Ahhh, how I love the Haunted Mansion. I usually go to the one at Walt Disney World, and I always have a good time from the moment I step into the queue until the time I exit the vehicle. The line is amazing and full of details, the pre-show is really interesting, and the ride itself is fun, funny, full of surprises, and packed with cool set pieces. It’s that awesome dark ride with a special touch of Disney magic that both children and adults can enjoy.
Phantom Manor is basically Haunted Mansion, but set in Paris and with some very important changes. It manages to keep that classic Disney charm intact while being a little creepier and featuring exclusive scenes you won’t find anywhere else. It’s often considered one of the best versions of this ride in the world, and I’d have to agree. Let’s see what makes it so special.
What we like about Phantom Manor
Phantom Manor has all the great details of the classic Haunted Mansions, along with new elements that make it even better. The queue is already awesome and keeps that special touch that remains consistent across different versions of the ride. You really feel like you are exploring a mysterious house located in a pocket dimension inside Parc Disneyland. The queue is amazing as you walk through a creepy garden and see the mansion from afar. It feels like a scene straight out of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House, and it is awesome.
The pre-show is also pretty cool and tells a completely different story from the rides at Disneyland California and Disney World. You do get to see the stretching room, with portraits that first appear harmless, showing people standing still, only to reveal that they are actually in really dangerous situations. Do you see a guy standing on top of a box? Well, as the room stretches and grows taller, you find out he is actually standing on top of boxes full of dynamite. This room also gives the first clue that this version is slightly creepier, as the portraits are not as cartoonish as the ones at Disney World. The story here is also an original one about a bride named Melanie Ravenswood, and is told in both French and English.
The ride itself is a simple dark ride through a, you guessed it, Haunted Mansion. For the first half, it is actually very similar to the one at Disney World. You get to see living suits of armor, pianos playing by themselves, and the classic ballroom scene. After that, though, everything in this ride becomes different from the other Haunted Mansions, and in the best possible way.
You see, Phantom Manor was built from the start as part of a big storyline that unfolds across Frontierland, even sharing story elements with Big Thunder Mountain. After the ballroom scene, you actually get to explore the ghostly town of Phantom Canyon, which feels like a Wild West settlement now taken over by ghosts and spirits. That part of the ride looks creepier and more realistic, at least to me. There are skeletons that do not look cartoonish at all, along with zombies, hellhounds, and ghouls. The town itself looks amazing and truly feels connected to Frontierland and Big Thunder. There is a saloon with ghosts playing cards, a ghostly apothecary, and tons of cool details everywhere exclusive to this version in Disneyland Paris.
All in all, this is an incredible dark ride and one of the best in Disneyland Paris. It absolutely deserves your time. It is also surprisingly long! Once seated, the ride lasts almost seven minutes, and that is not even counting the awesome queue and the pre-show.
What we don’t like about Phantom Manor
There is nothing we do not enjoy about this ride. It is long, the queue and pre-show are awesome, the set pieces are really fun, and everyone is welcome aboard. It can, however, be a bit scary for toddlers, especially since this is a slightly more adult take on the Haunted Mansion compared to the other versions. The skeletons and ghouls, for example, look more realistic than usual, which can definitely bother young ones.
Conclusion
Phantom Manor is awesome and definitely worth your time. The queue is amazing, the pre-show is fun, and there are exclusive scenes and set pieces that you will only find in this version. If there is one dark ride at Disneyland Paris you should not miss, it is this one.
