Chapter 17 - Magic Kingdom - Liberty Square Part 3               posted 3/23/18
                                   The Haunted Mansion Queue                                                          update 4/15/20

Liberty Square is the smallest Land in the Magic Kingdom, but it doesn’t lack of things to do and see. We keep talking about the Imagineers attention to detail. In Liberty Square they have definitely extended themselves. This continues on to the:

The Haunted Mansion

For the most recent map go to:  http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/mk.htm
“I am your Host, Ghost Host”
Picture
is another of those memory stirring quotes from the Haunted Mansion.
Paul Frees, whom you should remember from the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Hall of Presidents, Chapters 11 and 16, voiced "the Ghost Host" in the Haunted Mansion.
 
There has been more than a fair share written about the Haunted Mansion over the years. Our intention is not to try to present all of the great documentation available or add to it, but to stay true to our goal; that is to provide a pictorial tour with some of the backstories. We will provide the reference links so you can find more detail and information.
 
But we need to be to true to this attraction also. We’ve been in the Haunted Mansion countless times over the years and knew that there was a lot of detail put into it by the Imagineers. But it wasn’t until we started doing our research for this Chapter that we came to the realization of just how much. The difficult part in writing about the Haunted Mansion is that since there is so much, what do we include, and what backstories do we discuss. Every photo we add has many tales and will bring up many questions. We’re going to try and do our best to do the Haunted Mansion justice. What we don’t cover in this Chapter we hopefully can be found in the attached references. If not let us know and we’ll get you the information (if it’s available).
 
The Haunted Mansion is the only attraction to be found in a different themed land in each of the five Disney Parks Worldwide. The original attraction opened in Disneyland in 1969. Unfortunately Walt himself never got to see the finished product. The Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion was part of the parks grand opening in 1971.
 
The Haunt Mansion draws guests to tour the spooky, spine-chilling home where nine hundred and ninety nine happy haunts reside causing all sorts of supernatural and humorous occurrences. From the moment that guests step through the wrought iron gates of the Haunted Mansion, they are surrounded by an incredible attention to detail created by the Imagineers. The level of detail adds to the overall backstory of the attraction as well as creates some amazing facts and interesting history that we'll try and explore.

History

Walt Disney’s concept for a Haunted Mansion dates back to 1951 even before Disneyland opened in 1955. Many plans were worked on and presented to Walt by the newly formed Imagineers (WED was formed in 1952). But none would fit in Disneyland at the time it opened and none that Walt liked. In early 1960’s the Imagineers were involved in the Walt Disney attractions of the 1964/5 New York World’s Fair, so the Haunted Mansion concept was tabled.
In 1966, sadly after Walt’s death, the project restarted with significant progress. With the opening of New Orleans Square in Disneyland there was room for the Haunted House. As plans finalized for the Florida Park, two of each was built, with the idea that a Haunted Mansion would be in both parks. Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion opened in New Orleans Square in 1969 and in Walt Disney World in 1971 with its opening.
 
The overall background history of the Haunted Mansion is very interesting, but also very involved. There have been many Books and Articles written about the History and how the concept designs were developed. It would take up several Chapters, which is not our intention. But if you’re interested here are some excellent References, plus more to follow:


But before we enter it would help if guests know something about the backstory of the Haunted Mansion:

Many years ago, Master Gracey and Emily were engaged, but Madame Leota was also in love with Master Gracey.  Leota believed that if Emily were “gone” Master Gracey would then fall in love with her and they could get married.  On Master Gracey and Emily’s wedding day, Leota killed Emily and put her body in a trunk and put the trunk in the attic of the mansion.  Well, Master Gracey was so distraught over Emily’s death that he hung himself.  Madame Leota was left to haunt the mansion after she presumably died of old age.

Within the Haunted Mansion there are several other interconnected backstories, which we’ll present as we proceed.
 
So let’s proceed.

The Facáde

Architecture 
In keeping with the colonial theming in Liberty Square, Imagineers designed the exterior of the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion after late 1700's Dutch-Gothic architecture inspired from New York’s lower Hudson River Valley and the Harry Packer Mansion located in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. (Still keeping a subtle hint of Sleepy Hollow which is prevalent throughout Liberty Square - see Chapter 16).  and the façade reflects the Colonial architecture of the surrounding structures.

