Haunted Mansion: Stationary Madame Leota

[dhoywdw20x]

The title pretty much sums it up. Last week at the Magic Kingdom. Madame Leota, in the seance room was stationery and no longer floating above the table. How long has the effect been not working? Is this an intermittent issue (operational: fixed every few days)? Also, the hidden mickey (unofficial as I now understand) was not in the ballroom.

A few other notes. (1) Never seen this: In the corridor with the piano (playing mysteriously), if you look at the ground, there is a shadow of the ghost playing the piano. (2) The pop up ghosts in the graveyard no longer scream. (3) The stretching room has wear and tear on the doorway which opens to the load/unload (I imagine this is from guest touching/brushing with the doorframe. (4) All effects worked well in the graveyard queue. I was with family next to Leota's headstone. I said "Leota -- AWAKE", to which she opened here eyes. I guess I have good timing. It was hilarious.

Thats all on the mansion.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I will answer a couple of those to the best of my knowledge-

1- I've been on the Haunted Mansion a number of times since 2010. Most recently on February 29th this year. Leota's ball has always floated for me. Though as a side note she didn't used to float before the major refurb a few years ago IIRC, i sort of liked it a bit better that way (even though it's a more impressive effect now). So it was at least working until recently. Maybe just a small thing that will be fixed.

2- I've not heard the graveyard jack in the boxes scream since i started visiting again in 2010 after going more than a decade of not visiting. They screamed in the original ride (and they had some in the attic IIRC). But in every ride i've had over the past two years, i've never heard them scream.

Oh and i heard someone moved the plates in the ballroom so the mickey is no longer there. Just recently someone posted that, i forgot the thread though.

 

[rodserling27]

Leota's head wasn't floating when I was there last week. I hope it's fixed soon. It's a great effect.
The graveyard pop-ups haven't screamed since at least pre-2007. Maybe Martin or someone can get the exact date on that one.

 

[JustInTime]

Ohhh! I just remembered the screaming graveyard ghosts! Also, the ghost playing the piano has always been there.

Hope the other effects get fixed asap.

 

[Thunder Fan]

Leota still stationary as of yesterday...

 

[Tom Morrow]

the pop-up ghosts' screaming was removed in the 2007 refurb.

 

[PlaneJane]

I can confirm that not only was she stationary but she was in the metal ring that held her before the effect was added. I could see the strings system that moved her up and down and they seemed pretty slack. I was thinking maybe she fell off her strings and she was put in Leota B mode until it was fixed.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Oh here we go, Disco Leota...

May just need a small fix... I liked the floating head...

 

[disney fan 13]

Hope this doesn't take as long to fix as Blackbeard...

 

[DznyGrlSD]

I totally forgot about this. Leota wasn't floating when I was at MK on 3/25.

 

[mouse_luv]

Okay, well now I'm a little confuzzled b/c I was there at the End of Feb in 2009 and rode the ride 3 times in a matter of 2 days, the pop up ghosts in the graveyard were indeed screaming. I remember this bc the one time we rode, we got stuck in front of them for 15 mins and everytime they screamed they scared the crap out of me, and then I would just laugh and scream with them. Another time during this same trip, they were also screaming, bc they scared my then 4 year old nephew. So, perhaps they were supposed to remove it during the 07 refurb and they didnt. Or there was a glitch when either you or I rode this ride.

 

[J03Y]

Leota's head floating is a sort of every now and then thing i think. every other time i go to MK either the head is floating or it's stationary, so i assume it's not a ride problem. maybe just when they feel like using the effect. i'm sure it's not that complicated an effect. they just move the wire that holds the crystal ball up.

the pop up ghosts have always been screaming... :lookaroun i would know this. they scare the crap out of me every time i go on.

i had heard that they needed to use the plates for something or like they wanted to do something in the ballroom that required the removal of the hidden mickey. but it happens over a period of time frequently. the plates disappear and reappear. it's not an official hidden mickey, so...

and i concur. the ghost playing the piano has been there forever. you just don't notice it at first. i went years before catching the ghost's shadow.

 

[Tom Morrow]

the pop up ghosts have always been screaming... :lookaroun i would know this. they scare the crap out of me every time i go on.

No. There used to be a scream sound effect accompanying them when they popped up. It was removed during the 2007 refurbishment and now when they pop up they are silent.

 

[Mansion Butler]

She'll be up again soon. Some stuff just takes time.

Not saying more, just saying nothing to worry about. Enjoy Retro Seance for the time being.

Also, if the pop-ups screaming in the graveyard was removed, it would have been prior to the refurb, unless I have a terrible memory. I road it when I worked there in '06 repeatedly -- for work and otherwise -- and only remember screaming in the attic.

 

[Tip Top Club]

It's been like this for a few weeks now, I'm not worried, small things like this happen and usually take a few weeks to fix, if it's still down in a few weeks, like I said, then I'll get concerned.

 

[Tom Morrow]

there was a time when "small things like this" would be fixed the next day or two, not several weeks, though.

 

[The Duck]

The "Piano Ghost" shadow was there during my first visit in 1975 so I assume that it's been there since the beginning. Please correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure that you will ) but HM seems a LOT darker since the last major refurb. If so, maybe that's why the shadow effect seems harder to see than before.

 

[marni1971]

The Piano shadow is indeed an original effect. Sadly now one arm is out of sync and has been for a few years.

The pop up screams were indeed removed in the 07 refurb as a story led mandate and a less carnival style effect.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The Piano shadow is indeed an original effect. Sadly now one arm is out of sync and has been for a few years.

The pop up screams were indeed removed in the 07 refurb as a story led mandate and a less carnival style effect.

Is that shadow projection on the piano supposed to look as jerky as it does now btw? I've watched videos of Paris' Phantom Manor and couldn't help but notice how smoothly it moved compared to WDW's. Or is that as it was originally intended? The clicking noise is a little loud too (not even sure what it's coming from).

I'm glad they removed the screaming pop ups in the attic, i think the effect on the portraits they use now is far more subtle and effective. Though i'm sad they changed the bride. I'm not against new tech at all, but the effect on her in particular looks fake and flat, and she has none of the creepy subtlety the old one had (the puns irritate me too). Not sure why the effect looks so off, the marble busts and Leota look great (as well as the Little Leota at the end). One of the few minor gripes i have with the otherwise great 2007 refurb. The original was so subtly creepy and didn't need a fancy effect to be disturbing. Shrouding her face was such an effective way to creep one out, fear of the unknown i suppose.

I admit those popups used to scare me to death as a little kid. I had to force myself to ride the ride because of that. They're still in the graveyard though. I feel they're a little out of place, but a minor issue. I don't know whether they changed this or not, but riding the new 2007 HM, the popups in the graveyard scene look a little faker than i remember. Like something that might be sold as an alien toy at Spencer's Gifts. Maybe my memory isn't the best though, it might be the attic ones i'm recalling.

 

[wdw71fan]

one of the 3 drive motors is having an issue that mechanical needs time to fix.. It has been down since mid last week, and will return after easter (Mansion will likely have a late opening some time this week to accomodate the repair)..

They are trying to fix it during 3rd shift, but other issues are taking precedence