WDW Radio # 748 – Top Ten Spooky Spots in Walt Disney World – From the WDW Radio Archives

Lou Mongello: Tomorrow marks the annual occasion of my favorite holiday, and one of my favorite times of year in Walt Disney World. And no, it's not the annual kickoff of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, although that is a very close second. But while Christmas may be known as the most wonderful time of the year, there's something special, and fun, and dare I say...

Creepy, even, about Halloween in Walt Disney World. And although Mickey may host his not so scary Halloween party on many nights leading up to Halloween, there are, in fact, many places in Walt Disney World that are downright spooky. And speaking of creepy old crypts, a man whose cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding and also practices his terror with some ghoulish delight, is Tim Flickering Candle Foster from Celebrations Magazine and Guide to the Magic and Scaring Young Children dot com.

Wow.

Tim Foster: That's the best intro you've given me so far.

Lou Mongello: It's taken me weeks to come up with that. I can

Tim Foster: tell. It rolled

Lou Mongello: right off the tongue. I'm sure. I'm sure it did. But this is um, you know, you are a guy. Look, you are very familiar. I am a guy? You are a guy. From what I understand, from doing all my research, you are a guy, and you are in fact familiar.

With many, if not all of Walt Disney world's chicken exits, but. We're not always very much. So at least I'm not going to be talking about Attractions or shows or empty buffets, which really wouldn't be scary, but actually a sign of the coming apocalypse but I think this sort of list of spooky places is right up your alley because you're afraid of everything to you know, Carousel and to that end it probably was also hard for you to limit your list

Tim Foster: I'm actually, I'm looking down my list and I'm kind of, I know I'll do it, I'm trying to figure out where it is I'm going to work in.

It's a small world. I haven't figured it out yet, but.

Lou Mongello: You, look, you know that this list is not meant to be a subjective one for you. This list is meant for the enjoyment and the entertainment and information of the listening public. So, redo your entire list.

But look, there is, um, there is no turning back now. So let's enter that moldering sanctum and get right into our list, which I'm not even going to bother calling the top 10 spooky places in Walt Disney World. Let's just say it's our. Some of our favorite spooky places of Walt Disney World instead, and I'm sure because we don't go over our lists in advance, I'm sure we're going to have a lot of overlaps and duplicates, and you're going to have a bunch of go with me here's.

Do I let you give the, the, your, your first one? God, as always, I'm gonna let you go first.

Tim Foster: Why? Well, this is your newest way of getting away with 42 entries by just saying when I'm going to call it the top 10 anymore.

Lou Mongello: Well, it doesn't, it, isn't it really just in the interest of fairness, why are we going to, um, why are we going to kid the listeners and say it's top 10, but I'm going to be close to 10.

Um, no, I'm that's no, I'm not even going to be, I've got at least seven on my list and five more honorable mentions and watch how I work even more into the list itself.

Tim Foster: I can't, I can't wait. I was gonna start, see the first one that came to mind, I don't know if it really counts, um, driving with Lou in the car around Walt Disney World.

I don't think

Lou Mongello: that counts. That is a spooky place, I can tell you that. It's

Tim Foster: a moment, but, it's the scariest thrill ride I've ever been on. But uh, I know there's some obvious ones we'll probably both get to, so I'm holding them off a little bit. I'm gonna start with one, it's uh, It shouldn't be spooky, it's not meant to be spooky, but the Swiss Family Treehouse at night is downright creepy.

Especially when you're

Lou Mongello: the only one in there. I love you sneaking up to the plate and throwing out Swiss Family Treehouse. No,

Tim Foster: Creep, you can love spooky, that's the good part of this, but you tell me when it's late at night and you know, when people are walking by the Swiss Family Treehouse entrance and they're wondering if it's closed, because nobody's there.

When in fact it is open, and you go in, and you know you, you're the first one that's been in there probably like per an hour, and there's nobody there with you, and you're all the way at the top, and all you hear is the faint sounds of Adventureland, and the thump, thump, thump of your heart pounding in your chest as you squeeze that rail in sheer terror.

Lou Mongello: That actually, that thumping, churro behind you in line. Uh,

Tim Foster: we're not supposed to bring food on the rides there, so.

Uh, no. Well, the, the Swiss Family Trail, it's one of those places, um, one of the few places in the Magic Kingdom where you can really go off and be alone and add in a dash of niceness and some faith sounds. It can be, it could be peaceful, it could be tranquil or put yourself in the right mood. It could be kind of spooky if you're by yourself.

