not so Frightening Fridays 4

not so Frightening Fridays

Let's continue looking at Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort.

Review part one here.

Review part two here.

Review part three here.

Welcome back to Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort.

This week we venture into New Orleans Square.

Haunted Mansion Holiday is of course the event that inspired Halloween Time at Disneyland.

One of the most iconic attractions at Disneyland is the Haunted Mansion.  It is, of course, one of the final attractions to have direct oversight by Walt Disney himself.  The attraction, once planned as a walk-thru Haunted House, has become a classic. Millions of guests have entered the stretching room and boarded a "doom buggy" for a trip into the mansion. Legions of fans can quote Leota, sing all the lyrics of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" or point out each of the 99 Happy Haunts. So, with a massive fan base and a long standing history, how do you re-imagine this classic?

 

Thankfully the Disney Imaginears found a spectacular way to bring new life to this classic.

 

With the inclusion of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas into the Disney film vault a perfect cross-branding was created.  What if Jack Skellington from Nightmare came to the Mansion and brought Christmas with him?  The first year of this idea had Disney Executives holding their collective breath. Would fans like it?  Would park guests understand the concept?  How would it play out to have a movie overlay on/in a park attraction?  Fast forward several years...

 

Fans have not only embraced the concept, they have taken the character of Jack Skellington to a new level of fame.  Park guest not only like it, they buy up millions of souvenirs. Not only does the overlay work out wonderfully, it has sparked other concepts for attraction overlays in the rest of the park (Ghost Galaxy?).

 

 

So this Halloween season let's go for a ride on this years version of Haunted Mansion Holiday.

 

 





Next week:

Ghost Galaxy & Frankenweenie