Hatbox Ghost is Disney World?

[MotherOfBirds]

Constance and PPLQ are the worst things about HM these days. Let's hope there's some plussing in the pipeline for the 50th

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I have a feeling that Constance being over the top was meant to be intentional. The two previous brides definitely left a sense of creeping dread that didn't really fit the silliness of the rest of the ride. I liked the contrast but it's possible it just scared too many people.

I know they intended her to be over the top. They even actually made her more overtly violent due to the jokes and hatchet. But she has none of the actual creepiness the original had. Yet her one liners have none of the funny yet threatening charm of the narrator. It also negatively affects the pacing and flow of the ride.

The first half of the ride was originally designed to be slightly more morbid and serious. It did have subtle humor, but mixed in more serious and disturbing elements. This raised the question whether the ghosts are just joking or whether they have more sinister intentions. The attic scene is the culmination of this fear, the humor was dropped entirely and we actually feared we could be in actual danger (didn't need to threaten us, it was fear of the unknown). Right after this scene at the height of our fear, the ride transforms and we see the spirits were just having fun at our expense. But even still, the bride always kept us questioning what her motive and story was, this mystery was great and shouldn't even be answered.

The ride is now skewed to be far more silly throughout and the pacing and balance of the original is ruined. There WERE good additions, the scenes added before the attic were welcome. But the bride, and now the queue and CGI hitchhiking ghosts really messed things up.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

If they muted Constance and made the figure a faceless bride wielding a hatchet I feel like it could be really good scene.

 

[RoysCabin]

I know they intended her to be over the top. They even actually made her more overtly violent due to the jokes and hatchet. But she has none of the actual creepiness the original had. Yet her one liners have none of the funny yet threatening charm of the narrator. It also negatively affects the pacing and flow of the ride.

The first half of the ride was originally designed to be slightly more morbid and serious. It did have subtle humor, but mixed in more serious and disturbing elements. This raised the question whether the ghosts are just joking or whether they have more sinister intentions. The attic scene is the culmination of this fear, the humor was dropped entirely and we actually feared we could be in actual danger (didn't need to threaten us, it was fear of the unknown). Right after this scene at the height of our fear, the ride transforms and we see the spirits were just having fun at our expense. But even still, the bride always kept us questioning what her motive and story was, this mystery was great and shouldn't even be answered.

The ride is now skewed to be far more silly throughout and the pacing and balance of the original is ruined. There WERE good additions, the scenes added before the attic were welcome. But the bride, and now the queue and CGI hitchhiking ghosts really messed things up.

Good point on the tonal structure of the ride, given that different Imagineers worked on each half.

I always took the attic scene as us "jumping out the window" to escape the frights from the first half (as you say, culminating in the bride and/or Hatbox) and landing in the cemetery for the swingin' wake.

 

[Phineas]

I always took the attic scene as us "jumping out the window" to escape the frights from the first half (as you say, culminating in the bride and/or Hatbox) and landing in the cemetery for the swingin' wake.

Or that you were possibly forced out by some unseen entity. Notice that you fall backwards from the attic. Is it the Ghost Host spiriting you away from the bride to safety? Is it the bride herself shunning you, possibly in an attempt to turn you into the 1,000th Happy Haunt, trapping you in the mansion forever? Are we seeing what ended the bride's life and reliving it?

The fact that the events of the entire attraction are so open to interpretation is why I'm so bothered by Constance's current form. It is infinitely more interesting to have a million unanswered questions about these ghosts and what led them there, rather than being told plainly, "Constance bad. Constance killed husbands. Constance still bad even though dead".

 

[Seabasealpha1]

Constance is one of my most despised changes to the parks, along with the CGI Hitchhiking Ghosts and horrendous interactive queue at WDW. Disney can be so tone deaf sometimes.

What's weirder, I have never found anyone who offers praise for Constance, either. The previous versions of the bride with her beating heart were mysterious, sad, and spooky all at once without needing to resort to murder puns.

