Haunted Mansion Christmas Overlay Dates?

Professortango1

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
TROR said:
There is no Halloween version. There’s the regular Haunted Mansion and there’s the Christmas version. The Christmas versions runs during Halloween, but it is not a Halloween version. They’re celebrating Christmas. It’s a Christmas overlay.
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It screams Halloween to me. That's why we all go visit during Halloweentime to ride it.
 
SuddenStorm

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
I absolutely despise the "Haunted Mansion Holiday is done well" argument.

The real Haunted Mansion is so well done, of course the overlay is going to be 'good'. Of course, the over abundance of decorations, excessive lighting that destroys the feel of the corridor of doors, and weird version of 'What's this' that blasts throughout the graveyard all severely detract from the Mansion in my opinion.

The original relied on illusions, experiential storytelling, and visual gags to create a quality experience. HMH relies on a "More = Better" approach that detracts from the original experience.

It's also why Hyperspace Mountain is popular. Space Mountain is such an amazing ride, of course a few projections, cardboard cutouts, and new score will be fun. But as a Space roller coaster, it's trash- especially since many of the added effects illuminate the track killing the illusion, and the hyperspace sequence isn't at all convincing- and as a Star Wars coaster, it's also trash. It's literally the worst of both worlds.

The only overlay I think could be argued is better than the original is small world holiday, since the themes of Christmas do really well with the art style and message of the original attraction. The Christmas decorations are tastefully implemented to enhance and bring out the nuances of the small world ride and facade, instead of trying to be garish and overbearing like HMH. I still prefer the original, but small world holiday is a nice treat to get to experience whenever I'm down there for Christmas.
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
I think classic HM is also incredibly overrated, or perhaps misunderstood? People praise the special effects and great storytelling, which is ludicrous. It's a lot of weird low-tech chintzy slapped-together stuff. Even the dining room scene to me is pretty cheesy, with obvious mannequin "ghosts", ghostly fruit and those guys in the painting with guns illuminating red on the end like children's toys.

That being said, it all just sort of comes together in a perfectly bizarre way. Even later additions such as the woman in the attic and the Hat Box Ghost work. Constance looks and sounds so ridiculous and the HBG is just such a frankly dumb idea to begin with, that they fit right in with the rest of the irreverence.


But I don't want people to acknowledge all that, but rather that HMH is a lame overlay from precisely the era that produced all the stuff people despise such as the 1998 Tomorrowland with Rocket Rods, 2001 DCA with Superstar Limo, Winnie the Pooh ride in DL, etc. It's not high quality. It doesn't even reflect the tone or feel of the movie, which I've seen. It's a precursor to GOTG:MB and other cheap overlays you all claim to despise. It's no different.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
George Lucas on a Bench said:
Well.

Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I've been saying for years that The HM is just a festival of chintz. It's what makes it so charming. Everything is so low-tech and generally unimpressive. A lot of it seems to be falling apart and held together with duct tape. I feel it's only a matter of time before someone decides that automatic door knockers, wobbling gravestones and a misty wall projection just don't cut it. We're lucky it's survived as long as it has in its present state. I do think that if you were to time warp say 50 years into the future, HM would be significantly altered.
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But those automatic door knockers are far more effective than the 4K Tv screens they put up in GOTG:MB just a couple years ago.
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
George Lucas on a Bench said:
But I don't want people to acknowledge all that, but rather that HMH is a lame overlay from precisely the era that produced all the stuff people despise such as the 1998 Tomorrowland with Rocket Rods, 2001 DCA with Superstar Limo, Winnie the Pooh ride in DL, etc. It's not high quality. It doesn't even reflect the tone or feel of the movie, which I've seen.
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This. So much of this. I went on it once and thought it was complete trash. I'm not the biggest fan of HM, but the overlay just cheapened it horribly.
 
THE 1HAPPY HAUNT

THE 1HAPPY HAUNT

Well-Known Member
SuddenStorm said:
I absolutely despise the "Haunted Mansion Holiday is done well" argument.

The real Haunted Mansion is so well done, of course the overlay is going to be 'good'. Of course, the over abundance of decorations, excessive lighting that destroys the feel of the corridor of doors, and weird version of 'What's this' that blasts throughout the graveyard all severely detract from the Mansion in my opinion.

The original relied on illusions, experiential storytelling, and visual gags to create a quality experience. HMH relies on a "More = Better" approach that detracts from the original experience.

It's also why Hyperspace Mountain is popular. Space Mountain is such an amazing ride, of course a few projections, cardboard cutouts, and new score will be fun. But as a Space roller coaster, it's trash- especially since many of the added effects illuminate the track killing the illusion, and the hyperspace sequence isn't at all convincing- and as a Star Wars coaster, it's also trash. It's literally the worst of both worlds.

The only overlay I think could be argued is better than the original is small world holiday, since the themes of Christmas do really well with the art style and message of the original attraction. The Christmas decorations are tastefully implemented to enhance and bring out the nuances of the small world ride and facade, instead of trying to be garish and overbearing like HMH. I still prefer the original, but small world holiday is a nice treat to get to experience whenever I'm down there for Christmas.
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THIS^^^^ 110% AGREE WITH
 

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