Ahh, I've been looking at this thread from afar for a while now, not getting a chance to actually sit down and read through it all and formulate a post. I still haven't gotten a chance to read through it all, as I've approached it through two different threads and periods of time in said threads that I'd be completely puzzled what happened where, so I'll just get to saying my peace.
I LOVE the Haunted Mansion. When we went in 1993, I freaked out outside the queue by the carriage when my dad tried to take me on and refused to go any further (I was in Kindergarten and Toad and 20K were enough to freak me out big time). I went on in 1998, and enjoyed it, but was still a bit young to really take everything in and remember it. Before going in 2003 I came across DoomBuggies.com, and reading about it more and more I began to fall in love with it, and I bought Surrel's well-known book on that visit. I rode it 5 times or so during our stay. It is now my favorite ride, and I have a strong affection for it.
To also give you a little look at how I view the subject, when I heard of a crypt-themed gift shop at the end of the ride I freaked. To give a brief overview of my arguement, I feel that as the Mansion is supposed to be us visiting a haunted mansion, I considered the grounds a part of the actual ride experience, so everything beyond the gates are show. The Mansion grounds are almost a part of the ride itself.
That being said, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Lets take a look at the different elements:
The idea of a new queue: GOOD - I have no problem with making additions to the queue, as long as they're handled well. I never thought there was anything wrong with the original setup or even the awning (although I think the green awning was less visually intrusive). However, as long as the previous graves were taken care of, I had no problem with making a change, especially if it would help out with the wheelchair issue and allow those with disabilities to enjoy the show like everyone else. Speaking of which, did anything ever come of the rumored ability to remove and reintroduce a car without stopping the ride? I was very excited about the whole thing up until seeing the video of everything.
The new busts: SO-SO - To be honest, I have no problem with the busts whispering to children so they can figure out the murder mystery. If anything, hearing a quiet disembodied voice is a bit disquieting, and the main bonus is that it's unobtrusive and cannot be heard by the average guest. My problem lies with the actual look. As mentioned before the plaques look way too new, although this may be changed later with some character being added or simply the natural progress. How long does it take for patina to show, anyone know? Yes, I know that the original plaque was new looking, but while many like to think back to Walt's sense of show, I fell that the company's sense of show has improved in some ways over time. Perhaps it's just a matter of the use of theming to compensate for the lack of his mind. Perhaps it's the shift in perception to the more realistic in today's culture.
Nevertheless, I can forgive that, but the busts themselves are a bit much. I'm sorry, but Uncle Jacob looks like Colonel Mustard. They look like they could come from a Clue box. Some of them, like Aunt Florence aren't so bad, and I wouldn't mind the hunter if it weren't for the Snake. Uncle Jacob and his pile of money are just way too cartoonish to be taken seriously. The same goes for the weapons on their plaques, but I suspect that may have something to do with the mystery. And for anyone who will say that the cartoonish qualities are taken from Marc Davis's artwork, while I can see that with the twins, Aunt Florence, and the hunter (the pictures/video I'm looking at currently don't show his name), Uncle Jacob and Cousin Maude push the limit, especially for something seen this early (the Hitchhiking Ghosts barely look human but they're at the point in the ride where all Hell has broken loose).
I also consider it a lost opportunity to not make these five busts the singing busts (we could easily have given them a murder-mystery backstory given that the backstory I always believed in has been destroyed by the addition of Constance). I can't really knock them for getting my hopes up after hearing a false rumor, though.
The relocation of the Marc Davis and X Atencio graves: BAD - When we first heard about this project, and people were freaking out about it, didn't Lee, or Raven, or one of those big guys reassure us that it would be great and tell us something along the lines of "Didn't you ever notice that there's something not right about the current graves, that they don't have enough space for someone to actually be buried there." Was that more of a supposition than a hint for us? Jeez, I don't care if they're on an urn, there's graves in a planter. Even if there's an urn, isn't said urn buried in front of the gravestone rather than over it?
The Composer's Crypt: SO-SO - First off, the earlier mention of the band coming from all different times and places is a very valid point. However, I don't believe this "composer" to be any member of the band. In fact, looking at the instruments, they are not the instruments just of the band, but also of the Seance Room. They're every instrument featured in the Mansion. This unknown composer is an entity not seen inside as far as we know, perhaps directing or uniting the rest of the musicians in death. Perhaps it's an homage to the person who was in charge of physically creating the music (rather than creating the tune as X did). Does anyone know who performed/created/implemented the music in the ride?
