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Credit: DisneyCould 2025 mark the end of this controversial Disney ride scene?
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Disney is often associated with family-friendly entertainment, lovable characters, and picture-perfect fairytale stories, though the company isn’t afraid to explore the darker aspects of life from time to time. Disney is highly regarded for taking some risks in its entertainment division, with classic animated films like Beauty and the Beast and Bambi portraying death in a very literal and serious manner.
The same can be said about Pixar, an offshoot of The Walt Disney Company, with the studio weaving heart-wrenchingly deep and profound moments throughout its body of work.
The same can also be said about the Disney theme parks themselves, though in recent years, Disney has toned down the darkness considerably. Over the last decade, Disney has gone to great lengths to soften its more adult-oriented attractions, with Pirates of the Caribbean receiving some of the most significant changes.
However, some fans are wondering how long one gruesome scene in particular will last inside Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
“Hanging Out” At the Haunted Mansion
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The Haunted Mansion is perhaps the most iconic and notorious Disney theme park attraction in the world. The ride’s scenery, characters, and music are likely recognized by those who have never even stepped foot inside the parks, a testament to how well-themed and magical the ride is.
Haunted Mansion takes guests through a twisty and curvy spook-filled mansion, where ghosts and ghouls lurk around every corner. The ride is a mixture of scary and funny, with the darker, more violent imagery being balanced out with goofy and cartoonish moments.
However, before guests even step into their “doom buggies,” guests are subjected to what is without a doubt one of the darkest, most gruesome scenes in Disney theme park history. Like all great attractions, the Haunted Mansion “experience” starts well before guests enter the actual ride building, with the attraction’s queue expertly telling the story of the mansion.
Once inside, guests find themselves in a closed-off room, which the Ghost Host eventually reveals to be a stretching room. This Ghost Host teases guests, telling them they’re now trapped inside the mansion and there are only two ways out: hop aboard a doom buggy or take “his way out.”
Once the host is done talking, guests are shown a skeletal figure hanging by its neck at the top of the room. This is a grizzly moment in what would otherwise be a fairly tame attraction.
Many feel that this scene helps set the tone of the Haunted Mansion, while others say it’s simply too dark for a Disney theme park. In recent years, there has been a general sentiment growing among the community that Disney will eventually cut this scene entirely, as the company has been updating its theme parks, stomping out outdated remarks, scenes, and characters.
In the last decade, Disney has made changes to classic attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, and the Jungle Cruise, though the Haunted Mansion’s hanging corpse scene remains.
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In early 2025, the Disneyland version of Haunted Mansion received an update that shocked many. Part of the ride’s infamous attic scene had been toned down. Instead of an axe, the new bride can be seen holding a candelabra. Disney even stated that this change was done to tone down the ride’s darker moments.
“The bride that used to be in there was an axe murderer, and in this day and age, we have to be really careful about the sensitivities of people,” said Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine. “We were celebrating someone chopping off her husband’s heads, and it was a weird story. I know the fans — some will like it and some will say, ‘Oh, you changed something again.’ That’s our job. That’s what we’re here for.”
That’s not all Irvine said, however, with the Imagineer also referencing Haunted Mansion’s hanging corpse scene.
“We’re still looking at that. That one is complicated, structurally […] One thing at a time.” While not confirmed, this certainly suggests that the corpse won’t be hanging around much longer at Disneyland. If removed, the scene would likely also be cut from Magic Kingdom’s version of the ride in Florida, something that is sure to cause controversy.
For now, guests can still stop by both versions and catch a glimpse of the infamous hanging corpse inside the Haunted Mansion, but considering Disney’s current track record as well as recent statements, 2025 could very well mark the end of this divisive scene altogether.
Do you enjoy riding the Haunted Mansion?