What Do DL & WDW HM Fans Think of the New Paris Storyline?

[Rich T]

Just curious what all of this forum's HM fans think of Phantom Manor's (somewhat) new story. I think it's not as dark, narrow, and sad as the original version. Somehow, however, despite even *more* men getting murdered in the backstory, it comes across as more comedic--but just as creepy.

The changed story in a nutshell: (SPOILERS)
- The Phantom is now revealed--beyond any doubt--to be Henry Ravenswood, who clearly thought no man was good enough for his daughter.
- Ravenswood murdered four men who courted his daughter and the means of their demise are revealed in the Stretch Room Portraits.
- The original murdered groom is no longer part of the story.
- The four men's tombs can be seen toward the end of the Ghost Town finale
- The daughter, Melanie, now haunts the manor NOT as a bride waiting for a groom who never appears, but now as a woman, longing to wed, who fears she's cursed--since all the men she dates meet violent, bizarre ends.
- Melanie no longer sacrifices herself to save riders at the Ghost Town climax. She now appears in the mirrors at the end, sitting next to guests and begging them to marry her.

I like it!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Can't say I care much for a storyline in a Haunted Mansion or most Disney rides. The idea of the father murdering his daughter's husbands so they can't be with her is a bit...yeah.

Ride still looks cool though.

 

[Californian Elitist]

The only version I care about is Disneyland’s.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Just curious what all of this forum's HM fans think of Phantom Manor's (somewhat) new story. I think it's not as dark, narrow, and sad as the original version. Somehow, however, despite even *more* men getting murdered in the backstory, it comes across as more comedic--but just as creepy.

The changed story in a nutshell: (SPOILERS)
- The Phantom is now revealed--beyond any doubt--to be Henry Ravenswood, who clearly thought no man was good enough for his daughter.
- Ravenswood murdered four men who courted his daughter and the means of their demise are revealed in the Stretch Room Portraits.
- The original murdered groom is no longer part of the story.
- The four men's tombs can be seen toward the end of the Ghost Town finale
- The daughter, Melanie, now haunts the manor NOT as a bride waiting for a groom who never appears, but now as a woman, longing to wed, who fears she's cursed--since all the men she dates meet violent, bizarre ends.
- Melanie no longer sacrifices herself to save riders at the Ghost Town climax. She now appears in the mirrors at the end, sitting next to guests and begging them to marry her.

I like it!

Sounds cool to me.

I wish DL's could receive a full 21st Century refresh. *ducks*

 

[TROR]

I find the idea of a bride waiting for her husband to be a bit more of a classic tragic tale. That said, Phantom Manor has weird tonal problems throughout the attraction. It's incredibly dark at parts, far more so than Disneyland's, and contains a single narrative, yet still it has the Singing Busts and a skeleton playing drums on skulls. It's weird.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The idea of the father murdering his daughter's husbands so they can't be with her is a bit...yeah.

The other take is the daughter being in on the murders the whole time, fueled by her laugh at the end of the ride which sounds more evil than crazy IMO.

Nothing says "Disney family fun" like a father/daughter team of serial killers!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The only version I care about is Disneyland’s.

I remember watching publicity material for the American Haunted Mansion back in the 90s and seeing some weird skeletons amid the usual imagery from the ride. I wondered for a long time where that came from and saw them on a Phantom Manor ride video.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I find the idea of a bride waiting for her husband to be a bit more of a classic tragic tale. That said, Phantom Manor has weird tonal problems throughout the attraction. It's incredibly dark at parts, far more so than Disneyland's, and contains a single narrative, yet still it has the Singing Busts and a skeleton playing drums on its skull. It's weird.