References:
  • https://www.murdermansion.com/
  • https://www.haunteddimensions.raykeim.com/index335.html
Picture
Harry Packer Mansion
Having learned a few things from the original Haunted Mansion in California, Imagineers wanted to make the exterior of the Walt Disney World attraction a little more foreboding. 
 
Imagineers made sure to design Gracey Manor and queue in a fashion that would suggest the thrills and experiences awaiting within.
 
Master Gracey is the lord of the Haunted Mansion. Gracey Manor was named in honor of Imagineer Yale Gracey who designed many of the special effects in The Haunted Mansion attractions (such as the "Leota Effect", the “Ballroom effect” and the “Grim, Grinning Ghosts” as well as, the flame effects of the burning city in Pirates of the Caribbean, to name a few).
Chess Pieces on the Roof
Guests who look up will notice that some of the decorative details on the roof of the attraction resemble chess pieces. There’s a lot of controversy about this.
 
Guests may believe what they wish, but according to Imagineers and Disney authors this is not true intention. The architecture is a typical Dutch-Gothic design and just a coincidence that it looks like chess pieces.
 
If you look closely at the front door of the Haunted Mansion, you may notice that the two columns alongside the door are actually shaped like coffins!
 
Here as a few References from noted Disney historians that state the tale about the Chess pieces is not true:
As guests enter the ominous iron gates in the front queue area of the Haunted Mansion they will notice a black hearse drawn by a phantom horse.
 
The hearse and phantom horse was added to support the backstory of the Haunted Mansion and made its debut at Disneyland in 1995 and proved popular enough to warrant adding this feature to the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
The black hearse at Walt Disney World appeared in the 1965 film "The Sons of Katie Elder" which starred John Wayne and Dean Martin as two of the four sons who return to Clearwater, Texas to attend their mother's funeral.
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Photo: Paramount Pictures

The Queue

We continue under the awning covered Queue to the Graveyard. Guests should note that the FastPass+ queue does not take them through the Graveyard but directly to the Foyer entrance.
Graveyard
 
The queue for the Haunted Mansion treats the guests to many surprises, experiences, with a wealth of backstories. Because most guests rush through the Graveyard to get the actual ride, thus miss a tremendous amount of detail and backstories linked to Gracey Mansion, we’re going to spend a little time here.
The Haunted Mansion went through a metamorphosis in the 2011 expansion, Imagineers created an entirely new storytelling experience in a cemetery focused around several of the more prominent of the 999 happy haunts in the Haunted Mansion.
Picture
Rough map of the Queue
Let's venture in.
The Dread Family
As guests first enter the graveyard you encounter the five sculptures of the sinister Dread Family.
There is a mystery here. Each of the busts features an epithet that tells how they died and a small item that could be taken for a mere decoration but, when examined closely, are clues that allow you to unravel a tale of murder and greed in the appropriately named Dread family. 
Spoiler alert: Skip this section if you want to figure out the riddle on your own!
Those who don't have the time (sometimes the queue does move fast) or don’t want to try to solve, we’ll go through the mystery:

Uncle Jacob – Is holding a pile of money and his epithet reads: “Greed was the poison he had swallowed. He went first, the others followed. His killer’s face he surely knew. Now try to discover who killed who.”
Bertie has a poisonous snake around his neck and his plaque features a bottle with a skull and crossbones, so he probably killed Uncle Jacob. On Bertie's headstone is written? “Avid hunter and expert shot, in the end that’s what he got.”
Aunt Florence’s plaque shows a revolver so she probably shot Cousin Bertie. But what is written on her headstone? “Never did a dishonorable deed, yet found face down in canary seed.”
The Twins - Wellington & Forsythia Dread - the Twins’ bust has a bird laying on its back so they probably killed Aunt Florence. But what is written on their headstone? “Departed life while in their beds, with identical bumps on their heads.”
Cousin Maude’s bust features a hammer so she probably did in the twins. She should've been the sole survivor and recipient of Uncle Jacob's fortune but it seems that she too came to an untimely demise. Cousin Maude's bust reads, “Our sleeping beauty, who never awoke the night her dreams went up in smoke.”
If you look around the area, there doesn't seem to be anything to tell us how she died and you might think that she died in her sleep except that the line "went up in smoke" seems to suggest the possibility a fire. There are no other busts remaining to indicate an arsonist in the family so what could've happened? Take a look at the back of Cousin Maude's sculpture and you'll find three matches tucked into the bun in her hair. I don't know why she put them there but it looks like they must've rubbed together as the old girl slept, resulting in the fire that took her life.
Dread family Disney trivia: In 2010, when the Haunted Mansion's new interactive queue was in the testing phase, there were two other members of the Dread family: Whitfield Tarkington Dread and Ruben Dread. They were included in a large poster near the entrance. At that time, Cousin Maude was listed as "Governess Maude Sweeny" and Aunt Florence was listed as "Aunt Florence McGriffin Dread"
References:
Tombstone Tribute
 
