Home

[SkySurfer]

Oh god, I have no idea how many times we visited Phantom Manor over the last 12 years. But it have been many times  :twisted:

Over the years - we tried to find out more and more about the story of PM and Thunder Mesa.
But does anybody know, if there is a complete story? Do the imagineers tell more, than DLRP Magic! writes at its PM-review?
For example - who is the Phantom? Is it the husband? The bride´s Dad? What happend on that unlucky day?

Would be great to hear your stories

[-breeno-]

There is a few Phantom Manor fansites (Ravenswood manor is one, happy haunts is another but i can't get happy haunts working) they might have the story but here's the story from Wikipedia.

After the original Thunder Mesa town was abandoned, the new Thunder Mesa was built, along with a manor. This manor was owned by Henry Ravenswood, an industrial baron who owned the Big Thunder Mountain gold mines. He had a daughter named Melanie, who had a beautiful singing voice. One day, an earthquake shook the town of Thunder Mesa causing many of the residents to leave. It is often said that the earthquake was caused by restless spirits in the Big Thunder Mountain Mine, which was in truth a sacred Indian burial ground. With hardly any money left, Henry was left in near poverty.

The day came when Melanie had to choose a groom; she chose an engineer, who was planning to leave town and take Melanie with him. Henry wouldn't have it, determined to stop the wedding at all costs. At this point, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared and hung the suitor by the rafters in the attic.

Melanie then waited for her dead groom, refusing to take off her bridal gown in case he appeared. She aged, then perished in the wine cellar. Meanwhile, 999 other ghosts and ghouls moved to the manor, and Ravenswood Manor gained the title of "Phantom Manor".

Happy-Haunts has a longer story but it's not working on my computer.

If you type in Happy-Haunts into Google i think you'll get the website.

Hope this helps.

[Owain]

I didnt no there was an earthquake !  

[giorgio1712]

I didn't know any of this, thanks for enlightening me!!  

[Riebi]

Yes there are few variants about the story. Some has the earthquake and some not. In some henry and his wife died of the earthquake some weeks before the wedding and came as ghost back to hung the suitor.

I read the first time that henry left in poverty  :lol:

But all the stories has the same ending: The groom get hang by the phantom/henry and melanie is waiting all the time. (Some say she´s waiting also today for her groom and you can see her time by time at the windows)
And for the never happening wedding the phantom has invited his ghost friends to accompany Melanie and to party a bit. You can see them dancing in the house  

[Tonie]

I didn't know any idea of the story. Thanks! It's so interesting :wink:

[ailsa]

Wow that's really cool! I go on PM a couple of times a day when I'm there!

[SkySurfer]

Yeah. It´s really fun to ride PM and find out more and more about the story.
There are so many details there. You just have to find them  :shock:

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

As many have mentioned before Happy Haunts has the story translated from an official Disney document and while it never outright declares the Phantom to be Melanie's father, it clearly suggests it. And that Wikipedia story isn't exactly correct:

After the original Thunder Mesa town was abandoned, the new Thunder Mesa was built, along with a manor.

I don't know where this information is from, but there was never an 'original Thunder Mesa' that was abandoned. The town simply grew from a pioneer settlement at Fort Comstock once gold had been struck.

This manor was owned by Henry Ravenswood, an industrial baron who owned the Big Thunder Mountain gold mines. He had a daughter named Melanie, who had a beautiful singing voice.

Okay, this part's correct. Henry Ravenswood made his fortune from the gold mines and had 'Ravenswood Manor' built in the wealthy end of town.

One day, an earthquake shook the town of Thunder Mesa causing many of the residents to leave. It is often said that the earthquake was caused by restless spirits in the Big Thunder Mountain Mine, which was in truth a sacred Indian burial ground. With hardly any money left, Henry was left in near poverty.

The miners ignored the Native American's warnings that the land was sacred and the 'Thunderbird' struck them down with an earthquake (as experienced in the third lift hill on Big Thunder Mountain). This earthquake did not leave Henry in near poverty but dead, along with his wife Martha (their graves can be seen in Boot Hill).

The day came when Melanie had to choose a groom; she chose an engineer, who was planning to leave town and take Melanie with him. Henry wouldn't have it, determined to stop the wedding at all costs.

This actually occured before the earthquake but with Henry now deceased, the wedding could go on.

At this point, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared and hung the suitor by the rafters in the attic.

This part is true, except it occured on their wedding day.

