Haunted Mansion speculation

[serendipity]

The Haunted Mansion will be closed this June 06th until September 12th. It seems odd that they would close this ride during such a tourist season. For those of you who are unaware at Disneyland during the holiday season (Halloween and Christmas) the haunted mansion is turned into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in the Haunted Mansion. It's done absolutely wonderfully. There was talk of them doing the same thing at Disneyworld. Now my wishful guess putting the context clues together is there is a high possibility of this happening. Cross your fingers!

 

[YoHo]

The Disney World haunted mansion is in really really really bad shape. All rumors suggest that TeamFlorida doesn't have the money to do haunted mansion holiday.

Instead, they waited until the place was so bad that they didn't have a choice and are forced to shut it down. The load belt has been broken for years now and that caused additional damage to the whole ride. At best, they may put in the Madame Leota effect and the new attic, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[MasterShake]

I love the haunted mansion, but it is in rough shape. I hope they do more than simply update mechanics and the sound system. I would like to see them redo some of the sections to make them a little more modern. Love the feel now, but I would like to see them take advantage of current technology.

 

[OrlandoMike]

It's not going to happen.

Disneyland relys on locals for their buisness, and the park needed a little boost to get attendance up in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They added the overlay to HM and iasw to help get more locals into the park during the slower weeks before Christmas.

Disney World on the other hand gets guests from all over the eastern United States, and does not need the very expensive overlay to attract guests.

It's a bummer, but its not going to happen in Orlando.

 

[serendipity]

Bummer. Oh well, one can always keep their fingers crossed

 

[Disneybag]

I heard that Tim Burton had a say in not bringing it to Orlando.

 

[serendipity]

I heard that Tim Burton had a say in not bringing it to Orlando.

That's interesting......I wonder why he would want it in one place, and not the other.

 

[YoHo]

Rumors like that are just white wash.

What that really means is that Burton get's money every time that Disneyland throws up Haunted Holiday. Disney doesn't want to pay him more for WDW.

Blaming him sounds better then
"We're not doing it cause we're cheap SOBs."
It's the same reason it took them so long to get Johnny Dipp into pirates.

There've been rumors floating around that they're gonna cancel it at DL too cause of the cost.

 

[raidermatt]

Disneyland relys on locals for their buisness, and the park needed a little boost to get attendance up in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They added the overlay to HM and iasw to help get more locals into the park during the slower weeks before Christmas.

Disney World on the other hand gets guests from all over the eastern United States, and does not need the very expensive overlay to attract guests.

That's the conventional thinking, and if it's the true reason Disney does this then the word "short-sighted" comes to mind.

I say "if" because it's the same reason being thrown around for DL's better overall upkeep as well, and if that's true, it's a relatively new development. Prior to the 50th, the relative upkeep was reversed, with DL practically falling apart while WDW was kept up fairly well. It's not like the locals vs. vacationers thing is a new development.

But maybe it has been a change in thinking by management.

 

[MasterShake]

Rumors like that are just white wash.

What that really means is that Burton get's money every time that Disneyland throws up Haunted Holiday. Disney doesn't want to pay him more for WDW.

Blaming him sounds better then
"We're not doing it cause we're cheap SOBs."
It's the same reason it took them so long to get Johnny Dipp into pirates.

There've been rumors floating around that they're gonna cancel it at DL too cause of the cost.

How much are they paying Tim Burton to decorate the haunted mansion in Disneyland?

Why would they be willing to pay the expense in Disneyland, but not Disney World?

Not saying that what you said above isn't true, but would like to see a little more facts to back your argument.

 

[YoHo]

Why are you on a "Rumor" board if all you want is hard facts?


At any rate, it's something that AV has said in the past and he's in a position to know how Disney thinks and how Hollywood works.

Not a fact I suppose, but as close as you'll get. Since, as I said, They're trying to white wash it. So the facts are being pushed aside.

 

[MasterShake]

Why are you on a "Rumor" board if all you want is hard facts?


At any rate, it's something that AV has said in the past and he's in a position to know how Disney thinks and how Hollywood works.

Not a fact I suppose, but as close as you'll get. Since, as I said, They're trying to white wash it. So the facts are being pushed aside.

I'm looking for facts to substantiate rumors. Otherwise I would buy into every post claiming that Disney was opening a park in Texas.

Just seems strange that Disney would pay the fee for one park and then decide it's too expensive for another. I would guess that there is more to this then simply not wanting to pay Tim Burton.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Well Tim does apparently own the characters .. so it stands to reason he'd be paid for their use... But probably more under some larger master agreement that includes merchandising and so forth.

Hard to say without direct access to the contracts.

Knox

 

[raidermatt]

Most likely the agreement calls for more money the more the NBC stuff is used. If Disney paid Burton enough for him to give them the rights to do it everywhere, we'd have to question why Disney paid for the right to do it at MK yet didn't for so many years.

We'll never know for sure, but I'd be surprised if Burton signed some kind of deal that didn't pay him more if the characters are used more. That would be very uncommon.

Then there's also the point about management not viewing such makeovers and updates being as important at WDW as at DL due to the locals vs. tourists thing.


But for a better precedent on Disney not being willing to pay for something like this, look at Indy in DL. The reason Harrison Ford's likeness and voice weren't used isn't that Disney thought it was a better story without him.

 

[TDC Nala]

Summer is the only time they could have closed it for three months.

If they closed from Jan-March, or in April and May, they'd miss part of spring break, which is more popular than summer.

If they closed it during the pre-Halloween season, they'd have to market a Halloween party without the Haunted Mansion.

If they closed it later, they'd have missed the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years season which again is busier than summer.

So the logical time to close it for that long is exactly the time that they're doing it.

 

[Flametamr]

Just curious for selfish reasons here. What is the real dates for the refurb of HM ? Here it says June until Sept. But on the Disney web site it says Aug 1-31. I hope Disney is correct since I will be there fron Aug27 to Sept 2. I really would like to be one of the first to see the mansion if its reopened.

 

[pirate_girl]

The Haunted Mansion will be closed this June 06th until September 12th. It seems odd that they would close this ride during such a tourist season. For those of you who are unaware at Disneyland during the holiday season (Halloween and Christmas) the haunted mansion is turned into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in the Haunted Mansion. It's done absolutely wonderfully. There was talk of them doing the same thing at Disneyworld. Now my wishful guess putting the context clues together is there is a high possibility of this happening. Cross your fingers!

wait the disneyland haunted mansion ride or the disneyworld one cause we are going to disneyland for the first time june 3-6. i was looking foward to it because it is diff. i hope its the one in wdw.

 

[Dznefreek]

Just curious for selfish reasons here. What is the real dates for the refurb of HM ? Here it says June until Sept. But on the Disney web site it says Aug 1-31. I hope Disney is correct since I will be there fron Aug27 to Sept 2. I really would like to be one of the first to see the mansion if its reopened.

You need to look at each month. This is listed for September:

OPERATIONAL UPDATES
The Haunted Mansion: Closed for Refurbishment [September 1, 2007 to September 12, 2007]


The general rumor has also involved a gift shop being added to the exit and some type of on ride photo. Speculation is they figured out how to capture an image of the riders and the hitch-hiking ghosts.