Many of the tombstones found in the queue and at the exit of the Haunted Mansion pay tribute to the Imagineers who worked to make the Haunted Mansion a the ghastly place and reality.
 
Next to the Dread Family Busts are two tombstones.
 
First one is a tribute to

           Marc Davis







IN MEMORY OF 
OUR PATRIARCH 
DEAR DEPARTED 
GRANDPA 
MARC


Marc Davis is one of Disney's legendary 'Nine Old Men'. He was one of the most creative forces in theme park design history. His concept art is well-known by Disney fans, and were the origin of many audio-animatronic scenes found in designed the characters for many attractions and show animatronics
 
  • The Jungle Cruise (1955)
  • The Enchanted Tiki Room (1963)
  • Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1964)
  • The Carousel of Progress (1964)
  • It's a Small World (1964)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (1967)
  • The Haunted Mansion (1969)
  • The Country Bear Jamboree (1971)

Frances Xavier Atencio      




Frances X. Atencio (the X is for Xavier) joined Disney in 1938 and worked on many of Walt's animated features before transferring to WED in 1964 to help with such legendary attractions as Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.
He wrote the lyrics to the theme songs in these two attractions, Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me! and Grim Grinning Ghosts
Atencio's voice can be heard pleading for release from within the coffin in the Mansion's conservatory.





REQUIESCAT 
FRANCIS XAVIER 
NO TIME OFF 
FOR GOOD 
BEHAVIOR 
RIP
As guests look to their left they’ll notice that the cemetery has a grand view of the Rivers of America and will on occasion see the Liberty Belle Steamboat go by.
A glance through the fence at the back corner of the queue, contains another set of tombstones. These give tribute to several other Imagineers who contributed to the making of the Haunted Mansion:

Dave Burkhart

DEAR DEPARTED
BROTHER 
DAVE
HE CHASED A 
BEAR INTO 
A CAVE
Dave Burkhart was a model maker with Disney. After the Mansion, he worked as a field art producer and show designer on the Swiss Family Treehouse and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
 
In 1974 Dave became Superintendent of Decoration at Disneyland in charge of making the 'show aspects' of the park look good every day. He kept advancing in the company until his assignment in 1984 to the Tokyo Disneyland Project. There, he created the Show Quality Assurance Program to help Japanese management learn how to keep maintenance on par with the rest of the Disney Parks.
After leaving Disney in 1996, Dave worked for Universal Studios as the Creative Director for their theme park in Japan.

Gordon Williams

RIP 
GOOD FRIEND 
GORDON 
NOW YOU'VE 
CROSSED THE 
RIVER JORDON

Gordon Williams was an authority on audio-animatronics and an accomplished audio designer. He was responsible for almost all of the sound effects in The Haunted Mansion.

Microsoft

Chuck Myall

IN MEMORIUM 
UNCLE MYALL
HERE YOU'LL LIE 
FOR QUITE A WHILE

Chuck Myall was one of the master planners of Disney World as well as an art director and project designer for WED. Chuck Myall was an art director who worked on the overall development of Walt Disney World to include the Haunted Mansion and It’s A Small World. His other projects included Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Monorail, and Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland.
Microsoft

Harriet Burns

FIRST LADY OF THE OPERA 
OUR HAUNTING 
HARRIET 
SEARCHING FOR A TUNE 
BUT NEVER COULD CARRY IT
Harriet Burns was the first female Imagineer at WED, she was a model maker and scenic designer.
Harriet Burns helped design, prototype, and build theme park attractions featured at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and the New York World’s Fair of 1964-65.
 
