How many ghosts do we really need in Disney's Haunted Mansion?

Haunted Mansion fans, can we talk?

Or, more to the point... can we not?

It's become tradition, at least at the original, Disneyland installation of the Haunted Mansion, for visitors to recite the Stretch Room spiel along with the Ghost Host.

Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination? And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows and no doors — which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out! Of course, there’s always my way.

I don't remember when this tradition started, but neither can I remember the last time I visited the original installation of the Mansion when I didn't hear people chanting at least by the time the Ghost Host gets to "chilling challenge." It's become as much a part of the ride now as the Bride and the Hitchhiking Ghosts.

But is that a good thing? Look, I understand that the tradition emerged from fans' love of this amazing attraction. Heck, I've done it and laughed along with everyone else in the room, too. But what started as a joyful act of participation has begun to lose its appeal... well, at least for me. So I wonder if other Haunted Mansion fans are beginning to feel the same way?

The last thing I want to see happen is for the Haunted Mansion, or any beloved theme park attraction, to become a source of stress or conflict for anyone. So, please, do not take this as an invitation to shush or criticize anyone who does choose to recite the Ghost Host's spiel. If people want to express their love for the Haunted Mansion by giving the Stretch Room the Rocky Horror treatment, so be it. (Please, let's not start with the toilet paper, though, okay?) The only thing I want to hear less than everyone chanting the Stretch Room spiel is to hear people arguing about people chanting the spiel.

Please just allow me to suggest that it might be nice to hear the Ghost Host take the stretch solo again. What if we fans chose not to spiel for a while? What if we decided to switch things up in the Mansion by taking it old school and just listening instead of talking in the Stretch Room? How would that feel?

It might just be one of those moments of Disney magic that helped us fall in love with the Mansion in the first place.

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