 lived with his wife Martha (born 1802) and his 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. Years 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 drawn to several suitors who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop this, with the first four being subjected to various cruel fates. Sawyer Bottom was sawed in half by a saw blade, Captian Rowan D. Falls fell off of a waterfall, Ignatius "Iggy" Knight was blown up by dynamite and Barry Claude was mauled to death by a bear. With Bottom, Falls, Knight and Claude all dead, Henry's attempts became useless in order to stop Melanie in the midst of being engaged to a train engineer named Jake were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed him and Martha in 1860. 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. Unbeknownst to anyone, this was the spirit of Henry himself, seeking vengeance on Jake for his defiance of him. While Melanie was preparing in her room, Henry lured Jake 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 Henry was still in the house, laughing at his daughter's devotion to her intended husband. One after one, Henry 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. Her father'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, one can still hear the lonely mourning of the bride, the maniacal laughter of Henry, 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 a groom until Judgment Day. And if you set foot in the house, her eye might be on you...

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.

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.

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.

In the 2019 refurbishment an additional effect was added to the foyer. The small mirror was replaced by a painting of Melanie in her wedding gown, looking sad, and Jake, standing behind her outside the decrepit house also sad. A tree with no leaves is also behind them with 4 hearts crossed out and a noose hanging from one of its branches revealing Jake's fate. When the voice of the Ghost Host starts telling guests the legend of the Manor, the painting changes. It now shows a happier Melanie, dressed in summer clothes, while Jake is now smiling and resting one hand on Melanie. The Manor is in pristine condition, and the tree, now with leaves, has one heart and a swing hanging from its branches. Lighting effects also transform the wallpaper in the room from old and torn to brand-new.

The Phantom was originally voiced by Vincent Price, but legal agreements that required the narration to be primarily in French meant that a French writer, 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 was kept in use: the Phantom's maniacal laughter.

In 2018, it was announced that during Phantom Manor's major renovation, parts of Price's narration would be restored to the soundtrack of the attraction. For the 2019 re-opening, the new tracks feature Price once again, original excerpts as well as previously unused material from his 1990 recording, spoken English, with French actor Bernarde Alane doing the parts in French. The Phantom says (French lines in italics, translated into English below):

'When hinges creak in doorless chambers, when strange and frighting sounds are heard all around, when candlelight flickers though the air is deathly still, that is the time when the Phantom manifests. Welcome curious friends, it is so nice to have guests. We welcome you, humble mortals, to this mysterious manor. You may not believe it but beauty once lived in this house. Phantom Manor had happier days, but times have changed. And now curious souls, come, I have more to show you. Enter brave mortals into this famous manor together.'

Guests then enter an octagonal room with four portraits of a young Melanie, with each of her four suitors. The Phantom comments on the gallery, referring to the 'sweet innocence of youth'. Shortly after, Melanie fades away from each of the paintings, with only the suitors left and the Phantom acknowledges a 'disquieting metamorphosis' and that 'not all tales have happy endings'.

Suddenly the room appears to stretch upwards and the paintings grow taller, revealing what happened to each of Melanie's suitors:

• Barry Claude sitting on a tree branch missing one of his shoes, while an angry bear and her cub roar at him from below
• Sawyer Bottom straddling a log and being sawed in half by an industrial buzzsaw
• Captain Rowan D. Falls riding in a rowboat about to head over a waterfall
• Ignatius "Iggy" Knight, standing atop several crates of TNT and an ignited barrel of dynamite.

The Phantom comments "It appears everyone is doomed at Phantom Manor. Even you." He goes on to add that the chamber has no windows and no doors, offering the guests a "chilling challenge": to find a way out. After his maniacal laughter echoes away, he adds that "the Phantom" (referring to himself) would be happy to help them — lightning and thunder effects fill the space as the ceiling turns invisible and the Phantom reveals himself in the attic, holding a noose and sinisterly laughing. 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. The Phantom apologizes for frightening the guests prematurely and beckons them further into the Manor, and states that "the real beauty of this house awaits us, farther on, and she's dying to meet you, but beware of the Phantom" (once again referencing himself).

From 1992 to 2018, the four portraits were of a young Melanie, pictured in more felicitous times, only to stretch to reveal more macabre situations:

• Melanie is having a picnic with Jake Evans as ants, a rattlesnake, scorpion, spider and beetle raid their food
• Melanie holds a parasol as she rides in a boat about to go over a waterfall
• Melanie picks roses from above a tombstone while a skeletal zombie emerges from the ground, gripping a small rake in one hand
• Melanie wades through a small stream as an aquatic monster reaches for her foot.

The scene revealed in the attic was also slightly different until 2018; instead of just showing the Phantom evilly laughing, he was hanging Jake Evans, Melanie's sole groom in the original version of the attraction.

Like in the Disneyland version of the ride, the Octagonal Portrait Gallery is actually a pair of cleverly disguised OTIS elevators. 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 until he is backlit from above.

