News New Haunted Mansion Grounds Expansion, Retail Shop Coming to Disneyland Resort in 2024

[Consumer]

I just don’t understand why the HHG were changed. It’s not like the effect was unconvincing or unreliable, so it seems like an unnecessary expense to change them.

 

[mickEblu]

I just don’t understand why the HHG were changed. It’s not like the effect was unconvincing or unreliable, so it seems like an unnecessary expense to change them.

To save a few Pennies on maintenance. Or maybe the ole “it’s impossible to find that old part” non sense. Or find people that know how to fix/ maintain it.

 

[CraftyFox]

I’m enjoying the new bride, and I definitely think it’s still obvious she is a bride with all the mis en scène. I just don’t think the dress looks 19th century (to be fair, Connie is dressed for the 1900s). The older brides, especially the looming, billowing ones from the 90s read a lot more Victorian. I would have loved to see something closer to the early Constance concept art, but that’s just personal preference!

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Honestly it all looks good. The bride isn’t a home run but it’s an improvement. The Stretching Room is unchanged. The hitchhiking ghosts look great, even though I don’t understand the reasoning for the change.

If I had to guess the reasoning for changing to digital is less maintenance requirements in the long term

 

[Nland316]

Overall I think these changes are a net positive. The bride I think looks great, and a much improved upgrade over Constance.

Love that they got rid of her dialogue. The Hitchhiking Ghosts also look good. Honestly if I wasn’t told it was changed, I don’t think I would notice.

Can we please now upgrade the east side of the park?

 

[CraftyFox]

It seems like Connie might have always had an expiration date, perhaps for legal reasons regarding the actress’s’ likeness. The Constance actress had this on her now-defunct blog back in 2007:

“Her image will appear for approximately the next twenty years as a young woman from the late 19th century who marries five successive husbands for their money (each more wealthy than the last) and murders them on their honeymoons with an ax. Her final conquest is the owner of the Mansion, and at his untimely demise she becomes the Mistress of the Haunted Mansion, destined at her death to haunt the house forever”

 

[duncedoof]

According to Long Forgotten's HBG2, it was, in actuality, Kim Irvine who we have to thank for the hanging man still being there, as she put a stop to the proposal of removing it.

I tried to tell you the article was just PR talk!

They were always going to get to Constance one day. The effect never panned out as expected and she's never been that popular (as they're implying?). They finally pushed the button, got it done, and they want to get "brownie points" with that explanation in the interview.

I don't buy for a second that was the initial reasoning. They just want to look good. Who would want to say "hardcore fans never liked Constance" on an vetted article?

They just want to look good. WDI themselves never liked how Connie looked. And they must have decided that there's not enough alleged backlash to go through the trouble in the stretching room. Now with hardly any window of time like the one we just got in the last year, I seriously doubt they'll go ahead with it.

 

[NL42602]

The video is not giving me enough detail to tell. Is this entirely a screen, or is there a practical effect beside the candlestick?

 

[Disney Analyst]

The video is not giving me enough detail to tell. Is this entirely a screen, or is there a practical effect beside the candlestick?

It looks to me like the figure is fully there, with some sort of projected bits like the face.

 

[duncedoof]

Yeouch. Losing Shroud ghost stings. Just a little weird thing about the Mansion gone. Did it look spectacular? Was it coherent? No! But it did make you stop and look at it, and keep thinking about wondering why it looked like that.

Probably making me sadder than the digital hitchhikers.

 

[splah]

The couple videos I watched make it looks like the hanging man is swinging more than WDWs

The bride is growing on me. I like that it floats but I feel it’s too bright. The lighting design makes it look like it has floodlights on it instead of shadowy in an attic.

Seems like a pretty big peppers ghost set up just to add some animated flames and ethereal embellishments floating around her. I wonder if it reads differently in person. Holding a bouquet pointing down by her side would go a long way too. Wonder if they can make her fade in and out?

It fits my overall theory that projections in the past used to wow and work great because projectors and screens were not common home purchases. Now they are. So they disappoint more because they are ordinary. But when they go practical it takes it back to “things you don’t see every day” I’d also like to see a little more “imperfections” in the execution. We’ve gotten so good at building things that it’s almost too perfect and things feel sterile.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The bride is a lateral change to me. I don't miss Constance, but a more practical figure that relied less on projections would have looked better

I like the added fog and projections in the graveyard. Will the bat in the bird cage stay this time?

Can WDW also get these HHG animations instead? It's not as good as the original effect, but better than the cartoony look

I had concerns about what was going to be changed, but compared to much of modern WDI (and how badly the HBG was implemented in Florida), this was a mostly successful refurb.

 

[eddie104]

The bride is a lateral change to me. I don't miss Constance, but a more practical figure that relied less on projections would have looked better

I like the added fog and projections in the graveyard. Will the bat in the bird cage stay this time?

Can WDW also get these HHG animations instead? It's not as good as the original effect, but better than the cartoony look

I had concerns about what was going to be changed, but compared to much of modern WDI (and how badly the HBG was implemented in Florida), this was a mostly successful refurb.

I’m sorry they can keep this new bride in California and keep ours the same. To me looks like a projection on a screen versus a full fledged figure or animatronic.

I understand it’s a pepper ghost effect but maybe the lighting design is not very good.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

According to FreshBaked both the dress and candelabra are physical.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Also yes, Dusty is saying all the projections and stuff in the graveyard are new. Looks great.

 

[SuddenStorm]

The bride is a lateral change to me. I don't miss Constance, but a more practical figure that relied less on projections would have looked better

I like the added fog and projections in the graveyard. Will the bat in the bird cage stay this time?

Can WDW also get these HHG animations instead? It's not as good as the original effect, but better than the cartoony look

I had concerns about what was going to be changed, but compared to much of modern WDI (and how badly the HBG was implemented in Florida), this was a mostly successful refurb.

This was my take away as well-

Though I sorta hate the new placement for the bride.

But considering what could have been, I'd say the Mansion survived mostly unscathed and possibly a tad improved, since this bride- while lacking the taste and subtlety of prior iterations- is better than Constance.