So next time we go, you have to go

Lou Mongello: with me. I like it and I like it, and I like, because it's all, I think Swiss family, Treehouse you sort of alluded to it, is very much overlooked at night. You don't think about going through the treehouse at night. Completely different experience. Like you, beautiful and scary.

Yes. Thank you. I'm, uh, I'm surprised I was giving you the softball. I was going to let you take the easy one and run with it. Um, because I have to ask. I have to assume that in some way, shape or form, The Haunted Mansion has got to be on your list.

Tim Foster: The Haunted, the Haunted what? Oh my God, I forgot about that.

Yeah. Actually, I was thinking we, we, obviously, this whole thing could be about the Haunted Mansion. I was trying to, probably what you were doing, I was trying to zero in on a particular moment in there that I found especially creepy. I'm curious to hear, I'm sure you didn't take that spin at all. You're probably going to walk through the whole place and leave me hanging.

Okay.

Lou Mongello: No, I, I do have a sort of very specific Idea in mind when I thought about the haunted mansion and again, I almost tried to stay outside of the attractions for the most part and for the haunted mansion, the first thing that came to mind was haunted mansion exterior at night, the lighting, the sounds of the howling dog, the flicker of the lantern.

If you watch closely, that passes by the window. Uh, if you walk through the queue, You start winding your way through turn around and look behind you notice that you can't see that sort of colonial town behind you You feel as though you are very far away from the rest of the town The black wreath on the door the coffin shaped columns when you get a really Good cast member in character.

Uh, there is nothing like there was something very spooky, especially even by the exit as you're approaching the pet cemetery and the hearse is out there, there is something very, very spooky about that haunted mansion. Even just how the mansion itself sits up on the hill, that, that Gothic style and the way it almost envelops you when you're in that queue sort of wraps its arms around you in there.

I think the haunted mansion outside at night, exceptionally scary. It's got a cold running chill up my

Tim Foster: spine. I'm gonna do you, I'm gonna do you one better. How about this? I'm gonna one up you. I love what you said. Now you mentioned this earlier. Mickey's not so scary Halloween party is for the most part not so scary.

Like, like the name says. But the Haunted Mansion's exterior on party night is to me beyond, uh, beyond anything you can imagine. And I agree with you any other night the Haunted Mansion is creepy enough. But on party night? When the fog's rolling in and the black lights are up, uh, it's amazing. I think the creepiest part is, uh, the part you see on the way out.

And again, most people walk by it, and I wish they would stick around. I was with my parents not too long ago, and I'd drag them back and look at it. That is the Pet Sematary, which is lit up with an eerie black light with fog cascading down off the hill. Um, truly, truly

Lou Mongello: spooky. And I think you're right. I think it's the, I think it's the lighting out outside that really makes it, uh, very, very sort of foreboding.

Even when you see it from a distance or even better yet, go look at the, look at it as you are on, uh, the riverboat or across the rivers of America. Look at, across from there. It really has a, a spooky look to it. I will say

Tim Foster: inside the, inside the attraction itself, I think the spookiest moment is when you're standing in the stretching room.

And you realize the butler's right behind you, staring daggers

Lou Mongello: at you and not saying a thing at all. Or, in the stretching room, stay in the stretching room. I always tell people, try, when you, when you go into the stretching room, try and stand as far away from the doors that lead into the corridor to the attraction itself as you can.

And as much as the cast member will, will allow you, linger. In the stretching room and listen for the sound of the bat flying and sort of this, um, three dimensional sound and the voice. Have you heard the voice? It's awesome. It's scary. It is, it is very scary. It's actually very, very scary if you stay there.

I'm not sure what's,

Tim Foster: I'm not sure what's scary, the voice or the cast member glaring at you to get out of the room so they can let the,

Lou Mongello: let the people.

Tim Foster: You know what's cool, what's also cool about the Haunted Mansion and it's kind of a spooky moment. That you have. It's when you, no matter how many times you've been in it, when you notice something else, when you, when your eyes are adjusted and you're looking around and you, and you notice what the sconces are made of.

And you realize what the, the poles are holding the ropes and, and what, you know, you see the details, you see the hands holding things, you see the gargoyles holding things, things you didn't notice, eyes where you didn't realize there were eyes, that sort of thing,

Lou Mongello: so. And every time you notice one of those new things, it's like a little chill.

Yeah, right, the details that like, add to the creepiness, and obviously there's creepy and spooky places throughout the attraction itself, but there is something to... Exceptionally creepy about probably our favorite scene at the very end. And literally Yoda is beckoning you to hurry back. Just the face, the sort of the way her dress is sort of, uh, moving in the wind and her voice, there's something spooky about her voice.