Melanie then waited for her dead groom, refusing to take off her bridal gown in case he appeared. She aged, then perished in the wine cellar. Meanwhile, 999 other ghosts and ghouls moved to the manor, and Ravenswood Manor gained the title of "Phantom Manor".

I'm not actually sure if the 999 ghosts idea was ever officially adopted for Phantom Manor... there's no mention of it on the website or any park maps.
Yeah, so I need to get a life...  :lol:

There are so many details there. You just have to find them  :shock:

You should head to Boot Hill next time you visit. Ckeck out the heartbeating grave and look for the Phantom in the Manor windows.

[dlrp-mad]

The story of Phantom Manor, actually involves the whole concept of frontierland. What I like about phantom manor is it's detail. As for the storyline, you can get a fairly good detailed outline from grimghosts.com.

Here's the link:
//http://www.grimghosts.com/phantom/legend.html

*note: this website may take a short time to load on IE.

Hope this helps,

dlrp-mad :mickey2:

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

The story of Phantom Manor, actually involves the whole concept of frontierland. What I like about phantom manor is it's detail. As for the storyline, you can get a fairly good detailed outline from grimghosts.com.

Here's the link:
//http://www.grimghosts.com/phantom/legend.html

Yeah, this is the alternative 'Phantom of the Opera'-esque story that has the Phantom fall in love with Melanie. However, the 'Henry is the Phantom' story is the official one. When Happy Haunts comes back online I'll post a link to it.  :wink:

[Atlantica]

I'm actually writing a story regarding the legend around 'Phantom Manor'. I'm taking eveidence about the story etc from all the websites around dedicated to it, and writing it all up.

If anyone would like to read it, I will gladly post it if it's wanted!

I'm really enjoying writing it, as the detail given about the ride is so wonderful and full of legend. Great fun!

[Riebi]

As many have mentioned before Happy Haunts has the story translated from an official Disney document and while it never outright declares the Phantom to be Melanie's father, it clearly suggests it. And that Wikipedia story isn't exactly correct:

After the original Thunder Mesa town was abandoned, the new Thunder Mesa was built, along with a manor.

I don't know where this information is from, but there was never an 'original Thunder Mesa' that was abandoned. The town simply grew from a pioneer settlement at Fort Comstock once gold had been struck.

This manor was owned by Henry Ravenswood, an industrial baron who owned the Big Thunder Mountain gold mines. He had a daughter named Melanie, who had a beautiful singing voice.

Okay, this part's correct. Henry Ravenswood made his fortune from the gold mines and had 'Ravenswood Manor' built in the wealthy end of town.

One day, an earthquake shook the town of Thunder Mesa causing many of the residents to leave. It is often said that the earthquake was caused by restless spirits in the Big Thunder Mountain Mine, which was in truth a sacred Indian burial ground. With hardly any money left, Henry was left in near poverty.

The miners ignored the Native American's warnings that the land was sacred and the 'Thunderbird' struck them down with an earthquake (as experienced in the third lift hill on Big Thunder Mountain). This earthquake did not leave Henry in near poverty but dead, along with his wife Martha (their graves can be seen in Boot Hill).

The day came when Melanie had to choose a groom; she chose an engineer, who was planning to leave town and take Melanie with him. Henry wouldn't have it, determined to stop the wedding at all costs.

This actually occured before the earthquake but with Henry now deceased, the wedding could go on.

At this point, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared and hung the suitor by the rafters in the attic.

This part is true, except it occured on their wedding day.

Melanie then waited for her dead groom, refusing to take off her bridal gown in case he appeared. She aged, then perished in the wine cellar. Meanwhile, 999 other ghosts and ghouls moved to the manor, and Ravenswood Manor gained the title of "Phantom Manor".

I'm not actually sure if the 999 ghosts idea was ever officially adopted for Phantom Manor... there's no mention of it on the website or any park maps.
Yeah, so I need to get a life...  :lol:

There are so many details there. You just have to find them  :shock:

You should head to Boot Hill next time you visit. Ckeck out the heartbeating grave and look for the Phantom in the Manor windows.

Yes that´s the story I´ve read too so much time. Thank you for the corrections!

[madame_leota]

I'm actually writing a story regarding the legend around 'Phantom Manor'. I'm taking eveidence about the story etc from all the websites around dedicated to it, and writing it all up.

If anyone would like to read it, I will gladly post it if it's wanted!

I'm really enjoying writing it, as the detail given about the ride is so wonderful and full of legend. Great fun!

i would love to read it!! post it for us!

[disney_donutter]

definately! it would be great to read!