Haunted Mansion to Return with New Enhancements and Magic :(

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Needs more rubber spiders

 

[180º]

What’s going on in the middle of the room, behind the divider? Didn’t the queue shoot a straight line from the gallery to the load belt? Now it hugs the wall like it’s making room for something. Even in Phantom Manor, where they have staring busts in place of our new April-December, I think there’s a gap between the wall tableau and the roped queue like we had before.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

View attachment 548141

Needs more rubber spiders

I'm not even kidding when I say the Spider was an important part of what made the Load area function.

You can see in those photos that it was the basically brightest thing in the room, certainly the brightest thing off in the darkness - which dres your attention to the web, which drew your attention to the Doombuggies . . . which made it suddenly very clear what kind of ride you were going to be boarding.

People forget because we're so used to it now that The Haunted Mansion doesn't actually offer any clues to passerby what kind of ride experience they're going to have inside. And even then, you're inside the Mansion for *several* minutes before you get any indication what kind of ride it's going to be. For sure there are people who come around the corner from the Changing Portrait Hall into the Load Area who say "Oh yeah! I forgot this was a ride".

It's not until you're practically BOARDING that they even tell you what type of ride it is! That's SUPER uncommon for a theme park attraction, and was much more so in 1969. For all guests knew back then they could have been queuing up for the most intense thrill ride in the park. You really didn't know until you rounded that corner.

For as cheesy as he may have been, that spider did some heavy lifting to make sure you figured out what you needed to do at the most important juncture in the ride. Probably kept a lot of people from tripping up, in fact. How appropriate for a day-glo rubber spider. He's a spider, but he's a silly one - is he gonna "get" you? No, of course not.

 

[AJFireman]

What’s going on in the middle of the room, behind the divider? Didn’t the queue shoot a straight line from the gallery to the load belt? Now it hugs the wall like it’s making room for something. Even in Phantom Manor, where they have staring busts in place of our new April-December, I think there’s a gap between the wall tableau and the roped queue like we had before.

Behind the dividers is where they ride vehicles will be and staging area for mobility devices. I just watched two ride thru videos on youtube to try to get you an idea of it but both actually cut out this portion probably to save video time and not to bore you. I do see why they put up the dividers because your eyes would fixate on the ride vehicles and not the portrait. This picture is right after you past the Busts. This view will be blocked by the dividers and the portrait is on the wall to the right. You go all the way down this hall on the right and then a 180 hook turn to start to load.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Behind the dividers is where they ride vehicles will be and staging area for mobility devices. I just watched two ride thru videos on youtube to try to get you an idea of it but both actually cut out this portion probably to save video time and not to bore you. I do see why they put up the dividers because your eyes would fixate on the ride vehicles and not the portrait. This picture is right after you past the Busts. This view will be blocked by the dividers and the portrait is on the wall to the right. You go all the way down this hall on the right and then a 180 hook turn to start to load. View attachment 548147

What's weird is that 1) The frames are open above waist height, you can look through them, and 2) You NEED to see the ride vechicles so you know what you're about to be expected to do to board them. Your attention really shouldn't be directed away from the Buggies at that moment.

Also, I have to assume that the staging area for accessible boarding has been able to expand a little with these changes. Maybe the frames being solid below waist height is meant to cordon that off from view a little.

It'll be interesting to see this area in greater detail when things open.

 

[180º]

Behind the dividers is where they ride vehicles will be and staging area for mobility devices. I just watched two ride thru videos on youtube to try to get you an idea of it but both actually cut out this portion probably to save video time and not to bore you. I do see why they put up the dividers because your eyes would fixate on the ride vehicles and not the portrait. This picture is right after you past the Busts. This view will be blocked by the dividers and the portrait is on the wall to the right. You go all the way down this hall on the right and then a 180 hook turn to start to load. View attachment 548147

Right. What I’m trying to say is, now it appears that the queue no longer cuts through to the load belt in a straight line as pictured here, but has been squished off to the side, hugging the angles of the back wall, while a divider now squishes up on the left side of the queue. Maybe it allows more room to stage guests’ wheelchairs or something.

That corner of the loading area is usually a staging area for guests with wheelchairs. Maybe wanted to have a more confined area deticated to that.

Oh! Welp.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Well do to safety regulations over the years they had to brighten up the area but the pictures to me at least look like some of the safety/evac lights are on

Yes, I understand, that's why I've always hoped they would take the time during a big refurb to refocus the lights and keep things well lit for safety while also minimizing spill into the rest of the room.

It sounds like they may have possibly done that - and if they have I will *cartwheel* with joy.

 

[SuddenStorm]

The wallpaper hasn't been changed since it opened. It was known flock wallpaper and highly flammable. Makes sense that they finally changed it.

Do we know what other elements are original to 1969?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Do we know what other elements are original to 1969?

It seems only too possible that the famous Demon-eyed Wallpaper in the Corridor of Doors was original. WDW's was original until their big refurb in 2007, and Disneyland's Mansion hasn't seen a serious cleansing refurb like this since before the first Haunted Mansion Holiday in 2001. I would guess it probably got replaced during this refurb, and for the first time (though obviously with the same print).