I find it quite intriguing.

Tim Foster: I'll

Lou Mongello: be dreaming. All right, before you start going down a road I don't want to hear, why don't you move on to your move on.

Tim Foster: Actually, I doubled up on you, so it's your

Lou Mongello: turn again. Oh, is it my turn? Okay.

Tim Foster: So... I just followed your Haunted Mansion parade and

Lou Mongello: went right down with it. Which means you have nothing else.

Okay, so... Yeah. In no particular order, um, other than one I think might not be on people's radar when you think about Spooky places in Walt Disney World possibly because people don't always go there and Especially the time of when you go as well But if you've ever taken the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island, you might say well, there's nothing really spooky going on there Unless you walk through Injun Joe's caves, they are eerily dark, they are very dark, they are long in, in length, and it's very, very hard to see the exit because they wind through.

And then you get to certain areas and you hear some of the spooky sounds in the back and those lighted crystals. Uh, there is something. Kind of scary about that not just because of the, you know, that sort of sense of disorientation but you almost sort of get the heebie jeebies because you can't find the way out because it's not a very short narrow cave and you see the eggs on the opposite side and You know for some people it's scary because there's a height limit although for me there is no height limit, but there should be because you can kind of bonk your head in there, but There is something I think spooky about those, especially later in the day, just as it starts to approach dusk or if it's an overcast and windy kind of a day and spooky, spooky Injun Joe's caves.

Tim Foster: Spooky Injun Joe's. I think you, I think you hit one. I wasn't even thinking of that. And that's an, that's an excellent one.

Lou Mongello: Um, I think that wins the award as the most

Tim Foster: claustrophobic space in all of Walt Disney World too. That's what creeps me out the most in there is you feel like, if I go any further.

Lou Mongello: It's like a shock in here, you know. Well, that's the thing, you start bumping into the people in front of you, or people behind you start bumping into you, you know, kind of pushing you to move forward, and then you can't because you don't know which way you're supposed to go. Because it does dead end in a lot of little spots.

So if you are claustrophobic, you can definitely feel more than spooked out. That's why I bring a little flashlight.

Which will also help let you, help you find the paintbrushes. It'll help you find the paintbrushes too. Oh yeah, yeah, there you

Tim Foster: go. Alright, uh, well for my next one, I'm gonna switch parks on us, and um, I'm gonna head over to the studios. This is one I hadn't thought of right away, but soon as I thought about it, I was like, why didn't I think of this

Lou Mongello: before?

Tim Foster: Um, it's your favorite attraction I know, the Great Movie Ride. And you get a double dose of creepy in there with um, uh, the alien scene, which is probably my favorite scene in the whole, I love that movie, so it's probably my favorite scene in the whole. Um, what's especially fun is watching people who've never been in it before watching an expression on their face when they realize that that's not a pipe in

Lou Mongello: the wall.

And,

Tim Foster: uh, but I think that's trumped with the, uh, the horror movie scene with the skeletons coming out of the wall and the, and the crypts and the, and the spider webs. And I think for every, for every spider web and creepy thing you see in the haunted mansion, what that scene in the great movie ride just.

Multiplies it by 10. That's a short scene, so you don't have to deal with it for as long as you do it with the Haunted Mansion, but... It is, it is, it is very creepy. I can't imagine what a whole full attraction would be like done that way. It's like, scare me half to death and I'd never go on it again. But in that short dose, I can take it.

And that, and that does rank up there with a creepy

Lou Mongello: moment. And you can look away. You can look at the cast member for a little bit of comfort. But you're right, especially for little kids, I think it's almost unexpected because you've got these, you know, creepy skeletons with snakes coming out of them, and although it is a very, very brief scene and not one that sort of, um, has your attention always directed right to it, it is sort of scary in that little vignette itself.

Tim Foster: Well, especially with what came before, because what came before was rather, you know, innocent and innocuous and pleasant, and all of a sudden... Room! Big shout out if you're not expecting it. That's a good time to get your neighbor and give them a big bop

Lou Mongello: when you're not expecting it. See, you said great movie ride.

I'm like, okay, this is Tim Foster. He's going to talk about munchkins, possibly he'll talk about alien scene. Cause I know we little people, we scare you. You're very, us and clowns, you get freaked out. There's so

Tim Foster: many things I could say right

Lou Mongello: now. I won't. You're ready for the zombie apocalypse, but clowns and munchkins?

Scares you to death. Are you going to be a clown for Halloween? I'm, I also am scared of clowns. But I will tell you, I have, I have the best Halloween costume that somebody actually sent, they made for me and sent to me on their own and you'll have to stay tuned to find out what it is. The best self deprecating costume ever.

