No matter how much of a hardcore Disney Haunted Mansion fan you are, I doubt you’ve ever seen this piece of history. Early concepts of the Haunted Mansion featured walk-through versions of the attraction, as many of you know. An auction for one of these original concepts (which I don’t think has ever been seen in public before) ends on July 1, 2017. Let’s take a look, shall we?
This notebook of concept sketches and plans comes from 1957 after the project for a “Ghost House” was passed on from Harper Goff to Ken Anderson. According to the listing at Heritage Auctions, this particular concept came from Walt Disney and Ken Anderson visiting the famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.
I highly recommend you clicking on that image above of Haunted Mansion concept layout as it is vastly different than the attraction that opened in 1969 at Disneyland. However, there are some basic concepts and rooms including a foyer, a graveyard and a “great hall,” which could be considered a ballroom scene.
Keep in mind, this particular piece of Haunted Mansion conceptual art and documentation pre-dates Yale Gracey starting with WED Imagineering in 1961 and the high-capacity ride system of 1964. So this is still very much a walk-through attraction. If you’re interested in learning more about this particular piece of history or even bidding on it, click this link!
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