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Hatbox Ghost Returns soon
- Thread starter HMF
- Start date
CountryBearFan
Active Member
Which has been a GREAT track record with all the recent enhancements and improvements made to that attraction over the last few years.
2007-Absolutely
2011-Moderate Success along with HUGE thematic disaster.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I'd have to disagree and say switch those two years somewhat. For all the idiocy we usually deal with in regards to Disney changing their rides for the worse, I found the 2011 changes great (i liked both the new queue AND the new hitchhiking ghosts and really have no issues with them).
The 2007 redo was undoubtedly awesome as well, but i have one major issue with it- the new bride. I dislike both her new look and that she speaks, but i also think the effect behind it looks incredibly fake and corny (i don't know what happened here, the singing busts and Leota and even the mini bride at the end all look great). The 2007 death pun bride is probably what i'd consider the worst thing done to the ride ever. She lost all her creepiness, and that fear of the unknown is gone (you knew there was SOMETHING sinister about her before, but her intentions were shrouded in mystery). Old bride didn't have to even speak, make horrible puns, nor did she need to resort to materializing a weapon with a fake looking projection effect to threaten your life. In this case, the simpler route with having her mute, relatively still, and having her face totally obscured except for her glowing eyes (not to mention her creepy beating heart) was the better choice to create the creepier atmosphere. Just standing there holding a candle in a creepy attic with her looks and the sound of her heart was enough.
The rest of the attic is a major improvement though. It's funny how i considered the original bride so creepy and well done, but the jack-in-the-box zombie grooms were so corny. The new changing headless portraits look incredible and are really ominous, but now the bride took on a corny cheesy style. They switched it around somehow. It's a shame they couldn't have just kept the old bride and had these new portraits. That scene would have been totally complete and perfect in my eyes.
HM is probably THE best maintained and updated ride in recent history. I like almost everything they did with it (sans the bride). They got more than enough right at least for me to trust them enough to keep trying.
Considering the new Haunted Mansion film in the works is reported to be putting huge emphasis on the Hatbox Ghost, i find it totally unsurprising that they'd add him in (eventually). I would surmise that with more modern technology, the effect would be much more feasible than it once was. I just wish they'd give as much attention to other rides in need of it...
EDIT- Actually, i read the thread at Disboards. I don't see how this even counts as a legit rumor. The dude who posted it is a new member and could just be making stuff up. Someone else mentioned the movie was on hold and the director may have quit. Dunno.
The Jacobson/ Rogers team did a really good job.
The Jacobson/Goodman/Carsillo team severely damaged the intent of the ride. You can hear more about the artistic damage caused by the new queue here where the Mice at Work Podcast team interviews the webmaster of www.longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com
http://blog.miceatworkpodcast.com/2011/06/19/mice-at-work-podcast-episode-32.aspx OK, shameless self promotion out of the way.
dxwwf3
Well-Known Member
The extended queue doesn't bother me, there are aspects that I enjoy quite a bit. I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but at least it can be avoided very easily. If someone doesn't like it, that's perfectly fine though. I guess I've just been disappointed time and time again in that park, the queue additions doesn't even begin to upset me.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
Oh please, can we not go down this road again...they added some trinkets (that actually are kind of fun, as is watching kids get amazed by them) to what is a pretty standard outdoor queue. Some people are (pun intended) mortified by them, a lot of people are amused at them, but nothing inside those doors was affected so the "artistic intent" of the ride remains. You can see Splash and Thunder next door, it's not like it was some enclosed pristine environment to begin with.
Oh, I know, "queue queue queue! as important as the ride!" but seriously...a few people are going on like they painted the walls of the stretching room pink and now have fluffy little white bunnies doing the Macarena under colored lights instead of pitch black darkness and the hanging noose.
The other new addition, the new Hitchhiking Ghosts, is probably one of the best received effects I've ever seen, people are shocked, amazed, and laughing in delight compared to the "oh isn't that neat" effect before which was simply mildly amusing.
The 2007 additions were simply amazing, although I agree with a poster above that the weakest part is the Bride herself - it's just a terribly done effect, it's clearly a projection, and I'm surprised because it looks worse than other similar effects that are much older elsewhere in the mansion. I don't understand why they didn't sculpt the face a bit to give it some angles, because when the effect is projected it just looks like it's flat and you can see the underlying material.
The Mansion is better than ever, though - it's easily the most lovingly cared for and kept-up attraction at WDW. (Yes, yes, not saying much, I know, haha.)
WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
^Couldn't agree more. Nothing says ridiculous frothing fanboy to me than the way people get agitated over the Haunted Mansion.
Nothing in the queue ruins the attraction. It's foreshadowing at best, and lighthearted fun for kids (and adults like me) with short attention spans at worst. To say that it's anything worse requires huge leaps of logic and reading way more into it than is there. It's not as if the Imagineers went and took a dump on the Constitution. They added some small gags that do a great job at entertaining (*gasp* the purpose of the park!) to a bland queue. Not everything is executed brilliantly, but it is hardly as "damaging" as some people claim.