So, there you go. Oh, this is going to be good. Yeah. Alright, so I'll go um, I'm going to go somewhat out of order. I'm out of order. You're out of order. This whole, all right. Sorry. And justice for all it and justice for all with Al Pacino helped steer me into the path of becoming a lawyer. And now I talk about Disney World.

Anyway, I am going to stay over at Disney's Hollywood Studios. And I'm going to go to probably when you say the studios is the obvious choice, but maybe not where you think. Because when I say the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, I'm not going to say It's the lobby, which is in and of itself creepy in that it's abandoned, and it looks as though people were there just, you know, years ago, and just up and left, and literally just disappeared.

Whether it's the teacups, or the luggage, or the mahjong table, or the table with the broken glasses. I'm not even gonna say it's the attraction itself. Or those creepy ghostly images on the fifth floor. Instead, I'm going back outside because I think the queue, specifically the extended queue with the lush foliage and the flowerbeds and the broken fountain area, even in the daytime is incredibly detailed and very, very foreboding.

And it's sort of misty and foggy. But when you go at night, it's even, it's amplified a hundred times over. And I think, really, the cue for Tower of Terror begins as you start walking down Sunset Boulevard. Because as you see the tower in the distance, and you can't see the cue sort of behind those rock walls, all you see is sort of that lush greenery, gives you a sense of not knowing of what's behind it.

And as you start to walk through, And you almost expect to be at this, you know, front entrance of the tower pretty quickly on the more busy days as you get to wind through, uh, you do get a sense that you're almost lost. You get a very shining kind of feel from the, uh, from the Jack Nicholson film from the Stephen King book as you're walking through, and I think it is probably one of the.

One of the best themed cues, not that it contains so many details and stories, but that section as you're walking through really gives you a sense of setting the tone for the attraction you're about to go in. What is this

Tim Foster: tower of terror you speak of?

Lou Mongello: You make me cry, Tim Foster. Isn't that a

Tim Foster: building where everyone's screaming?

No

Lou Mongello: real reason. No, no, that's that's King Arthur's regal Regal course it nothing. I'm sorry. It's Prince Charming regal. I still can't get the name right. It's Cinderella's golden carousel.

Tim Foster: There you go That's chicken exit and all of Walt Disney

All right, let's go back to the Magic Kingdom This is what I will tell you Um, and I've often told tales of my wife getting, uh, what's the right ad, you know, getting splashed on, it's a small world, and pirates, and everyone's going, huh? Well, to her, another kind of quizzical evaluation, don't hurt them, scariest ride in all of Walt Disney World?

Lou Mongello: Snow White. I'm with you. I'm with you. Snow White was on my list. I bumped it to the honorable mention list. Ah, there

Tim Foster: you go. Yeah, she refuses to go on it to this day. Because it's, uh, it's rather creep and I can't blame her. It's full of sinister, dark, creepy moments from, right away, from, uh, the queen turning around to, to, uh, the evil witch is facing you and, and the, the flashing, and the, Lights going on and off, and eyes appearing out of nowhere, and tree trunks turning into alligators, and um, It is very scary.

It's probably one of the most appropriately named attractions in Walt Disney World, Snow White's Scary Adventures. They're not kidding. Um, I think in the same vein, you take all the dark rides in Fantasyland, and to some degree, they all have a degree of creepiness about them. Snow White, for obvious reasons, but...

There's something creepy, more demented, I guess, about the Hele Lump and Stein in Winnie de Pill, . I'm not sure if it's creepy, but you, you, you probably spending some time with the, the mind that, that conjured all of that up would be kind of a scary situation. Um, and even Peter Pan, not so much, but as you know, as they're named dark rides, they're, you know, they're in the, they're in the dark, quick turns, quick surprises.

Um, they all have an element of a little bit of scariness to them, but hands down the winner Snow White. And I guess you can throw in your honorable mention for Mr. Toad, which I'm sure you'll bring up at some point, but that's your voice, so I'll let

Lou Mongello: you talk about that. I wasn't, you know, I had Toad on the honorable mention list and then I'm like, well, I can't put it on there because it's extinct now, but as long as you mentioned it, it would have been on the list had it still been here, but I'm actually with you.

On Snow White, not just because your wife and my six year old son will be sitting outside weeping if they, if they wrote it, but I think you're right, and I think, you know, going back to sort of the history of the attraction and the changes where originally you were sort of in that first person perspective of being Snow White and people didn't understand the storytelling element there, the necessities It being necessary to change the name to Snow White's Scary Adventures from Snow White's Adventures because it was in fact scary.

