Disney Haunted Mansions: Inspired by real haunted houses?

Did real houses inspire each of the Haunted Mansions in U.S. Disney parks? What about the one in Tokyo Disneyland? Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris or the Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland? Are they just reincarnations of either the Haunted Mansion in California or the one in Florida? Or are their designs conjured from other sources?

I wondered about the U.S.-based Haunted Mansions after visiting both months apart. It’d been a long time (decades) since I’d been to Disneyland. With the Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but notice that while both attractions share many similarities, they were also a bit different too.

For instance, you’ll find familiar faves in both, such as the Stretching Room, Doom Buggies, and the beloved hitchhiking ghosts. Graveyards with pithy sayings on the headstones outside of each mansion also amuse both taphophiles and regular foolish mortals alike.

And while the inside layouts differ only slightly, the most noticeable contrast is their facades. That’s what first got me wondering if Imagineers maybe based the designs on real houses. Why the differences? Why not use the same blueprint for all the parks?

Then two articles, one from Inside the Magic and the other from D23, came to my attention with similar themes. i.e. How real houses did inspire at least two of the mansions.

In anticipation of the new Haunted Mansion movie coming this summer (scheduled for August 11), I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the real-life houses the mansions in the Disney parks are modeled after. Was it only the architecture they resembled? Or were there any ghost stories they incorporated into the attraction storylines too?

Sauer Castle and the Shipley-Lydecker House Inspired Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion

According to AllEars, it wasn’t so much the outside of Sauer Castle in Kansas City, Missouri, that helped inspire the original Haunted Mansion as it was its reputation. Walt Disney lived in Kansas City when he returned to his home state after serving in the Red Cross during World War I. The Italianate mansion nestled on a bluff garnered a reputation for having a fortune buried in its walls as well as secret tunnels running under it. That’s mysterious enough, but deaths also occurred in the home. Ones that prompted tales of people claiming to see apparitions of the dearly departed still floating around. Those stories stuck with Walt.

But it was actually the Shipley-Lydecker house in Baltimore, Maryland, that provided the architectural framework for the original Haunted Mansion. Which is interesting because the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland is meant to be a New Orleans antebellum mansion. No matter. The Shipley-Lydecker house had all the right elements to evoke the same feeling.

AllEars reported that “Disney Imagineer Ken Anderson came across a photograph of the historic home in a book titled Decorative Art of Victoria’s Era.” And that was all it took. Just a photo to prompt the creation of one of the most iconic rides in Disneyland’s repertoire.

Sauer Castle and the Shipley-Lydecker House Today

The privately owned Sauer Castle still stands today, albeit vacant —except for the ghosts rumored to still dwell within. It’s a paranormal attractive nuisance in that its haunted reputation tempts ghost-hunting trespassers to venture inside illegally. Even though some of the causes of paranormal activity have been proven to be erroneous, such as the previous owner committing murder-suicide. Didn’t happen.

The Shipley-Lydecker house sadly is no longer around. According to Preservation Maryland, it was torn down in 1967…two years before the Haunted Mansion ride it inspired was opened. But AllEars included a photo of it on their post and the similarities between it and the Disneyland Haunted Mansion are striking.

Houses the Mouses Scouted for Haunted Mansion Pointers

Something else AllEars shared was that two other California-based homes also contributed a little something-something to the Haunted Mansion. Since the attraction was originally meant to be a walk-through, Disney development teams took tours of both the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose and the Hearst Castle in San Simeon to see how they ran their tours.

Harry Packer Mansion Inspired Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion

Instead of an imposing white antebellum home, the Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom went a different route. Mainly because instead of New Orleans Square, Magic Kingdom has a Liberty Square with an emphasis on an Americana feel. Disney Imagineers found the perfect inspiration in the Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

Curiously, however, like the Shipley-Lydecker house in Baltimore that inspired the original haunted mansion, the Harry Packer Mansion is also an example of the Italianate style. It’s harder to see the similarities between it and the Magic Kingdom Haunted Mansion. But one noticeable similarity is that both sit elevated on slight hills encircled by wrought iron fencing.

The cool thing about the Harry Packer Mansion is not only is it still standing, but it’s also a luxury inn. Even if you don’t book a room, you can at least saunter into their Libations Lounge during public hours and partake in some spirits of the alcoholic variety.

As far as spirits of the restless kind, if any roam there, it’s a well-kept secret. However, they do host regular Murder Mystery Weekends. You can get a sense of intrigue that way.

Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion Inspired Tokyo Disneyland’s

Like I said earlier, I haven’t had the pleasure of jaunting to either Tokyo or Paris (yet). However, according to an article about the Haunted Mansions on the Disney Wiki, the Tokyo attraction “borrows heavily from the Florida version.” The biggest differences are where you’ll find it in the Tokyo park (Fantasyland rather than Frontierland), and it’s presented in a more dilapidated state both inside and out.

Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Inspired Phantom Manor in Disney Paris

Unlike the Haunted Mansion, Phantom Manor has a backstory. Big Thunder Mining Company founder and magnate Henry Ravenswood used his wealth to build a stately Victorian mansion for his wife Martha and daughter Melanie to live in. But Henry didn’t heed the warnings of the locals and mined Big Thunder Mountain anyway, disturbing the spirit of the Thunderbird that dwelled there.

Misfortune soon befell Henry and his family. An earthquake killed Henry and his wife, leaving behind his beautiful daughter who was doomed to spinsterhood when her suitors met with mysterious fates. Thanks, unbeknownst to her, to the Phantom who had secretly infiltrated her home after the earthquake.

Claiming the house for himself and his fiendish friends, it fell into disrepair. And what of Melanie? Was she still living there or not? That’s what visitors get to find out when they visit Phantom Manor now.

According to the Phantom Manor Wiki, as far as its insides go, Phantom Manor is very similar to the Haunted Mansion in California. With the exception that it’s slightly longer because its storyline adds on a few more scenes.

As far as its exterior, Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris resembles neither the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland nor the Magic Kingdom. It reminds me of a little of both the Addams Family’s house and the house behind the Bates Motel in the original Psycho. No word on if it took its inspiration from either. However, the end result is it’s the spookiest-looking of all the haunted attraction rides. Which is fitting since, thanks to its backstory, it’s also regarded as a more intense experience than any of its counterparts.

Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland Inspired by Pure Fantasy

Of all the Haunted Mansions, the one in Hong Kong Disneyland takes the biggest departure. The Bradbury Mansion that once graced the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, inspired the whimsical facade. (Which must have been some house! Talk about a combo! A Russian onion-shaped dome blended with American Victorian. It also calls to mind a little of the Winchester Mystery House too.)

But while it’s the equivalent of a Haunted Mansion in other parks, you won’t find any ghosts or references to the afterlife here, in keeping with traditional Chinese culture. It’s meant to be a light-hearted fantasy ride through Lord Henry Mystic’s manor house. Which is more like a museum. Because, like Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, this attraction has a backstory too.

Lord Henry was quite the adventurer who, with his “faithful monkey friend, Albert,” collected fantastical art and artifacts during his journey, which are now on display in his home.

There are hints of non-paranormal Haunted Mansion references in Mystic Manor. It also has a “ride” element to it also. However, instead of a Doom Buggy, they board a Mystic Magneto-Electric Carriage that follows “mystical dust” on the “mesmerizing tour.”

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Which of the Haunted Mansions would you be content spending your afterlife in?