She helped create Sleeping Beauty Castle, New Orleans Square, the Haunted Mansion, and more. She also helped construct Storybook Land, which features miniature villages inspired by Disney animated movies such as Pinocchio, and designed all of the “singing birds” in the Enchanted Tiki Room, the first Audio-Animatronics® attraction at Disneyland.
Harriet worked on stage design for attractions featured at the New York World’s Fair in 1964, including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Carousel of Progress.
 

The  Decomposing Composer's Crypt



As we proceed around the queue, guests come across a crypt with musical instruments carved into it.
This is the Decomposing Composer’s Crypt. The first side looks like an ordinary display of musical instruments, but touch the instruments on it and you’ll hear music playing from the instruments. The instrument plays a portion of the attractions theme song "Grim Grinning Ghosts".
The other side features strange, eerie looking instruments, which play a ghastly chilling version of the theme song. This side may be a reference to the band of ghosts playing in the ride’s cemetery scene. The spooky instruments on this side of the crypt are inspired by Rolly Crumps’ designs.
Note: The music for “Grim Grinning Ghosts” was composed by Buddy Baker.
 Buddy Baker scored many Disney films, such as The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Shaggy D.A., The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and The Fox and the Hound.

At the back end of the Decomposing Composer's Crypt is a large pipe organ with banshee heads and a red-eyed raven sitting atop it.
Note: The Haunted Mansion took many years to progress from concept to actual attraction. An early concept called for a raven to be the narrator who followed guests throughout their tour of the mansion. While the raven was eventually replaced by the disembodied Ghost Host, the bird can still be seen throughout the attraction peering at guests with a glowing red eye. Guests should look for the raven in several scenes of the Haunted Mansion including Leota’s séance and the conservatory.
When guests push the keys to the organ it plays “Grim Grinning Ghosts” while also shooting guests with a blast of mist. The organ is engraved with the name "Ravenscroft" which is a reference to Thurl Ravenscroft, he’s the lead voice of the singing busts in the mansion’s cemetery scene as they perform “Grim Grinning Ghosts”.
Guests might recognize his voice from throughout the Disney Parks including, Buff the bison in the Country Bear Jamboree, and Fritz in Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.
 The Organ is also identical to the one in the Ballroom scene. 
In the 'dead' center of the new cemetery is the tombstone of Master Gracey.

Yale Gracey


MASTER GRACEY
LAID 
TO REST 
NO MOURNING 
PLEASE 
AT HIS 
REQUEST 
FAREWELL
This is a tribute to Yale Gracey (who along with Rolly Crump) created many of the effects seen in the Mansion. 
 
Yale was the 'master' of effects which earned him the title 'Master Gracey'.
 
Though there was never an official story behind the Mansion, this grave leads guests to believe that Master Gracey was the master of the house, and in turn, the Ghost Host that takes you on the tour. Disney never officially acknowledged the rumor, but it led to the character of Master Gracey in The Haunted Mansion movie of 2003 with Eddie Murphy..
 
If you look closely, you'll see that the dirt around Master Gracey's grave is different than the dirt in front of the other graves. It looks as if he was just recently 'laid to rest!'
 
Often, to pay their respects, Cast Members will place a red rose on the dirt as well.
  Ghost Host Fact: Master Gracey was not intended to be the Ghost Host. This rumor started as an urban legend that took on a life of its own, and has now become an accepted part of the Haunted Mansion History. (by Jason Surell)
 
Jason Surrell who worked on the Haunted Mansion has published a fabulous book about the Haunted Mansion:
  •  Surrell, Jason. The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic, Disney Editions, October 2015  (www.Disneybooks.com)
Captain’s Crypt

As guests pass Master Gracey’s grave, ahead stands a large crypt with the following words: engraved at it's base:
"Here floats Captain Culpepper Clyne
Allergic to dirt so he's pickled in brine
He braved the sea and all her wrath
But drowned on land while taking a bath"
If you listen closely you can hear the Captain singing the Drunken Sailor sea shanty from his crypt, as well as, sneezing underwater, occasionally splashing passing guests. There are even bubbles appearing from the top of the crypt as he drowns, meeting his watery end.
This is one of the early unused backstories for the Mansion. It involved the ghost of a murderous sea captain with a sharp harpoon and an appetite for gore.
 
