Tom Fitzerald présente la rénovation de Phantom Manor

[MotherOfBirds]

Some additions are good, others just feel unnecessary to me. Overall, I'm glad I had the chance to ride the original before these changes.

Spoiler: Spoily Spoilers

What I liked:
1. The shabby-to-new transformation
2. The new AA's, especially Phantom Menace
3. The general facelift/cleanup

Didn't like:
4. Adding the Price narration. I don't think it fits very well, even though I love him.
5. All the HM swaps/added references.
6. Futzing with the score
7. Getting rid of the skull mirror effect in Melanie's room
8. There's more narration than there used to be

On the fence:
9. The new paintings. They aren't bad, but it wasn't a very necessary change.
10. The hitchhiking Melanie

There's nothing that I thought was outright bad, but I felt like #6 & #8 definitely detracted from the ride. I'd say #6 was one of the best things about PM. #8 ties into my previous concern, which was that there would be more hand-holding with regards to the story.

I was stuck on the ride experiencing #2 for about 2 straight minutes during my visit, and it was very effective. I suspect it will be even more so now. Obviously I haven't had a chance to ride it yet and I won't for some time, but my first impressions are a net negative, even if it's by a relatively small margin.

 

[RobotWolf]

I was really hoping they would "fix" the shadow of the piano player; make it seem like it was playing rather than just rocking back and forth.

The organist in the ballroom, though now playing a different tune, is back to peeking up at the guests. The AAs in Thunder Mesa were *very* lively. The poker players looked fantastic. Even the apothecary got some love. Undead Dreamfinder has more lines.

I really liked the new stretch graphics and lighting. I think the levels in the foyer need further T&A.

 

[Inhales Oxygen]

While we are on the subject of the Fantôme Manoir, I have always wondered what state in the America it is meant to take place in? I've always wondered about this as the landscaping new Fantôme Manoir seems very different from the surrounding area. Do any of you who live in the America recognize it more?

 

[CraftyFox]

While we are on the subject of the Fantôme Manoir, I have always wondered what state in the America it is meant to take place in? I've always wondered about this as the landscaping new Fantôme Manoir seems very different from the surrounding area. Do any of you who live in the America recognize it more?

Welcome to the forum! It’s very hard to pin down an exact state as Frontierland in general is definitely a conglomerate of various Western states. As you mentioned, the landscaping does look very different in that corner of the land. At first I was thinking Nevada, but in the stretching room there is now a seaside painting. So then I started to think about coastal states and was immediately reminded of Oregon or parts of Northern California.

 

[britain]

While we are on the subject of the Fantôme Manoir, I have always wondered what state in the America it is meant to take place in? I've always wondered about this as the landscaping new Fantôme Manoir seems very different from the surrounding area. Do any of you who live in the America recognize it more?

Big Thunder Mountain is very southern Utah, and there are many small towns with vegetation that matches the Manor area.

However I don’t think there was ever a gold rush in Utah. That’s more California and Nevada.

 

[Absimilliard]

Here is what I am getting for the dialogue with the lines marked as French for the translated lines and the English transcription so you can easily follow along. I will save this for a future blog post seeing this is a long process to do. This is not a direct word for word translation as I translated it to make sense in English, which is a huge challenge when going from French to English and vice versa.

After writing all of this, you need to know both languages to get the full picture.

Foyer:

English: When Hinges creak in doorless chambers.

French: When strange and worrisome sounds are heard all around.

English: Where Candlelight flickers where the air is deathly still.

French: It is because the Phantom of the house manifests himself. (This is a tough one to translate as it refers literally to the Ghost of the surroundings, but you could also take it as the Phantom manifests himself)

English: Welcome curious friends, it is so nice to have guests.

French: We are happy to greet you humble mortals in this mysterious manor.

English: You may not believe it, but beauty once lived in this house.

(at this point, the portrait starts transforming)

French: Phantom Manor had happy days in the past, but times changed. (Phantom Manor is in english during the french portion)

English: Now curious souls, come. I have more to show you.

French: Brave mortals, please enter and let's visit this famous manor together.

As you enter the Stretch Room:

English: Our tour begins here, in this gallery, where you gaze upon the sweet innocence of youth. Kindly step all the way in, make room for everyone. There is no turning back now...

French: Here you can admire the portraits of the beautiful mistress of the house and her... slightly less lucky suitors. (the ... refers to the pause that imply the fate that befell upon the four men that were the suitors of Melanie). A small cackle follow.

Stretch Room:

English: Perhaps you sense a disquieting metamorphosis.

French: Alas, things are not always as they seem. Not all story tales have happy endings.

English: It appears everyone is doomed at Phantom Manor. Even you. And notice this, this chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out.

Cackle.

French: By the way, there is no door and no window, how do you get out? If you don't find the way to escape, the Phantom of the Manor will happily help you. (Fantome des lieux, directly translated to ghost of the place, I interpret it as Phantom of the Manor given the context)

Stretch Room goes dark and you hear crazed laughs.

Portrait Hallway, leading to the Doom buggies.

English: I didn't mean to frighten you... prematurely.

French: Come meet the future bride whose beauty is... (Can't fully translate this one as no clear video of that part of the script is on youtube yet.)

