On my recent trip to Disney World, my friend and I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour at Magic Kingdom. This tour is seriously amazing, we learned so many things. One of the things that caught our attention the most was when we stopped to talk about the Haunted Mansion. This ride is one of our favorites and we never really thought too much about the story behind the ride. So I decided to sit down and learn some things about this ride and I'm glad I did because what I learned was pretty interesting and I hope I can dig deeper into the mystery that is The Haunted Mansion.
The first story I want to talk about explains many of the props and decorations that go along with this ride. It'll explain why there's a horse drawn carriage in the line, the ring in the pavement, and the hanging man/ Ghost Host in the stretching room. So this story starts with a man named Master Gracey who lived in the mansion and had been married 6 times. All of his previous wives had passed away, luckily, he met and proposed to someone new who would soon become his 7th wife. She was a bit of a prankster and decided to play a trick on Master Gracey on the night of their wedding. She snuck into the attic of the mansion and hid in a trunk, unfortunately, it would turn out to be her last trick she'd ever play. While in her wedding dress, she was locked in the trunk she hid in and suffocated. Master Gracey was devastated at the loss of his bride-to-be. He had her body placed in a horse drawn carriage to be brought to the cemetery. He held her hand one last time but, while holding her hand, the horse became spooked and took off. This caused her wedding ring to fall from her finger, onto the pavement, where the horse stomped it into the ground. The next day, the carriage was found outside of the cemetery but the horse, driver, and Master Gracey's bride-to-be's corpse were no where to be found. So grief stricken, Master Gracey hung himself in the mansion.
The second story I found will explain the hanging body and the portrait of the woman sitting on the grave in the stretching room. This story takes place in the early 1600's where a man named Ub Vandertrwerp bought the land that the mansion would eventually reside on. He was advised not to build his house on this land because it was an ancient indian burial ground. Ub Vandertwerp didn't listen and would soon come to regret it. During the building of the mansion there was many strange accidents and deaths. At one point during construction the house caught on fire and his wife and children had fallen very ill. Deciding not to risk his families lives, he sold the estate and returned to his homeland. The mansion would come to change hands several different times due to each owner being plagued with strange occurrences and accidents that couldn't be explained. Eventually, the mansion would fall into Master George Gracey Sr.'s hands. He made extensive renovations to the property where unusual incidents began happening. Master Gracey was too busy chases around chamber maids to notice the events. Unfortunately, Mistress Gracey caught him in the act. So angered by her husbands betrayal, she killed him with an axe, before committing suicide in the attic.I've got more to tell about this mysterious ride but I think I'll save that for another time. Digging up some background information on a ride with seemingly no story has been pretty fun. I've learned a lot on this journey and I hope to continue sharing what I've come across with you. If you haven't been on The Haunted Mansion yet, I suggest you give it a try during your next visit. You may just find yourself as the newest happy haunt in this creepy mansion. From what I hear, they're at 999 happy haunts and are looking for a new resident. I'm thinking about moving in there myself some day because who wouldn't want to live in a mansion with 999 fun loving friends.
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