Welcome to New Orleans Square! One of my favorite lands in Disneyland, it features only two attractions, but are considered by many to be some of the best. Come along and lets explore!
The Haunted Mansion
Accessibility: Must Transfer from Wheelchair/EVC
Accessibility is actually very important for this attraction. There are two levels of accessibility, Green and Red. I did both levels on my last trip and there are major differences you need to know about.
When you go to the entrance of the queue, they will ask you if you can stand and walk onto the attraction by yourself. If you can, the cast member will hand you a Green Card. If you cannot and require assistance, they will hand you a Red Card.
The next step is, if you have a Green Card, then they will send you in through the standard queue. If you have received a Red Card, then you will be escorted to the front of the queue (if you have a Fastpass or DAS Pass for the attraction), right before you enter the mansion and you will transfer to a provided wheelchair. Then a lovely Cast Member will escort you through the Stretching Room, and past the queue to the side of the attraction to wait for your doombuggie. The Haunted Mansion has only 1 accessible doombuggie aka your ride vehicle, so you must wait for vehicle 110 to come around. But don’t worry, the attraction is an omni-mover, which means that the ride vehicles run on a constantly moving track through the attraction, which is why when you get on and off normally you walk on a moving walkway. When your doombuggie arrives, the Cast Member running the attraction will stop the ride and walkway so that you can transfer into the vehicle. Another thing to note about the accessible ride vehicle is that it has no sides unlike a normal one so that you can transfer easily.
At the end of the attraction, if you have transferred, stay inside your doombuggie when everyone else around you gets off. You will then ride the attraction around to the beginning where you got on. Next the Cast Member will once again stop the walkway and attraction so you can disembark. Then another lovely Cast Member will take you back through the queue, and the *coolest* part, you get to take a private ride back up the Stretching Room (which is secretly an elevator). Once you have made the ride up, they will take you back to where you have parked your ECV/Wheelchair.
Take a seat in your own Doombuggie for a tour through an old mansion. But this is no ordinary mansion…it’s a Haunted Mansion! Go from room to room and meet some of the 999 Happy Haunts. But there is room for 1,000. Will you join them as the thousandth ghost?
During the Halloween through Holiday Season, the Mansion changes, and is taken over by the characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas! This is my favorite version of Haunted Mansion!
Important Note: The regular version of the Haunted Mansion attraction can be quite scary for some people. There is simulated thunder and lightning in the queue that may bother some individuals. Also as you enter the mansion you will be crowded into the “Stretching Room” which is actually an elevator and is very very tightly filled with people, which can be very claustrophobic and may cause anxiety for people who don’t like crowded spaces.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Accessibility: Must Transfer from Wheelchair/EVC
To get onto the attraction you enter through the exit, next the Blue Bayou restaurant.
Climb aboard your boat for a trip through the Louisiana Bayou, down into the underground caves of treasure and old pirate bones. You then go back in time to the pirates looting a village and searching for the famous swashbuckling pirate Captain Jack Sparrow.
Note: There are 2 moderate drops at the beginning of the attraction, and you may get wet.
Important Note: You must know that this ride always gets backed up somewhere in the ride. It usually happens at the bottom of the lift hill and when waiting to get off the attraction. Sometimes it gets so backed up you end up stopping halfway through the ride. And then you play a little game I call Bumper Boats. It’s where your boat gets bumped by the boat behind you. And it is not fun and can cause pain, especially for those with back issues. And it happens over, and over, and over as the boats get backed up behind you.
Tip: To avoid what I lovingly refer to as “Puddle Butt” ie: when you sit down on a water attraction and immediately feel your bottom get soaked from the wet seat, I would recommend quickly wiping the seat down as soon as you get inside. Nothing worse than to walk around all day with a wet tushy.
So, are you just DYING *wink wink* to take a ride on these attractions? Are any of these one of your favorite attractions? Let me know down in the comments!