Haunted Mansion after re-furb

figment34786 · Post by **figment34786** » Apr Tue 22, 2008 4:13 pm

casrin wrote:Anyone have links to photos anywhere? I'd love to see the refurb changes since I won't see them in person any time soon...

There's a great video on http://www.attractionsmagazine.com/video.php

You really have to experience it first hand!

SWHorn · Post by **SWHorn** » Apr Tue 22, 2008 7:35 pm

We were there for opening day of HM, and one of the things I was looking forward to the most in this refurb was a general clean-up of the ride. Specifically, the protective screen/netting that is up all around in the graveyard scene had gotten so nasty (it looked like a bunch of gum was thrown onto it). For me, it is very distracting from the scene. It actually causes you to see notice the screen, rather than see through it.

I was absolutely shocked at the reopening when I saw that they had left that untouched. It was still just as gross. Why in the world would they shut the attraction down for that period of time and not clean the screen up? Unbelievable.

Otherwise, I think the refurb was awesome. This is my favorite WDW attraction, and I thought the changes were pretty cool.

Blackie Pueblo · Post by **Blackie Pueblo** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 4:46 am

The Haunted Mansion is simply awesome. More awesome than it was before. I honestly think it's the best refurb yet, and that includes adding Cap'm Jack to pirates.

Plus they refurbed the ride with out adding any cheap hollywood tatics. (Again, Cap'n Jack) They kept the ride it's own world with its own unique storyline. Now that is Disney Magic!

Also.. the end of the Haunted Mansion with the Hitchhiking ghosts is STILL the coolest cheap trip around. It's still as funny and as great as it was when I was a boy. And with the new paint job they really stand out and look great!

"Here is the world of imagination, hopes, and dreams."
---Walter Elias Disney

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 7:23 am

Yea they so should have added Eddie Murphy to the Haunted Mansion.

johno

DIAC1987 · Post by **DIAC1987** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 9:08 am

jcodirewolf wrote:Yea they so should have added Eddie Murphy to the Haunted Mansion.

johno

You're quite the comedian there.

That was the best part of the refurbished Haunted Mansion, no Hollywood-esque added stuff.

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 6:45 pm

figment34786 wrote:
casrin wrote:Anyone have links to photos anywhere? I'd love to see the refurb changes since I won't see them in person any time soon...
There's a great video on http://www.attractionsmagazine.com/video.php

You really have to experience it first hand!

Thanks, Figment!

Will check this out!

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 11:07 pm

SWHorn wrote:I was absolutely shocked at the reopening when I saw that they had left that untouched. It was still just as gross. Why in the world would they shut the attraction down for that period of time and not clean the screen up? Unbelievable.

I wonder if that got delayed somehow, because I don't remember thinking the screen was dirty in December and I was specifically looking for it (I'm with you - it's really distracting when it's dirty. That, and the plexiglass in front of the ballroom scene). It looked to be in good shape when I saw it, though.

One thing I really appreciated about the refurb was that they finally synced all the voices in the graveyard. You can actually understand what they're saying as they're all singing together for once. The difference was startling (in a good way).

I'm a little divided on the addition of the Black Widow story in the attic ... I still miss the faceless bride; she was the only thing that ever really scared me in there. But overall I agree with the majority here. The refurb is some top-notch work.

SWHorn · Post by **SWHorn** » Apr Mon 28, 2008 1:32 pm

DisBeamer wrote:
SWHorn wrote:I was absolutely shocked at the reopening when I saw that they had left that untouched. It was still just as gross. Why in the world would they shut the attraction down for that period of time and not clean the screen up? Unbelievable.
I wonder if that got delayed somehow, because I don't remember thinking the screen was dirty in December and I was specifically looking for it (I'm with you - it's really distracting when it's dirty. That, and the plexiglass in front of the ballroom scene). It looked to be in good shape when I saw it, though.

That's good to hear. We were wondering if this might be the case, that they just hadn't gotten to it in time for the opening. Now, I look forward to seeing it again when we visit in December.

kingjamesut · Post by **kingjamesut** » May Tue 06, 2008 9:43 pm

I just went on it not long ago and the scrim (the screen used in the graveyard) was clean.

Chernabog · Post by **Chernabog** » May Wed 07, 2008 10:18 am

ReFurb was terrific!! They kept the good stuff and replaced the weak areas, i.e. the big spiders, and added some excellent rooms that flowed with the ride. Most importantly, they did not take away from what has made the ride so great! They were able to figure out what could go and what needed to be changed/updated and they nailed it. I am a HUGE HM fan and always worry about changes but they hit the nail on the head w/this one! It is subtle, but a great improvement!!

kbken · Post by **kbken** » May Thu 08, 2008 10:52 pm

I'm a HUGE fan of HM and refurb. Rode it many many times this past October!!!

Ken

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » May Tue 13, 2008 9:38 pm

After going through a collection of audio I have from the haunted mansion, I noticed that there is a change in audio for the stretching room. Originally, Paul Frees did three recordings of the narration for the attraction for Disney to choose from (the first hardly resembles the narration we've come to know), but the second and third versions were the almost the same narration, with slightly different tones and added words, just for variation I guess. (For instance one difference I remember off the top of my head was "...make room for everyone. There's no turning back now" was changed to one sentence: "...everyone because there's no turning back now".)

I noticed that the entire stretching room audio had been changed. Originally the spiel went, "Our tour begins here in this gallery where you see paintings of some of our guests...". The narration was changed to "...our tour begins here in this gallery. HERE where you see paintings..." It's the only thing that really makes the change noticeable, although it's a completely different recording than the original, and when compared they do sound a bit different. It might also be worth noting that in this new recording the pauses bewteen the ghost host's lines are longer, so I'm assuming the whole stretching room sequence has been extended if only by a few seconds.

Just one of those tidbits of useless Disney information.

edit - unless it's been this way all along and I'm comparing the WDW and DL stretching room audio. If so, the DL version is the narration most commonly heard online and on cds because the other one is different from any master narration I've heard (and I really don't take the time to analyze the audio like this while I'm in the parks

.)

SWHorn · Post by **SWHorn** » May Wed 14, 2008 6:59 am

That is very interesting, Cheshire. I'm now very curious to take notice of the audio when I visit again because I had not noticed any changes in the lines when I last went.

Cheshire Cat wrote:Originally the spiel went, "Our tour begins here in this gallery where you see paintings of some of our guests...". The narration was changed to "...our tour begins here in this gallery. HERE where you see paintings..."

I could be wrong, but I believe I have heard the "HERE where you see..." audio before, and my assumption was that it was from DL. The former is the way I've always remembered it.

GhostHost · Post by **GhostHost** » May Wed 14, 2008 8:02 am

I noticed this too but did not think much of it at the time. I was like, "did I hear that right"?

figment34786 · Post by **figment34786** » May Wed 14, 2008 3:10 pm

I heard that too! I just dismissed it thinking I was going crazy.