Phantom Manor Fleming, it was decided that the story related to Phantom Manor would have to be congruent with that of Thunder Mesa, the fictional town portrayed in Frontierland. A similar treatment was given to the Paris version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. A major influence for the story of the ride was Gaston Leroux's novel, "The Phantom of the Opera", the secondary plot focusing on the abandoned bride Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, as well as many European gothic legends, which were altered for a Western setting. The architectural style is Victorian Second Empire, and the Manor bears a
Dickens in America us that Dickens got a few facts wrong. Most of the factory girls did not have a piano or use the public libraries. Miriam attends a Dickens barbeque, led by Bob Googins, Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut. Miriam entertains the picnickers with a bit of Sairey Gamp. Bob teaches a course titled, “Dickens and the Law.” He explains how he tries to teach that Dickens used the novel as an instrument of social change. Bob also informs Miriam about the “Rule of 50,” which explains what happens in the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. Miriam visits the Supreme