In the dimly lit room, a portrait on the wall blinks its eyes and shifts its head, and the white skeleton of a fish darts through a fish tank. Images of floating heads fade in and out of a mirror above the bar, and cobwebs coat the lighting fixtures.
It is in this setting, beginning this spring, that officiants will ask couples if they agree to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives.
Disney Cruise Line's Haunted Mansion Parlor bar has returned on its newest ship, the Disney Destiny, and it is now also a wedding venue.
The cruise line is selling wedding packages that include a ceremony in the space with up to 23 wedding guests, an officiant, flower arrangements and a cake and Champagne celebration. Guests can also book the parlor for vow renewal ceremonies.
A Haunted Mansion-inspired venue might not scream "love," but that's exactly why Disney decided to open it up for weddings, said Korri McFann, marketing director for Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings.
"Couples today are looking for unique storylines," she said on a preview sailing in November. "They're looking for an immersive experience. They're looking for it to be a representation of them, their passion. That's what we do best here at Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings."
Ghostly visuals
The bar debuted on the Disney Treasure and reimagines the Disney theme park attraction for the seas. Instead of a room in a land-based mansion, the bar is designed to resemble a classic cruise liner drawing room.
It is filled with delightful ghost-inspired visuals, and McFann said her team worked with Disney Imagineering to design a "show" for 30-minute ceremonies "so that we can control the room a little bit more."
"I would love to be a wedding guest, personally," she said.
Travel advisor Beci Mahnken said the wedding venue is perfect for Haunted Mansion enthusiasts.
"For the right people, that is gold," said Mahnken, the owner of MEI-Travel in Issaquah, Wash. "That would be someone's dream. I have a couple of clients who are really into Haunted Mansion, and if they had not already gotten married in Disneyland with the Haunted Mansion theme, they would be here getting married."
The ceremony is slightly different for vow renewals, which will include a bit more playfulness and risk, McFann said.
Disney fittingly announced the new wedding venue the week of Halloween, and within two weeks it already had bookings, she said. The parlor is open for weddings beginning with the May 14 sailing, and the ship is homeported in Fort Lauderdale.
Haunted Mansion Parlor is the most intimate of the Disney Destiny's three wedding venues. The ship's "Black Panther"-themed Grand Hall and the "Doctor Strange"-themed bar The Sanctum support 40-guest weddings.