Haunted Mansion Restaurant

[JustInTime]

You know what I want?
I want a second "haunted" attraction at one of the other three parks so that all those Imagineers who have an itch to install some stupid new projection-based (or whatever) effect can stick it someplace useful without further adulterating a 45-year-old pop art masterpiece.

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2011/04/animated-hitchhiking-ghosts-haunted-mansion.jpg

I actually love the idea behind the hitchhiking ghosts being projected. The problem is the effect just isn't that great. They really need to improve it.

 

[GCTales]

Part of the reason The Haunted Mansion ride works is the isolation you, as a rider, have from the other guests, despite hundreds of tourists sharing the same conveyer belt system. It allows you to focus on the atmosphere of the various sets and helps to keep noise to a minimum, plus it just feels creepier to be "alone" while travelling through a haunted house.

The best way to duplicate that in a restaurant setting would be to have a layout similar to Walt's at DLP. A series of smaller parlours with interconnecting hallways to give you the sense of an actual, (once) functional house. Have a music room, a library and conservatory, a "balcony" overlooking the grounds/graveyard etc.

The WORST thing they could do, is something like BOG. Big, open, convention-hall like spaces that look absurd in scale and allow the noise of children running around to constantly echo, ruining any sense of atmosphere.

Place checking on the square outside the entrance to HM... when your buzzer goes off.. walk alone down a "decrepit" type pathway towards the entrance Spanish moss on the trees.. the look starting to set the tone. Come upon the outside entrance.. similar theming to HM. Enter through a double door (that squeeks, of course) into a grand internal entrance such as the grand Foyer.. similar to BOG or other grand mansions build in pictured time period (10th century) would work...

Having a large number of small rooms (that seat, say 10-15 people) would make it much harder for staff to maneuver around and take care of clientele. I think rooms that handle somewhere between 20-30 people with the theming you suggest might work. But also have a larger ballroom or dining room setting.

Personally, I would love to see something like this.

 

[larryz]

But can I eat with the hatbox ghost?

Only if he doesn't eat you first...

 

[larryz]

Initialisms.

"Our research shows that acronym is commonly used to refer to both types of abbreviations."

 

[Goob]

Place checking on the square outside the entrance to HM... when your buzzer goes off.. walk alone down a "decrepit" type pathway towards the entrance Spanish moss on the trees.. the look starting to set the tone. Come upon the outside entrance.. similar theming to HM. Enter through a double door (that squeeks, of course) into a grand internal entrance such as the grand Foyer.. similar to BOG or other grand mansions build in pictured time period (10th century) would work...

Having a large number of small rooms (that seat, say 10-15 people) would make it much harder for staff to maneuver around and take care of clientele. I think rooms that handle somewhere between 20-30 people with the theming you suggest might work. But also have a larger ballroom or dining room setting.

Personally, I would love to see something like this.

I agree with all of what you envision, except the Spanish moss. It wouldn't fit with the theming of the WDW Haunted Mansion. Now if we were talking about Disneylands Haunted Mansion then yes.

 

[Bocabear]

Hollywood Tower Hotel has the hanging moss in the trees which looks fantastic...and no one says Hey! this is supposed to be California where they don't have hanging moss...lol It would still look great. WDW is a very different climate zone than New England...and though Liberty Square is set somewhere in the northeast, it is not specific...it's just a colonial village...which if you want to be a stickler, the design of the HM is not quite appropriate either as it would have been from a later date than the federal architecture in the HOP area... It all works together though...Just as hanging moss would not ruin the thematics, but would help enforce a dilapidated garden theme.

 

[larryz]

Hollywood Tower Hotel has the hanging moss in the trees which looks fantastic...and no one says Hey! this is supposed to be California where they don't have hanging moss...lol It would still look great. WDW is a very different climate zone than New England...

