Disney’s Imagineers today are testing a new, temporary interactive game in the queue of The Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This game is one of several in a string of interactive elements that have been tested over the past few months at various ride queues around Walt Disney World, to add a little more entertainment to an otherwise dull wait time.
@LiveWDWUpdates on Twitter has posted a few photos and a short video (included below) of the game at The Haunted Mansion. Apparently, the game is to step up close to the display, which features a few sketches of “The Dread Family,” a new set of Haunted Mansion characters each of which is presumed dead, as they each have epitaphs written underneath their artwork (though the epitaphs don’t all match the pictures above them).
Related: What Story Will Be Told in New ‘Haunted Mansion’ Film?
The characters are:
- Jacob Dread
- Aunt Florence McGriffin Dread
- Wellington Dread
- Forsythia Dread
- Governess Maude Sweeny
- Bertie Dread
- Ruben Dread
- Whitfield Tarkington Dread
The various epitaphs read: “Got a taste of her own medicine,” “He was reigned in,” “She went down in flames,” “She found a snake in the grass,” “His tea time turned toxic,” “He got his just desserts,” and “Suffered the slings of outrageous youth.”
Jacob Dread seems to be the head of the family and clues guests in on the goal of the game.
The inscription below his bust reads: “Where my fortune was hidden, I never revealed. Though to find it, my relatives wheeled and they dealt. That none of them found it should come as no news. Now in their ghostly whispers, perhaps you’ll find the clues.”
Apparently, when you approach the display, you can listen to a few words softly spoken by each of the characters, with the ultimate goal of figuring out where they’ve hidden their family fortune. (Spoiler: An urn, hidden in plain sight on the lawn, is the answer to the riddle.)
Walt Disney Imagineers and cast members are at The Haunted Mansion watching guests interact and a video camera has been installed to capture the event. Similarly, new queue elements were recently tested at The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Pooh’s Playful Spot at the Magic Kingdom and at the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, though those tests focused less on interactive games and more on allowing guests to take deli-style tickets to hold their place in line.
The ongoing Fantasyland expansion promises to allow guests to spend less time waiting in line, as Disney has touted featuring a “queueless” version of the popular Dumbo attraction.
It’s clear that this addition to The Haunted Mansion is not permanent, but is another step in Disney researching ways to make waiting in line more tolerable – and even a little fun.