The new backstory introduced with the 2011 expansion has the Captain "drowned on land while taking a bath" which is a little inconsistent with the original portrait. In which it shows that he had drowned when his ship was wrecked, his appearance as a ghost (with seaweed and starfishes all over his suit) emphasizing that he had, well, spent some time at the bottom of the sea.

The Portrait can be seen in the Haunted Mansion Doombuggy Loading Area
 
 A probable alternative backstory could have been that the Captain did not drown in the shipwreck, but was washed ashore, all covered in seaweed and starfishes ("He braved the sea and all her wrath").  He then took the deadly bath to try to get rid of said seaweed and starfish. This would be consistent with the epitaph.
The may not hold water, because in the portrait the ship can be seen right through the Captain, meaning that he is a ghost. (One of many unsolved mysteries in the Haunted Mansion)
Some additional References to ponder:
Best Buy Co, Inc.
The Bride’s Ring
 
Another unsolved mystery in the cemetery is the Bride’s Ring. On the right side of the Captain’s crypt embedded in the ground appears to be something that looks like a Ring.
There are many backstories behind this.
 
But before we get into backstories, let’s go into the origin of the Ring. When the Haunted Mansion opened in 1971 there was a turnstile at the exit. Over the years it was removed leaving part of the pole in the ground. The small silver looking circle embedded in the cement with small metal square on top of the circle appeared a bit like a ring. Guests took noticed of it, and a number of tales were created by Disney fans to explain how this ring fit within the narrative of the Haunted Mansion. Eventually the piece of metal was paved over, which greatly upset the legend followers. When the new interactive queue was designed Imagineers included an actual ring in the queue and gave an official backstory to explain its presence.
Current Backstory:
There’s a legend about a bride who lived up in that old mansion, before its residents were ghosts and the grounds a cemetery. On her wedding day she waited by the window for her groom, but he never arrived. Heartbroken, she threw her engagement ring into the garden below. It’s said that the ring stayed where it fell, and that if you know where to look you can still find it somewhere among the headstones…
 
There have been many more backstories involving the ring, if you are interested here are some References:

Library Crypt

Turn around and following the queue, the next crypt is a bit bizarre. It looks like a bookcase.
The bookcase features two sides of stone books, arranged in groups of 13.
Book panels are interactive. As you push one in another will slide out. But that’s not the most unusual thing about these books, look at the spines. Several have strange symbols inscribed into them, which include a bust, an axe, a candlestick, a snake, and many more – 20 distinct symbols in all. The symbols are actually an intricate cryptogram which spells out a haunted riddle.
And no key to this mystery is offered, so it is left up to guests to figure out what each symbol means. It’s can be overwhelming task when you’re moving through a crowded queue.

If you wish to solve it on your own, we’d recommend taking photos of the symbols for a more careful review later. 
Or,

Use the
Haunted Mansion Library Crypt Cryptogram Key (provided by www.insidethemagic.com)
 
Here is a key that will allow you to decipher the cryptogram on the Library crypt:
 
 In the attached reference they explain how the cryptogram was solved:
Major spoiler alert!
For those not planning any recent trip to Walt Disney World and the Haunted Mansion, and would give up the ghost to know the message inscribed on the Crypt, here it:
Welcome home you foolish mortal,
this mansion is your mystic portal,
where eerie sights and spooky sounds,
fill these happy haunting grounds.