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Deep analysis on Twitter:

 

[PiratesMansion]

For those that are concerned about the position of April December, it's worth pointing out that Disneyland Paris has one of the busts in that location. As Paris' load area and portrait corridor is similar if not identical, it's not unprecedented to put something in that spot.

I've seen a lot of mourning on the interwebs over the years about April December going away, so I get why they'd bring it back. It seems like they got just a bit overeager in their tribute, but hey, Mansion history coming back in some form is a lot better than some of the other things they could have done.

The screening thing IS weird and unprecedented, but I'll reserve full judgment until I see it in person. I'd very much welcome a darker and more elaborate loading area. I'm sure in its original incarnation the intended effect of the loading area worked well, but now, with the area so bright, it just draws attention only to the big, black, unadorned walls.

 

[Mickeyboof]

What's weird is that 1) The frames are open above waist height, you can look through them, and 2) You NEED to see the ride vechicles so you know what you're about to be expected to do to board them. Your attention really shouldn't be directed away from the Buggies at that moment.

Also, I have to assume that the staging area for accessible boarding has been able to expand a little with these changes. Maybe the frames being solid below waist height is meant to cordon that off from view a little.

It'll be interesting to see this area in greater detail when things open.

Hm, should the guest "need" to see a ride vehicle? There is no need to see any ride vehicle before boarding, if the idea supports the withholding or masking as a story element (which in this case, I think Mansion withholds purposely and masterfully). Rise of the Resistance greatly succeeds in this regard, as does Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Flight of Passage (and Tower, up to a point).

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Deep analysis on Twitter:

View attachment 548281

These are the people that cry about splash.

 

[VJ]

Of course! It’s a mystic artifact recovered by Han Ted Manshun.

No, it's his daughter. Harriet Ted Manshun.

 

[VJ]

Hm, should the guest "need" to see a ride vehicle? There is no need to see any ride vehicle before boarding, if the idea supports the withholding or masking as a story element (which in this case, I think Mansion withholds purposely and masterfully). Rise of the Resistance greatly succeeds in this regard, as does Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Flight of Passage (and Tower, up to a point).

this is another "you NEED to walk up the ramp of the Millennium Falcon!!! it's CANON!!!" deal to me

 

[chadwpalm]

I tried to capture an image from the behind-the-scenes video, but it's swiping past so quickly it gets blurred. To me it looks like the accessibility area still has an entrance between the bust wall and the new divider.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Hm, should the guest "need" to see a ride vehicle? There is no need to see any ride vehicle before boarding, if the idea supports the withholding or masking as a story element (which in this case, I think Mansion withholds purposely and masterfully). Rise of the Resistance greatly succeeds in this regard, as does Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Flight of Passage (and Tower, up to a point).

Here are my posts from yesterday on the subject:

I'm not even kidding when I say the Spider was an important part of what made the Load area function.

You can see in those photos that it was the basically brightest thing in the room, certainly the brightest thing off in the darkness - which dres your attention to the web, which drew your attention to the Doombuggies . . . which made it suddenly very clear what kind of ride you were going to be boarding.

People forget because we're so used to it now that The Haunted Mansion doesn't actually offer any clues to passerby what kind of ride experience they're going to have inside. And even then, you're inside the Mansion for *several* minutes before you get any indication what kind of ride it's going to be. For sure there are people who come around the corner from the Changing Portrait Hall into the Load Area who say "Oh yeah! I forgot this was a ride".

It's not until you're practically BOARDING that they even tell you what type of ride it is! That's SUPER uncommon for a theme park attraction, and was much more so in 1969. For all guests knew back then they could have been queuing up for the most intense thrill ride in the park. You really didn't know until you rounded that corner.

For as cheesy as he may have been, that spider did some heavy lifting to make sure you figured out what you needed to do at the most important juncture in the ride. Probably kept a lot of people from tripping up, in fact. How appropriate for a day-glo rubber spider. He's a spider, but he's a silly one - is he gonna "get" you? No, of course not.

I do think this is part of the brilliance of the Load Area as it was originally staged - the darkness of the room was so real and intense that it did feel like it’s own effect, chilling in its absolution, but it cleverly also wasn’t much to LOOK at. The biggest piece of visual information in the room was the giant spider web through which the Doombuggies passed on their way in, so it really drew your attention to the buggies and made clear what you would need to do to board them properly.

A change was made in designing the load of the WDW Mansion that seems to suggest they may still have had some trouble here at Disneyland after opening - the WDW Mansion funnels guests down a path that stretched the entire length of the load hall, then doubles back sending guests walking up right along side the low wall of the Load Belt. This not only gives guests twice as much time to see the Doombuggy loading process before they do it themselves, but it gives you a closer look at it than Disneyland ever did since the path doesn’t run right along the load belt but instead at an angle to it.

With these new changes at Disneyland, both rerouting the path to the right a bit and putting up the steel frames (and directing attention to April/December) have the potential to impact guest’s ability to deduce what the ride system is they’re about to board and wrap their mind around how they’ll be expected to board it safely. It will be less clear than ever what‘s going on.

