Ever because it opened at Disneyland in 1969, the Haunted Mansion has spooked and delighted thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of Disney Parks visitors from everywhere in the world. Now, with the Disney Treasure’s Haunted Mansion Parlor, there’s a brand-new solution to expertise this beloved attraction whereas in the midst of the ocean on Disney’s latest cruise ship.
Disney invited us on the Disney Treasure Media Preview Sailing and we had the prospect to not solely take a look at the Haunted Mansion Parlor and all of its haunts, however we additionally have been in a position to converse to a few the Imagineers behind bringing this nautical twist on the attraction all of us like to life.
Welcome, Foolish Mortals
The Haunted Mansion Parlor seems like the right extension of The Haunted Mansion itself and simply screams authenticity. From the long-lasting ticking clock sound to a floating Madame Leota to eerily acquainted work that cover darkish secrets and techniques to hitchhiking ghosts and the at all times fantastic ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts,’ there may be a lot love and care put into each inch of this lounge. However, this is not only a smaller model of the Haunted Mansion. No, that is its personal fantastic place with its personal story to inform that should not be missed.
“We constructed our personal mythology right here as a result of we’re on a cruise ship, so we needed it to have a nautical twist to every part,” Danny Handke, senior artistic director at Walt Disney Imagineering, mentioned. “And we constructed it throughout this Captain character who’s at present lifeless however lives on on this place and even in a portrait within the lounge.
“This is the Captain’s lounge, and the story is he rescued his bride-to-be who is definitely a murderous mermaid you may also meet within the parlor. They get engaged and issues begin to go fallacious and that is the place the actual Haunted Mansion story comes into play. More of the story is then informed in varied methods across the house and you’ve got the choice to find it by yourself and determine what the lore is.”
One of the largest additions to this lore is the centerpiece of the Haunted Mansion Parlor – an aquarium with ghost fish. While this alone looks as if a really cool idea, its historical past goes method again to when the unique Haunted Mansion was being developed.
“The Haunted Mansion was labored on and developed for 10 years earlier than it opened in 1969 at Disneyland for the primary time and there have been so many issues that did not make it in,” Daniel Jones, government illusions & results improvement at Walt Disney Imagineering, informed me. “So, with love, we checked out all these ideas and what actually popped out have been the Museum of the Weird parts that Imagineer Rolly Crump had labored on. Most of all nevertheless, the staff and I agreed the Ghost Fish Aquarium was a should as a result of it is the right match.”
The Museum of the Weird was set to be a companion walkthrough expertise to the Haunted Mansion however it by no means noticed the sunshine of day due partly to Walt’s passing. Variations of a number of the deliberate items of the museum – from the ‘Donald Armchair’ close to the Endless Hallway to the long-lasting wallpaper – made it into the Haunted Mansion, and now yet one more of Crump’s designs might be celebrated. While this was an thrilling prospect for the staff, it additionally proved to be one of many parlor’s most troublesome challenges.
“The Ghost Fish Aquarium was a name it motion to my staff and I as a result of numerous illusions and issues that we love to do are typically at midnight and from one standpoint and, as , the aquarium is the central piece and might be seen from all sides,” Joseph mentioned. “You can look by way of and see different individuals behind it. So it’s, for all intents and functions, an actual fish tank similar to you’d usually have however with ghost fish.”
Getting this little bit of “Disney Magic” got here all the way down to the wire because it wasn’t fairly to the usual of Walt Disney Imagineering till after it was already put in on the ship. The aquarium was mocked up and designed 4 years beforehand however the staff was tweaking it up till the final minute to make it what all of them knew it might be.
“The aquarium is a superb instance of typical Disney Magic the place there’s numerous expertise in it however you do not see any of it or do not even query it,” Joseph mentioned. “This factor was mocked up and developed most likely 4 years in the past and since then we have been form of tweaking on and off how it could work and what’s in it. And, actually to the final minute, we did not have it totally working to what all of us knew it might do till it was on the ship, which is fairly late in our course of.
Grim Grinning Ghosts Galore
While Joseph did not reveal all of the tips that lastly introduced the aquarium to the end line, he and Handke did share how Imagineering made the remainder of the parlor really feel simply as actual and plausible because the ghost fish are.
We spoke beforehand in regards to the work that change earlier than your eyes within the parlor, that are very a lot within the type of these discovered within the unique Haunted Mansion by Marc Davis, however Imagineering as soon as once more went above and past to honor the previous whereas paving a brand new method ahead.
“What we’re actually happy with about this work is a brand new method that we use the place you may go proper up on high of them, put your face proper close to it, and it seems to be and looks as if an actual portray,” Joseph shared. “Just like in a museum, you may go up and see the feel of the artwork, all the comb strokes, and even the glossiness and the matte end of the oil paint.”
This is made much more spectacular by the truth that these work do change and transfer, from the captain turning into a skeleton to his bride-to-be exhibiting her true kind as that murderous mermaid.
However, Imagineering was cautious by no means to go too far and depart what all of us count on from the Haunted Mansion behind. In reality, their ardour for the attraction is among the most important causes it feels so genuine. This is maybe seen finest within the mirror behind the bar the place we see the hitchhiking ghosts, Madame Leota, and extra. One route the staff might have taken was to replace these characters and use modern-day methods to carry them to a brand new viewers, however they selected a unique path.
For the character behind the bar, we elected to go along with the unique Haunted Mansion animated figures,” Joseph mentioned. “So, there is no CGI in that as a result of we needed it to really feel like the unique from 1969. Those aren’t animated cartoon characters which you can see in a online game, they’re very analog wanting. So, we took a really excessive ISO digicam with excessive decision and filmed an entire bunch of the figures within the Haunted Mansion journey at Disneyland after which amped up the standard and added glow and all that.”
I do know it is cliche to say, however the Haunted Mansion Parlor really is a love letter to the unique attraction and the unbelievable individuals who made it into the long-lasting attraction it’s and at all times shall be. To shine a haunted gentle on that and convey this story to a detailed, I need to share one closing story from Daniel Joseph that simply actually proves why that is extra than simply one other lounge.
“Another character all of us cherished from the Museum of the Weird was Rolly Crump’s Candleman,” Joseph mentioned. “Sadly, Rolly handed away throughout the improvement of the Haunted Mansion Parlor and we have been all saddened by that and the very fact he’d by no means get to see it accomplished.
“So, we knew we needed to do a bust in there it doesn’t matter what similar to you’d discover within the Haunted Mansion, however we then knew the right selection was to make it of Rolly. To make it much more particular, considered one of our staff members urged we do Rolly partially because the Candleman and ensure the facet of his head that is melting is subsequent to the hearth. This was an enormous honor and one other actually detailed thought and the authenticity of the design that follows go well with with every part else within the Mansion parlor.
For extra on the Disney Treasure, take a look at why The Tale of Moana is among the finest exhibits I’ve seen on land or sea and why the Plaza de Coco eating expertise was one of the emotional I’ve had in fairly a while.
Adam Bankhurst is a author for IGN. You can observe him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