Stepping out of the Stretching Room, guests walk down the Portrait Corridor, which takes them from the Manor visible from within the park into the show building that houses the actual ride, unlike the Disneyland version, this corridor does not pass under the park's railroad (which instead travels behind the show building and has the Grand Canyon Diorama in this area to obscure the show building). As the guests walk down the corridor, they see four portraits, slowly morphing into more macabre images.

The original paintings were all of which were taken from California (and have since been added to Walt Disney World) version of the ride:

• A knight and his horse on a cliff both becoming ghostly beings.
• A young woman in a Greek temple sprouts snakes from her hair and becomes Medusa.
• A ship sailing across the sea becomes a tattered and ghostly version of itself sailing through a storm.
• A woman reclining on a sofa turns into a were-panther.

While the portrait of the sailing ship, though changed slightly, was retained in the 2019 refurbishment, the other three were all replaced with:

• Henry Ravenswood becoming the Phantom (replacing Medusa).
• Henry and another man (possibly an unnamed suitor) outside the Manor about to have a duel, with it changing to Henry shooting his opponent in the back (replacing the were-panther). This one is a reference to the duelist-painting ghosts in the Ballroom of the Disneyland ride.
• A cowboy and his horse on a cliff gazing off at Big Thunder Mountain becoming spectral beings while a ghostly cattle emerges from the sky (replacing the knight).

At the end of the hallway stands a large portrait of Melanie Ravenswood, wearing her bridal gown, from which she can be heard singing.

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, and Melanie standing on the midway landing. 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 center of the room, alongside a moving platform to enable easy loading.

Guests board the carriages, each accommodating two to three persons and then move upwards to the show building's main floor. Prior to 2019, guests would pass a young Melanie bowing while holding a candelabra and singing the entire time. After the renovations, Melanie is moved to the loading area and now a twitching suit of armor is in her place (a reference to when Disneyland's Haunted Mansion had a live actor in a knight costume in 1969).

After passing the armor is a seemingly Endless Hallway, with the vision of Melanie and the Phantom 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, adorned with the wreaths of the deceased suitors. At first glance, it seems to be playing a minor chord version of "The Wedding March" by itself, but one can notice a ghost pianist's 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, with the skeleton yelling "Let me out of here!" (It uses the same audio as the skeleton attempting to escape his coffin in the Conservatory in the other Haunted Mansions). 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 the witch, 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! Spirits and ghosts, on your proud stallions, accompany the beautiful bride through the night![2] Warlocks and Witches, answer this call! Your presence is wanted at this ghostly ball! From the twelve knolls of midnight to the morning bells, we shall waltz together, gruesome debutante![2] Join now the Spirits in Nuptial Doom, a ravishing Bride, a vanishing Groom...'

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 while the Phantom stands behind her, 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. During soft-opening previews after the 2019 refurbishment, the music here was temporarily replaced with the equivalent music from the regular Haunted Mansions, but was switched back after backlash.

Leaving the Ballroom, the vehicles enter the Bride's Boudoir (which replaces the attic scene in the regular rides). A dying fire is crackling in the fireplace. Guests then see Melanie who has given up looking for her long lost groom. Melanie sits weeping into a mirror as an old woman while her father's skeletal face stares back at her. All the while, a music box plays, as well as an old gramophone. Prior to 2019, Melanie in this scene was still an old lady, but the mirror was fogged up to look like an actual skull, in reference to the Allan Gilbert painting All is Vanity.[3] 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 doors 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 to the catacombs (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. The Singing Busts then come into view, 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 ticket master (an animatronic using the same mold as Ezra, one of the original Hitchhiking Ghosts from the American rides) 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, and who is modeled from the same mold as animatronics of Dreamfinder from the original version of Epcot's Journey into Imagination with Figment) holds the Key to the City and invites guests to be the Manor's 1000th ghost, "but beware of hitchhiking ghosts!" 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 behind the sheriff. 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 and his raven stands by a tree with a noose and several empty coffins for awaiting guests, his eyes glowing red at passing riders. Prior to 2019, this animatronic version of the Phantom was a skeleton with rotting flesh on his body, showing the guests that he has lost any humanity he's ever had left in him. As they see the silhouette of the Manor ahead, they enter the mausoleum, where Melanie's four suitors were buried. Prior to 2019, guests would encounter Melanie's floating skeleton pointing the way out. The vehicles enter a subterranean chamber lined with large, gilt-framed mirrors in which the ghostly image of Melanie, driven insane by the loss of her suitors and groom, appears in the vehicles, beckoning riders to wed her. Vehicles travel through a wine cellar, where cast members await to help them disembark their carriages and they walk toward the exit.

As guests travel towards day light, the evil laughter of the Phantom can be heard, as well as Melanie's voice, telling guests to "hurry back" and to "bring their death certificates". Prior to 2019, a small Melanie would beckon guests to hurry back. 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.

• Photos Magiques – Phantom Manor
• Photos Magiques – Boot Hill

• Doombuggies – Phantom Manor
• DLRP Synopsis – Phantom Manor
• DLRP Magic – Phantom Manor