Welcome Foolish Mortals, to The Haunted Mansion.  Come on in, were just dying to have you!

In early 2004 consolidated Communications, working on behalf of The Walt Disney Company, contacted the AtmosFEAR! Scream Team with an interesting proposition – to create an entire weekend experience bringing to life the story of ‘Disney’s Haunted Mansion’, which was due for imminent UK DVD release.

The concept behind the project was to give (un)lucky competition winners the unique opportunity to spend a weekend in a real haunted mansion where they would come face to face with characters similar to those in the movie.

The Scream Team, already avid fans of the classic Disney attraction, immersed themselves in the lore and legends of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, undertaking research into initial concepts and designs, and seeing how they could create a show which would emulate Walt’s dark ride masterpiece.

Drawing on inspiration from Disneyland’s original Haunted Mansion ride, as well as Disneyland Resort Paris’s variation, Phantom Manor, the team imagineered an entire weekend of spooky action and set it inside a huge historic Welsh castle.

The back story for the show set a Ghost Hunter named Dr. Ravenswood as the host character for the weekend, alongside a spooky Butler named Beauregard.  The Doctor was visiting the castle so that he could find the long lost treasure of Adelina Patti – a famous opera singer who once owned the castle.  In our storyline the guests had been invited by Dr. Ravenswood to spend the weekend at the Mansion to help him locate the treasure.

The guests, who were competition winners that had won the prize the popular youth magazine ‘K-Zone’, were welcomed to the Mansion by the Butler – Beauregard.  After they had settled into their rooms and been ‘unsettled’ by Beauregard, he handed them a letter from Dr. Ravenswood.  It contained information on the lost treasure, and invited them to join him later!

Following dinner with Dr. Ravenswood in the dusty candle lit Dining Room, the ghost hunting treasure hunt got underway.  Beginning with a strange map that the Doctor had discovered, a trail of clues, left by the late Adelina, lead the guests into the moonlit woods surrounding the Mansion.  After finding some digging implements in a nearby Gardener’s shed, they dug up an old wooden chest which had been buried under an oak tree.  Not surprisingly it was locked, luckily a further clue lead them into the haunted dungeons of the castle where the key was found!

At the finale of their haunting adventure in the Haunted Mansion, the guests were rewarded with a treasure trove of ghoulish gifts, sweets and games, before retiring to their quarters to rest in peace…