English: The Real beauty of this house awaits farther on and she's dying to meet you, but beware the Phantom.

French: Our future bride is still waiting for the man of her life. Any volunteer?

Cackle.

English: There is much to see, so look alive and stay together. I'd hate to lose you so soon.

French: Don't be scared, go and move forward.

 

[Absimilliard]

Look at 6:10, the walkaround characters of the Phantom and Melanie Ravenswood!

 

[Absimilliard]

Do you mind giving a possible translation to the French parts of the current spiel?

You can find it here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...n-de-phantom-manor.943238/page-5#post-8673370

 

[Animaniac93-98]

As a point of comparison, here's Vincent Price's full, original English narration as released by Disney to CD 20 years ago:



You'll notice which lines they picked for 2019, but also how some differ today.

And here's a fun video showing Price recording in 1990:

 

[RobotWolf]

I think it was a misstep to include English and French dialog. It seems like there are two hosts. And I really enjoyed the "original" French ghost host.

But would the French actually get angry if the dialog was all English? WDI went to a lot of trouble showing them they weren't in France anymore. I want to think the French wouldn't mind at all. I think they'd "get it."

However, it might be a safety issue.

 

[DeliriousOwl]

Unfortunately, I don't think most of them would "get it" honestly. Some french people love to complain for nothing and a lot of them haven't a good level of english.

I also loved Chevalier's deep voice. However, I think they did a good job insofar as everyone can now understand the dialog.
The new french voice is not as frightening as the original but at least it sounds like Vincent Price's one which is just amazing.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Well, some changes are good, some not so much.
Regardless of his intentions, Tom Fitzgerald still built his revision on one of the greatest attractions ever designed by Disney- in this case, with a team led by Tony Baxter.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I think ultimately my feeling is this . . . if this version of this attraction was what debuted with the park 27 years ago, the level of interest around the attraction would not be as high as it is in present day. This feels, to me, like a more polished but noticeably less interesting version of the attraction. Less mysterious, less dramatic, less compelling, but with a cleaner presentation. The original dared to make you wonder, and it paid off fantastically - that's why people waited with baited breath through the last 18 months. There was room to clarify the storytelling, but a rewrite wasn't necessary. It no longer seems mysterious, just convoluted.

Phantom Manor had fantastic bones, so even a less interesting version of it is still pretty good, but the stuff that really grabbed me when I first rode and kept me thinking about it for days, weeks, even years, is now mostly either gone or diminished. They took the edge off the ride, which was a big part of what set it apart from The Haunted Mansion.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

Thank you for posting this. I found it extremely helpful.

The main thing I noticed on this viewing was the lighting. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but there was too much of it. It felt very over-lit, and in some areas, especially the ghost town, the colors were a little goofy. I think the attraction calls for more subtlety.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Thank you for posting this. I found it extremely helpful.

The main thing I noticed on this viewing was the lighting. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but there was too much of it. It felt very over-lit, and in some areas, especially the ghost town, the colors were a little goofy. I think the attraction calls for more subtlety.

With both this refurb and the 2007 WDW HM one, a lot of red/orange/yellow lighting was replaced with green/blue/purple.

Not sure what Tom has against warmer colours in a Haunted House, but at least Tokyo still has their blood red corridor of doors.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I think it all looks great. Love the pre-show wallpaper effect.

 

[britain]

Thank you for posting this. I found it extremely helpful.

The main thing I noticed on this viewing was the lighting. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but there was too much of it. It felt very over-lit, and in some areas, especially the ghost town, the colors were a little goofy. I think the attraction calls for more subtlety.

I like the new darkened backdrops in the ghost town. It was too obvious how large/small the room was when you could see the golden sky.

And apparently the supernatural weather outside of Leotas is back, so that's a plus!

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I think it all looks great. Love the pre-show wallpaper effect.

I honestly really like the looks of all of it, too.

Admittedly, I never saw Phantom Manor in its early years, but I was never as enamoured of this version of the attraction as many others seemed to be. You could see what they were going for, but the set design and lighting always seemed more literal and hokey than the US mansions, which have a very distinctive off beat sensibility. There was even something about the original portraits in the stretching room that always looked a bit off to me, not to mention the Western village in the graveyard scene. With the new version, they seem to have gotten rid of most of that hokeyness, upgrading the effects and exorcising some things like that weird flying bride at the end of the original version. New stretching room portraits are also a huge improvement!

I have a feeling this won't be a popular opinion!

 

[Disney Analyst]

I honestly really like the looks of all of it, too.

Admittedly, I never saw Phantom Manor in its early years, but I was never as enamoured of this version of the attraction as many others seemed to be. You could see what they were going for, but the set design and lighting always seemed more literal and hokey than the US mansions, which have a very distinctive off beat sensibility. There was even something about the original portraits in the stretching room that always looked a bit off to me, not to mention the Western village in the graveyard scene. With the new version, they seem to have gotten rid of most of that hokeyness, upgrading the effects and exorcising some things like that weird flying bride at the end of the original version. New stretching room portraits are also a huge improvement!

I have a feeling this won't be a popular opinion!

I agree. I can't stand the western town part... Give me the backyard graveyard.