Now, the ride’s been around for 50 years, so most people likely know exactly how to board a Doombuggy and this probably won’t change that, but I wonder if there will be more trickiness now with first-time riders.

Clearly The Haunted Mansion withholds it's ride vehicle intentionally - and as I said, was really one of the first major attractions to do so - but indeed, that only works up to a point. If the line is moving briskly your walk through the Load Area before reaching the moving walkway may only last mere seconds. To shave time off of that and expect every guest to be able to handle the boarding process is possibly risky.

Keep in mind that Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Tower of Terror all have static boarding processes. The vehicles don't begin to move until the Cast Members have cleared them for launch. The Haunted Mansion Doombuggies are continuously moving, and you've got about 4 seconds to get in properly before there's a problem.

The Disneyland Haunted Mansion already has enough trouble with this that people have written threads here complaining about how frequently the ride gets stopped, interfering with the show, and as I said, changes were made to the WDW design in an effort to resolve some of those issues (generally it seems to have helped).

It's surprising to see them reconfigure the Load Area in a way that purposefully moves the guest's attention away from what they're gonna have to do to safely board the ride in the final seconds before they have to do it. I wouldn't be surprise if it causes some problems.

 

[Mickeyboof]

Here are my posts from yesterday on the subject:





Clearly The Haunted Mansion withholds it's ride vehicle intentionally - and as I said, was really one of the first major attractions to do so - but indeed, that only works up to a point. If the line is moving briskly your walk through the Load Area before reaching the moving walkway may only last mere seconds. To shave time off of that and expect every guest to be able to handle the boarding process is possibly risky.

Keep in mind that Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Tower of Terror all have static boarding processes. The vehicles don't begin to move until the Cast Members have cleared them for launch. The Haunted Mansion Doombuggies are continuously moving, and you've got about 4 seconds to get in properly before there's a problem.

The Disneyland Haunted Mansion already has enough trouble with this that people have written threads here complaining about how frequently the ride gets stopped, interfering with the show, and as I said, changes were made to the WDW design in an effort to resolve some of those issues (generally it seems to have helped).

It's surprising to see them reconfigure the Load Area in a way that purposefully moves the guest's attention away from what they're gonna have to do to safely board the ride in the final seconds before they have to do it. I wouldn't be surprise if it causes some problems.

I believe the issues with ride stoppages have more to do with difficult wheelchair and scooter transfers than the typical patron boarding the ride vehicle.

I’ll provide two more examples, Hagrid’s Motorbikes and Forbidden Journey also move while boarding yet give absolutely no time for guests to acquaint themselves with the physical mechanics of the process… and it works splendidly as a story element.

Mansion’s new addition works as intended, adding another layer of intrigue to a previously stale moment.

We can agree that there is a spectrum, with Soarin being on the opposite end (too much direction, the reality and mechanics of the ride vehicle is completely spoiled in the pre show).

The HM guests have plenty of time to understand the ride boarding process, as there is a slight pause before boarding (after the new cat statue). I do not think the imagineers need to spell out the simple task of boarding a regularly used ride vehicle.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Here are my posts from yesterday on the subject:





Clearly The Haunted Mansion withholds it's ride vehicle intentionally - and as I said, was really one of the first major attractions to do so - but indeed, that only works up to a point. If the line is moving briskly your walk through the Load Area before reaching the moving walkway may only last mere seconds. To shave time off of that and expect every guest to be able to handle the boarding process is possibly risky.

Keep in mind that Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Tower of Terror all have static boarding processes. The vehicles don't begin to move until the Cast Members have cleared them for launch. The Haunted Mansion Doombuggies are continuously moving, and you've got about 4 seconds to get in properly before there's a problem.

The Disneyland Haunted Mansion already has enough trouble with this that people have written threads here complaining about how frequently the ride gets stopped, interfering with the show, and as I said, changes were made to the WDW design in an effort to resolve some of those issues (generally it seems to have helped).

It's surprising to see them reconfigure the Load Area in a way that purposefully moves the guest's attention away from what they're gonna have to do to safely board the ride in the final seconds before they have to do it. I wouldn't be surprise if it causes some problems.

Perhaps they will replace the hanging man with a video screen that shows off how to board the ride vehicle in a quirky pre-show safety video? Just need to lie on the ground to get the best view.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I believe the issues with ride stoppages have more to do with difficult wheelchair and scooter transfers than the typical patron boarding the ride vehicle.

I’ll provide two more examples, Hagrid’s Motorbikes and Forbidden Journey also move while boarding yet give absolutely no time for guests to acquaint themselves with the physical mechanics of the process… and it works splendidly as a story element.

Mansion’s new addition works as intended, adding another layer of intrigue to a previous stale moment.

The guests have plenty of time to understand the ride boarding process, as there is a slight pause before boarding (after the new cat statue).

We'll have to see. Transfers are part of why the DL Mansion stops, yes, but it's historically not the only reason. Guests have never had a lot of time to figure out what's going on. And again, in 2021 where the ride has been around for 50+ years that's not a problem for a lot of guests, but things do still happen. I'm not suggesting that they necessarily add MORE time for guests to percieve the Doombuggies, but it's surprising to me that they've taken some away.