History Trivia / TheHauntedMansion

* TheBusCameBack: There have been reports that if you ask a cast member or staffer where the Hatbox Ghost has been all these years, they'll say, "He was ''always'' in the attic, you just couldn't see him, [[ParanoiaFuel but he could see you!"]]

* ExecutiveMeddling: According to one of the engineers, the engineers had wanted to bring back the Hatbox Ghost since at least 1999 (then, they were celebrating the ride's 30th anniversary), but everytime they tried to pitch the idea to Disneyland execs, they were immediately shot down with the reasoning, "the character's effect didn't work before, so why would it now?"

* NoExportForYou: None of the Mansions are identical. Tokyo never got the Constance update to the Attic or the Floating Leota effect, while Disneyland never got the update of the Constance effect that WDW got. Walt Disney World also has the Music Room, Library, and Endless Staircase, scenes not in the Disneyland Mansion, and Tokyo has the former two, and Phantom Manor the second. Conversely, Disneyland is the only attraction to have gotten the Hatbox Ghost 2.0.

*** Many of the Disneyland version's animatronics reused the molds used for animatronics in Pirates of the Carribean.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: The iconic "stretching room" was devised because the Imagineers needed a way to get guests from the mansion that forms the facade of the building to the warehouse where the actual ride track is built, primarily because said warehouse is on the other side of the Disneyland Railroad. In Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, [[spoiler:it's not your imagination. The room ''is'' actually stretching, because the floor you're standing on is actually an elevator and the walls stay still.]] Florida and Tokyo keep the effect for consistency, but simply raise the ceiling to accomplish it.

** The Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland versions of the ride contain additional scenes not present in the Disneyland original. Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris takes the loose bits of story present in the original ride ''many'' steps further to produce a full history for the house, and also for Big Thunder Mountain, meaning the signature Frontierland roller coaster gets tied to the history of another ride, getting DarkerAndEdgier in doing so.

** The entrance to Walt Disney World's version of the attraction was [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QekhP1VzhkI/UkIMN3DRbyI/AAAAAAAAFOY/WguqVyYm76M/s1600/MansionElev68.jpg originally going to be much more elaborate]], with guests entering through the front door and using the stretching rooms as elevators (as they do in the Disneyland version). Since there was more space in WDW, there was no need for elevators, since the show building could be on the same level aboveground. As such, in WDW, the ceilings simply rise and there's no slowly descending floor to go with them.
** One proposed idea for Disneyland's original ride was to have the trees in the cemetery scene move around, and their branches reach out towards riders. However, the engineers back then couldn't figure out exactly how to get the trees to move like that, and in the years since they've never tried to re-attempt it; so the trees in the cemetery just stand perfectly still. The trees still have faces carved into them, in a manner similar to ''Snow White's Scary Adventures''.
** The ''Haunted Mansion Holiday'' overlay was planned to be added to Walt Disney World's version of the attraction; but for reasons unknown, they turned it down and the already-built decorations were sent to Tokyo Disneyland for them to do the overlay. It's been suggested that the overlay never made it to WDW because of the higher percentage of foreign and out-of-state guests at Orlando, who wouldn't be able to see the classic ride if they arrived during the holiday period. Compared to Tokyo and Anaheim, parks that cater more to local guests than to out of state visitors.
*** Before settling on WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas as the theme for the holiday overlay there was talk about making it themed after Literature/AChristmasCarol but decided against it due to the attraction's setting in New Orleans Square and the incongruity of bringing Santa Claus into the eerie environment of the Haunted Mansion.
** Walt Disney World's version of The Haunted Mansion was originally going to have [[https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2014/09/on-web.html a skeleton trapped in a spider web]] near the staircase. It was dropped because [[ExecutiveMeddling a higher-up thought it looked "stupid"]]. The webbing though remained by the staircase for many years.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: An animated series created by Shannon Tindle, creator of ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings''. Sadly, it never got more than a brief [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4CVrcXgy6w teaser.]] [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CvX3ttYSCpB One artist on the project]] claims it was cancelled after the team was informed that "Theme Park Attractions are too good of an IP to be [[AnimationAgeGhetto wasted on animation]]".

