Yesterday on our Disney Rover Facebook page (did you know we have a Facebook page?) we shared two cryptograms found in the Haunted Mansion queue. These two pictures came from another group page (and we’d give them credit if we remembered which group). We’re assuming these are in the extended queue, so if crowds are light or there’s a low wait time, chances are you may not pass these.
During a period of down time yesterday, with absolutely no outside or online help, we were able to solve the two cryptograms and we cannot wait to share these with you! We point this out because we found out later that another fan site had, in fact, created a key to make solving this much easier, but we did it without any outside help, thank you very much!
But first, can we all take a second to appreciate the related pun of having cryptograms in the queue for Haunted Mansion? That is *chef’s kiss*
Let’s start with the first cryptogram!
(You may have to zoom in to get a really good look at the symbols.)
The first row is 7 letters, with 2 repeated. What’s the most frequent letter of the alphabet? The letter E. Thinking about the Haunted Mansion script: what 7 letter word with 2 E’s feels appropriate to begin this with? We’re going to guess ‘Welcome’. It fits!
(being a Haunted Mansion nerd is paying off here.)
Put on your thinking caps!
Okay, so let’s assume the first word is in fact welcome. Using those symbols as a guide, we can start to fill in parts of the rest of the cryptogram.
2nd word is 4 letters, with 3 from the previous word: _OME.
4th word is 7 letters with 3 known letters: _OOL_ _ _.
Notice the last letter in the 4th word is the same symbol as the first letter in the second word. We have a hunch that second word is HOME, which would make the 4th word _OOL__H. Again, putting our nerd cap on thinking about the Haunted Mansion, we have a good hunch the 4th word is FOOLISH.
5th word doesn’t give us much to work with: _O_ _ _L. Or does it?! Let’s go back to the pre-show script. What does the Ghost Host call us at the beginning of the pre-show? Foolish…mortals! One too many letters, so we’ll drop the S. That gives us more symbols with known letters, so we can start to fill in some blanks!
Just tell us what it says already!
Okay, okay, we won’t bore you to death with the rest of our logic and methodology of figuring out what letters go with each symbol. After much thinking and zooming, and zooming and thinking, we solved the first cryptogram:
Welcome home, you foolish mortal, this mansion is your mystic portal.
Oh, a rhyme. That’s fun! On to the other one!
Second cryptogram is easier, right?
With the second cryptogram, we have a slight conundrum: do we need to start all over again from square one, or do the symbols from the first cryptogram apply to the second cryptogram?
Let’s look at the first word and find out! 5 letters, 2 repeated. If we apply the previous key to these symbols, the first word appears to be WHERE. This seems to be working. Now let’s look at the second word: 5 letters, 3 repeating. EERIE.
Yep! Pretty sure it’s a match. Now it’s just a matter of matching the letters to the symbols, with very few unknown letters to guess. Once the majority of a word is known, figuring out the missing letters is pretty easy.
Just tell us already!
Blah, blah, this symbol here, that symbol there. Etcetera, etcetera. Finally, after thinking and zooming, zooming and thinking (again), we solved the second cryptogram with yet another fun rhyme:
Where eerie sights and spooky sounds fill these happy haunting grounds.
Mystery and cryptic messages solved! Great work, everyone!
Being a Disney nerd has paid off!
Yep. No need to thank us. Being a huge nerdy fan of Disney’s Haunted Mansion has finally paid off! For once, we used our powers of fandom and useless Haunted Mansion trivia for good instead of annoying guests in line.
And now you, yes you, can use your newly acquired cryptogram solving skills to also annoy guests in line by pointing out that you know the solution to that cryptic wall of symbols in the queue line! Amaze your friends! Astonish strangers! Impress the cast members! All thanks to your nerdy friends here at Disney Rover who love sharing trivia with random guests, whether they asked for it or not.
Say, did you know one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion is also the voice of Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger? You can use that one, too.
Disney Rover 