If I had my way, the queue would be reverted back to the foreboding original, the ghost in the mirror would be a physical prop, and Constance would be replaced with a silent, mournful bride. Maybe one that didn't try to hammer a forced story into your head. And maybe in time for the 50th. And maybe bring Hattie in to bring everything full circle. He's how you update the mansion while staying true to the original.

"I do....I did."
"Heeeere comesss the briiiide..."
puke.

I feel too that the bride story is jammed down our throats...honestly, we know that there's 999 ghosts (or that's what we were told from day 1) and that there's likely 999 stories...I don't see how Constance's story is that important...nor any of them...I'm already in a creepy haunted house/graveyard...let me guess at what happened...

 

[Brer Oswald]

Constance and PPLQ are the worst things about HM these days. Let's hope there's some plussing in the pipeline for the 50th

PPLQ?

 

[Phineas]

I feel too that the bride story is jammed down our throats...honestly, we know that there's 999 ghosts (or that's what we were told from day 1) and that there's likely 999 stories...I don't see how Constance's story is that important...nor any of them...I'm already in a creepy haunted house/graveyard...let me guess at what happened...

Exactly! The bride used to be one of my favorite characters-the oddly somber scene was so mysterious and made your imagination run wild. She's gone from intriguing to tacky and boring.

 

[Phineas]

PPLQ?

It's a slang term for the Interactive queue. Pepe Le Queue. (like Pepe Le Pew-get it?) I believe it was coined in the (beyond excellent) blog, Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion.

Word of warning though: you might find yourself spending entirely too long reading and wonder where your day went.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

It's a slang term for the Interactive queue. Pepe Le Queue. (like Pepe LePew-get it?) I believe it was coined in the (beyond excellent) blog, Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion. [http://www.longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com]

Word of warning though: you might find yourself spending entirely too long reading and wonder where your day went.

It's true. It's a bottomless pit of HM trivia from which you may never escape.

 

[Brer Oswald]

It's a slang term for the Interactive queue. Pepe Le Queue. (like Pepe LePew-get it?) I believe it was coined in the (beyond excellent) blog, Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion. [http://www.longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com]

Word of warning though: you might find yourself spending entirely too long reading and wonder where your day went.

Thanks! I'll be sure to read it once I get back from vacation! It may help me with my Post Disney Depression . Regardless of the atmosphere, I think the largest problem with the interactive queue in general is that it slows most lines to a stand still, depending on who you have in front of you. Mansion used to board fairly quickly, but now it takes so much longer. Whether that's the queues fault, or park attendance, I don't know, but I prefer to blame it on the queue !

 

[Phineas]

Thanks! I'll be sure to read it once I get back from vacation! It may help me with my Post Disney Depression . Regardless of the atmosphere, I think the largest problem with the interactive queue in general is that it slows most lines to a stand still, depending on who you have in front of you. Mansion used to board fairly quickly, but now it takes so much longer. Whether that's the queues fault, or park attendance, I don't know, but I prefer to blame it on the queue !

Oh, it will absolutely help you with that depression. Good luck just the same! I'd also highly recommend Passport to Dreams Old and New for that Disney history fix.

The Long Forgotten post about the interactive queue is the one titled Decadence, and pretty much outlines all the issues people take with it.

And yes, it absolutely slows the line down. Completely unnecessary. You used to be able to skip it, but not any more.

 

[RoysCabin]

Or that you were possibly forced out by some unseen entity. Notice that you fall backwards from the attic. Is it the Ghost Host spiriting you away from the bride to safety? Is it the bride herself shunning you, possibly in an attempt to turn you into the 1,000th Happy Haunt, trapping you in the mansion forever? Are we seeing what ended the bride's life and reliving it?

The fact that the events of the entire attraction are so open to interpretation is why I'm so bothered by Constance's current form. It is infinitely more interesting to have a million unanswered questions about these ghosts and what led them there, rather than being told plainly, "Constance bad. Constance killed husbands. Constance still bad even though dead".

