Without naming names, its reckoning time for all those "insiders", cast members, and "well-connected" folks who spread false rumors about the Haunted Mansion rehab.
The top prize goes to a popular (but often unreliable) website that reported the rehab would only be "lights and audio upgrades", citing major budget cuts. A few individuals also claimed to know this first-hand. Their comments ignited a "Disney is cheap!" riot. Whoops!
Remember all those rumors back in the Spring about a gift shop
and an on-ride photo booth?
(Like many rumors, perhaps some ideas were once a real possibility. But the final budget and specifics of this refurb were locked in LONG before the false rumors surfaced.)
We still haven't seen that cage of live bats in the queue!
An "in-the-know" cast member claimed that the bride's name was going to be "Emily".
Another "insider" said the bride would be a full-blown "Jack Sparrow"-type animatronic.
Another big-named "insider" claimed that the ride would be different at night, including attic pop-up ghosts that would alternate between scary and funny faces. The insider later said the plans were scrapped at the last-minute, and that the new 2-faced pop-ups were moved to the graveyard, even though the old ones are still there, and even though a day/night change would likely require a huge marketing campaign, not to mention numerous other day/night effects to be worthwhile (another point about that insider: if I recall correctly since the original post has been removed, when a troll/prankster posted a completely fake "preview" report, the insider never disputed the false report, and in fact asked if the poster had seen the 2-sided pop-up heads!)
The moral of this story would probably be: remain skeptical unless you hear it from Disney.
But what about that Disney website article quoting an Imagineer who talks about "bringing the gargoyles to life"? That has to be the most bizarre "false rumor" yet.
Of course, for every false rumor, there was a reliable insider who had very real knowledge of what was going on. Look for those people the next time you read something about a "5th gate" or a new E-Ticket.