Haunted Mansion Ghost Post Subscription!

[BrianL]

What on earth is this thread even about? What is this product for which you're paying $200? Is it offered every year? The website was not helpful at all.

My guess is this is Disney testing the waters for a subscription box service, like Loot Crate and the many others like it. It wouldn't surprise me to see them expand the offer and then offer either limited subscriptions for new themes or a more long-term subscription for general Disney merchandise.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I'm not surprised it sold out at all.

 

[ktlm]

My guess is this is Disney testing the waters for a subscription box service, like Loot Crate and the many others like it. It wouldn't surprise me to see them expand the offer and then offer either limited subscriptions for new themes or a more long-term subscription for general Disney merchandise.

Their monthly park pack pin set must be doing well since they turned it into an automatic monthly subscription. I have been sucked into that one. I keep saying I am going to cancel, but somehow I never do!

 

[burnetta696]

I would have loved to sign up if money wasn't an issue right now. But I'm going to wdw in a month so a tour through the mansion will have to suffice. Can't wait to see what ends up being inside it. Thanks In Advance to those of you that share photos.

 

[BrianL]

Their monthly park pack pin set must be doing well since they turned it into an automatic monthly subscription. I have been sucked into that one. I keep saying I am going to cancel, but somehow I never do!

Ahh, Disney Pins. Once you start down the pin path, forever will it consume your destiny. This is one hobby/vice I have a avoided getting into. So far.

 

[JJZMgailey]

I can't believe I paid $200 for three boxes of unknown content. I do feel somewhat better knowing that 998 other suckers were all too happy to do the same.

You *know* it's going to be good though!! I can hardly wait for folks to report on what they received; I'm sure I'll be kicking myself for not biting the bullet and buying this.

 

[Raya]

Can I ask how you all found about the ghost post? I saw a Facebook post from Doombuggies, but never saw anything on the Disney parks blog. If there's some sort of HM fan list I'd like to get on it!

 

[ktlm]

Ahh, Disney Pins. Once you start down the pin path, forever will it consume your destiny. This is one hobby/vice I have a avoided getting into. So far.

Ha! So true!! Stay far far away. I thought the whole pin trading thing was silly- spending that much money on a ton of little pieces of metal that aren't even jewelry you actually really wear? I was sucked in by my DD. She loves to trade and I would see a great pin on a CM lanyard and say "Don't you want to trade for this one?" and she would say "No". Happened one too many times, so I thought I would just get a couple of my own and trade one or two. Now we have two big corkboards up in our house with my pins! I have to admit, it is nice to see a little piece of WDW and a bunch of trip memories (well okay and ebay memories too) hanging in the house.

 

[Mofang]

Really excited to see what they do with this (and bummed out I wasn't able to get a subscription in time).

This looks a lot like Disney's take on an alternate reality game. There is a vibrant - although small - community of people who are into puzzles and interactive real-life fiction events, and there's a lot of overlap between that community and the Disney fan community. If you've heard of escape rooms, that's another evolution of the same sort of idea that's gaining popularity. A few years back in 2012, one of the strongest groups of puzzle authors - a small company called Shinteki based in California - even hosted an unofficial puzzle event at Disneyland: http://www.shinteki.com/disneyfaq.html

The closest analogy for this Haunted Mansion subscription is the Black Letter Game - a service that mails you a puzzle on a regular basis to be solved in your home. http://www.blacklettergame.com/ I actually thought the quality of puzzles from Black Letter Game wasn't all that great, though, so I think there's a lot of opportunity for Disney to do something amazing with this concept.

Thanks to Disney being a giant faceless corporation, you can get a good preview of what this HM themed event will entail by looking at the legal terms and conditions. https://ghostrelationsdept.disney.com/game-terms/ There will be a mobile app called "Haunted Mansion: Phantom Radio"... and it will involve some actual physical interaction at the parks themselves, too.

Looking forward to hearing more! (And if someone at Disney comes up with an extra slot, I'd sure love the chance to get in on this!)

 

[Mofang]

(It also looks like there will be some sort of iPhone dock that you slide your phone into, from the photos on the Disney store, which probably explains the limited device support: they needed to make sure the artifacts will actually fit your phone.)

 

[bumbershoot]

ting system is a pain in the butt. They don't force you to upgrade to current versions

Well neither does iPhone. Until they disappear all your contacts so you have no choice but to upgrade to the os that is compatible with the version they can spy on, that is. But I'm still a couple versions back right now. (And my MacBook is still on Lion, though that's changing soon bc I want iPhoto GONE)

 

[jkh36619]

Glad my wife didn't see this. She is already hooked on mystery "Beauty Boxes"...

 

[AndyR]

Can I ask how you all found about the ghost post? I saw a Facebook post from Doombuggies, but never saw anything on the Disney parks blog. If there's some sort of HM fan list I'd like to get on it!

Direct email from Disney, arrived at 1:27pm PDT yesterday.

 

[Grand Admiral]

I was tempted to get this for DW, but I couldn't justify $199 for what looks like some paper products and a couple of tchotchkes.

It would be great if it's more than that, but I've bought too many "Special edition" DVD box sets that turned out to be mostly paper and cheap junk.

 

[JaimeK]

999? Shouldn't there be room for one more?

 

[Micca]

I thought briefly about doing this. Then I thought about having $200 to spend on HM stuff at Memento Mori where I can see the merch and decide if it's worth it.
Still, I'll look forward to hearing what the contents of the boxes are. Not so intrigued about the phone game.

 

[geminierin]

Can I ask how you all found about the ghost post? I saw a Facebook post from Doombuggies, but never saw anything on the Disney parks blog. If there's some sort of HM fan list I'd like to get on it!

I never saw this mentioned on the Disney Parks blog, but I have about 25 Disney-related blogs I read daily/semi-weekly so it was mentioned in one of those!

 

[Micca]

Ahh, Disney Pins. Once you start down the pin path, forever will it consume your destiny. This is one hobby/vice I have a avoided getting into. So far.

It's tempting, isn't it? I have like 5 pins, I want to keep them so I don't wear them at the parks because they aren't for trade, and I don't want to lose them. Every trip I look at the pin kiosks and see another half dozen or so I think I should have, but I stop myself when I remind me that my current lanyard hangs on the inside doorknob of the bathroom in the basement.

 

[White Rose]

I got an e-mail around 4 pm the day it was announced, from the Disney store, and signed up around 8pm. I was worried it was already sold out. I flinched at the price, but I've recently switched to brown bagging my lunch - there goes the money I'm saving! lol!

I'm going to do a FB post of the items and the story...

if you go to this link...there is a brief video...and it shows a piano music box, a porcelain cup, cards, and other items...I wonder if they are part of the 7-9 gifts we will receive in each box?

http://www.disneystore.com/mp/1398110/1000202/#longDesc

 

[tarak]

I got my shopping notice yesterday. No estimated delivery date, but I'm excited. Anyone else get theirs?