Very good point that can be applied around the resort, when you think about it. The original major attractions like Mansion or Pirates certainly had stories in them, but the narrative itself was very much secondary to the experience, so things were rarely spelled out explicitly for us. It's what irked me about finally getting to Disneyland's PotC and seeing the Jack Sparrow overlays, especially since Jack's added to the final ascent to give us a narrative ending that doesn't work at all with what's happening around it.

Heck, apply it to a lot of films: film franchises often have a hard time overcoming their sequels being weaker because all too often a movie's sequel takes something interesting or mysterious about the original and starts giving it too much explanation, too much attention, just too much information to keep things interesting. Horror franchises fall into this when they take otherworldly, inexplicable, terrifying things and start giving them deep backstories and lore. Sci-fi and fantasy know the problem, too...just look at the Force and "midi chlorians".

 

[THE Monorail Lime]

Hi everyone who has had a good day?
Anyway I'm not sure if we would be getting the hatbox ghost because it was never there in the first place!

 

[NearTheEars]

I know they intended her to be over the top. They even actually made her more overtly violent due to the jokes and hatchet. But she has none of the actual creepiness the original had. Yet her one liners have none of the funny yet threatening charm of the narrator. It also negatively affects the pacing and flow of the ride.

The first half of the ride was originally designed to be slightly more morbid and serious. It did have subtle humor, but mixed in more serious and disturbing elements. This raised the question whether the ghosts are just joking or whether they have more sinister intentions. The attic scene is the culmination of this fear, the humor was dropped entirely and we actually feared we could be in actual danger (didn't need to threaten us, it was fear of the unknown). Right after this scene at the height of our fear, the ride transforms and we see the spirits were just having fun at our expense. But even still, the bride always kept us questioning what her motive and story was, this mystery was great and shouldn't even be answered.

The ride is now skewed to be far more silly throughout and the pacing and balance of the original is ruined. There WERE good additions, the scenes added before the attic were welcome. But the bride, and now the queue and CGI hitchhiking ghosts really messed things up.

I'm fine with the queue and CGI ghosts, but agree that Constance looks terrible. I've read before that the effect is flat on purpose, that she's just possessing a manikin. But IMO It just looks like a failed attempt at an actual ghost. I think they should just improve the projection mapping and go all in on it being a floating spirit in the room.

 

[Speedy71]

"I do....I did."
"Heeeere comesss the briiiide..."
puke.

God I cringe every time.

 

[Speedy71]

There have apparently been several variations of the bride through the years. The one (and those similar to it) that I grew up seeing when I visited in the 90s I personally feel was the most effective. The face was all black and featureless, save for circles of light for eyes, and a glowing beating heart.

It was the most simple and least detailed of all the brides (some of which had visible facial features). It relied instead on mood and mystery using lighting, sound and artistry. But there was something extremely unsettling and (IMO) truly frightening about it. It used mystery, the fear of the unknown. And it was very effective.

You knew by instinct without the need for any backstory that something horrible and tragic happened to (or caused by) the bride. But you didn't know the backstory or if the spirit meant harm or not. It could have been a victim or villain. That lack of knowledge and creepy but subdued detail just made it even more scary and effective.

Not a fan of Constance at all. Anything about her. The effect (which looks ugly and flat), the personality they gave her or the backstory which removed all sense of mystery. It feels like they even attempted to make her more obviously evil and threatening, but the execution is just embarrassing and not intimidating at all.

Agreed nightmare fuel right here.

 

[JustInTime]

Never liked the bride with the black face. I prefer the original or current.

 

[Bairstow]

I definitely prefer the silent, yellow-eyed ghost. The sad and mysterious tone suits the ride much better.
I don't suppose anyone remembers the corpse-like V1 bride, do they?

 

[Speedy71]

Here are all the brides through the years (wasn't the bride backstory suppose to be tragic?)