Park May Have the Prize of a Lifetime for One Lucky Soul

It’s a tried-and-true fundraising gimmick: Write a check, and your name is etched in a brick pathway outside the Long Beach Aquarium, or on a wall at Dodger Stadium or the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Frank Gehry-designed concert hall.

Blending philanthropy and obsession, Disneyland took the concept to a new level Thursday.

Win a charity auction on EBay, and your name and epitaph will be carved on a tombstone in the Haunted Mansion, one of the park’s signature attractions.

Your grave marker could sit right there next to Rolo Rumkin (“lived and died a friendly bumpkin”) or Brother Claude (“planted here beneath this sod”).

“I can think of cheesy things to say: People will be dying to get into the Haunted Mansion; they will be killing themselves,” said Phil Sears, an online dealer specializing in theme park collectibles and items autographed by Walt Disney.

“But they will be,” he said. “Truly, the sky’s the limit. This is not an item that you can look up in any price guide.”

Though Disneyland has offered pieces of old rides and after-hours glimpses of the park, it has never given the public the chance to be part of an attraction.

“This is absolutely unique,” said Disneyland spokesman John McClintock.

Disney fans screamed into action. The seven-day auction opened at 3 p.m. Thursday with an opening bid of $750 and jumped to $4,600 in less than an hour. By about 8 p.m., it was fetching more than $16,000.

“Never underestimate rabid Disney fans,” said Jeff Baham, founder of doombuggies.com, an unofficial Internet tribute to the Haunted Mansion.

“I don’t know what it is. I just bought [a Sleeping Beauty] animation cel for $1,000, and to me that’s as high as I’ll ever go. But some people have the means, and it’s a lifestyle.”

Walt Disney World auctioned a Dumbo-ride vehicle for about $18,000. Actor John Stamos paid $30,700 for part of the original Disneyland marquee. And last summer, the bidding on a front monorail car -- which originally sold for $20,000 -- skyrocketed to $95,000 on EBay but did not reach the seller’s reserve price, Sears said.

In those cases, the victor got to take their prizes home. But with this auction -- benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of America and listed on EBay as the “Disneyland Haunted Mansion 1000th Ghost Experience” -- the winning bidder and a guest will be flown to Disneyland for a midnight “wake” and “burial” on Oct. 28.

The tombstone will carry only the winner’s first name and an epitaph written and personalized by Walt Disney Imagineers, inspired by the winner’s interests and hobbies. The winner will also receive a replica of the tombstone.

Some Haunted Mansion purists are concerned, Baham noted, that the added tombstone could debunk the ride’s mythology that it is home to 999 happy haunts with room for one more.

Disneyland officials appeared sensitive to the issue and have deemed that the high bidder will be only an “honorary” ghost.