Prudence Pock's Tomb

At one end of the Library Crypt guest will note an epitaph to Prudence Pock which reads "Here lies poetess Prudence Pock who died, tis said from writer's block"
 
Prudence Pock was a poetess and writer who worked in the Haunted Mansion's Library. She died of writer's block and spends the afterlife in her crypt writing gloomy poetry.
According to the plaque this is the final resting place of poetess Prudence Pock. While Prudence herself is unique to the Haunted Mansion, the Pock family name is not. Phineas Pock materializes multiple times in Haunted Mansion history.
It’s uncertain as to the relationship between Prudence and Phineas, but the Pock family does have a long history within the Haunted Mansion.
Phineas Pock is one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion’s inside graveyard.
 In the queues cemetery there is Epitaph-less tombstone for Phineas Pock, alongside Cousin Algernon, and Uncle Theodore, Rollo Rumkin and Ned Nuban. These are the names of the singing busts in the graveyard scene near the end of the Doombuggy ride. 
On the other end of the Library Crypt behind metal bars sits a book. Here the poetess Prudence continues to write her poetry from beyond the grave. As she composes her poems the words appear on the pages, but she’ll occasionally needs help.
 
Next to the bars is a microphone labeled Spectrecom which guests can use to interact with Prudence and provide the next word that she needs to complete her poems.
Prudence’s Poems
  • You must pay attention though life is so hectic. Ask Earl who did miss that fence was electric.
  • Myrtle Jones, it was said could clear all of the hurdles. Until she was eaten by a large snapping turtle.
  • Al was not scared to go out in the rain. Too bad that it was a class 5 hurricane.
  • In honor of poor Charles, we're having a wake. He died from eating too much birthday cake.
  • One night on safari, crazy Franz Geiger tried to ride a man-eating tiger.
  • Deep in the wild, on his off-road machine, Greg found that his tank had no more gasoline.
  • Sweet Hanna had taken a cruise to Manila. She was thrown overboard by an angry gorilla.
  • Old Lucy, you see, had such poor eyesight. Instead of a candle, she lit dynamite.
  • In the swamp, poor Sally Slater was eaten by an alligator.  (Note: Sally Slater is the name of the Tightrope Walker from the Stretching Room.)
  • The miner forgot his warning canary. Now he mines six feet under the old cemetery.
  • Irv thought he'd relax in his jungle cabana, but a really big monkey thought him a banana.

Note: If you look at the bottom of the microphone you'll see an inscription “Patented – R.H. Goff". Referring to Imagineer Harper Goff, an art director who worked on early concepts for the original Disneyland. He also did the art direction on the Disney movie, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Sixt Car Rental

Imagineer's Mausoleum

As guests pass the Library Crypt and approach the entrance to the Foyer queue to the left is a mausoleum that references several Imagineers who were involved in creating the Haunted Mansion.
Farewell Forever 
Mister Frees 
Your Voice Will Carry 
On the Breeze
Paul Frees’ voice is one of the most recognized voices. Most will recognize him as the Ghost Host, he was also the voice Professor Ludwick Von Drake, and narrator for several Disney attractions (as well as scores of animated features and product characters like the Pillsbury Dough Boy).
While 
Brother Roland 
Here Reposes 
His Soul’s Above. 
One Supposes
Animator turned imagineer, Roland “Rolly” Crump has worked on several animated movies and attractions for the Walt Disney Company, he contributed heavily to the Haunted Mansion. Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey developed the phenomenal methods of enabling the Mansion's guests to see "transparent" ghosts and other eerie apparitions.
Rolly started as an assistant animator working on movies including Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He then joined Walt Disney Imagineering, and became a designer of some of Disneyland's attractions and shops, The Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room and Adventureland Bazaar.
Rolly later served as a key designer on the Disney attractions featured at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, including it’s a small world.
Then he became the project designer for The Land and the Wonders of Life pavilions in Epcot.
Drink A Toast To 
Our Friend 
Ken 
Fill your Glass 
And Don’t Say “When”
Disney writer and art director Ken Anderson the imagineer who came up with most of the concepts for The Haunted Mansion. The wedding concept for the Haunted Mansion was one of his.
Walt Disney described Ken as his “Jack of All Trades.” Over the years, Ken used his many skills as architect, artist, animator, storyteller, and designer by working on Silly Symphonies; was art director for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and The Reluctant Dragon; provided story contributions to Melody Time, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book; did the staging and design of Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. He also led the production design of Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and The Aristocrats
In the parks, his concept drawings and design work contributed to such popular Fantasyland attractions as Peter Pan’s Flight, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and Storybook Land.
A Train
Made A Stain 
Of Absent-Minded 
Uncle Blaine 
Rest In Pieces
Blaine Gibson was a legendary artist and sculptor for Disney. As we covered in Chapter 16, Blaine was responsible for sculpting all of the Presidents in the Hall of Presidents. Blaine Gibson, also did the ‘Partners” Statues of Walt Disney and Mickey in Cinderella’s Plaza, and Roy Disney and Minnie in Town Square.
His sculptures were used to create the faces on characters in rides such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Haunted Mansion” as well as the “Enchanted Tiki Room”

The Foyer Entrance Cemetery

We’ve now passed through the stand-by queue and join the FastPass guests in the main walkway to the Haunted Mansion’s Foyer entrance.
 
