Haunted Mansion to Return with New Enhancements and Magic :(

DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
I've always loved the overlay. The only issues I have is a) takes to long to set up/ride is down too long and b) it's up too early. I'd kick it off Mid/late October...heck, I'd even possibly wait until the week before Thanksgiving as a starting point and keep it a Christmas time exclusive and exclude Halloween.
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Yeah, of all the criticisms I hear, this is the one I understand the most. Because with the time it takes for the overlay to go up/come down, regular Mansion can be closed for quite some time. I feel like over the years they’ve got it down to a science and get it up as quick as they can but I could see the argument for closing Mansion on Nov. 1st and re-opening before Thanksgiving with Holiday. Or maybe if Disney really wants to use it to continue to capitalize on Halloweentime, reducing Halloweentime to the month of Oct. and closing Mansion for the last two weeks of September.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Stevek said:
I've always loved the overlay. The only issues I have is a) takes to long to set up/ride is down too long and b) it's up too early. I'd kick it off Mid/late October...heck, I'd even possibly wait until the week before Thanksgiving as a starting point and keep it a Christmas time exclusive and exclude Halloween.
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Mid Nov to mid Jan would be perfect. Unfortunately not happening as they like the revenue it brings in for those 4 months +

It’s too early and overstays it’s welcome
 
Tamandua

Tamandua

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
Mid Nov to mid Jan would be perfect. Unfortunately not happening as they like the revenue it brings in for those 4 months +

It’s too early and overstays it’s welcome
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What exactly does HMH do for revenue? Themed popcorn buckets and NBC merch? I'd love to think there are creative considerations outside of $ but who am I kidding...
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tamandua said:
What exactly does HMH do for revenue? Themed popcorn buckets and NBC merch? I'd love to think there are creative considerations outside of $ but who am I kidding...
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I’m guessing they have data that theme park attendance goes up but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s more due to the seasonal offerings in general. Also, If the NBC overlay is running then more people are buying NBC merch. If the decision was creative, why not have the regular mansion up during Halloween and have Candy cane Snow Mansion running from November through Jan?
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
DavidDL said:
Yeah, of all the criticisms I hear, this is the one I understand the most. Because with the time it takes for the overlay to go up/come down, regular Mansion can be closed for quite some time. I feel like over the years they’ve got it down to a science and get it up as quick as they can but I could see the argument for closing Mansion on Nov. 1st and re-opening before Thanksgiving with Holiday. Or maybe if Disney really wants to use it to continue to capitalize on Halloweentime, reducing Halloweentime to the month of Oct. and closing Mansion for the last two weeks of September.
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Yeah, a guest visiting during this time shouldn't really have to miss a classic ride like this outside of normal refurbishment. I've always struggled with attaching HMH to Halloweentime...isn't a haunted house/mansion halloween enough as is? HMH seems much more of a Christmas overlay than a halloween overlay. Just my 2 cents. At the end of the day, I know it's all about marketing for Disney and how can they create something unique to pull people in.
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
I’m guessing they have data that theme park attendance goes up but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s more due to the seasonal offerings in general. Also, If the NBC overlay is running then more people are buying NBC merch.
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Yeah, Disney wouldn't spend the time and resources on this overlay if it didn't bring in measureable revenue whether that's attendance or merchandise (or a combo of both).
 
DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
Yeah, a guest visiting during this time shouldn't really have to miss a classic ride like this outside of normal refurbishment. I've always struggled with attaching HMH to Halloweentime...isn't a haunted house/mansion halloween enough as is? HMH seems much more of a Christmas overlay than a halloween overlay. Just my 2 cents. At the end of the day, I know it's all about marketing for Disney and how can they create something unique to pull people in.
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Yeah, I understand where you and others who feel this way are coming from. I personally love it enough to not really care but it’s definitely a tricky thing to take into consideration. The overlay has distinctly Halloween and Christmas elements so someone else might argue the opposite (the whole, is NBC a Christmas or Halloween movie debate) but I think when we take into consideration that Jack is specifically decorating the Mansion for Christmas, then even I need to concede the whole reason he’s there to begin with is the Christmas season.

For folks like my wife and I, we usually have to make a choice around this time of year. Do we go for Christmas or Halloween? We don’t wanna pay for both but love both Holidays. We get HMH regardless but if it was only up during Christmas season, it would make our decision making much easier. If Halloweentime lost HMH, there’d really not be much reason for us to go, especially after they stopped doing Ghost Galaxy.

Maybe that’s why they insist on starting it so early? They know their Halloweentime offerings are pretty weak outside of the paid special event. Without HMH, it’s really just a bunch of pumpkins on Main Street.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DavidDL said:
Yeah, I understand where you and others who feel this way are coming from. I personally love it enough to not really care but it’s definitely a tricky thing to take into consideration. The overlay has distinctly Halloween and Christmas elements so someone else might argue the opposite (the whole, is NBC a Christmas or Halloween movie debate) but I think when we take into consideration that Jack is specifically decorating the Mansion for Christmas, then even I need to concede the whole reason he’s there to begin with is the Christmas season.

