Among the Mansion's hidden operations are cameras mounted in every part of the ride, linked to multiple hidden control rooms that the staff monitors closely for safety. Along with these are multiple emergency exits leading away from the building. The ride must operate with seven cars to keep the flow of the queue line moving and to maximize the stunts going off at the correct times. There are two hidden workshops where maintenance can be completed very quickly, and a third shop that doubles as a custom tool-and-die manufacturing facility for hard-to-find parts.

When the park realized the skull heads used in the skull room were being discontinued, they opted to print their own on a 3D printer. The "time-share devil pitchman," as the park calls him, at the end of the ride and before the truck stunt, used to be a spinning devil's head in a box that simply wore out after many years of operation.

On a nice evening, riders are exposed to riding right next to the boardwalk, and in bad weather the roll-up doors are down. The ride is handicapped-accessible, and in the occurrence of a malfunction, guests are removed safely. Patron safety is always the number one priority the park takes pride in.

Several props have changed places over the years, such as the clock, organ player, and even Frankenstein, who now sports a tuxedo from the 1950's. The ride's cars are all still original and remain operational due to the park's diligence.

The Mansion is such a generational ride on the coast that families line up once it opens and in seconds the queue is filled to capacity. The park hosts a great online gift shop where several Haunted Mansion shirts, signs and park souvenirs can be bought.

So why is the Haunted Mansion being replaced after this year? A number of factors have come into play. First and foremost, the parts for the cars, tracks, and so on have become either near impossible to find, or manufacturing them in-house is not cost efficient. The Haunted Mansion has had a wonderful run, especially for a seaside ride that both weather and saltwater can wreak havoc on. Having lived near the Atlantic Ocean myself for many years, I can attest that the salt in the air destroys anything made of metal or steel. Nothing is made to last forever, and Venture Manufacturing closed many years ago.

All of these factors have forced the park's hand to create a new, second-generation ride with more advanced technology and effects that will hopefully thrill the next five generations of customers. While the park wants the new ride to be "scary, but not too scary," we applaud the decision to keep the feeling of the older Mansion alive in the new attraction. We also applaud the park's decision to go with JMM Studios for the molding and effects, keeping the history of the older ride alive.

Most of all, we here at Laff In The Dark applaud Funland and the park ownership for making the costly decision to replace their current dark ride with another one at a time when these rides are disappearing rapidly. You can sadly count fewer than a dozen of these classic rides now operating in the United States, where every amusement park years ago had at least one. It would have been much easier to replace the current Mansion with another thrill ride, or even worse, a few more games. We applaud Funland for looking ahead to generations to come, to enjoy a classic dark ride that will become a new Delaware vacation tradition.