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: An animated series created by Shannon Tindle, creator of ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings''. Sadly, it never got more than a brief [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4CVrcXgy6w teaser.]]

*** Bloodmere Manor, where the spirits of the cursed Blood family tries to recreate a doomed wedding to lift the curse, to have featured one of the WesternAnimation/LonesomeGhosts as a narrator. Later drafts would turn this into a monster wedding between a Bogeyman Groom and a Vampire Bride that would lose her head, with the wedding guest list being a full-blown MonsterMash, including [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad the Headless Horseman]], FrankensteinsMonster, {{Dracula}}, and a variety of literary ghosts.

* WordOfDante[=/=]WordOfSaintPaul: The “backstory” (or rather backstories) of the Mansion come from various sources, and it has long been debated in the fandom whether any of these examples is Word of Dante or of Saint Paul:

* TheWikiRule: Has a wiki [[http://hauntedmansion.wikia.com/ that needs a lot of love]].
** Not a wiki, but the fansite [[http://www.doombuggies.com/ Doombuggies]] has compiled a lot of history and trivia on the ride, so much so that's it's almost amassed its own fandom.

*** The Mayor of Phantom Canyon in Phantom Manor uses the same mold as Dreamfinder from the original version of Epcot's Journey into Imagination with Figment.

[[folder:Film]]
* ActingForTwo: Sara Evers and Elizabeth Henshaw are both portrayed by Creator/MarshaThomason.
* BreakawayPopHit: Subverted with "Iz U" by Music/{{Nelly}}, as that song underperformed on the music charts.
* DevelopmentHell: Development of a movie based on the Haunted Mansion began as early as 1990. [[http://www.doombuggies.com/media/misc/hauntedmansion.pdf A script was written]], but the [[BoxOfficeBomb failure]] of ''Film/HocusPocus'' in '93 caused Disney to redevelop the project as a made-for-TV film. However, when another made-for-TV film based on an attraction, ''Film/TowerOfTerror'', failed in the ratings, work on ''The Haunted Mansion'' was sidelined. It wasn't until the early 2000's, when then-incumbent Disney CEO Michael Eisner was interested in turning [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disney Park]] attractions into feature films, that a Haunted Mansion film finally got the green light.
** There is also the upcoming Creator/GuillermoDelToro take of ''The Haunted Mansion'', where he wishes to make the film back to it's horror roots ''and'' even have an appearance of the famous Hatbox Ghost. Unfortunately, del Toro, [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder being del Toro]], hasn't gotten around to it, and it's unknown if the project is either in development or dead. The 2020 announcement of a new Haunted Mansion film project from Katie Dippold doesn't seem to be promising news for the del Toro version.
* FakeAmerican: The British Creator/MarshaThomason as the American Sara Evers.
* MissingTrailerScene: Early trailers and TV spots had Creator/EddieMurphy saying, "Wait until I leave, then make the dark forces come out!" in a very stern tone. In the film, while this line does come up, he says it much differently, in a more panicked, frightened tone.
* ProductionPosse: Director Rob Minkoff worked with Michael Evers' actor Marc John Jefferies in ''Film/StuartLittle2''.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Following the huge success of ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', Disney green-lit the film in the mid '80s. However, they at first would only give permission for the film to be made if Creator/BillMurray, Creator/DanAykroyd, Creator/HaroldRamis, or Creator/RickMoranis would play the lead role.
** The Hitchiking Ghosts were more prominent in early drafts of the script, but were trimmed back because it became too overwhelming to have three supporting characters chiming in at once.
** Creator/AnthonyHopkins was asked to play Ramsley.
** In an earlier draft of the script, the Groundskeeper was a character and was going to be played by Creator/DonKnotts.
[[/folder]]

* MissingTrailerScene: Early trailers and TV spots had Creator/EddieMurphy saying, "Wait until I leave, then make the dark forces come out!" in a very stern tone. In the film, while this line does come up, he says it much differently, in a more panicked, frightened tone.

* BreakawayPopHit: Subverted with "Iz U" by Creator/{{Nelly}}, as that song underperformed on the music charts.

* BreakawayPopHit: Subverted with "Iz U" by Nelly, as that song underperformed on the music charts.