News Hatbox Ghost coming to Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion

[Tom Morrow]

This is the kind of change that 10 years from now nobody will complain about. They added an AA. Big whoop. It doesn’t ruin the ride, even if it doesn’t make it much better. Not worth battering the same points again and again

I wouldn't be so sure, it's been 12 years and we're still complaining about the CGI hitchhiking ghost effect!

Also for what it's worth, this doesn't seem to be a complaint isolated to mega fans like us. On every social media post I've seen about this, most of the comments were complaining about the placement.

 

[celluloid]

This is the kind of change that 10 years from now nobody will complain about. They added an AA. Big whoop. It doesn’t ruin the ride, even if it doesn’t make it much better. Not worth battering the same points again and again

Interactive queue.
Augmented reality hitchhiking ghosts.
Things declining by degrees and the company caring less about it is something people are quite used to at WDW since about 2008.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

When standards are this low on a supposed “fan site”, no wonder Disney and WDI have completely stopped caring.

There's being a fan and having standards, and then there's inane nitpicking and caring to a obsessive degree.

I think a lot of people have realized that it really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of the attraction, but many others are looking for issues where they just don't exist or are just very inconsequential. It's an animatronic added to a ride. Haunted Mansion never had a linear storyline.

There's so much more going on both outside and in WDW, go outside, touch grass.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

“It really doesn’t matter.”

- WDI 2023 Motto

Sorry but nobody is canceling their vacation because the “storytelling” of the Haunted Mansion is ruined by one animatronic. I’m critical of Imagineering recently too but this is the bottom of the barrel for obsessive nitpicking.

 

[celluloid]

There's being a fan and having standards, and then there's inane nitpicking and caring to a obsessive degree.

I think a lot of people have realized that it really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of the attraction, but many others are looking for issues where they just don't exist or are just very inconsequential. It's an animatronic added to a ride. Haunted Mansion never had a linear storyline.

There's so much more going on both outside and in WDW, go outside, touch grass.

How is it nitpicking?

What other fully visible to that near halfway point of the attraction prior to this?

Its valid. You don't have to care. But it is a valid critique that it broke the standard. First time something did this in over 50 years. No one is acting like it is their lives, but in the relative fandom. That is a big deal. It can be a big deal relatively without being life or death.

I think a bigger concern is the biggest counterpoint is "No one will care in ten years."

Tells you all you need to know about the direction.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

Sorry but nobody is canceling their vacation because the “storytelling” of the Haunted Mansion is ruined by one animatronic. I’m critical of Imagineering recently too but this is the bottom of the barrel for obsessive nitpicking.

Got it. So the standard for quality, theming, and immersion is now “doesn’t make somebody cancel their vacation”.

What a North Star goal for lmagineering!

WDI Intern: “Should we put a red, white, and blue Tilt A Whirl in the middle of Liberty Square?”

WDI VP: “Why not?! Nobody is going to cancel their vacation because it’s there and it will make the kids go “Wheeeeeee!” Great idea!”

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Got it. So the standard for quality, theming, and immersion is now “doesn’t make somebody cancel their vacation”.

What a North Star goal for lmagineering!

WDI Intern: “Should we put a red, white, and blue Tilt A Whirl in the middle of Liberty Square?”

WDI VP: “Why not?! Nobody is going to cancel their vacation because it’s there and it will make the kids go “Wheeeeeee!” Great idea!”

This is a pretty poor comparison.

Edit: For clarification, in no way shape or form is the Hatbox Ghost being placed in HM a direct comparison in terms of breaking “quality, theming, and immersion” as the example provided, and it really doesn’t even come close. Tiana in Frontierland, Guardians in Epcot, Zootopia in AK, and Frozen in Norway all break thematic integrity. The Hatbox Ghost in the hallway doesn’t. Sure I wish he was somewhere else too, but the placement really doesn’t make the attraction worse.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

This is a pretty poor comparison.

Edit: For clarification, in no way shape or form is the Hatbox Ghost being placed in HM a direct comparison in terms of breaking “quality, theming, and immersion” as the example provided, and it really doesn’t even come close. Tiana in Frontierland, Guardians in Epcot, Zootopia in AK, and Frozen in Norway all break thematic integrity. The Hatbox Ghost in the hallway doesn’t. Sure I wish he was somewhere else too, but the placement really doesn’t make the attraction worse.

Well, nobody is going to cancel their vacation over any of those examples!

Just get over them, nitpicker!

 

[WDWYankee15]

Wow, I think we have definitely reached this point in this thread.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I'm just gonna say it - changes like this where they're so blatantly wrong and the correction is so blatantly obvious are what happens when the people making these creative decisions are no longer creative visionaries, but 22 year olds who did a college program and were really good at flirting with their leadership team. This is not hyperbole, this is are large chunk of what is in charge of WDW these days.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Well, nobody is going to cancel their vacation over any of those examples!