I also like the idea of the decomposed instruments, I just think they got out of hand creating them. To be honest, I'm not sure if they implemented it as it can be heard to hear on video, but it would be awesome if the regular instruments played regularly, and the decomposed versions were played using the ways they made them sound discordant in the graveyard (playing backwards, etc).
The playing itself doesn't bother me too much either, as long as it isn't so loud that it dominates everything. In fact, I hope the noise doesn't even spill out into the line before it reaches the expansion.
Really, I have little complaint with this beside the fact that it really needs more aging, althought that might come with time as with the other metals. In all, I have little problem with this addition, and may come to love it if I see it in person.
The Ravenscroft Organ concept: GOOD - OHMYGOODNESSTHISISFRIGGINAWESOME!!! The organ is a wonderful addition. My concerns with the music are the same as the other instruments, but I can't really see anything wrong with it. With this music and the whispering, they're more like faint hints of ethereal activity than an actual ghost loudly and obviously talking to you. Also, they use of Grim Grinning Ghosts, and the fact that no mater when you touch an instrument, it will start wherever in the song it is set rather than starting from the start alone are great, and make certain the music isn't a discordant din. If they played random notes, or a new tune, it would feel out of place, but this feels at home. As for the puffs of smoke, they can either be ethereal, or an actually physical event, perhaps a trap set into the crypt or just a coincidental sudden escape of gas. As I type this, though, it makes me wonder the quality of air that would escape suddenly from a crypt.
:hurl:
The skulls on the organ: BAD - It's sad, but this may be my biggest complaint with the entire addition, or at least one of them. I actually disagree with HBG2's concern with them even being there to begin with. I think of it as a touch of the macabre, like he spoke about. An organist dies, and they depicted ghostly skulls flying from his organ rather than air. I think that while he's thinking of this chronologically in the real-world, I'm thinking of this chronologically in the story. It wouldn't make sense for them to depict in his crypt the ghosts that flew out of his organ as he played them in death. He hadn't done it yet. It's more this way: They depicted it because it looked cool, and in the afterlife, it actually happened. We see this fantastical depiction of an organ playing ghosts, and then we actually get to see it happen later. I think it's a beautiful setup when you think of it this way. I think you're looking at knowing Darth Vader is Luke's son as spoiling that surprise rather than thinking that the huge surprise is now that the nice old guy from the first three is evil and the good guys lose, and the Vader scene is still as powerful, now with a little additional emotion as the shock is replaced with thinking about Luke's surprise and pain at the revelation. I'm getting off-track though.
Here's my problem, and it's a nit-picky one, but it's one that really bothers me. What's with the glow-in-the-dark material they use below the skulls. I think it looks absolutely terrible. They've definitely added some character paint from when I first saw it, where it really looked like the stuff they make LEGO ghosts from, that stuff that takes in light and then glows when it gets dark. I'm glad they added character, but it still looks rediculous. Seriously, with the rest of the queue being done in stone and metals, what is this material supposed to be? It's too deep green to be patina. It's too flat-looking and dark to be jade. It can't be stone because it's friggin' green. If anything, this should have been patina, or copper and allowed to age if they wanted a green color.
I know this sounds petty, but I think it's a really big flaw. Imagine if the flagpole at Pirates was bright yellow, or the rope that runs along the Jungle Cruise boat was pink. It's a strange choice that makes everything look really weird.
Graves on the hill: GOOD - Looks beautiful, and I like the new graves, although they don't match the look of the old ones well. It's sad, but the old ones actually look low-quality compared to these new ones, but it gives them a realistic quality, rather than the over-processed look of the new ones, akin to the aging applied to the busts. The new ones stick out a lot.
Master Gracey's grave: GOOD - The master of the house in the minds of many fans has been given a place of honor, and it's beautiful. It suffers a bit from being a bit short, making Master Gracey look a bit like a midget, but at least he got more room than Davis and X.
Many have expressed regret at the graves being put in harm's way, and it's definitely a concern. I'm sure most out there know what happened to the last bat stanchion in the indoor queue. Even if it's not outright vandelized, regular wear and tear may claim it after 10 years or so.
I think that rather than letting a tradition of gum-sticking and marking starts, we start our own tradition. Perhaps we can begin leaving a flower on Master Gracey's grave. It would be nice if this tradition could spread and become a part of the Mansion lore, as fans come from all over and leave a flower before the grave marker, lying among those that other fans left.
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Wow. This is getting out of hand, and I'm getting tired. Lemme get some sleep and leave at least this much out for us all to discuss.
