Featured Attractions

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Toontown Tuesdays: The Ghost Host


Though not exactly a toon, but very much a character, the Ghost Host at DISNEYLAND's Haunted Mansion has been entertaining guests for 47 years now. Some people believe that he is the master of the house, but in fact, he's most likely a butler. We see him in the stretching room after the lights go out and this is most likely the only picture of him elsewhere in the mansion:

 

Forced to stay within the house, he hosts the master's guests forever more.

While the idea of a haunted attraction had been in Walt Disney's mind for years, the Imagineers could never quite get it out of Mr. Disney's head and onto blueprints. The house stood at the bend of the river for years, marked only by a whimsical sign asking guests to plan on making the mansion their final resting place. The sign was the greatest marketing trick ever; so many people wanted a peek inside that mansion that on August 9, 1969, they descended on the park in droves.

 

 

The attraction had a nine hour wait, but for guests, it was worth it to see what had gotten into that spooky house after all. It was the first time that the park had to shut both the parking entrance and the front gates due to a record crowd. They would be just the first of many who would venture past the mansion's gates.