Adventureland's Haunted Mansion: The Tour Continues

We then ascend to staircase that leads to the second floor. Massive spiderwebs crisscrossing the walls and ceiling above, the corpse of a poor victim is stung up and tangled in the webs. 

Upon arriving at the second floor, we witness a candelabra,seemingly floating in mid-air ,traveling down a hallway that seems to recede into infinity itself. 

In a windowed music room, a dusty antique piano sits in the center of the room. Invisible fingers plays the ivory keys. We can see the shadow of the phantom pianist on the floor from the moonlight.

The buggies glide through a long coridor alined with tribal masks, closed doors and mounted animal heads. Hot and cold air blasts out from their mouths as we pass by them. The hands of a humanoid beast grab hold of the wooden door, as grows and howls emenate from with the doors. As if these creatures are trying to get out.

The loudly chiming grandfather clock at the hallway's end,the number 13 atop its otherwise empty face. The wallpaper eyes begin to glow and blink. 

The chiming of the musty old grandfather clock is just starting to fade from our ears,when our doom-buggy glides into a room whose dimensions are hidden in darkness. At the center of the room sits a small round table with a crystal ball and unlit candle. It seems that a seance is taking place. The medium or voodoo priestess in under a trace as the chair, which she is sitting, hovers in mid air. She is summoning the spirits and gods of her tribe in an ancient archaic tongue.

Floating even higher above us are wooden drums and assorted instruments, which seem to acknowledge the old woman's incantations with short bursts of disturbing music.

Colonel: "The spirits have felt our sympathetic vibrations and are starting to materialize. They are preparing for a swinging wake, and they'll be expecting me, so I'll see you a little later."

We are taken through a balcony overlooking a long-forgotten grand ballroom,which is now occupied by a roomful of spirits both human and animals. The spirit of an elderly woman sits and reads in a rocking chair with a tiger curled like a kitten by the fireplace. Spectral birds fly in circles around the grand windows. A troupe of monkeys swing from the chandelier above. A massive elephant sits at the head of a long banquet table,a blast of air from his trunk extinguishing the candles on the cake set before him,as well as causing the club members seated before him to vanish. A lion tamer fights off a spectral lion with a chair, as the lion roars and swipes at him with his paws.

We find ourselves in a murky storeroom,stuffed to its dusty walls with wooden crates,rusting firearms and exotic artifacts. Here we can spot some various unique details. An aquarium with skeletal fish swimming in it, a wooden crate containing a live specimen attempts to free himself. Out of nowhere, a shrunken head leads out from a pile of junk with a shriek or cackle.

Moving on, we see a portrait of an explorer standing near a grand manor house, could this have been the Colonel when he was once alive? Vary few objects are scattered around, such as African tribal masks, a tiger skin rug, and model globe of the world. More ghouls will pops upward as we continue on.  

 Finally reaching the far end of the storeroom, stands an Egyptian sarcophagus containing that of a female mummy, with three Egyptian canopic jars scattered on the floor. Her eyes glow yellow and her heat beats within her chest.

Our doom buggies take us,not only out of this haunted room, and out of the very building. A thick nighttime jungle surrounds us now,as our vehicles suddenly turn and reverse direction,taking us backwards down through a hillside graveyard. Wraiths and spirits arise from their tombs and fly to nigh sky.

We reach level ground,though it may not be entirely safe, judging by the macabre sight of a boney arm reaching up from a quicksand pool directly to our right. Only a moment do we have to contemplate this,as we turn into the deepest part of the jungle,as we see---though we may scarcely believe our eyes---the club's undead occupants,both human and animal,have gathered in the now jungle-reclaimed garden for a "swinging wake"!

Many strange tableaus meet our gaze; Among them,we see near a troupe of skeletons and corpses dancing to the beat of drums froms the natives.

Atop of a small hill, a skeletal hound howls at the night air. 

Next to these macabre merrymakers is a wooden podium with craved images with four faces. They serenade the scene with the strains of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" in a barber shop quartet style.

In base camp, a ghostly missionary sits on top of a large rock ,sharing tea with his wife. Inside the tent, a family of ghostly gorillas have stumbled into the camp. They curiously examine and experiment with many objects.   

A group of native sit in circle, partaking in a human sacrificial ritual. They chant and dance in front of their hapless victim, as he cry out for help in vain as we continue on.

Colonel: "Ah thank goodness I've found you and still alive. Just more thing before you part, do take some offering from one the natives as a souvenir. They very cheep you known."  

We leave this scene of otherworldly gaiety,as we enter a wooden shack. A witch doctor offers us some shrunken heads as souvenirs. This strange sight is but a precursor to what follows,as our doom-buggy turns a corner,passing before an assemblage of dusty mirrors. The reflection within them reveal that we now carry an extra passenger. A shrunken head floats midway in our budgie.

Our journey is nearly coming to an end but before we emerge again into the world of the living, a short passage of darkness emerges into an ancient temple. The figure of a female spirit sits atop on a stone archway. "Please do come back and visit us again, we've dying to have you. Be sure to bring your death certificate,if you decide to join us!"

