Long Lines for the Haunted Mansion event at Disneyland

Early Registration for the 09-09-09 Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary event started this evening. We arrived two hours early to wait in line so we could be some of the first people to access the Event Store. Unlike many Disney pin events, this Haunted Mansion anniversary celebration did not include a 4th day-of-event RSP (RSP is a lottery system to obtain the collectible merchandise released specifically for the event). Instead, the leftover merchandise was sold in a first-come, first served event store. Most of the additional items in the store were limited to one per person.


Cast Members dressed in Haunted Mansion uniforms assisted guests through the registration process.


There were three steps to the Haunted Mansion event registration process tonight: First, small groups of attendees were brought into a room to show their photo id and pick up their event credentials, event gifts, and various coupons and tickets to be used during the event. Once they picked up their packets, they moved to a sitting room with rows of chairs. From that room they were ushered into lines to enter the second room to pick up their collectibles and merchandise they had previously ordered, and another line to ship the items home. And then they moved into the line for the final room of the Event Store if they wanted to purchase additional items.


Event credential for the 999 Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary is also a magnet!

Although the process was orderly, it certainly took a long time. As I mentioned before, we were in line early and there were about 30 people ahead of us. Overall, it took us 3 hours to get through the entire process (5 hours if you count our 2 hour wait time for the doors to open!) One of our friends arrived much later in the evening, about 9:15, and it took her 2 1/2 hours and she didn't even go to the Event Store! I think tomorrow's lines will probably be even longer as more guests arrive for the day of the event. I hope the Disney Event Services staff took note of this and will have more resources in place for tomorrow.