And, look, I tormented My child and uh, you know, I creeped him out at the age of three because when that old hag witch turned around Threw him for a loop, you know And if he goes postal 20 years from now, he can blame me for taking him on the ride at such a tender young age But but it can be scary for young children or members of the foster clan

Tim Foster: Yeah, no, I don't you know, I will say you have this I don't know where you get this idea from but they're like scaring little children I don't know why

Lou Mongello: because I've known you for how many years Too many?

Tim Foster: Uh, but I will, I will say in the, shameless plug, Doctor the Magic for Kids book, there's 3 ratings I have. You know, it's green for no problem at all, yellow for sort of creepy, and red for really scary. And unlike most of the rides in Fantasyland, Snow White uh, Was awarded the coveted yellow circle because you know watch out for this.

I didn't give it red I saved red for

Lou Mongello: small world. Is yellow really coveted? Is that what it is? It's like the the green ones are wishing they were yellow. Green, green,

Tim Foster: green wishes they had a little More. Boom. And the red knows they're leaving a bunch of people behind. I think everyone Everyone that got red is the one that I never went on.

So they all got red just By default, so it but that's that middle ground that gets everybody but it scares you too. It's like the pg 13 Of walt disney wealth

Lou Mongello: attraction.

It's like the turkey leg of walt disney wealth It's big and scary but deep down you want to you want to indeed the whole thing. So

Tim Foster: Not what I was thinking

Lou Mongello: sure All right. Well, i'm going to stay in um, i'm going to stay in the magic kingdom And I'm actually going to walk over to Adventureland, which I think in and of itself can be kind of spooky in a, in a, in a way at night with the tiki torches and just being very lush and overgrown, but in a sort of Tim Foster yellow circle kind of way.

As you walk through the queue, the right hand side queue of Pirates of the Caribbean, and you looked at, did I steal it? I'm sorry, brother. No,

Tim Foster: I'm going to pounce on it.

Lou Mongello: That's right. You look down into the dungeon, into the jail where the skeletons are playing chess, and you walk a little bit farther down as you, as you reach the landing, listen carefully and you hear.

The sound of digging in the back of the cave and you look up and we'll look back at this abandoned fortress and you hear this, this kind of disembodied voice telling you that that dead men tell no tales. And then one of my favorite scenes in all of Walt Disney World. which sits by itself and is, is very high on the spooky list, is that lone skeleton at the helm of the ghost ship blowing in the wind and the rain behind it and the thunderstorm.

That right there, singular spooky moment. I, you

Tim Foster: know what happened to me? Last time I was on there, that moment. Right there got even creepier. How could they make it creepier? You ask me. Go

Lou Mongello: ahead, ask me. I'm afraid to ask you how that moment could

Tim Foster: be creepier. You know how it's creepier? Because they're watching you.

That's why. Because the guy in front of me, or two guys in front of me, casually had his arm out of the boat and we're right in front of the skeleton manning the helm in the storm. That's not creepy enough, but we don't think anyone's around. All of a sudden, boat stops, Please keep your hands in the boat and everyone's looking like who saw and it just freaked everybody

Lou Mongello: out And then why do you need to project your guilt on to the poor guy in front of you?

Tim Foster: I didn't do it. I know not to put my hand out and my legs and limbs and

Lou Mongello: head other things hands arms feet and legs

Tim Foster: Hands arms. Yeah, that's about all of them. Yeah

Lou Mongello: Somebody does really

Tim Foster: creepy though that somebody was Cause you know they see, you know, when you get off, and I've many times I've been through there and somebody starts flashing and they'll, you know, they'll, they'll voice over it and leave a flash picture.

But, but right in front of the drop in the dark when someone, you know, that's creepy.

Lou Mongello: On a much more personal level. The the really creepy part for me on a subjective level is just how similar Carlos the mayor's wife sounds to my ex girlfriend's mother, but that's a whole nother story. And again, nobody else that doesn't relate to anybody else

Come over Louise we're having cheek and anyway

Our story are you counting that as You are next one or do you have another of your own?

Tim Foster: Well, that's five, but since we're not counting, I'll count that as one of mine. I'm sure you have 20 more to go. I have a couple,

Lou Mongello: but... I actually have, I actually have one, but it's a big one. And it's a, it's a big one because...

I have one, but it's a go with me here. Okay, but this is one where it's, it's less about us. It's multiple spooky places that are all tied. To a, a single thing, more importantly, a single person or a single story. And if you've never been to Mickey's not so scary Halloween party, you need to go at least once.