Just get over them, nitpicker!

People, in fact, actually do consider not going when attractions they like are replaced. I’ve gone from going once a year to having no plans to go back anytime soon, thanks in part to the major changes I’ve listed. HBG does not swing me either way, for what it’s worth.

 

[UNCgolf]

Sorry but nobody is canceling their vacation because the “storytelling” of the Haunted Mansion is ruined by one animatronic. I’m critical of Imagineering recently too but this is the bottom of the barrel for obsessive nitpicking.

It's an issue regardless of the storytelling because it's not good ride design. They would (at least hopefully) never design a scene like that for a new ride with two major effects competing for attention in a small space; they should each be a focal point of their own scene.

Because of that, I think the placement actually does make the attraction slightly worse, but I'd agree it's not a major disaster or anything. It's not like I wouldn't ride HM because of it; it's just a bit unfortunate that they were unable to put the figure anywhere else.

 

[celluloid]

I'm just gonna say it - changes like this where they're so blatantly wrong and the correction is so blatantly obvious are what happens when the people making these creative decisions are no longer creative visionaries, but 22 year olds who did a college program and were really good at flirting with their leadership team. This is not hyperbole, this is are large chunk of what is in charge of WDW these days.

The mentality is also why we have cloned rollercoasters in the dark already rusting and missing aesthetics, a bland DVC hotel right in the Seven Seas Lagoon portfolio and neglect all over the resort.

 

[TalkingHead]

Guy in the coffin aside, it's not just about the "rule" and story progression of the ride, it's also about the ride's impression on and ability to surprise first-time riders.

Up through Madame Leota, if you're a first time rider, sure, it's neat, but you haven't really seen anything that a small time amusement park haunted house couldn't do. Then BAM - smash cut to the jaw dropping MASSIVE SCALE ballroom scene, loaded with ghost animatronics that actually appear to be both physically in the ballroom AND transparent.

When the ride was new, something like that was unheard of. Even today, if somebody knows nothing about the ride other than it's old and considered a classic, the ballroom scene still has a huge wow factor as it still looks better than most scenes you will see in modern rides. So having a confirmation before this scene that yes, there are full-bodied ghost animatronics in this ride, is a bit of a big spoiler.

Pirates of the Caribbean does the same thing where the drop transitions you from quaint scenes of caves and skeletons to being in the middle of a battle on a shoreline.

The art of showmanship that’s largely been lost at WDI.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

There's being a fan and having standards, and then there's inane nitpicking and caring to a obsessive degree.

The company paid people money to obsess and nitpick over the various details of the scene. Not just the placement of the figures, but the level of lighting, the finishing of his wig, the color temperature of the lighting, how to hide the mechanics etc. There was a team of people dedicated to this project, who took it quite seriously, just like any other.

The company spent over a year of its time to install of figure that they felt was important. That people on a message board can't understand that or think more of it is an indictment on both them and the overall success of the project.

If the end result is "it doesn't make the ride better or worse and no one will care", then that is probably the most damning thing anyone can say about it. I'm sure the company was hoping for more given what they've done in the last year.

 

[JD80]

I'm just gonna say it - changes like this where they're so blatantly wrong and the correction is so blatantly obvious are what happens when the people making these creative decisions are no longer creative visionaries, but 22 year olds who did a college program and were really good at flirting with their leadership team. This is not hyperbole, this is are large chunk of what is in charge of WDW these days.

Might want to back off the ledge there buddy.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Might want to back off the ledge there buddy.

It's true though. I know it sucks to hear. I know we want to envision Disney leaders and Imagineers as a bunch of Joe Rohde types or (insert Disney legend here), but they aint anymore.

 

[celluloid]

It's true though. I know it sucks to hear. I know we want to envision Disney leaders and Imagineers as a bunch of Joe Rohde types or (insert Disney legend here), but they aint anymore.

This. Or at the very least, have them allowed and encouraged to be, which they are not.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

It definitely seems worth reminding people that much of the team involved in creating the WDW Hatbox Ghost is made up of the same people who were celebrated for his return at Disneyland.

There's more at play here than "kids these days just don't know how to Imagineer". I would think adults with sense would know that.

 

[celluloid]

It definitely seems worth reminding people that much of the team involved in creating the WDW Hatbox Ghost is made up of the same people who were celebrated for his return at Disneyland.

There's more at play here than "kids these days just don't know how to Imagineer". I would think adults with sense would know that.

A project does not have to recieve equal praise as the last one.
You can appreciate the tech and know the teams probably did the best they could under the circumstances while knowing the executive level did not do it right.