This. the singing busts from the original graveyard scene have no place and make nooo sense tonally in the underground coffin/old west finale of the ride. Them singing "grim,grinning ghosts" takes me out of every ride pov i see becuause it does not fit the scene

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

The thing that Phantom Manor fails at and that Florida's mansion fails at is simply they are trying to create a story where there was never one before or meant to be. When the original imagineers created the Mansion they were creating a experience. the theme was a retirement home for ghosts inside disneyland that ghosts from around the world could live in. So with that in mind they created a unique experience where you would go through mesh of classic haunted house cliches but with a disney twist i.e.: a haunted graveyard, a bride in the attic waiting for her love to return, self knocking doors and things floating down the halls. they in the end decided to put those all in but settled on a creepy atmospheric feel for the first part of the ride that says "this is scary, take all this ghost stuff seriously" to set the mood then by the 2nd half even though they are ghosts you are having fun with them and laughing with them as you see them party in the graveyard. A light and dark balance similar to the movie GREMLINS. Evil creatures and scary in the first half, in the 2nd half we wish we were in the bar with them having a drink. It sitmulates all person's senses. fear and humor. balance. It was never about "This is so and so's home and he hung himself, and this bride is a black widow etc etc" It was about the experience. same with Pirates. there was never a set story. more of a very loose story based around the ride experience. more of a you fill in the blank. Forcing a story just leads to confusing mess. That is part of why i hate constance in the mansion but the majority of the feel of the mansion original intention is still intact. it has not been as badly butchered as pirates has been over the years.

 

[TROR]

Florida’s Mansion, while not my preferred Mansion, Is a better dark ride. It does a fantastic job at building up the ghosts before they’re revealed by Madame Leota. In Disneyland it all happens to quick.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Florida’s Mansion, while not my preferred Mansion, Is a better dark ride. It does a fantastic job at building up the ghosts before they’re revealed by Madame Leota. In Disneyland it all happens to quick.

cgi cartoon hitchhiking ghosts alone make Disneyland's the better version. I think the build up is the same in both rides up until the Leota scene. all florida has before that is the stair case and the library (which is really just to show off the same busts that follow you in Disneyland) and the portrait hall only the portrait hall and library with the busts are on the ride. Disneyland sets those up better by having you walk past both those things on your way to your buggy as opposed to florida where you exit the stretching room and go right into a queue where disneyland keeps the mood and story going while you are still in line up until you board.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Eh, the major issue I have with WDW's Haunted Mansion is the alterations. It doesn't have anything to do with a story as it's the same as it's always been. There is no story. It's a bunch of kookie things happening on your tour of a haunted house.

What happened in Florida is that the refurbs have de-charmed the ride by trying to downplay the chintzier elements and make it seem more dark and disturbing for lame 21st century audiences. We all know that what makes HM such a great attraction is that it's a mishmash of ridiculously corny chintzy lowtech gags and an almost complete lack of being convincing. It's not "Disney's storytelling" or "Oh, those Imagineers!" (They slapped it together) or "I'm Gothic and dress like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction so this is obviously my favorite thing." It's a bunch of wobbling gravestones, automatic door knockers and crudely barely animated robots in translucent sheets. It was never impressive even when it was new.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Eh, the major issue I have with WDW's Haunted Mansion is the alterations. It doesn't have anything to do with a story as it's the same as it's always been. There is no story. It's a bunch of kookie things happening on your tour of a haunted house.

What happened in Florida is that the refurbs have de-charmed the ride by trying to downplay the chintzier elements and make it seem more dark and disturbing for lame 21st century audiences. We all know that what makes HM such a great attraction is that it's a mishmash of ridiculously corny chintzy lowtech gags and an almost complete lack of being convincing. It's not "Disney's storytelling" or "Oh, those Imagineers!" (They slapped it together) or "I'm Gothic and dress like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction so this is obviously my favorite thing." It's a bunch of wobbling gravestones, automatic door knockers and crudely barely animated robots in translucent sheets. It was never impressive even when it was new.

exactly. i totally agree with this. echos what I said in my previous post. there was never a story. it was a collection of classic haunted house tropes put done in a disney way. such as the heads that used to pop out in the attic that still are in the graveyard. low tech and goofy effect but that is what makes it work and is charming.