In this queue, as you wait to gain entrance to the Haunted Mansion, you’ll see to your left another cemetery. These tombstone are dedication to past Imagineers involved in the creation and design of the Haunted Mansion. As each tombstone’s engraved epithet provides a way for these artisans to be recognized for their contribution. Let’s take a view at these tombstones.

Wathel Rogers

HERE RESTS 
WATHEL R. BENDER
HE RODE TO 
GLORY ON 
A FENDER 
PEACEFUL 
REST
Wathel Rogers worked as an animator on many Disney classic animated films like Pinocchio, Bambi, Alice In Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty. In his spare time, he created model railroads and toys which caught the eye of Walt Disney.
As a result, Wathel helped Walt create 'Project Little Man', the first of Disney's many audio-animatronics. Wathel became known as 'Mr. Audio-Animatronics' and helped create some of its iconic figures, including Abraham Lincoln and the 'walking' Benjamin Franklin who stars in The American Adventure at EPCOT and most programmed Audio-Animatronic figures in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Dorothea Redmond

OUR DEAREST
DOROTHEA
The tombstone is a tribute to Imagineer Dorothea Redmond, an artist and illustrator, who produced concept art for the attraction.
Dorothea designed the elaborate murals in the entry passage through Cinderella Castle.

Cliff Huet

REST IN PEACE 
COUSIN HUET 
WE ALL KNOW 
YOU DIDN'T DO IT
Cliff Huet was a lead interior designer for The Haunted Mansion and an architect for WED.
 
Cliff Huet was an architect and a Lead Interior Designer for Disney and he was also the Lead Interior Designer for the Haunted Mansion.

Fred Joerger

HERE LIES 
GOOD OLD 
FRED 
A GREAT BIG ROCK 
FELL ON HIS HEAD 
R.I.P.
Set designer Fred Joerger crafted a lot of the rock work seen at Disney parks.
As Walt Disney began planning Disneyland, Fred crafting decorative backgrounds for “Project Little Man.” This project featured a nine-inch tall mechanical man dancing on a vaudeville stage, and a miniature singing barbershop quartet. The animated figures were the first step toward creating the robotic Audio-Animatronics® figures later featured in Disney theme park attractions, including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. (Note: some of Fred Joerger’s work can be seen in the One’s Dream exhibit in Hollywood Studio)
 
Fred also built miniature sets and props for Disney motion pictures, including Mary Poppins, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, for which he created intricate models of the submarine Nautilus.
He was responsible for assuring that attractions ranging from Pirates of the Caribbean to Submarine Voyage achieved “the look,” as designed by Walt Disney Imagineering art directors.
 
Fred provided the 3 dimensional model of the Haunted Mansion for the Imagineers to use as a visual guide.
 
Among his rockwork highlights are the huge stones featured on the Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He designed and constructed most all rockwork at the Florida theme park for its 1971 opening, including the breathtaking atrium waterfall featured in the Polynesian Village Resort.   

Bob Sewell

RIP 
MISTER SEWELL 
THE VICTIM 
OF A DIRTY 
DUEL 
PEACEFUL REST
Bob Sewell joined WED after Disneyland opened in 1955. Sewell was in charge of show installations at the park, and he was head of the Model Shop at WED for most of his years at Disney until his retirement in 1981.
Bob Sewell who was one of the head members of the model shop during the construction of The Haunted Mansion.
macys.com

Claude Coats

AT PEACEFUL
REST LIES 
BROTHER 
CLAUDE 
PLANTED HERE 
BENEATH THIS 
SOD

Claude Coats was originally a background artist for Walt's animated films. He later became a show designer and assisted in designing The Haunted Mansion's interior environments for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. 
Claude Coats designed the eerie, creepy feeling found in many scenes during the first half of the attraction. So it is fitting that his spirit lives on through the tombstone at the Haunted Mansion.

