I was all ready to write about Ellen and WrestleMania being in town this weekend. I knew exactly what I was going to say and touch on, but then something incredibly creepy happened today that I don’t think simply posting a thread about would be enough. It’s ironic because a few Orlando United members and I were talking about ghosts and more specifically ghosts stories relating to the theme parks.

I’ve heard a few ghost stories about Disney attractions being haunted. They almost always have to do with either the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean. I don’t know if people use the fact that both attractions have a dark, eerie atmosphere to create intricate ghost stories about them or if there are really that many legit hauntings. More than likely most of them are made up by Disney Cast Members to try and spook out their fellow Cast Members and guests. However, there is one consistent ghost story that I hear all the time from various Haunted Mansion Cast Members, especially the night crew.

It’s actually not really much of a ghost story, rather than multiple people just seeing a ghost. The ghost is supposedly an older man who wears a hat and always holds a cane. He doesn’t bother anybody, but he is most often seen riding in a Doombuggie late at night when the park isn’t too busy. Many of the Cast Members that have seen him claim to have seen him coming around the corner from unload into the loading area. They say he just stares straight ahead and never acknowledges them.

It’s a creepy story – and the fact that so many have claimed to see him over the years makes it even creepier – but I’ve always thought it was just that… a story. As fun as it is to believe in ghost stories, I, like most, am usually skeptical and have an “I’ll believe it when I see it” mentality. I always just assumed this was a case of Cast Members passing along a story about a ghost with a cane and it was nothing more than a hoax. Until yesterday afternoon.

Thursday afternoon I went over to the Magic Kingdom to take in the atmosphere and a few rides. The parks were still crowded from the Spring Break crowds, and if you can go to parks any other time of the year, there isn’t really a whole lot of point in dealing with the long lines. I rode the TTA and saw Carousel of Progress since they had no wait. I hadn’t been to The Haunted Mansion in a couple weeks so I was craving a ride with the Ghost Host.

I waited about twenty minutes in line which wasn’t too bad. Once I got inside everything seemed normal as I took pictures for the website (without flash!). The gallery was normal. The loading area was normal. The changing portraits, library, stairways, and candelabra scenes were all normal. Then I got to the casket where the skeleton is trying to push the lid off. Usually there is audio coming from the casket saying things like “Let me out of here.” When I passed by today, however, the audio went off and there was a crackling, static noise coming from the casket. I thought it was weird, but didn’t think much of it so I snapped a picture of the casket and the remainder of the ride was just as normal as ever.

Tonight I loaded all the pictures from my camera onto my computer. Most of the pictures looked pretty bad since I don’t like using a flash and bothering other guests. I resized them and tried to adjust the brightness to try and make them somewhat useable. I got to my picture of the casket and it was very dark. I brightened it up, saved it, closed the file, and moved onto the next picture.

It wasn’t until a little while later that I was going through the images again and noticed a smudge or glare in one the pictures that I didn’t catch earlier. I thought it was interesting so I brightened the image even brighter and noticed something that shocked me. What I saw in the picture looked like a man in a hat and either a coat or a suit. I have to admit that I got really bad chills and was pretty scared for awhile after. I emailed the picture to one of my friend’s friends who had worked at the attraction a few years back and was one of the lucky ones that claimed to have seen the Haunted Mansion ghost. He emailed me back saying that the “thing” in the image looked a lot like what he had seen when he was working the attraction one time late at night.

Part of me was terrified and part of me was excited to have possibly captured the ghost I’ve heard so much about on camera. I’m still really in shock and not really sure what to say about it other than explaining what happened and how I got the picture. I’m going to post the picture, but I have to warn you that it is not for the easily frightened. This isn’t a funny twist or joke. Scroll down if you still want to see the images.

This is how the picture turned out when I uploaded it.

This is the same picture after I brightened it a bit. Notice anything funny yet?

This is the same image but brightened even more and a close up of the ghost.

jason@orlandounited.com