If you have been following along with this blog for any length of time you will know that the Haunted Mansion is one of my all time favorite attractions. I can’t get enough of the spooky jokes and killer soundtrack of this omnimover ride. In this post I am going to rank the ride scenes of my favorite attraction, going from worst to first!

A PSA before I begin: I will be ranking the scenes based on the Disneyland version of the Haunted Mansion. This is the version I have been on the most recently, and the one I like the most :).

7. The Hitchhiking Ghosts

My least favorite seen in the Haunted Mansion is its last. After the Graveyard scene you are told that a ghost will be accompanying you home, and a ghost appears in a mirror as you watch your doom buggy slide by. It’s a cool trick, and isn’t a bad way to end the ride, but most of it is just looking at yourself in a mirror. I do love the small Leota telling guests to hurry back though, because most times I leave the mansion I am wishing to be back in it.

6. Seance Room

In this room of the mansion, Madame Leota, whose head is stuck in a glass ball, chants to all of the ghosts so they come out and enjoy the party. I have never enjoyed this scene, and wish I had a concrete reason why.

I don’t think there is much to look at in that room compared to other scenes in the attraction, and to be honest Leota is a tad annoying to me. It always frustrates me that her spiel is longer than the time you’re in her room, so you either miss the latter half of it or come in during the middle of it. I want to stop the ride so I can get the gist of what she’s saying!

Also, why did they choose to have a bunch of musical instruments floating around in there? Was Leota a grand musician in her life? If so it does not seem clear in the ride whether that’s true or not. It’s like the one scene I have to sit through before I can get to all of the good stuff. My apologies Leota, please don’t curse me.

5. Endless Hallway

We’re now getting into scenes that I actively enjoy. The endless hallway, with its moving doors and ghostly piano player is a great way to start off this spooky attraction. Since you can’t actually see any of the ghoulish ghosts (except the hands of one attempting to escape a coffin) it is very foreboding of what is to come.

Before the Hatbox Ghost made his reappearance for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary, I loved looking through the hallway and finding all of the pictures of him on the walls. This is also the location of the wonderful Haunted Mansion wallpaper, and I love finding all of the faces in it.

In no way is this part of the ride bad because it is near the bottom of my list, I just like the others more! I don’t think the rest of the ride would be as good as it is without the hallway scene to add a lot of dimension to the story line. I tip my hat off to you, Endless Hallway.

4. The Attic

This is, by far, the scariest scene in the entire mansion. You don’t get to know a whole bunch about most of the ghosts who make their home in the mansion, but in this one scene you learn more about the bride than I think anybody wanted to.

In a room filled with junk are pictures of her with her many husbands, whose heads disappear from the photos because she DECAPITATED THEM. After doing some digging online, I found that many people believe that the hatboxes stacked up in this scene CONTAIN the heads of her dead husbands!! As a child the bride was absolutely terrifying because the doom buggy passes close enough to the animatronic that it feels like she could reach out and touch riders.

The best thing, in my opinion, about the attic scene is the Hatbox Ghost! He’s the newest addition to the regular version of the Haunted Mansion, and his movements and animation is sooooo cool. During one of my rides on the mansion the ride stopped and my buggy was right in front of him!! I got to watch his head move back and forth for about two minutes and it was the best day of my LIFE.

If you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for the Hatbox Ghost :D.

3. The Ballroom

The Ballroom is (I would say) the Haunted Mansion’s most iconic scene. Using the pepper’s ghost affect we see many dapper ghosts having a dinner party, and dancing to music played by a ghostly piano player. It’s a lovely scene, and viewing it from above is cool, although I’m thinking that’s the only way the pepper’s ghost would work!

There are many amazing characters in this scene, I would say my favorite are the two gunman who shoot at each other from their portraits. Even though you get a pretty long look as the doom buggies glide through, I never seem to have enough time to get my fill of the room. There are so many different things happening that it’s hard to see it all!

One amazing tidbit for the Disneyland mansion specifically is the fact that someone once shot a gun at the viewing glass at this scene, and Imagineers covered up the damage by placing a spider in the middle of cracked glass. It actually looks like a pretty decent spider web, and is an amazingly cheap fix. The large pane of glass would have to be completely removed and replaced, so a small spider saved Disney thousands of dollars.

2. The Graveyard

Ah, yes, the Graveyard scene. A perfect blend of spooky and funny, with an amazing song (I would argue the best Disney attraction song ever made) to go with it. I love the entire setting in this room, as ghost projections on the walls make it seem like the graveyard goes on for much farther than the showroom walls.

There are many different kooky characters in this scene, like an arm of a ghost spackling himself into a brick building, and the fat lady, who sings! I love the way you enter this scene, with the doom buggies moving backwards on a downward bank from the Attic scene. The red-eyed crows beckon a hello and you can see the zaniness of the upcoming scene off to the side on your way down.

This is where you see some of the only living characters in this attraction, the Caretaker and his shaking dog. Sometimes I just wish I could tell them that everything is going to be fine. They’ve been in there for decades! Poor guys. At least Jack Skellington and Zero give them a break during the holidays.

Drum roll please!!! Up next, my absolute favorite scene in the Haunted Mansion!!

1. The Stretching Room

WHAT?? My favorite ride scene isn’t even on the ride?!?!

Yup.

The Stretching Room is the Haunted Mansion’s preshow, as well as a way to get guests underground so they can walk under the Disneyland Railroad train tracks to the Haunted Mansion show building. It is so gosh darn creative and utilitarian at the same time!

The stretching portraits are amazing, the Ghost Host’s monologue is amazing, and the thunder crash at the end showing the hanging body is, you guessed it, amazing. That short experience in that elevator is so unique to the Haunted Mansion, I can’t help it being my favorite.

I wish they didn’t cram so many people into the elevator, though understandable to get people down onto the ride, but can you imagine riding in there alone? With only a Cast Member? Just the thought gives me chills.

There you have it! The scenes from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, ranked! No matter which scene is your personal favorite, they are all bone chillingly sweet (horrible joke Michaela), and I will always love this attraction for its originality and the way its stayed almost the same for so many years!

How did I do in ranking the scenes from the Haunted Mansion? Let us know in the comments below! Curious about planning a trip to a Disney Resort? Check out our planning guides to get you started! Thank you for reading Wandering in Disney. If you enjoy what you’re reading please subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email and like our social media pages. You can do both of those things on the right side of this page. Have a great day!