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Attractions Destinations News Theme Parks

Hatbox Ghost Returns to Disneyland

Hatbox Ghost Returns to Disneyland

In an April 10th, 2015 press release Disney Parks Blog announced that a long-lost member of the 999 happy haunts at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion would be reappearing this spring – the Hatbox Ghost!

The “Hatbox Ghost” was an original member of the Haunted Mansion’s grim grinning ghosts when the attraction opened in 1969. Appearing in the attic scene near the Bride, he was dressed in a cloak and top hat and held a hatbox in his hand. As the Bride’s heart beat, the Hatbox Ghost’s head would disappear from his shoulders and reappear in the hatbox.

The Hatbox Ghost was removed shortly after the mansion’s opening due to issues with the effect. The illusion of his head changing locations relied solely on lighting effects, and because of its proximity to the Doom Buggies, guests could see the two locations of the head even when one was supposed to have disappeared.

Disney Imagineer Yale Gracey Posing with the Hatbox Ghost

With advancements in technology, Disney is now ready to give this ghost a second chance at (after)life in May 2015. There have not yet been pictures released of the new figure or details on whether the effect will be practical or digital in nature.

All fans can do is speculate while we count down the days until the Hatbox Ghost’s reappearance!

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Attractions Destinations Theme Parks

Disney’s ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

Disney’s ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

Disney theme parks are not usually known for attractions that terrify guests. One of the greatest exceptions to this is Disney’s ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (often referred to as just “Alien Encounter”). From June 20th, 1995 – October 12th, 2003 this scary theater in the round style show frightened audiences with the scariest alien Disney has ever designed.

No, not this Guy. Poor Skippy.

This attraction took guests into X-S Tech (yes, the name is a bit of a pun and helps to set a mood of dark humor) where the founder of the company was ready to demonstrate a new form of technology to help intergalactic travel. His opening spiel included many lines of dry humor, my favorite being, “Profit is just a by-product we’ve learned to live with”.

The second pre-show area featured a robot known as Simulated Intelligence Robotics or “SIR” – voiced by Tim Curry – who showed how the teleportation technology worked by transporting poor Skippy (the cute alien pictured above) from one side of the room to the other – with only minimal side-effects (Skippy was pretty singed after his trip). Then SIR showed how the technology can indefinitely suspend subjects in teleportation. The audience heard one last cry from poor Skippy before being herded to the main show area.

Photo From Disney Marketing Pamphlets

The main show area was theater in the round style, with a large “teleportation tube” in the center of the room. Guests would sit in chairs with shoulder restraints (used during the attraction to imply that the alien was climbing over the audience, create intimate directional sounds of the alien breathing, and have the alien “taste” guests’ hair).

When the director of X-S tried to teleport into the theater, a slight error occurred, causing a horrific alien beast to arrive instead. The alien inevitably escaped, ran rampant through the theater, and guests barely made it out alive from their encounter. All the while darkly humorous dialogue from both the X-S staff and “other guests” were heard. Some memorable lines include, “Don’t eat me, eat that guy!” followed by a loud crunch. Or when the alien first appeared, “It’s ugly”, “It’s horrible”, “It’s my mother in law!”

The experience was one of the most immersive and clever in Walt Disney World, but its cult following was not enough to keep Disney from closing the attraction due to its excessively scary nature. In November 2004 the attraction was toned down and re-themed to become Stitch’s Great Escape, a horrible assault on the memory of this once great attraction.

We can no longer experience the magic of this show, however we can still reminisce while watching videos on Youtube. Here is a full walk-through of the show:

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Movies Music

Silly Symphony – The Skeleton Dance

Silly Symphony – The Skeleton Dance

From 1929 to 1939, Walt Disney Productions created 75 animated short films in a series called, Silly Symphony. These short animated scenes featured instrumental music and unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts, these cartoons usually did not feature our beloved mouse or the usual Disney characters (although 1934’s “The Wise Little Hen” Silly Symphony was Donald Duck’s first appearance).

The very first of these Silly Symphonies was The Skeleton Dance. It is a dark dance macabre where skeletons and other spooky creatures dance to a minor key foxtrot. As a child (and still today as an adult) this cartoon struck me as a perfect blend of spookiness and fun. It is a wonderful example of how horror imagery can be used for family entertainment – each animated figure is rooted in macabre but the dancing and physical comedy keep the mood light.

Here is the short to view if you dare:

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Attractions Destinations Theme Parks

WDW Haunted Mansion Interactive Queue

WDW Haunted Mansion Interactive Queue

Even for an avid horror fan like myself, one cannot help but love the magic of the “Happiest Place on Earth”, Walt Disney World.  Every inch of the Florida resort is designed to make guests feel like they are transported to a fantasy world filled with castles, mythical creatures, movie magic, and a few playful spooks.

In addition to the fantastic animatronics and illusions, this attraction has a myriad of little devilish details for those who care to pay attention (for example, I love the woodwork that looks like monstrous little faces in the Doom Buggy loading area). A horror fan could spend hours taking in all that this attraction has to offer – and do not even get me started on the rich backstories and legends that have arisen about the specific ghosts, as we would be here all night. For this article, we are going to look at the playful Haunted Mansion interactive queue that was added in 2011.

 

Disney has devised a new way to encourage families to interact with one another while furthering the theming of the ride – a ghoulish new graveyard with plenty of games and surprises to keep guests entertained for their 15-20 minute wait (pro tip – if the line is longer than that, come back later in the day).

The first area contains five busts of a peculiar family whose members all met with unfortunate demises. Guests must read the accompanying plaques to guess who murdered who.

From there guests walk through the graveyard and can play around crypts of some of The Haunted Mansion’s  more memorable denizens. A composer’s crypt (though I suppose he mostly decomposes now) has a musical wall where ghostly instruments play a rendition of “Grim Grinning Ghosts”. Guests can touch the various etchings on the tomb and whichever instrument is touched will carry on the tune.

Among a few unconventional instruments, guests can also see the one-eyed cat, an early concept for an evil resident of the mansion. Although the cat was cut from the final ride, it is now part of the outer graveyard – and part of the ghostly musical revue.

Around the next bend in the line is the crypt of poet Prudence Pock. Residing inside the crypt is a glowing book where Prudence’s poetry continues to proliferate. Guests are welcome to shout out the missing rhymes to help Prudence finish her work.

One of my personal favorites among the new additions is the grave of Captain Culpepper Clyne.

Here floats Captain Culpepper Clyne. Allergic to dirt so he’s pickled in brine. He braved the sea and all her wrath but drowned on land while taking a bath

Occasionally guests will hear the sea captain gag and water will spray from the grave – a much welcome way to cool down in the Florida heat. One cannot help but love the details on this piece, especially the  creepy staring fish.

 

Of course, there is also a slew of the classic morbidly amusing gravestones that have remained from the original queue.

Also preserved is the original gravestone for Madame Leota. This was the only animated gravestone in the original queue set-up. Once every minute or so, the eyes on the bust will change to ghostly eyeballs and look back and forth at the crowd for a few seconds. If you are not paying close attention, you can miss it completely, and with the quickness of the line, you rarely get to see it occur more than once while waiting. It is hilarious to watch unknowing guests comment that they thought they saw the gravestone move, while the rest of their party assures them that it is just a normal stone.

New technology and creative minds ensure that Walt Disney World – and all Disney theme parks – will forever be changing and becoming more immersive. The Haunted Mansion interactive queue is a perfect introduction for the creepy fun that lies ahead.

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