1. There are currently four different versions of the Haunted Mansion across the world.
2. The Parisian version, which is called the Phantom Manor, features a unique story about a heartbroken bride.
3. In fact, Melanie is prominently featured in all four of the Paris mansion's "stretched" paintings.
4. Each mansion features a unique look.
The Anaheim version looks like a stately, well-kept Southern home to match its surroundings in the park's New Orleans Square, while the Orlando mansion in the Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square is a worn brick manor with overgrown grounds, much like Tokyo's version. Paris's Phantom Manor, meanwhile, is a Victorian-style home in fictional "Thunder Mesa."
5. Madame Leota is played by Imagineer Leota Toombs Thomas.
6. Madame Leota's voice, however, was provided by Eleanor Audley.
7. The "Hatbox Ghost" disappeared from the ride...and then recently reappeared.
8. The moving cars that transport you throughout the ride are affectionately known as Doombuggies.
9. Originally, there were plans to include a Museum of the Weird within the Haunted Mansion.
10. The haunted ballroom scene is created using an illusion known as "Pepper's ghost."
11. The ballroom organ in the Disneyland version of the ride has a story all its own.
It's the original organ (with some embellishments removed) from Disney's classic adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
12. A pet cemetery pays respects to some beloved furry (and scaly) friends.
The Imagineer who designed the pet cemetery is named Kim Irvine, and she was the daughter of...
13. The other punny gravestones in the mansion's cemetery are named for actual Disney Imagineers.
14. At the Magic Kingdom, Madame Leota has her own unique tombstone, which allows her to keep an eye on you.
15. The famous Hitchhiking Ghosts have actual names!
16. The "stretched" painting of a woman sitting upon a tomb gives you a hint of what's to come.
See this old woman sitting atop the grave of a man named George? Well. She also shows up later on in the ride...
17. This grotesquely transforming portrait may be of the man of the house.
18. In the Walt Disney World version, there is a hallway in the Servants' Quarters that includes extra information about the home's inhabitants, living or otherwise.
19. The raven seen throughout the ride used to have a lot to say.
20. Speaking of the Ghost Host, you actually get to see him TWICE during the ride.
Except in the Paris version of the ride, you see your Ghost Host both as he helpfully demonstrates his way out of the stretching room: hangin' out, and as a portrait in the corridor of doors portion of the ride, where he comes across a little more...alive.
21. One popular theory about the ride is that you actually DO join the 999 other happy haunts.
22. For a time, the ride actually featured LIVE knights.
23. Finally: Legend has it that an alleged figure of a man trapped in a spider web was rumored to have been removed for being too scary.
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