I think some people fail to realize not everyone is obsessed with the attraction as much as the folks on some websites dedicated to it. Those people are probably .000000000001% of all guests, yet they have far and away the loudest voices online.
Nothing in the queue ruins the attraction. It's foreshadowing at best, and lighthearted fun for kids (and adults like me) with short attention spans at worst. To say that it's anything worse requires huge leaps of logic and reading way more into it than is there. It's not as if the Imagineers went and took a dump on the Constitution. They added some small gags that do a great job at entertaining (*gasp* the purpose of the park!) to a bland queue. Not everything is executed brilliantly, but it is hardly as "damaging" as some people claim.
I think some people fail to realize not everyone is obsessed with the attraction as much as the folks on some websites dedicated to it. Those people are probably .000000000001% of all guests, yet they have far and away the loudest voices online.
Lee
Adventurer
Quoted for truth. Well said.
As for Hatbox...yeah. Eventually he'll turn up. Been ready to go for months and months now.
Foreshadowing things that should not be foreshadowed. The banshees on the organ especially is completely out of line with the Attraction. No ghosts are to appear prior to Leota and it makes no sense for the banshees to be sculpted in there because of the fact that they do not exist without Leota so what are they doing on a grave built year in advance. Who carves images of ghosts on a grave?
Another important point is that you should not know that the Ghosts are friendly. All the buildup is you get a sense of foreboding until the ghosts appear and you find out that they are friendly. It was a very carefully planned out effort. This new Queue totally destroys that you see the banshees on the Organ . Prudence talks to you directly and establishes the friendly ghost thing before you are supposed to know they are friendly. Then of course there is the Sea Captains tomb which is the most obnoxious, besides the fact that it is a lawsuit waiting to happen, In the portrait It is implied that the Sea Captain drowned at sea, this completely throws that out. The Queue is loud, obnoxious thematically inappropriate and is without a doubt the worse thing that has ever happened to the Mansion. A really good explination can be found here. http://longforgottenhauntedmansion....d-max=2011-06-11T22:07:00-07:00&max-results=1
VMKingdom
New Member
I do love the over reaction to the additional queue. For God's sake, stay to the right then. It in no way ruins the mood of that attraction. No kid having fun in the outdoor queue is then going to walk into the attraction and not feel the vibe change. No kid is gonna say "Oh this attraction isn't scary, I played with the organ remember???" As soon as you see the portrait aging, the mood has been set. As soon as you enter the stretching room, I doubt anybody even remembers the queue. We fanatics should protest when things are ruined. I think this isn't one of those cases. I went through the outdoor queue once just to see it. I'll stick to the right simply because I want to get into the attraction sooner.
JustInTime
Well-Known Member
Totally agree. I have loved all the enhancements the HM over the years. And the Queue is great, I think. Bringing the HBG back would be amaxing.
WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
Are you seriously trying to engage in some sort of analytical dissection of the Haunted Mansion? Really?!
It's a theme park attraction meant to entertain. The new queue accomplishes that, while maintaining the theme of the attraction. As soon as you walk from the queue to the inside of the Mansion, I'm sure 99.99999999% of guests have forgotten any substance or purported "storytelling" of the queue. Do you think more than a handful of people are actually saying, "Hey, wait a minute, if the Captain died at sea, what's with his tomb outside?! I'm enraged!" You're in that .00000001% of guests who do, but for the vast majority of guests, nothing is ruined, things are enhanced.
To be sure, the queue could have been accomplished better, but it's hardly some sort of colossal failure or "damaging" to the Haunted Mansion.
I equate this to crying wolf. If you/we (the fan community collective) nitpick and complain about every little thing WDI does, your/our voice is rendered meaningless. Personally, I'd rather be outraged over things that actually are egregious.
I am always willing to stand up and complain about changes to classics that don't work (Nemo at the Seas!). But, the WDW Haunted Mansion is fantastic. I love the new queue. I love the upkeep on the ride itself. And I love the new Hitchiking Ghosts at the end. We just got back from Disneyland, and for the first time ever, we walked off a Disneyland ride (the Haunted Mansion) saying "wow, the one at Magic Kingdom is so much better."
I was amazed at the new ending at WDW in April. We took a special trip just to see the new effects and the new queue. It didn't disappoint. Actually, it was the most time we have spent in the Magic Kingdom since we started going to the parks as adults.
I was amazed at the new ending at WDW in April. We took a special trip just to see the new effects and the new queue. It didn't disappoint. Actually, it was the most time we have spent in the Magic Kingdom since we started going to the parks as adults.
harveyt0206
Well-Known Member
I have to say that I really appreciate your post. I do admit that I am one of those individuals who were/is really nervous whenever I hear about changes to HM. I also 1000% own to the fact that most of my trepidation stems from romanticized childhood memories of the attraction. When I first read about the new queue I felt a bit queasy and the initial reports weren't exactly reassuring. I will get to see the new queue first hand in September and obviously will draw my own conclusion, but your thoughts on the recent changes are well thought out and appreciated.
Too often these discussions turn into "I am right and you are wrong" situations, which I just find frustrating. So thanks for giving me a new position to consider for my upcoming trip.
JustInTime
Well-Known Member
:roflol: