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

[Tom Morrow]

If you saw the movie, he is not just another haunt. He is the one keeping the other 999 there. He follows his own rules.

Ergo, the placement is fine.

It's okay that it disrupts the pacing and presentation of this historic, 52 year old, world-famous, and well loved ride because a flash in the pan movie nobody will remember in a year said so?

Look, I do get that in the scheme of things it really doesn't matter that much if he appears before or after Leota, or if he draws attention away from the focal point of that area. It just kind of sucks knowing that the fans thought about this more or cared more than the alleged creative visionaries (how Disney presents them to us, at least) who made it happen.

 

[marni1971]

It actually feels like WDW management is taking a page out of Disneyland's book and actually plussing existing attractions.

Things can be plussed badly as well as plussed well. But then it wouldn’t be plussing.

Would it be minussing ??

 

[marni1971]

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Things can be plussed badly as well as plussed well. But then it wouldn’t be plussing.

Would it be minussing ??

WDW's mansion has definitely experienced some minussing through the years. This attempt is but another, additional subtraction.

 

[celluloid]

Things can be plussed badly as well as plussed well. But then it wouldn’t be plussing.

Would it be minussing ??

Like adding a negative number.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Has WDI added something above the figure in this scene? Or was it there previously?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Needing supplemental materials is a failure.

The story explains/informs the attraction.

Strict rules and imagination seem to be at odds.

It's okay that it disrupts the pacing and presentation of this historic, 52 year old, world-famous, and well loved ride because a flash in the pan movie nobody will remember in a year said so?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The story explains/informs the attraction.

Strict rules and imagination seem to be at odds.

Sounds like something our resident troll Phil would say to justify his lunatic ideas. You also OK with putting a figure of Buzz Lightyear in the mansion? Or Tony Stark and Black Widow? Those two are even dead, so some crazy person would probably argue they fit...

Even creativity requires some level of regulation, logic and and structure. Otherwise you end up with a stupid nonsensical mess like this.

 

[zipadee999]

WDW's mansion has definitely experienced some minussing through the years. This attempt is but another, additional subtraction.

Here’s how I’d break it down:

New portrait gallery (plus)
Escher staircase (plus)
Changing of hallway ambience (minus)
Floating Leota (plus)
New attic (minus)
Updated hitchhiking ghost animatronics (plus)
Updated mirror effect (minus)
Operations (jam packed pre-shows - minus)
Hatbox ghost (neutral - figure is plus but impact on overall scene is minus)

Overall, four plusses and four minuses, although some of the minuses are stronger than others, like the changes to the attic and hitchhikers. It does seem though that roughly for every plus there is a minus that cancels it, and vice versa.

At least we still have the DL version as a better representation of the classic experience, although we only get to enjoy that 7.5 months of the year

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Things can be plussed badly as well as plussed well. But then it wouldn’t be plussing.

Would it be minussing ??

They certainly minussed Pirates when they removed all the figures and effects in the Treasure Room and replaced them with Jack Sparrow.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Sounds like something our resident troll Phil would say to justify his lunatic ideas. You also OK with putting a figure of Buzz Lightyear in the mansion? Or Tony Stark and Black Widow? Those two are even dead, so some crazy person would probably argue they fit...

Even creativity requires some level of regulation, logic and and structure. Otherwise you end up with a stupid nonsensical mess like this.

I guess you thought an irrelevant rant was logical and structural to this discussion.

Sorry for your waste of time.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

They certainly minussed Pirates when they removed all the figures and effects in the Treasure Room and replaced them with Jack Sparrow.

And WDW's Pirates was already a minus from the very beginning.

The only good addition any version of POTC has EVER gotten IMO (outside of upgrading a couple of the AA's to A100 models) were the scent machines. Not sure when they added them, think it was a fairly recent addition like within the past decade (unless they actually were there prior but were turned off for a long time).

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Here’s how I’d break it down:

New portrait gallery (plus)
Escher staircase (plus)
Changing of hallway ambience (minus)
Floating Leota (plus)
New attic (minus)
Updated hitchhiking ghost animatronics (plus)
Updated mirror effect (minus)
Operations (jam packed pre-shows - minus)
Hatbox ghost (neutral - figure is plus but impact on overall scene is minus)

Overall, four plusses and four minuses, although some of the minuses are stronger than others, like the changes to the attic and hitchhikers. It does seem though that roughly for every plus there is a minus that cancels it, and vice versa.

At least we still have the DL version as a better representation of the classic experience, although we only get to enjoy that 7.5 months of the year

Here's my take:

New portrait gallery (neutral)
Escher staircase (plus)
Changing of hallway ambiance (neutral)
Floating Leota (minus)
New attic (minus)
Updated hitchhiking ghost animatronics (neutral)
Updated mirror effect (minus)
Operations (jam packed pre-shows - minus)
Hatbox ghost (minus)
Interactive queue. (minus)

 

[lazyboy97o]

The story explains/informs the attraction.

No, it doesn’t. It is just based on it. There are two movies with two very different stories. Either way, if you need supplemental material then you’ve failed to communicate the story you’re telling in the moment.

 

[VicariousCorpse]

Has WDI added something above the figure in this scene? Or was it there previously?

The weird shelf was added with the figure. My guess is that they were trying to hide the shadows the mechanics in his back were causing.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

The weird shelf was added with the figure. My guess is that they were trying to hide the shadows the mechanics in his back were causing.

Noticed it wasn't in the concept art. I suspect you're right. I brought it up because it seems like that /shelf/ could be used to greater effect had it been illuminated, not only to reinforce whatever narrative they're going for using props, etc. but to also visually break-up the sea of blurple wallpaper. Doing so would make the ceiling appear lower, subsequently suppressing any quibbles about Hatty's overall height in relation to the wall behind him. But, perhaps the intent was to hide other things, so in the shadows, it hides as well.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Does anyone know if they removed the mechanism for the original Hitchhiking Ghost effect at the end of the ride or if it's just sitting back there unused?

 

[MrPromey]

Does anyone know if they removed the mechanism for the original Hitchhiking Ghost effect at the end of the ride or if it's just sitting back there unused?

Unless they were salvaging hardware or needed the space, chances are good most of it is still there.

They don't have a history of doing any more behind-the-scenes work than they have to unless there is benefit. Those figures might have been removed for the archive or an auction but I'd bet that unless the price for the scrap metal was worth it or they had another place to use the remaining hardware, it's probably still there.

 

[zipadee999]

Here's my take:

New portrait gallery (neutral)
Escher staircase (plus)
Changing of hallway ambiance (neutral)
Floating Leota (minus)
New attic (minus)
Updated hitchhiking ghost animatronics (neutral)
Updated mirror effect (minus)
Operations (jam packed pre-shows - minus)
Hatbox ghost (minus)
Interactive queue. (minus)

That’s a good take, I forgot about the interactive queue, that’s definitely a minus IMO. I can see why someone wouldn’t like floating Leota. I’ve gone back and forth on it myself. There was something cool about a stationary head on a table that was shifting and tilting while the objects floated around the room. With Leota floating too, she just looks like one of the random objects that are also floating. As for the hallway ambience, I think they just turned down some of the scarier noises and changed the lighting to make it look for like Disneyland’s. That might not necessarily be a bad thing but just comes down to personal preference

 

[celluloid]

The removal of pop ups and the doors in the hallway were certainly a minus.