It's, uh, the trick or treating the haunted mansion, the entertainment, the fireworks, the candy. But more importantly, the parade is probably my favorite parade. Haunted Mansion, grave diggers. Are outstanding what they do in their sort of choreographed moves with their shovels are incredible, but the headless horseman that comes riding through from frontier land to Liberty square and down main street, galloping away with the music and the narration is worth the price of admission right there.

And so my spooky moment revolves around. The Headless Horseman, more importantly, the legend of Sleepy Hollow. Because while I think that spooky moment of him writing down, especially for those people that don't know he's coming, that's what I love seeing because you don't expect it. You expect the sort of fanciful little, not so scary parade, but when he's galloping down there, sort of full bore, holding that lighted pumpkin in his hand, it is a very, very spooky moment, but that's not the only spookiness in Walt Disney World that's tied to the Headless Horseman.

Because the one thing I would love for people to experience also at least once that has to do with this headless horseman story There's food coming, isn't there? No, there's not food coming, but if you go over to Fort Wilderness to the blacksmith's shop there you can roam the woods on a 25 minute haunted carriage ride While hearing and sometimes seeing the legend of Sleepy Hollow, it takes place from about 7 30 to 10 30 at night, uh, from October 1st till about November 1st, it's 60 per carriage.

It, uh, uh, it can accommodate, uh, about four adults or two adults and probably three kids ages nine or under. Uh, it leaves for leaves from the blacksmith shop. Uh, but as you're going through, it's very dark and not, not in a scary kind of, um, you know, nightmare on Elm Street, you know, wrong turn movie kind of way, but as you're going through the sleepy hollow village limits and you're hearing the story and there are some surprises.

along the way. It is a great telling and a great way to sort of really get into that Halloween spirit. Um, and there are some spooky, not incredibly scary, but spooky enough moments along the way. And I just love the whole Headless Horseman story and the Adventures of Ichabod, Mr. Toad film. Um, there's actually, there's, believe it or not, a lot more history of the, um...

That sort of whole headless horseman and sleepy hollow things. Obviously there's sleepy hollow refreshments. So Tim Foster, there you go. There's your food. I was not. And, and so if you pay close attention as you walk into Liberty Square from main street, although you really should follow the story and go from frontier land.

But if you walk, I'm sorry, from a fantasy land, but if you walk from The bridge from Main Street on the left hand side. You'll see the old Christmas shop And the first of the three stores that make it up is the music and voice lesson shop by Ichabod Crane If you look across the way you see Sleepy Hollow refreshments and the the the hudless horsemen on the sign for Sleepy Hollow refreshments, obviously Ichabod Crane legend of Sleepy Hollow Even more so, the building that houses Sleepy Hollow Refreshments is modeled after, almost exactly, that sort of stepped roofline, Washington Irving's home in upstate New York, in the Hudson River Valley.

Here's a Tim Foster go with me. You still with me?

Tim Foster: Yeah, I'm hanging on. Now this, this is, I gotta tell you, this is fantastic. Alright,

Lou Mongello: so listen, so... So, Ikabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, Washington Irving, his home and that story of Sleepy Hollow is set in the Hudson River Valley which also is the setting for the Haunted Mansion.

Get out. You get out because, and if you go way back, Ken Anderson, uh, imagine Ken Anderson who now finally has his tribute within, uh, in the new Haunted Mansion queue. His original concept, remember the Haunted Mansion. Had sort of warring factions. One wanted to be scary, one wanted to be funny, was gonna be a walkthrough, a wax museum.

Well, his concept had an appearance by the headless horseman at the end. That was gonna be a big sort of element, sort of the big payoff at the end of Ken Anderson's concept for the Haunted Mansion, even more so. Tim Foster, continue, continue to go with me here. I'm, I'm hanging on in fantasy Land. Of all places, instead of attractions like Peter Pan, and Snow White, and the oh so spooky Mr.

Toad where you get hit by a train and go to Hades, there was actually plans for other attractions. There was going to be a Cinderella attraction, tying into the castle, a Mary Poppins attraction, and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Yeah. Yes. Wow. Disney didn't want to sort of redo what they did over in Disneyland, so they wanted to come in with new attractions, then thinking they could maybe save money.

Because of budget, they said, let's just put in attractions that we had originally done in Disneyland. Although they changed those attractions a lot, even giving Toad two tracks instead of one. So it ended up costing more anyway. But yeah, there actually could have been a Headless Horseman in the Haunted Mansion, and a Legend of Sleepy Hollow attraction in Fantasyland.

Wow. I won't even get into the similarities between Brom Bones and Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I will move on.

