Which Way To Exit

After visiting the Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, you will be given a choice of sorts when you leave the attraction.

You can decide to exit, or Sortie, or visit the poor souls in Boot Hill. The choice, is yours.

Tune of Death

Happy Halloween DF'82 Readers!

We have come to the end of our small Boot Hill tour, and I think I have saved one of the best until last. Poor old Jack!

Jacques Shrillman

Lynched by a pack of music lovers

"Wrong notes will kill"

May 9 1865

Hot Harry on the Hill

Unfortunately for Harry's tombstone, there is some overgrown shrubbery hanging around his grave. This makes it a little hard to read, but it's important we still showcase his stone.

Red Hot Harry

"He Got Hot,

But He Was Slow..."

Poor Harry!

Oh Holy Gus

This is a great tombstone - if you can say that about any cemetery, of course! This one lies hidden in Boot Hill, almost consumed by the shrubbery...

Here Lies Shotgun Gus

Holier Now

Than All Of Us

Mother In Law Is Watching

We have looked at these tombstones before, but they are some of my favourites! They have recently had some spring cleaning around them, which makes them much easier to read. As they say, Mother is always watching.

Mary Murphy

1837-1859

"Till Death..."

Frank Ballard

1829-1859

"...Do Us Part"

Ma Ballard

1800-1859

"Over My Dead Body"

Boot Hill Visiting Dakota

Over the next few days, DF'82 is going to get scared silly in Boot Hill Cemetrey, in Frontierland.

Situated next to Phantom Manor, we've been here a few times before. But I think with the holiday for haunts just around the corner, we should have a further delve into the Boot Hill itself...

As with most old tombstones, it's hard to know exactly what it says. But this historian thinks that it reads (translated from French):

Dakota Dick

Lost on 17 October 1867

Descended 16 January 1868

Drunk 18 December 1868

Imprisoned 21 May 1869

He Returns

Get Shorty

It's time to head back over to Boot Hill in Frontierland and check out another grave they have, near the Phantom Manor.

It reads 'Short Smith 1862', possibly linking to one of the ghosts inside the Phantom Manor, although we have no real way of knowing.

As Time Goes By

We have looked at the graves on Boot Hill before, here at DF'82. And it is one of this Princess's favourite places in the whole of Disneyland Paris.

But it's interesting how time can change the graves that we have seen. Here are some old shots of the headstones at Boot Hill.

And now let's look at those graves, and how they have weathered.Although a lot of Disney fans prefer the parks to be kept up-to-date, with fresh coats of paint and excellent gardening throughout, I think this is one part of the park that can be allowed to run a little wild. A different kind of attention to detail by the Cast Members of Paris. Spooky!

Above and Below

With Halloween fast approaching, we are getting in the spooky mood here at DF'82! And when I feel particularly spooky, I like to head on over to Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris and walk around the grounds.

I adore the tombstones on Boot Hill, and all the details and hidden treasures from the Imagineers. Take, for example, this almost hidden tombstone:B. Arnold

Cold Is My Bed
But, Oh, I Love It,
For Colder Are
My Friends Above It.

And there is this other fantastic tombstone. Of course, there aren't many, ahem, humans around Boot Hill to keep the grounds tended, so it is quite difficult to read this particular stone. Maybe one of our readers could offer their services? I am sure there is a spare room at Phantom Manor.

Mother Is Watching

I adore Boot Hill in Disneyland Paris, next to the Phantom Manor in Frontierland. And back in October 2008 we looked at some of the tombstones in the cemetery area. There were two specific tombstones that we looked at:

The two that belonged to Mary Murphy - the possible daughter of the owner of Phantom Manor - and Frank Ballard. As you can see, these two died in the same year (1859), and at quite a young age, so perhaps theirs was a tragic romance?

Well, if we look at the tombstone that is quietly placed behind Mary and Frank we may get a better idea of their stories.

Ma Ballard

1800-1859
"Over My Dead Body"

We can deduce from this that Ma Ballard, presumably Frank's mother, was not happy about Mary and Frank's relationship. Could her death in 1859 have any connection to the couples' deaths? Only the Imagineers will really know.

More Around Boot Hill

Carrying on with our brief Halloween look at the Boot Hill Cemetery at Phantom Manor, we are introduced to several new tombstones...


One of my favourite sets of tombstones ever (?!), these introduce us to the infamous humour of the Imagineers. Can you get the running joke amongst these graves?

These ones tie in nicely to the Frontierland setting of the Manor:

HERE LIES LEADFOOT FRED

"DANCED TOO SLOW

AND NOW HE'S DEAD"

1802 -1866

Complete with his Cowboy Boots.

BARROOM BENNY

"SEEMS HE TOOK

ONE DRINK TOO MANY"

Buried with a very apt item - some bar-room doors.

Our final graves for this trip show Mary Murphy and Frank Ballard. Now, with every Haunted Mansion there are hundreds of stories attached to the attraction, but only the Imagineers know the real answers. I have heard that Mary Murphy Ravenswood is actually the daughter of Henry and Martha, not Melanie as in my previous post.


I may need a research trip to figure this out more, but I personally think Melanie is Henry's daughter, and that the sole unmarked grave on Boot Hill could be her resting place. But as I said, that's a story for another time.

Not Quite Boot-Strap Bill...

In the approach to Halloween, where better to be than the Boot Hill Cemetery at the Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris?

The Graveyard is one of my favourite places in Frontierland, and the resort itself. It's so full of detail and descriptions, that it really puts you in the right frame of mind for the Manor. Tying up to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad across the river, the entrance to the Cemetery shows the following motif:

No. 39

THESE MINERS WERE TOLD

ABOUT DIGGING TOO FAST

THEY LOST ALL THEIR GOLD

IN A DYNAMITE BLAST

And if you look carefully, you can still see some sticks of dynamite that have been left behind amongst the rocks.

Of course, don't get too comfortable with the area - we are in a Cemetery attached to the Phantom Manor. Things are bound to get spooky sooner or later...

If you enter into the Boot Hill area, you will be met with a large mausoleum for Martha Ravenswood and Henry Ravenswood. The plaque below stating:

QUARRLED AND FOUGHT

AS MAN AND WIFE

NOW SILENT TOGETHER

BEYOND THIS LIFE

Those of you Disney geeks will recognise those names as being integral characters in the Phantom Manor legend. Henry struck gold in the town and bought himself a large Victorian Mansion - Phantom Manor - but both he and his wife were killed in a devastating earthquake that shook the town of Thunder Mesa. They had a daughter, Melanie, who's story is also a very interesting one - but I'll leave that for another day.



So, it is here that Henry and Martha have been buried. That means they're dead, right? Well you would think so - but at night you can hear some very strange noises indeed coming from inside the graves. It couldn't be someone knocking, could it?