In Paris, the equivalent of the Haunted Mansion is called Phantom Manor. Originally narrated in English by Vincent Price, the majority of the audio of Phantom Manor was changed in the early years to being in French, especially in terms of the narration in and around the stretch rooms. All that remains of Price’s recording is his laughter. There is no audio in the Doom Buggies in Phantom Manor, and some of the characters (including Madame Leota) speak in both English and French. Grim Grinning Ghosts is still purely in English, and some of the Paul Frees Ghost Host audio found stateside now comes out of a Mayoral character found toward the end of the ride.
The attraction’s name is said to have been chosen due to it being easier to be understood by the French–and easier for them to pronounce–but also to differentiate it from “Haunted Mansion”, so that riders do not expect anything too similar to the attractions found in Florida, California and Tokyo.
Phantom Manor very much tells a story (although the specifics of this are very much up for debate–as does whether the story has a plot or is purely a look at “good vs. evil”), whereas Haunted Mansion is much more of a tour, showing you the rooms, telling you what is in them, and trying to convince you to take a “post-lifetime lease” and to thus become the thousandth happy haunt to take residence inside the building.
The other main stylistic change between the two is that Phantom Manor is generally a lot more deadpan than Haunted Mansion. The story it tells is a tragic one, and so the attraction has very little humor (visual or spoken) from the outset, so even the engravings on the tombstones are less funny and more story-line orientated. They do, of course, still pay tribute to various Imagineers and other creatives who worked on the design of the attraction.
The exteriors of the two are very different, with Phantom Manor looking much more like a typical haunted house, built in “Second Empire” style. It looks very similar to the house in Psycho, even to the extent that it is on a hill (with other exterior influences including the Fourth Ward School Museum and the Edward Hopper painting, House by the Railroad). Its interior influences include Phantom of the Opera, Great Expectations and the Charles Allen Gilbert illustration called All is Beauty.
The other main difference is with the upkeep of the house. From the outside, Phantom Manor (or Ravenswood Manor, to give it its in-story name) looks like it is falling apart, whereas Haunted Mansion (aka Gracey Manor) still appears well-groomed.
Entering either attraction starts with one passing through a set of open gates. Both these areas are surrounded by signs warning of the unsuitability of the attraction for some Guests, and there is at least one Cast Member on hand to answer any questions whilst setting the somber mood.
Although many Cast Members are passed in both Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor, those in the former generally tend to be better suited personality-wise to the attraction. However, the costumes for Phantom Manor are much more ornate–and are purple rather than Florida’s green–and the Cast Members in Phantom Manor’s greeter position gets to stand in a cool coffin-esque booth to protect them from the elements.
Fewer chains and fences in Phantom Manor also give the queue area more of a free-roam feel, which nicely sets up the exploratory tone of the attraction as a whole.
For a while, Phantom Manor’s queue was going to wind through a carriage barn (which would have featured flickering lights, empty horse stalls, ghostly neighing and the like) but due to budgetary restraints this detail never materialized. In its place now stands a Victorian style Garden Pavilion, which is pretty dull and effectless, but thankfully can be bypassed when the queue isn’t excessively long.
From this point onward, the Guests have the option to remain covered from the elements, which can be a blessing, especially at the height of winter.
After the Garden Pavilion, Phantom Manor’s Guests go through a turnstile and then approach the house itself for the first time. On the left is a Cast Members-only door, but the path leads you around to the right, to the front of the building.
Once you have reached this point, you are pretty much guaranteed to be entering the building within five minutes, but this is where the tension starts to build and where Guests tend to begin bonding. There are windows here to try to peer through, and the views across the resort are beautiful, especially in early evening, when the area lighting has changed.
As with its Florida counterpart, Guests don’t enter Phantom Manor continuously; instead they go inside in small groups. However, unlike Haunted Mansion, the Guests enter through the house’s main set of double-doors. These have knockers which—until recently—were freestanding, which added a fun bit of last-minute interactivity, especially when playful Cast Members were on hand to chide knocking Guests for their impatience.
Come back in 2014, if you dare, to find what awaits you once you’ve been fortunate enough to be allowed entry through these ominous doors…
