[Editor’s Note: This piece about the Haunted Mansion 50th Anniversary festivities at Disneyland comes to us from Tallest Silver- longtime Aggressor and cosplayer. You can follow her on social media here, here, and here.]

“Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion.”

Iconic words that echo through the chambers of your soul by the iconic Paul Frees. Last night, or rather this morning, was the first night of a two-night swinging wake over in Disneyland for the 50th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion. 

Disney often hosts parties within its parks, such as Mickey’s Halloween Party or this year’s Oogie Boogie’s Bash in California Adventure, but this bedeviled ball of bewitching boos was held at the 13th hour. So technically by military time, it’s still 1 AM but that’s not spooky enough.

Like all things popular and Disney, it got a little complicated purchasing tickets and then having the opportunity to purchase some of the exclusive merchandise. One was not guaranteed any of the items they requested, but rather had to make a list, in order of importance to the buyer, of items they wanted to pick up at the event.

Items ranging from Disney pins, Funko pops, to more expensive items such as “Host a Ghost” where you could purchase a jar with the captured spirit of one of the named haunts of the mansion, along with their death certificate, or a Dress Shop Haunted Mansion wallpaper dress. Art prints were also a popular item, as there were signings throughout the day of the artists that created some spooky portraitures. Once one had prioritized the merchandise you wanted to purchase, you had to be approved prior to the event. The email notification would let you know if you could purchase the items, and then you would do so ahead of time (this was actually about 3 weeks prior to the event, when some of us were at San Diego Comic Con, ALSO celebrating its 50th). 

The rules of the Swinging Wake were similar to that of other events: you were allowed – and encouraged!- to dress for the occasion in your fearsome finest, but no masks, anything that could be construed as a weapon, or ball gown-length dresses, the event did not allow you to go into the park before it started – unless you had another ticket into the park-, etc. 

During the day of the event, you could check in between 9 AM – 11:00 PM to receive the merch you already paid for, and to peruse any other items that now you see in person, you need to have. My partner, voice actor Jason Marnocha, and I decided to arrive at the Disneyland Hotel for check-in at 7:30 PM, giving us ample time to sleep during the day, grab dinner, and then hit New Orleans square like a hurricane. This was after the art signings, so we navigated through with ease. A hall was set up like the facade of the Haunted Mansion, complete with the stretching portraits scattered around to pose with. The staff was exceedingly helpful – and complimentary to our outfits) and was very precise with ensuring we received the correct items we paid for. We even received a surprise paperweight of Madame Leota in her crystal ball commemorating the event. While we experienced a very smooth pick up of our ticket, our wristband, and a lanyard with four complementary food and beverage coupons for the themed snacks they had around the park, while waiting in line, we heard other people had poorer experiences that went earlier in the day. There seemed to have been confusion about what was needed from the Castmembers, much to other attendees’ frustrations, but by the time we had arrived, that was hardly the case. It was a well oiled machine one could expect from Disney. They even advertised they had more tickets to sell for the event, much to our surprise!  

After a couple of drinks and food at Trader Sam’s, we dropped off our merch into our car and headed over to the front gates of Disneyland just shy of 11 PM. We actually made it very close to the front of the line, and by midnight, the line for the event had hit the edge of the entrance to California Adventure and curled past the ticket booths to the parks. Did they attempt to sell 999 tickets to the pre-deceased? Hard to tell because they handled crowd control very well. 

At 12:30, the park was opened to us after the majority of guests from typical park hours had left. Main Street still sparkled even as shops closed to us, and the castle gleamed silently in the dark as we flooded into Frontierland. The crowd was greeted by some Cadaverous Dans singing sweetly classic horror movie tunes as well as a medley of Disney villains. 

The Rivers of America was the main attraction to lure us foolish mortals in to kick off the celebrations. The Haunted Mansion shone through the trees as swirling ghosts celebrated 50 years of haunting. Corey Burton was our narrator for the celebration of some waterworks and fireworks display. Then the crowd dispersed to do as much as they could in the allotted 3 hours. 

New Orleans square was not the only place open to the public. Frontierland, Adventureland, the Mark Twain, and Critter Country were all open, with the main draws of food, festivities, and fun. The most fun was the line queues, no one was in them. Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Railroad, Splash Mountain, and the shining star of the night – the Haunted Mansion were all open for the bash. Of course, we did all of them, save Splash Mountain because no one needs to be that wet at 3 in the morning. After getting off of Pirates of the Caribbean, we were astonished that literally no one was in line. It was empty. I joked with the Castmember that the ghosts were in line, waiting their turn. 

The jewel of New Orleans square definitely drew attention. Illuminated brighter than any other attraction, a constant supply of fog billowed around, make the mansion glow ethereally. And everyone there was an enormous fan. There is nothing quite like reciting the dialogue with an entire group of strangers as you experience that disquieting metamorphosis of the stretching chamber, but we all did it together with much glee. 

Not much was altered in the ride for the celebration; wreaths were decorated around with 50th Anniversary proudly displayed, as well as projections when you mount your Doom Buggy and behind Madame Leota. The most impressive and exciting change was they had actual people within the ride. An armored knight stood in the hall with the floating candelabra, only to jump to action with a fierce pose. I was not expecting that and screamed in delighted fright. Another corporal apparition was cleverly disguised in the ballroom vignette, and at the very end, a Hitchhiking Ghost that was going to follow us home. 

Besides the attractions, there were photo-ops galore, with costumed characters like Constance Hatchaway, the hatchet-happy bride in the attic, the Tightrope Walker, the Hatbox Ghost, and others. The lines for these were understandably longer, but we did not attend because we tried to do as much as possible. Madame Leota appeared, this time with a body attached to her head, to give recitations of incantations to the spirits in New Orleans Square. A ghoulish cotillion of ethereal dancing entranced us as they broke away to waltz with members of the crowd. The Mark Twain had the Cadavrous Dans serenading with songs of Oingo Boingo and other gothicky tunes. 

Snacks were a big draw to the fun. Part of attendance gave you one free snack, one hors d’oeuvre, one dessert, and one drink. We redeemed them for a Bride churro and a Groom churro (coated with vanilla for the Bride, milk and dark chocolate for the Groom), vegetables skewers, and caffeinated sodas to keep us going. But there were plenty of gruesome treats like a Hitchhiking Ghost Blue Velvet cake flavored with blueberries galore, Foolish Mortals Popcorn, Honey… I Do Beignets, and much much more. 

At 4 AM, everything wound down as shops closed up and characters departed back to their chambers. As you drifted back down mainstreet, the Bride’s eery and taunting voice echoed, “Hurry baaaack, hurry baaaack..” For an event like this? In a beating bride’s heartbeat.

The Haunted Mansion will be celebrating its 50th on August 8th-9th, 2019. You can purchase your tickets on Disneyland’s official parks page here.