Haunted Mansion Changes - Slowly Unveiling!

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Yes, but Walt also fairly emphatically worked to cut out any semblance of a literal story line in the Mansion during its development. That's one of the reasons it took so long to finalize. After Walt's death, there was a drawn out battle between imagineers who wanted to create a storyline and those that wanted to leave it open-ended as Walt envisioned it. While I'm not opposed to change, I agree with Walt (and iSm and Flippyshark) on this one that the Mansion is better served as a spooky house of mystery than as a storybook.

Hmm this seems a bit revisionist to me - I think the main conflict was between scary versus goofy /Claude Coates atmospherics that make up the mansion's begiinings versus the Frank Davis charicatures that make up the second half...

On another note - I love Phantom Mannor, and presume it to be repetable even if I can't repeat it.

[innerSpaceman]

I got text and voice ... and, though he didn't give away the farm, I bet when I see it tomorrow, I will likely not be pleased.

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I got text and voice ... and, though he didn't give away the farm, I bet when I see it tomorrow, I will likely not be pleased.

Well, harumph!

[Gemini Cricket]

I don't particularly like her voice, but I love what she says. She says at least 4 or 5 different things. Her voice coule be more menacing and less school teacher-ish.

I haven't been on the ride, but I like what I'm seeing. I'm a fan as of this moment. My next trip to the park is going to be in September, I think. I hope they don't wimp out and take it out before then because of parental complaints etc...

[CoasterMatt]

The old bride had MAN HANDS!!!

[Gn2Dlnd]

I saw it Wednesday, the only parents that would complain are those that can't deal with the Mansion being updated. It's not like the hatchet is dripping blood or anything!
I think it's a wonderful reference to the Hatbox Ghost, while being a completely new take on the idea. My only issue? Constance and her grooms are so photo-realistic, while the rest of the Mansion is pure Marc Davis.

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, matching the existing style is a very important thing.


Sorry, but those World of Motion figures stuck out like a sore hook on Pirates of the Caribbean.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Sorry, but those World of Motion figures stuck out like a sore hook on Pirates of the Caribbean.

I agree.
I never liked the "Two Brothers" segment of "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" for the same reason. The lighting in the attic, however, masks the style difference to a degree.

[Isaac]

I rode the Haunted Mansion this weekend & experienced the new attic scene.

Spoiler:

WHAT THE **** WERE THEY THINKING !?!?!?

I am not opposed to changes to the attic scene in this ride if they can match the style & tone of the attraction. The new attic scene simply fails to do so. So what went wrong ? Let me tell ya:

1) Scale.
The size of the new bride figure is significantly smaller than the previous one. from a distance she looks okay, but up close, she's simply too small. She's a midget bride by comparison to the other figures inside the mansion. Had she been placed in a corner, further from the ride vehicle, then this illusion could have been passable. She is simply too small to be so close to the doom buggies.

2) Visibility.
The bride's bouquet of flowers (which later turn into an axe) are too distorted. They appear as a cloudy mess. Even up close it's very hard to tell just what exactly you're looking at until it morphs into the blade.

3) Style.
The art styling of the character is a mismatch. The axe that appears in her hands appears too quickly & sharply. The edge of her hatchet shining in the light gives it the feeling of a type of adventure role play video game ("You've gained the axe of Gerudo !"). The original idea of having blood on the axe was ..well.. axed. Such a shame. Another part of why this character is out of sorts is the:

4) Performance.
The actress who filmed the bride's performance did not know at the time what her footage would be used for til after it was recorded. Perhaps had they told her in advance she would have given a better performance. Her facial expressions are too silly & cartoonish. Although the Haunted Mansion is meant to have a certain level of humor, her performance is a different style of humor. It's far too cartoonish. Her expressions are too much. She even appears cross-eyed at times in a way that just looks dumb. Of course, facials expressions were only a portion of her performance she also has some:

5) Spoken Dialogue.
Her dialogue is the standard wedding vows. If read properly, they have potential to be eerie. They are not read in an eerie manner. Her spoken dialogue, much like her facial expressions, are too silly to evoke feelings of dread, yet not silly enough to make you laugh either. It's lame.


Simply put, the bride is lame. The attic changes leading up to her are pretty cool. They set the stage for a possibly eerie encounter that turns out to be very mediocre & dissatisfying. I was so thoroughly annoyed I filed a complaint at City Hall. I ended my statement by saying "If this is the future of the park, I shudder to think what's being done to Pirates Of The Caribbean."

The idea had promise but the execution sucked.

Sorry TDA & WDI. You get no kudos from me for this tripe.

......and that's what I think!

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by zapppop

......and that's what I think!

Spoiler:

Here's my theory on at least some of the snafus zapppop noticed.
I noticed the cross-eyed thing, too. (Granted, to truly review this I should see it live, but that's not going to happen for me for awhile.) It doesn't work if the cross-eyed thing is on purpose.
I'm thinking that they most likely did have a spookier version of the bride. I bet they had a version where she did deliver her lines as creepily as possible. I also think they tried to match the mood of the Leotas. But seeing as how they prevented blood from being on the axe, I think a couple of suits or higher ups decided to dumb the bride down. 'Make her more cartoony! Make her make a funny face. Make her sound more Barbara Billingsley-like.' That's my theory. The build up is right on the money, but the pay off has been altered.
As for the scale, they should totally fix that. IN fact, they should take heed to all of zappp's comments.
I think the park needs as much feedback on this as possible.
There have been stirrings from reliable people on MC that the Mouse is monitoring their boards. I think it would be wise to place your review there at MC in its own thread, zapppop. That's just my two cents.

iSm - Did you ride it, too? I'd love to hear your review as well.