For folks like my wife and I, we usually have to make a choice around this time of year. Do we go for Christmas or Halloween? We don’t wanna pay for both but love both Holidays. We get HMH regardless but if it was only up during Christmas season, it would make our decision making much easier. If Halloweentime lost HMH, there’d really not be much reason for us to go, especially after they stopped going Ghost Galaxy.

Maybe that’s why they insist on starting it so early? They know their Halloweentime offerings are pretty weak outside of the paid special event. Without HMH, it’s really just a bunch of pumpkins on Main Street.
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Christmas. Definitely Christmas. Aside from NBC Mansion feeling much better during Christmas, Christmas time at Disneyland is a much better time to visit than Halloween.
 
DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
Christmas. Definitely Christmas. Aside from NBC Mansion feeling much better during Christmas, Christmas time at Disneyland is a much better time to visit over Halloween.
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I don’t disagree entirely, it definitely feels magical. But between the two Holidays outside the park, I vastly prefer Halloween to Christmas so I have that sort of bias and will go all out for Oct. 31st and hardly put up anything for Dec. 25th, haha.

Any reason I can find to celebrate the Halloween season, I will. When Disney was offering up Ghost Galaxy, Halloween Screams, HMH, Big Thunder Halloween Ranch, etc., the choice was pretty clear cut to me. Nowadays, I think you might be right. Unfortunately, unless you’re paying for the after hours party, Halloweentime has sort of been reduced to a trip to DTD to shop Halloween merch for me. Or to ride HMH. Whatever we’re feeling.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DavidDL said:
I don’t disagree entirely, it definitely feels magical. But between the two Holidays outside the park, I vastly prefer Halloween to Christmas so I have that sort of bias and will go all out for Oct. 31st and hardly put up anything for Dec. 25th, haha.

Any reason I can find to celebrate the Halloween season, I will. When Disney was offering up Ghost Galaxy, Halloween Screams, HMH, Big Thunder Halloween Ranch, etc., the choice was pretty clear cut to me. Nowadays, I think you might be right. Unfortunately, unless you’re paying for the after hours party, Halloweentime has sort of been reduced to a trip to DTD to shop Halloween merch for me. Or to ride HMH. Whatever we’re feeling.
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As I tell my sister, anyone who prefers Halloween to Christmas is a dark soul
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
raven24 said:
I’m wondering if Disney will ever cancel HMH forever. If they ever remake Nightmare, which they probably will, then there’s no chance of it happening anytime soon.

Hope it’s sooner than later.
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Just looked it up. This year is the 20th anni of HMH. No way they weren’t milking that.

HMH isn’t going anywhere. There will come a time, In about 13 years when HMH will have been at Disneyland longer than Splash Mountain. It’s already had longer runs than some iconic DL attractions like ATIS and Mine Train through Natures Wonderland.
 
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Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
Just looked it up. This year is the 20th anni of HMH. No way they weren’t milking that.

HMH isn’t going anywhere. There will come a time, In about 13 years when HMH will have been at Disneyland longer than Splash Mountain. It’s already had longer runs than some iconic DL attractions like ATIS and Mine Train through Natures Wonderland.
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I agree, it's definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. I do think it has potential to be discontinued. When, I don't know. Hoping within the next 20 years or less.
 
DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
After losing Tower of Terror, I’ve been mentally bracing myself for the loss of HMH, someday. Unlike @raven24, I don’t think they’ll ever touch NBC again. I remember hearing that Disney tried to approach Burton about a sequel using CGI disguised as stop motion and apparently, he flipped his lid and said it wasn’t gonna happen. So we ended up with a “prequel” on Gameboy Advanced and a “sequel” on the PlayStation 2.

As the property ages, it might fade. Or maybe it won’t, who knows. Older films have endured for much longer.
 
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

Well-Known Member
DavidDL said:
After losing Tower of Terror, I’ve been mentally bracing myself for the loss of HMH, someday. Unlike @raven24, I don’t think they’ll ever touch NBC again. I remember hearing that Disney tried to approach Burton about a sequel using CGI disguised as stop motion and apparently, he flipped his lid and said it wasn’t gonna happen. So we ended up with a “prequel” on Gameboy Advanced and a “sequel” on the PlayStation 2.

As the property ages, it might fade. Or maybe it won’t, who knows. Older films have endured for much longer.
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Nightmare Before Christmas does not need a sequel at all. Love the film. Stands good on its own as a classic. but it needs to leave the mansion for good and get its own ride.
 
DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
Literally as I just typed that message I found an article online saying that Disney has a planned sequel for NBC and announced work on it back in February. However, it will be a book and not a movie, focused on Sally in her new role as Pumpkin Queen and a villain she accidentally sets loose.

Since the original NBC started as a poem, maybe a sequel will happen someday, after all. But I still agree that it definitely doesn’t need one.
 

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