Phantom Manor or The Haunted House: Which 1992 haunted house attraction is/was superior?

[Zeock]

This may seem like a no-brainer for Phantom Manor, but The Haunted House has a few things that are superior to it, the first of which is the queue line. The graveyard + the drawing room were the perfect set-up for the attraction, especially the drawing room, which with its mild Casa Magnetica effect and the portraits, three of which seemed to have eyes that followed you around, created a sense of foreboding which Phantom Manor's (dare I say 'cheap'?) queue doesn't. The Haunted House also was a lot more scary (this could be a positive or a negative). It also had a far superior ending which gives a lasting impression to the riders. It also manages to hold the theming + immersion slightly better after the experience finishes, although both do this pretty well. Despite this, I will have to give the nod to Phantom Manor here for its honestly awe-inspiring theming throughout the attraction, of which the HH just can't seem to reach due to its far smaller budget. It also has a cohesive and in-depth story (which you can choose to ignore if you want) whereas the HH seems to have basically none.

 

[Trooper Looper]

I'm not voting, since both rides are just as good for many different reasons. If it was through personal Taste, definitely the HH, but Phantom Manor is just the HM but With a different storyline but done really well!

Would give the HH the edge though from the Music and the Facade.

 

[evilcod]

I prefer HH's ride system but absolutely everything else on Phantom Manor is better, especially the facade.

 

[Tim]

I find Phantom Manor overrated and perfer Disney's original Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion is very abstract where as newer incarnations like Mystic Manor are very story driven. Phantom Manor feels stuck between the two. Neither committed to one or the other.

However it's still a top tier Disney attraction, whilst Alton's Haunted House is the equivalent of a B movie. I'd say there are more memorable moments in the Haunted House (and that's without ever seeing the ending before Duel). And they did an excellent job with the resources they had. But it's still not Disney quality.

 

[Ian]

Agree with Tim to a large extent here. While I personally prefer Phantom Manor considerably over Haunted Mansion (basing that on Florida’s incarnation alone), it’s always had some storytelling issues.

The narrative that was created for it is immense, with a plot tying Big Thunder Mountain, Thunder Mesa and Phantom Manor all together into an amazingly intricate and sinister tale. However, the ride itself never managed to tell it very well, and even less so since the refurb. Nowadays, owing mostly to the changes to the stretching room portraits, Melanié seems to be presented as simply being a black widow sort of character, as opposed to a heartbroken young beauty suffering at the hands of her evil father’s vengeful spirit (this is my personal interpretation based on riding many times both before and after the changes).

It’s almost as if they came up with the story to explain the area all sitting together, but then either didn’t want to deviate from the existing Mansion blueprint and introduce new pre-show elements, or they decided that the storyline wasn’t suitable (not only is it very dark it would also be a challenge to tell it effectively in multiple languages as needed at DLP).

All that said though, it’s still an incredibly well designed attraction, with plenty of atmosphere. The production value is significantly higher than that of other attractions of its kind. Even looking to the queue, while mostly a covered cattlepen, there’s still a subtle ambiance to it. The audio of the wind whistling through the trees, faintly intermixed with ghostly little touch of the ride’s main theme, or a music box and chimes when you’re near the pagoda (damn I’d love to see the teaset animation fixed!). Using Tim’s analogy, it feels like something from a top level horror or thriller film, without resorting to in your face thrills and gags you’d see in a B movie.

I still find it’s finale is able to make the hairs on the back of the neck bristle a little as the Phantom leers at you, beckoning towards a hangman’s noose and an open grave, with that glorious Vincent Price laugh echoing out.

The only area where the Haunted House really moves ahead is the ride system technology (which I’m a big fan of) and, by extension, the ability to throw effective jump scares. The drawback there of course being that it’s quite challenging to tell a story when you’re being continually hit by scares. None of this is to say the Haunted House wasn’t great. It’s still a fantastic ride and accomplishment in its own right, especially for a more regional park to have pulled off. But it is a bit like trying to compare Silence of The Lambs to Sharknado 2.

 

[Benjsh]

Phantom Manor for sure but that's really not a fair fight given the budgets involved.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Both rides try to do very different things and they both exceed in them. HH was intended to be viewed as a high quality Laff in the Dark Pier like Ghost Train, while Phantom Manor puts a twist to the already iconic HM style with a more darker and sinister tone and story.