Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird: Even Disney World has ghostly legends

On Thanksgiving Day, my family and I enjoyed going to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla. It was my 9-year-old daughter's first ever visit to the place "where dreams come true" and my first time going there since I was her age some 34 years ago.
When I visited Walt Disney World back in 1975, the park was getting ready to celebrate the nation's bicentennial and Gerald R. Ford was president of the United States. His figure had recently been installed in the Hall of Presidents. There was no Epcot, no Hollywood Studios and no Animal Kingdom there at the time. Needless to say, much has changed since then.
But some things at Walt Disney World have not changed much. One of them is the Haunted Mansion, one of the most popular attractions at this and the other parks operated by the Disney company.
Over the years, I have learned that there are a great many adults who enjoy vacationing at Walt Disney World. The place is a lot of fun for grownups as well as kids. I guess you could call them Disney World fans. And within that group, there are what you might call Haunted Mansion fans. They call tell you all about the special effects used in this unique ride and how it came to be built. They have gone through it countless times and have collected all the posters, soundtrack albums and books associated with this dark and scary corner of the Magic Kingdom. A friend of mine has the blueprints for the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World and it is among his most prized possessions.
And no Disney attraction has spawned more urban legends and myths than this one. By its very nature, the Haunted Mansion at the Disney theme parks has become associated with some weird tales. More than one person who has entered its gates has wondered: Is the Haunted Mansion really haunted?
At Disneyland in California, people talk about the crying boy. His ghost is seen sitting next to the exit of the ride, weeping into his hands. The story behind this spirit is that the deceased boy's mother asked Disneyland employees if she could spread her child's ashes in the attraction, presumably because he enjoyed it so when he was alive. The Disneyland employees said no. Undeterred, she snuck into the ride at night, and spread her son's ashes there. His ghost haunts the place to this day, according to a Web site.
The Haunted Mansion in Florida is said to be haunted by a mysterious man with a cane. According to the legend, a man was piloting a small plane back in the 1940s over the land where the theme park would be built years later. His airplane crashed into a lake near where the Haunted Mansion was built.
Supposedly, his soul has settled into the attraction. He is known as "the man with a cane." At one point, an employee was working the load area during the Stretching Room scene when the area is empty. All of sudden, he looked up and there was a man in a suit holding a cane sitting in one of the ride's "Doombuggies." The employee tried to speak to the mysterious man but he did not respond. The employee got in touch with other workers in that part of the Haunted Mansion and told them to keep a watch for the rider. But he was never seen again. They knew that he was not one of the special effects in the attraction, according to the Web site.
In the Seance Circle portion, the background music is said to keep on playing even when the attraction is turned off.
A sound designer was setting up equipment in the area before the attraction was open to the public. He kept hearing music coming from behind one of the new walls. He believed that a radio had been walled up accidentally. After several days, the music kept playing and no radio announcer ever came on. The man could never find the source of the strange sound.
Those are just a few of the many legends associated with the Haunted Mansion. I don't know if any of those stories are true. But I do know that Disney's Haunted Mansion claims to have 999 ghosts and there is always room for one more.
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A recent column about UFO sightings in McDowell County resulted in an interesting response from one reader.
"I am a 54 year old happily married man for 31 years," reads the reader's email. "My daughter called me Nov. 14th, 2009 in utter shock after driving from Asheville to Winston-Salem. Just east of Statesville, where the city changes from suburbs to farmland, she spotted a large, triangular, dull grey object hovering above a farm field. Other cars behind her on I-40 east slowed and apparently saw the object also. Check out MUFON.com for her report (which I filed with their help). I'm a believer, but I just don't know exactly what to believe in!"

Contact Mike Conley at 652-3313, ext. 3422 or e-mail nconley@mcdowellnews.com.