Tim Foster: Wow. You see, how can we follow that? It's like, it's like a creepy moment.

Lou Mongello: If you throw out it's a small world. I'm telling you, I'm just going to hang up on you. But when,

Tim Foster: when the dolls start looking at you, the lifeless eyes in the head.

Oh la la. Slowly.

Lou Mongello: Are they start, are they calling your name?

Tim Foster: They talked to me. Yeah.

Lou Mongello: Sometimes. Tim Foster, man, you got to lay off the funnel cake. You got to lay off the funnel cake, but you need to go on the haunted hayride and really sort of get that sense that whole legend of sleepy hollow sense. That exists currently, and could have existed, in Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and over at Fort Wilderness.

Tim Foster: Yeah, I don't think we can file it. I will tell you, the um, I, I, as I mentioned, I just went there with my parents to come to their first Not So Scary Halloween Party, and veterans of parades that they are, they did concur that the uh, Not So Scary Halloween Parade is their favorite. They thought it was the best parade they'd ever seen, so.

So yeah, definitely. If you have a chance, you got to see it. Just

Lou Mongello: keep your feet back underneath the ropes, just in case. Well, so do you have any honorable mentions that, that almost made the cut? They pale

Tim Foster: in comparison to what you just trotted out there. I can't, I can't roll these out.

Lou Mongello: Well, let's just, let's just throw out a couple of quick honorable mentions for some potentially spooky, but not so scary moments in Walt Disney World.

Excuse me. These specifically, the ones I thought of. were ones on attractions. So, one that really, I, I sort of put back and forth on the list was actually in the Jungle Cruise. And again, it's, it's, you need to ride it at a certain time and it's in a certain place on the attraction. But in the temple, at night.

So, as you approach the temple, it's very dark. But as you go through the temple, pay close attention. Because in there, it's very, very dark. Because it's winding, and especially at night. You can't see the exit as you're going through the music is eerie and also there's no narration Then the cast member does not narrate as you go through the temple.

So I think that too adds a little bit of Spookiness to it You've never, you've never even been on the, you don't even know what the Jungle Cruise is, do you? Um, that's one that goes upside down? Yeah, and through the rings of fire.

Tim Foster: Okay. Now I agree, I wholeheartedly agree with the Jungle Cruise. I know we've mentioned the Jungle Cruise every time we've talked about, you know, where to go to starve, where to go when it's raining.

Um, but, but it wins, even, uh, aside from the temple. I think even when you come out of the temple and you're, you know, you're still in the back in the jungle and, you know, yeah, it's creepy. One of the things I thought of, um, and I, I've mentioned this before on another list, and it's funny because I mentioned it in kind of the opposite sort of list that we had done.

I forget exactly what it was, but, um, one of the things I, I recommend a lot of people to do is to wander around World Showcase after Illuminations is over, instead of rushing to get out of the park. Um, on one hand, I find that to be. Very tranquil, very relaxing, very magical. You can wander through the pavilions, um, not the interiors when the attractions are closed, but you can wander through the, the gardens in Japan and around the lily pond, China, and so forth.

But I will say, having done it a few times, if you wait long enough, and enough people have left, it's dark. It is kind of creepy back there when you're by yourself. So I, I did have that one on my list, which is funny, because I've had it on the opposite list of, Enc chanting things to do at night, you know, but,

Lou Mongello: um, if you're by

Tim Foster: yourself and sit there now, the headless horseman isn't racing through trying to get me

So I felt kind of, I can't really bring this one up now, but I had that, that's one of my go with me here. People was, you know, if you're hanging

Lou Mongello: around. Alright, so I'll ask you, then I'll ask you about a couple of the ones on the honor bench. What about Splash Mountain? You think, okay, it's a happy laughing place, but what about the vultures when you're sort of going up and sort of the vultures are, are hanging over you there?

Tim Foster: Yeah, I haven't had that one of those too, and again, a lot of this ties into that night, but... When you go to ascend the hill, the vultures there, and you can't see the end because it's dark outside, but that's,

Lou Mongello: that's pretty creepy. It's all about the dark. On the maelstrom in Epcot Center, the three headed trolls sending you back, back over the falls.

Again, six year old son won't ride it because of three headed trolls.

Tim Foster: Yeah, I can see that one. I kind of think the

Lou Mongello: trolls are adorable. And potentially, if you are freaked out by... Creepy, crawly critters. It's tough to be a bug. Could totally freak you out. Because it can be a little spooky. With all the bugs and...

Especially if you're wearing shorts and have your feet on the ground.

