JENN: In honor of Halloween, I am SUPER EXCITED to retell one of my all-time favorite Walt Disney World stories. The year: 2004. High school orchestra trip. The scene: The Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion.
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| Picture it: Sicily, 1937. |
MOON: Was it really THAT long ago?!
JENN: Yup! We are old.
MOON: ;-;
JENN: Yes.
MOON: Indeed.
JENN: This is why we return to WDW so much: to feel young and happy again. Because none of us are married with kids to take. But then none of us are divorced, either, so: winning.
MOON: That’s what we’ll call it.
JENN: Anyway: 2004. High school. Moon, Elizabeth, and I are all Sullen Teenagers. We hop into line for the Haunted Mansion, because even with the extra crowds from the music programs, the line is pretty short.
I think I had to coerce everyone into riding it with the promise that it wasn’t REALLY scary, even though I was operating on hearsay at the time… (This is that first-time-on-HM thing I mentioned before.)
MOON: I remember moving through the line. I remember riding the train around in Tomorrowland (is that what it’s called?) 100+ times. I remember lots of lines.
JENN: Yup, I understand you rode the Peoplemover repeatedly while we were on Space Mountain (but that’s another amusing story, which we’ll tell in a couple weeks).
But back to the Haunted Mansion. We had proceeded through the queue, exited the stretch room, and were snaking through the final portion of the line up to the Omnimovers. We passed by an HM cast member, all suitably creepy in his cape. This is where Moon made the grave tactical error of saying hello to him before walking by.
MOON: What can I say? I’m polite.
JENN: He took this as an invitation to begin stalking her, his face mere inches from hers. This would be amusing enough, but there was something even more beautiful ahead, because: Moon didn’t notice for a good five, ten seconds.
She’s walking, she’s walking. The CM is matching her step for step, his nose practically touching her cheek. Suddenly Moon turns her head, SCREAMS, trips, and nearly falls on her face. It. Was. AMAZING.
MOON: I do not really remember this, I must be honest.
JENN: I promised you it happened. Elizabeth saw it too. We laughed at with you together! We even have a video somewhere from our 2008 trip where Elizabeth recounts the tale.
MOON: I remember being startled… but that’s about it! Also. I am very easily startled.
JENN: Really?
MOON: And a secret: I looooove to be scared.
JENN: … Really?
MOON: Yes! Why do you think we watch scary movies all the time? I love that feeling. It always makes me laugh!
JENN: Wow. I should’ve gone into that haunted house with you instead of Liz. I could’ve just shoved you forward and yelled “DON’T TAKE ME! TAKE HER!”
MOON: Haha, see… I would have been a CHAMP in that haunted house. Now. Obviously not my high school self.
JENN: That’s it. Next time you and Andrew are coming with me and Liz to Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Howl-o-Scream!
MOON: Settled!
Do you have any funny memories in “scary” Disney attractions? If not a Haunted Mansion, in a Tower of Terror perhaps? Or anywhere else!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!
Once, my BFF, my BF and I all crammed into one Doom Buggy. The bar lowered and we were just leaving the loading area and beginning our ascent into the mansion when the (super creepy) CM patrolling the loading area whipped his head into our buggy and whispered "boo." BFF and I SCREAMED. It caught us so off-guard!
Hahaha, awesome! Thank God they took out the suit of armor with the live person inside – I'd probably DIE.
SERIOUSLY. I'm pretty much the jumpiest person alive.