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Road Trip Serendipity: Finding 'Hotel California' in Jim Thorpe
2026-05-13
Tonight brother Andrew and I headed towards Jim Thorpe. The reason for stopping was because the town is home to the Harry Packer Mansion … the mansion many people believe inspired Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride famous…
Tonight brother Andrew and I headed towards Jim Thorpe. The reason for stopping was because the town is home to the Harry Packer Mansion … the mansion many people believe inspired Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride famous look. Disney have never officially confirmed it… but standing outside it at dusk, towering above the town with its dark Victorian silhouette, it genuinely feels like something from Disney. After taking photos we headed down into the town itself … and honestly the whole place felt surreal. Parking was a complete nightmare. For what felt like over a mile there were permit-only signs everywhere. Every house seemed to have warnings outside it. Andrew got out and started walking while I slowly crawled to the bottom of the town trying to find somewhere … anywhere … legal to park. Eventually reached the bottom of the hill and found a single public parking bay. Engine off. Silence. Lit up shop directly in front. Every other shop around was shut. Dark windows. Empty pavement. Barely another person around. The whole town had this strange atmosphere where it felt frozen in time. Pretty… but eerie. Like everyone had quietly gone in for the night. Except for that one place. A recor…
Matthew Eaves — escape room franchise founder, operator, and writer. Also: franchise, posts, contact.