 

[wityblack]

The storyline changes don't excite me all too much. I think it's clever, and totally works, but I don't think it's better or worse than the previous concept. That being said, the technological and special effect upgrades were definitely needed. Plus, and maybe I'm a selfish American for saying this, the Vincent Price narration is back, and it absolutely fits the mood of the house. Love the updates to the animatronics, the lighting looks better than ever, the "ghost town" portion of the ride looks brand new, and the new paintings were much needed.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

the Vincent Price narration is back, and it absolutely fits the mood of the house.

does it though? every ride through i have seen on you tube shows the same thing that makes it not work for me. and that is after every piece of Price dialouge there is a cheesy french version that comes on immediatley afterward that is done by a actor who is doing a over the top "haunted house" voice which is different than what Price's performance was going for. so it immediatley ruins the tone of the ride and it does it after every time he speaks which takes me out of the experience because it is soo jarring between the two performances with the same lines of dialouge albeit one is in french. let the price portion play out then let the french version play. but man o man it just ruins any enjoyment i get out of hearing vincent on the ride.

 

[Kram Sacul]

The changes are mostly unnecessary and don't help the ride. Thank God they had the sense to restore the original score to the ballroom scene. What bonehead thought that was a good idea?

 

[SuddenStorm]

Something that's wonderful about Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is that it incorporates many elements from the various designers and storylines developed during it's decade long creation.

This has helped create tons and tons of urban legends and patently false interpretations of the Mansion's story- people reading into stuff where they shouldn't. And it's wonderful. This creates a diversity, passion, lore, intrigue, and depth to the attraction that no other theme park ride has- the mystery surrounding the Mansion and the many ways it can be interpreted have helped give it lasting appeal. Sure, Fitzgerald and his team of bonehead Imagineers kind of ruined this with the awful Constance addition (sorry @Curious Constance ), but much of the attraction remains intact thematically as it was opening day.

I don't know much about Phantom Manor- I know that the bride has always had a stronger presence throughout the attraction, but it seemed that it still retained that sense of mystery about the place that's essential for a Haunted attraction. It looked like a wonderful update of the original attraction for a European audience.

With this new iteration of the Manor, they did a huge disservice by spoon feeding the story to guests- from what I've seen, it's now far more linear. There's far less that's left to be interpreted by the guest, and that's a bad thing. Some attractions work excellent with a standard story structure (Splash Mountain DL does this very well), but when designing an attraction about the paranormal, the unknown- it only makes sense that the actual story should be mysterious to the guest and left to be interpreted different ways.

Manor still looks like an amazing ride, but the new changes are further evidence of modern WDI's lack of creative thinking. As I say often, everything they touch comes out worse than it was before from a creative standpoint, even if they're good at utilizing state of the art technology.

I just hope that they don't try anything similar with Disneyland's Mansion- cause if they do, it'll be yet another blow to the core of Disneyland.

 

[TROR]

There's some really good comments on this YouTube video (I know, surprising) discussing how the new version has lost the tragedy in the story. I could write a lot about the changes and their effects on the story if anyone's interested.

 

[SuddenStorm]

There's some really good comments on this YouTube video (I know, surprising) discussing how the new version has lost the tragedy in the story. I could write a lot about the changes and their effects on the story if anyone's interested.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone else notice Kram Sacul's comments on random Disneyland Youtube videos? Makes me proud to see a forum member out in the wild, spreading the WDWmagic Gospel to the masses

 

[Kram Sacul]

Slightly off topic, but does anyone else notice Kram Sacul's comments on random Disneyland Youtube videos? Makes me proud to see a forum member out in the wild, spreading the WDWmagic Gospel to the masses

Those must be really old videos. Probably mostly when Mission: Cash Out opened and everyone was fawning over it.