Haunted Mansion Exapnsion

[JoeCool]

Before anyone yells me, this is just an idea. The expansion would add to the Mansion and nothing would be removed! As most of you know, the main building for the HM is one the other side of the Disneyland Railroad. The stretch room takes you below the ground and over/under the railroad. If it were possible and the building could be expanded, it would be great to add to the Haunted Mansion.....I would probably add a room where the ghosts and goblins are playfully reading in a library where books are flying around and where a few ghosts are involved in a game of poker on a card table.....Perhaps a little tour of the Mansion kitchen with ghosts abound.....
how would you expand the Mansion if you could.

[Mickey's Friend]

It's a great idea to expand the Haunted Mansion. I would probably add any room that is not in the ride right now that would be in a mansion. (i.e. kitchen, bathroom, cellar, game room, and library.)

[TreoFred]

I believe the poker playing (and cheating!) ghosts are in the Disneyland Paris Phantom Manor. I haven't been on it in a very long time but I remember the effect being nice: cards floating in mid air, playing on their own, then the ghosts would materialize playing the cards, one would be cheating, another one fires a gun and then they disappear again... The whole thing was in a saloon setting... It looked really neat and I think it would be cool to see it hear, minus the far west theme. I also believe that the library is a part of the WDW MK Phantom Manor: the statues that look at you and follow you accross the room (the ones we have downstairs, right before we embark in our Doom Buggy) are in there and you see some books move on their own and stuff.

Of course, HM is still such a great ride: is it the one that needs updates the most right now?

[JoeCool]

I should thought HM updates might be a good conversation/chat topic.....with all the rumors that updates with Pirates...

[Disneylandrocks55]

After the ball Room scene, right before the attick *sp* scene would be a nice place to tear down a wall and add a room. Adding a kitchen would be great! There could be knifes,utinsils, pots and pans floating around the room...A ghost opening/ closing the fridge as sooky glowing fog comes pooring out every time he opens it. Everything would be a mess, (the ghosts arn't very good cooks). As the doom buggy passes by the stove there could be ordinary empty pots/tea pots sitting on the stove. Then suddenly the pots are full of food and boiling over, and the tea pots starts screatching and blowing out steam... then the next second the pans are empty again.

[JoeCool]

The Kitchen scene that you describe sounds so cool, disneylandrocks 55.

[Disneylandrocks55]

The Kitchen scene that you describe sounds so cool, disneylandrocks 55.

Thanks JoeCool.

[JiminyCricketFan]

More is better!

I would love to see them add a lot more to the HM. When it was built they used every trip they could, really the latest technology to bring the ghosts alive. Now so much more is available to them to make things look unreal. I hope that they sprinkle in a few new tricks and treats to the whole ride.

[GuardianDragon_Mushu]

I don't wish for any room additions, but in the meantime, i'm hoping they re-add the hatbox ghost. I mean, they have the technology to actually pull it off now...the only fact of the matter is figuring out where to put him, since i'm told the bride is in the place he used to be located at, and the phantom piano player is situated where the bride ghost used to hold residence.

[Disneylandrocks55]

Just before you go outside to the grave yard, off to the left would be a good spot. (still inside, in the attick) There's nothing off to the far left near the window.

[lilbigguy]

In the vein of "wouldn't it be cool if..." what about a separate queue that went into the crypt area of the exiting queue, into some sort or catacombs (into a tunnel under the railroad tracks) that brought you into another show building designed to be something like the back part of the mansion, where you would go in through the "servant's entrance" and queue for an entirely different doombuggy track and tour of "the rest of the mansion." I don't remember what kind of space exisits back there between the tram road, but heck, it would be cool if it were do-able.

[Aura of Foreboding]

[Disney Analyst]

I like the kitchen idea, but too add to it! I would have a ghost dumping water down the train, and you get sprayed a little, and it would be cold water, because the ghost is dead of course, cause dead = cold etc...

[Flint]

I would love to see them add a lot more to the HM. When it was built they used every trip they could, really the latest technology to bring the ghosts alive. Now so much more is available to them to make things look unreal. I hope that they sprinkle in a few new tricks and treats to the whole ride.

Wasn't the problem with the hatbox ghost that they couldn't get the area dark enough to pull the effect off correctly?

If that is the case, how about if they redirected the track at the "spooky trees" segment so that it goes under the "attic" room onto a "driveway" or "road" segment, where they would pass by the hatbox ghost. The track would then head back to the scared watchman and the dog and go into the graveyard from there.

Thoughts?

[Tomorrowland Tourist]

There have been suggestions by fans to turn it into a grand library or to add a grand staircase (like in DLP's Phantom Manor). Imagineers have played with the idea of turning the black wall into a large window showing the decaying landscape surrounding the Mansion.

I love the idea of being able to see the barren landscape around the Mansion, but the staircase in Phantom Manor looked very nice as well. Having something in that area would really add a lot to the already great atmosphere of that ride.

Plus, would someone mind telling me what the hatbox ghost was? I don't recall that effect.

[Aura of Foreboding]

The Hatbox Ghost

Plus, would someone mind telling me what the hatbox ghost was? I don't recall that effect.

The Hatbox Ghost was an AA that was intended to be the Bride's groom. It was intended to stand near the attic's exit, leaning on a cane and holding a hatbox. His head would disappear from his shoulders and reappear in the hatbox. The effect would be accomplished with "blacklight". It was removed by the Mansion's opening day, because the effect wasn't as convincing as Imagineers had hoped, due to the lighting.

EDIT:
"With every beat of his bride's heart... his head disappeared from his body and reappeared in the hatbox."--- Thurl Ravenscroft: The Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

The way the Mansion is set up, another room would be extremely difficult to fit. Ideas are always nice though and something to play with. But logically, if there were to be added rooms in the Mansion, a major refurb would be needed.

You are being so practical and serious about this.... which is great but, THE MANSION IS NOT EXPANDING any time in our lifetimes people.

Despite it's age, it is still one of the most popular ('people-eating' aka 'crowd-consuming') attractions in the Disney parks.

There are many other E tickets that are stale and need an upgrade. Even if Oriental Land Company ran Disney, I cant see the expense justified.

But carry on, I like people to use their imagination so long as no one is deluded into thinking the Haunted Mansion is being looked at for a major expansion. It's a long ride already!

[disneylandian192]

Re: Haunted Mansion Exapnsion

I def. like the idea of expanding the queue. But all this talk about adding a Kitchen. hmm. The coolest thing about the Mansion is that everywhere you look, there is no hint of any Modern Convenience. it is all Wicked Old stuff and candles, everywhere.(Some floating!) Well, wouldnt a Kitchen kind of ruin that? With like a Stove and a Fridge, it would really detract from the ambiance that the Imagineers worked so hard to create in the rest of the ride.

[Datameister]

Re: Haunted Mansion Exapnsion

The refrigerator idea wouldn't work, because this is a mid-19th-century antebellum mansion without modern furnishings. But a stove is certainly possible. There could still be a kitchen, though; mansions of course had kitchens at this time.

If nothing currently in the ride were significantly altered (except perhaps the limbo area), I'd be fine with adding in new sections of the ride. But the Imagineers would have to be extremely careful to maintain the mood and feel of the ride. It couldn't feel like an all-new addition to the mansion. It would have to feel like an area that was there all along, and now the tour has been extended to include it.

I like the kitchen idea, but perhaps adding WDW's library and piano parlor is a better idea. Practically, those couldn't fit into the ride, though.

[ZOOMBOOM0688]

Re: Haunted Mansion Exapnsion

I would love to see something at the begining were we first get into the Doom buggies because it is plain and a grand staircase would be cool.