Hello everyone! I'm not really a social butterfly on these forums so I guess I'll start here by sharing some of my ideas with you all! Before I begin I'd like to give myself a little introduction here.
I am an aspiring drama teacher, actor, and singer who has always had a passion for Disney theme parks. When I was little my parents would always take me to Disneyland every other week where I would have a blast, visit all of my favorite Disney characters, and be able to close my eyes on all of the scary rides, lol. Back in the day my favorite attraction was the Country Bear Playhouse, but now I have moved the bears over in favor of my current favorite attraction: the Haunted Mansion.
I really don't know why it's my favorite attraction. It always scared the crud out of me when I was little, especially during Haunted Mansion Holiday when my phobia at the time (Scary Teddy) popped up all over the place. I have long since gotten over that phobia and now the creaking floors and doors of the mansion have found a place in my heart. On my most recent trip to the park (This past Wednesday, my birthday) I even wore my vintage Haunted Mansion poster t-shirt all day. Anyhow enough about my unnatural obsession with the manor...Anyways the last ride of the day I rode Haunted Mansion Holiday simply because I think the effect of it works much better at night then it does in the day. I was getting pretty excited up until I stepped into the loading area. You could see almost everything you wouldn't usually find in a haunted house. The floor, the exit signs, the air conditioner vents, the walls, the control panels, everything. And I thought, "Wow this is a bit odd." I don't know if it's because of all the black lights in the big Scary Christmas postcard but still. Things got even worse for me in the Seance Circle. First of all you could see all the strings holding up the floating tarot cards, plus their shadows being reflected upon the walls. Moving on to the Grand Hall I didn't see too many problems, save for the fact the organist's hat was falling off. (His stove pipe top hat was only hanging on by a hair on the back of his head, it looked kind of funny to tell you the truth.) And then in the attic you could see the track the doom buggies are running on, plus the scuffed up garage thing to your left as soon as you enter the attic. The graveyard was suffering a lot as number one, you could see the ceiling in full sight, plus the glow in the dark star stickers pasted to it, and you could see the screen (Or scrim, I'm not sure) keeping the ghosts away from you and your doom buggy. Also a lot of the animatronics were moving really slowly and incorrectly, the king and queen weren't even moving up and down on the seesaw, they were just stationary along with their daughter who wasn't swinging back in forth from the tree. The pop up ghosts are visible from behind their grave and can easily be seen before they jump out at you. I was scared by one ghost however, the one that hides behind the stone coffin in front of the queen and king. It was a hag-ish one and it really surprised me since it jumped up fast and I had no idea it even existed. Also when the other banshees popped up you could see the metal pole they're attached to plus the little hole in the ground they retract back into. The exit ramp back into the real world wasn't working (You had to walk up it without it moving for you) and the hidden pet cemetary was overgrown with weeds but I don't think that really matters since a good portion of the public don't even see it to begin with.
I love the Haunted Mansion dearly and I really don't want to see it close down (Knock on wood that it doesn't close down) and I really don't want to see it lose its magic in the coming years. I know the Haunted Mansion Holiday has a much brighter color scheme and lighting pattern than the usual mansion but you can still catch several of the things I noticed in its regular form as well.
So this got me thinking of how one can make the mansion better and more magical (Or should I say "Creepier") for the public. I am veteran of Imagineering over on the Visions Fantastic website and I decided why don't I take a break over at MiceChat and introduce something I like to call the open brainstorming thread.
What this kind of thread is, is a bunch of people come together and share ideas on how they can create something new, or improve something old or current. This means that anyone and everyone can come in and share their ideas with the rest of the MiceChat world! This thread as you can already tell is about improving the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland, so open up and share your ideas, come on don't be shy!
I am an aspiring drama teacher, actor, and singer who has always had a passion for Disney theme parks. When I was little my parents would always take me to Disneyland every other week where I would have a blast, visit all of my favorite Disney characters, and be able to close my eyes on all of the scary rides, lol. Back in the day my favorite attraction was the Country Bear Playhouse, but now I have moved the bears over in favor of my current favorite attraction: the Haunted Mansion.
I really don't know why it's my favorite attraction. It always scared the crud out of me when I was little, especially during Haunted Mansion Holiday when my phobia at the time (Scary Teddy) popped up all over the place. I have long since gotten over that phobia and now the creaking floors and doors of the mansion have found a place in my heart. On my most recent trip to the park (This past Wednesday, my birthday) I even wore my vintage Haunted Mansion poster t-shirt all day. Anyhow enough about my unnatural obsession with the manor...Anyways the last ride of the day I rode Haunted Mansion Holiday simply because I think the effect of it works much better at night then it does in the day. I was getting pretty excited up until I stepped into the loading area. You could see almost everything you wouldn't usually find in a haunted house. The floor, the exit signs, the air conditioner vents, the walls, the control panels, everything. And I thought, "Wow this is a bit odd." I don't know if it's because of all the black lights in the big Scary Christmas postcard but still. Things got even worse for me in the Seance Circle. First of all you could see all the strings holding up the floating tarot cards, plus their shadows being reflected upon the walls. Moving on to the Grand Hall I didn't see too many problems, save for the fact the organist's hat was falling off. (His stove pipe top hat was only hanging on by a hair on the back of his head, it looked kind of funny to tell you the truth.) And then in the attic you could see the track the doom buggies are running on, plus the scuffed up garage thing to your left as soon as you enter the attic. The graveyard was suffering a lot as number one, you could see the ceiling in full sight, plus the glow in the dark star stickers pasted to it, and you could see the screen (Or scrim, I'm not sure) keeping the ghosts away from you and your doom buggy. Also a lot of the animatronics were moving really slowly and incorrectly, the king and queen weren't even moving up and down on the seesaw, they were just stationary along with their daughter who wasn't swinging back in forth from the tree. The pop up ghosts are visible from behind their grave and can easily be seen before they jump out at you. I was scared by one ghost however, the one that hides behind the stone coffin in front of the queen and king. It was a hag-ish one and it really surprised me since it jumped up fast and I had no idea it even existed. Also when the other banshees popped up you could see the metal pole they're attached to plus the little hole in the ground they retract back into. The exit ramp back into the real world wasn't working (You had to walk up it without it moving for you) and the hidden pet cemetary was overgrown with weeds but I don't think that really matters since a good portion of the public don't even see it to begin with.
I love the Haunted Mansion dearly and I really don't want to see it close down (Knock on wood that it doesn't close down) and I really don't want to see it lose its magic in the coming years. I know the Haunted Mansion Holiday has a much brighter color scheme and lighting pattern than the usual mansion but you can still catch several of the things I noticed in its regular form as well.
So this got me thinking of how one can make the mansion better and more magical (Or should I say "Creepier") for the public. I am veteran of Imagineering over on the Visions Fantastic website and I decided why don't I take a break over at MiceChat and introduce something I like to call the open brainstorming thread.
What this kind of thread is, is a bunch of people come together and share ideas on how they can create something new, or improve something old or current. This means that anyone and everyone can come in and share their ideas with the rest of the MiceChat world! This thread as you can already tell is about improving the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland, so open up and share your ideas, come on don't be shy!
Comment