Several residents of the Haunted Mansion have found slightly different final resting places following work in the attraction’s queue at Magic Kingdom.
Changes to Haunted Mansion Gravestones
Several construction walls have come down from one of the landscaped graveyard plots beside the Haunted Mansion queue, revealing that Disney rearranged several of the headstones within the area. The plot sits near the attraction’s foyer doorway and sits below the brick walls and iron fencing surrounding the mansion grounds.
The most noticeable change appears to be the repositioning of the headstones for Uncle Theodore, Cousin Algernon, and “Our Dreamy Dorothea.”
Previously, the headstone for “a man named Martin” could be seen toward the back left of this plot. Its epitaph read, “The lights went out on this old spark.”
That grave is no longer visible from the same general angle, suggesting it was either moved elsewhere within the landscaping or temporarily removed from this area.
In Martin’s place, the headstone for Uncle Theodore has been moved up from where it previously sat further back in the queue. Another tall, rounded headstone for Cousin Algernon has also moved up the queue to this section, now positioned near Uncle Theodore and just in front of Dorothea.
The tall monument for Dorothea has also shifted slightly, now resting a few feet closer to the queue area and angled slightly more toward passing guests closer to the foyer entrance.
Cousin Huet’s headstone continues to occupy the foreground of the plot. Its epitaph reads, “Rest in peace Cousin Huet, we all know you didn’t do it.” Wathel Bender also remains on the right side of the foreground. His epitaph states, “Here rests Wathel R. Bender, he rode to glory on a fender.” Both seem unchanged in appearance and position.
The pedestal that remains near the center of the family plot is for Madame Carlotta and Madame Renatta, two nieces of Master Gracey. The twin sisters make appearances exclusively during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Disney first moved their gravestone a few years ago from the front hill to the family plot shown here, where it has remained since.
The neighboring group of graves farther to the right, including Good Old Fred, Brother Claude, Madame Leota and more, does not appear to have been part of this particular rearrangement.
Though walls and scrim are beginning to come down elsewhere around the ride, additional unseen work may still be underway around the attraction.
Long wooden boards currently cover exposed sections of the concrete walkway near the queue doors. The placement of the boards in narrow strips across the pavement suggests crews may have opened the concrete to access utilities beneath the area outside of park hours.
The Haunted Mansion remains open while the temporary walkway coverings are in place.
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