Colonel: "We hope you enjoyed our tour of The Happy Haunting Grounds. Here, allow me to raise the safety bar and kindly watch your step."

We then disembark from our buggies in underground vault composed of human skeletons, as we navigate our way through a short corridor and back to world of the living.  

Near the attraction is a gift shop and a themed restaurant, similar to the Adventurer's club and the Jekyll and Hyde club. Where guests will be entertained by cast members as the ghosts of former explores, voodoo priests, undead servants, and some animatronics.   

The Adventureland Haunted Mansion

Deep within the dark,forbidding jungles of Adventureland, you come upon a turn of the century style manor house, a crumbling structure that looks as if no one has dwelled here in more than a century. At least,nothing alive---or human. It was,at one time,a splendid hunting club catering only to the cream of high society---now fallen into spectacular ruin, this ancient edifice looks as if it could collapse at any minute. The windows have been boarded up,while the remnants of long-dead plants occupy the flower boxes in front. The only vegetation that seems to b thriving are vines clinging on the wall and pillars. It seems that nature had reclaimed this place. 

Several wooden signs,in English as well as other languages,warn any and all would-be explorers not to enter this building. Passing through the gate and into the courtyard littered with statues of deities from various parts of the globe. 

A maid or butler, dressed in turn of the century attire opens the door and greets us to come inside. Upon crossing through the doorway,we find ourselves in a small vestibule,dimly illuminated by the cobwebbed chandelier above our heads. A formal portrait,that of a young man in khakis and a pith helmet,hangs on one wall. From nowhere, a disembodied voice of an elderly woman echos within the room. While she speaks her monologue, the portrait begins to change, the creases of advancing age begin to line his face,his hairline recedes,fading from dark to grey to white,his clothes wither and tatter,until his very flesh melts away,leaving him little more than a skeleton. 

"When darkness descends upon the land, and the beasts become restless. Where voice are heard within the wind, that is the night when spirits are at their power, to bring fear on the living."     

A sliding panel in the wall provides us with our passage into our next stop, a circular portrait gallery with four portraits hanging on each side of the wall. A young man in safari hat with his arms crossed, a young woman with a parasol in hand, a hunter with a hunting riffle in hand, and a stocky,middle-aged man with a mustache,decked out in outdated military garb.

 Suddenly,an unseen voice,seemingly coming from the very walls,addresses us:"Greetings and salutations,my former fellow mortals,to the,er,uh,Doomed Adventurer's Club.I am your host,you may address me as the Colonel. Please do make room for everybody and let me tell the tragic tale of how this hunting lodge became a house of dead souls."

The door then slides shut, and wall begin to move revealing the portraits true nature and their fate. The young woman seems to be on a boat and is head straight towards the crocodile infested waters. The hunter stands triumphantly over his victim. The young explorer is on top of another man, who is also on top of the shoulders of man, whose waist is halfway eaten up by quicksand. The bearded man is in hot water,literally. The Colonel begins telling the tale.

"It all began many centuries ago, when I and my colleagues chose to build this house for social meetings and exhibits. However, the native tribal elders warned me that this place was cursed for we would suffer the wrath of the spirits.  Oh,stuff and nonsense---silly superstition indeed!!I mean,really---what could POSSIBLY happen?!?"  

The room is immediately plunged into darkness as the room abruptly ceases to  stretch. A moment of silent gloom,and then---the crash of thunder,a flash of lightning which illuminates the room momentarily but brightly enough to reveal the Colonel's body hanging from innate jungle vines.The lights resume,as the room is restored to its former state.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. Come along let's stay together and continue our tour."remarks the Colonel as another wall slides open,allowing us passage out of this haunted chamber.

Emerging from the moldering sanctum of the portrait chamber,we find ourselves waiting to board one of the long line of doom-buggies,moving ponderously through the dark,forbidden hallways that lay ahead.The mounted heads of several trophy animals are set just above us upon the dank walls.Is it our imagination,or are they looking at us,their intimidating gaze following us as we pass?An unseen force lowers our safety bar,we begin our journey,the Colonel's voice seemingly following along. 

"Please allow me to lower the safety bar, and once onboard you must remain still in your budgie by keeping your hands, arms, feet and legs and no flash pictures please." 

Slowly gliding through a narrow hallway adorned with portraits on the right side of the hall. To the left side are a series of windows, outside it is raining and thundering. When the lighting flashed, the painting are turned into grotesque images of their former selves.  

We come upon the club's library,whose facilities seem to be in use by unseen inhabitants---books are pulled out,then pushed back into the shelves, a resting ladder rocks precariously back and forth, an easy chair shudders with the weight of a phantom occupant. Most dismaying of all are the decorative tike sharing space with the books, their scowling and grinning faces turning to observe our passage.

Moving on, we come upon a solarium, the plant life seems to be thriving in a wild and unmanicured state. Several ornate windows look out on the jungle perpetually swathed in nighttime ,the sounds of nocturnal animals can still be heard. From the edges of the windows,as well as the wooden molding running along the ceiling, massive tree roots have penetrated the building,and crawl ominously over the walls. 

Our tour will continue in a moment.....