Indeed, Spanish Moss (as it's known) is indigenous to the area, and grows wild on trees in the Southern United States, but particularly Southern Live Oak and Bald Cypress.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I agree!!! I hate the fact that u can hardly see the HM nowadays. Its so hidden. Loved when it was open like this (minus the ride building). This pic shows how epic and beautiful the HM is.

Oh I agree that it looked better back then, but can you imagine the comments if they removed all those trees?

 

[HauntedPirate]

It's all about the setup...the interactive queue destroys the whole "sense of foreboding" you feel approaching the ride... there is a setup...begins as scary and revealed as lighthearted fun...it's all about the pacing...if you give away the lighthearted fun at the beginning the sense of staging no longer works...

Now that is an explanation I can understand, and can agree with. The whimsy of the interactive queue betrays that sense of foreboding you once got walking up to the entrance, between the wolf howling and the tombstones, as lighthearted as they are.

 

[michmousefan]

You know what I want?
I want a second "haunted" attraction at one of the other three parks so that all those Imagineers who have an itch to install some stupid new projection-based (or whatever) effect can stick it someplace useful without further adulterating a 45-year-old pop art masterpiece.

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2011/04/animated-hitchhiking-ghosts-haunted-mansion.jpg

Move the interactive spirits to the restaurant, so as you are dining in your booth they make comments on your appetizers and mug with you as you are making your way through the meal.

 

[HMF]

Move the interactive spirits to the restaurant, so as you are dining in your booth they make comments on your appetizers and mug with you as you are making your way through the meal.

I would prefer the restaurant not be blatantly haunted and be more like the first half of the ride with a creepy atmosphere, interior design and sound effects "Telling the story" rather than the self-referential blatant " The Ghosts are friendly before you are supposed to know that" premise of PLQ.

 

[Bocabear]

It would need t have some elements of the haunting... Changing/moving portraits...little subtle things...

 

[HMF]

It would need t have some elements of the haunting... Changing/moving portraits...little subtle things...

I am not sure if this is a good idea but they could move the old Sinister 11 portraits there and bring back the original moving eyes, Would be a pretty creepy dining experience.

 

[Disnee4Me]

Colombia harbor House sounds like a good place to go bye bye.

No never .... great food there!!

 

[Disnee4Me]

I'd love to see most of the existing QS in MK be replaced. It's theme park food at its worst. The only park with food options more mediocre is SeaWorld.

Have you ever had the Salmon at Columbia Harbour House ---- really good!!

 

[RobbinsDad]

Place checking on the square outside the entrance to HM... when your buzzer goes off.. walk alone down a "decrepit" type pathway towards the entrance Spanish moss on the trees.. the look starting to set the tone. Come upon the outside entrance.. similar theming to HM. Enter through a double door (that squeeks, of course) into a grand internal entrance such as the grand Foyer.. similar to BOG or other grand mansions build in pictured time period (10th century) would work...

Having a large number of small rooms (that seat, say 10-15 people) would make it much harder for staff to maneuver around and take care of clientele. I think rooms that handle somewhere between 20-30 people with the theming you suggest might work. But also have a larger ballroom or dining room setting.

Personally, I would love to see something like this.

This would be the coolest restaurant at WDW. No debate.

 

[larryz]

This would be the coolest restaurant at WDW. No debate.

So you'd better start checking for your FP+ right now, or you'll never get one.

 

[RustySpork]

Have you ever had the Salmon at Columbia Harbour House ---- really good!!

Yuck

 

[Bocabear]

LOL I will agree...Salmon is not a fave, but they did used to have great chicken tenders years ago....sadly replaced by nuggets...

 

[FigmentFan3]

You know what I want?
I want a second "haunted" attraction at one of the other three parks so that all those Imagineers who have an itch to install some stupid new projection-based (or whatever) effect can stick it someplace useful without further adulterating a 45-year-old pop art masterpiece.

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2011/04/animated-hitchhiking-ghosts-haunted-mansion.jpg

Yes yes yes 10,000 times yes