Tim Foster: You screamed like a... Alright, but anyway. How about the vampire bat room? Oh! In the Maharishi Jungle Trust. I do see a lot of people kind of... Not lingering over it the best that they can. That does get people out sometimes, by the way. I was, uh, also thinking of, uh, talking about Splash Mountain right next door at Big Thunder Mountain at night, which we've also talked about is something you have to ride at night, um, even if you're ridden in the daytime, it's a totally new experience, but, um, there are parts of the ride where, you know, it's not like you're going way out there, but you do get this sense that you are out in the wilderness kind of by yourself with some stretches and that ride at night.

Um, so it gets, you know, aside from the screaming, especially when you're riding with me. Um, but the crowd noise is kind of died down and you're, you're kind of out by yourself. It's kind of, especially when you're going in and out of the caves and it's dark and you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

So, I had that on my list as

Lou Mongello: well. Anything

Tim Foster: else? I had, uh, well, you know, you brought up Mr. Toad. I don't know why, the ride's not there anymore. I don't know why you keep bringing up Mr. Toad. It's gone, though. Mr. Toad isn't there anymore, but you brought it up anyway. Um, so I threw Alien Encounter on my list, one of my most missed attractions, and certainly one of the creepiest attractions that

Lou Mongello: ever was at Walt Disney World.

How can you miss an attraction that you were too scared to enjoy?

Tim Foster: I was, that one I could hand, you know what, I do, despite what you may think. I am not scared of every attraction

Lou Mongello: at Walt Disney World. Just the ones in Fantasyland. Just the ones that

Tim Foster: move. I'm not moving, I'm okay. In Alien County, you didn't move, you just had to walk through.

Now I tell you, the first time I went on, I had no idea what to expect and it was rather terrifying. But it was very spooky. I know to you right now, Stitch is up there as one of the creepiest moments of all in Walt Disney World for

Lou Mongello: totally different reasons. The only thing that creeps me about Stitch is that if there's a really long line for it, something very creepy is going on.

What is going on? Why is there such a long line? I kid. I kid. Come on, it's charming. It's adorable. It smells good. But, but I think too, going back to sort of that whole alien encounter, What made that attraction spooky was not necessarily always the breath of the alien behind you, or the dark, but even in Stitch, sort of having those restraints on you, um, there's a big difference between the burping chili dog and the breathing, and, but there is something that makes that a little bit spooky, and that's why the ironic thing is that Stitch is very much loved by children, but because there's a height requirement, Children can't enjoy it necessarily because of the restraints that have to come down.

Here's my tip for you. Bring back, bring back Flight to the Moon. There you go. Oh, geez. Mission to, if you had wings.

Tim Foster: If you had wings is one of your creepiest

Lou Mongello: moments. You, well, there actually were some creepy moments in there looking back at that early 70s footage, but I digress.

Tim Foster: Well, that, that pretty much wipes out my, except for all

Lou Mongello: the other ones I'm forgetting. Thanks for watching. Well, and that's my list too, but again, Tim, we know that there are people pulled over to the side of the road because we encourage safe driving here at WDW Radio, screaming at their, their car radios, they're slamming their hands down at their desks at work, they are ignoring their children because they're yelling at their iPod saying, my God, man, how could you possibly have forgotten the most obvious One on your list.

So that is why I invite and encourage and welcome and really beg for you to come to the website over at WDW radio. com. Click on this week's show on the homepage or under the podcast link and leave your comments there as to what you think is the spookiest moment, the spookiest place, the spookiest, whatever it might be in Walt Disney world.

Again, there's a big difference between spooky. and scary. We're looking for spooky. Well, is it an attraction? Is it a show? Is it a place? Is it a time? Whatever it might be, feel free to think out of the box. Uh, we find it delightfully unlivable here over at WTW radio dot com and over at Tim Foster's homes at celebrations, press dot com and guide to the magic dot com, where every room, of course, had wall to wall running creeps.

Tim Foster: Thanks!

Lou Mongello: So this is fun, we have many more top ten plusses coming soon And, uh, again, to find out other ways to scare your children please visit his website And check out his guide to the magic for kids over at GuidetoTheMagic. com And of course, we got good, not so creepy stuff coming in celebrations press Including, our holiday issue, which we are super excited about That is the most wonderful time of year and we will talk about that some more In the coming weeks and months Tim Foster my friend I always enjoy you joining our jamboree.

You're supposed to say there's a simple rule that's compulsory. You didn't, you've never even been to the mansion. So what? I have no idea what you're talking about. Good night, Tim Foster. Good night. Hurry back. That was the worst Madame Leota ever.