Bud Martin

HERE LIES 
A MAN NAMED 
MARTIN
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT 
ON THIS OLD SPARTAN
The tribute is to Bud Martin - lighting designer & head of WDI Special Effects Department. Bud worked on the final illusions
design and realization with Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump.​

Collin Campbell

HE DIED IN THE FALL – IT’S A FACT – NOTWITHSTANDING – BUT THE JUDGES ADMIRED – HIS FORM ON THE LANDING
Collin Campbell was a Disney artist and Imagineer who worked on backgrounds for Lady and the Tramp, Donald in Mathmagic Land, Goliath II and numerous attractions as a concept artist, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, The Haunted Mansion, Club 33 and Horizons.

Leota Toombs Thomas

DEAR SWEET LEOTA 
BELOVED BY ALL 
IN REGIONS BEYOND NOW, 
HAVING A BALL
Leota Toombs Thomas as an Imagineer created and developed designs for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. She played essential roles in the creation of the fair’s most memorable pavilions – It’s A Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Ford’s Magic Skyway. In the parks, Leota helped bring many of the attractions to life including Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, It’s A Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.
 
Leota Toombs was the model and face of Madame Leota, the disembodied head that speaks from inside a séance room crystal ball in Disney's Haunted Mansion attractions.
At the Foyer entrance is a tombstone dedicated to her, it’s rather unique, watch Leota’s tombstone. Every few minutes her eyes will open, her head will move, and she’ll look around before returning to rest.

More Haunts...
 
There are several other tombstones that are tied to a few of the Mansion’s ghostly inhabitants:

  • Cousin Algernon – the derby wearing member of the quartet of signing busts
  • Ezra – tall, skinny hitchhiking ghost also known as the “skeleton”
  • Gus – forever weighed down by ball in chain, this hitchhiking ghost is also known as the “Prisoner.”
  • Beauregard – a character created by Ken Anderson to be the living butler/tour guide of the Mansion
  • Ned Nub – another of the singing busts (first on the left)
  • Phineas Pock – Phineas P Pock, another of the singing busts
For more background on the Haunted Mansion's Graveyard, here are some references to start with:
This was challenging, the Imagineers’ involvement in the Haunted Mansion’s is vast. To try and complete it in one Chapter would not have been objective. What to include, what to brush over? Yes, there a lots of excellent references for those interested in more specifics, but……

Anyway, the efforts were split into a second Chapter on the Haunted Mansion, not to expand the details; but to provide the readers with an insight of what they are seeing, or have seen in the Haunted Mansion. Giving them an awareness that there  are connections and meanings to them.

Next Chapter we will enter the mysterious, ghostly Haunted Mansion.
 
So wait here in front of the intimidating wooden doors leading into the Foyer until the ghostly Butler or Maid ushers you in.

"Welcome Foolish Mortal"

Afterword:
WDWMousing.com is designed to be a tour of Walt Disney World through photos. We have been to Walt Disney World countless times over the past 25 years and accumulated a magnitude of photos in that time. This website is an intention to combine two of our favorite pastimes, Walt Disney World and photography, and provide an insightful pictorial tour.
While doing so, we've done an extensive research of the internet and literary sources for background information on each area and attraction. The information is available, but most bits and pieces are scattered all over. WDWMousing doesn't intend to rewrite the stories, legends or data, but to try and collect it into one location with reference and links to the original articles and authors. And giving rightful credit. We've stumbled through quite a bit of mis-information, most of which came to life by fans because the origins were lost, forgotten or no one seems to remember. Over the past 25 years we've also lost most of the great Imagineers that helped develop, design and build the original concepts of Walt Disney World. So we believe it's extremely important to make sure that their efforts, intentions, details and creativity in making this Happiest Place on Earth isn't lost.
So we ask for feedback, insights, and suggestions.

Thank you
WDWMousing

    We would definitely like to hear from you.
    Let us know what you think, suggestions, ideas, and absolutely if we've missed anything.