Holiday Haunted Mansion dissapointment

I personally love both. I just wish they wouldn't do the Holiday overlay for Halloween. I just don't understand the logic of taking down Haunted Mansion to create a Christmas themed ride for Halloween. :confused3
 
You definitely aren't alone in your opinion, though we like the overlay.
I haven't seen the Haunted Mansion in its true form since before 2001, as we always go to Disneyland for the holidays, and I do wax nostalgic/miss it.
BUT, we are big Nightmare Before Christmas fans, and so we look forward to this ride each year.
 
We saw it for the first time in Holiday mode this September and I was surprised how many changes were made. We avoided it the first few days of the trip because of the crazy lines, but once we finally sucked it up and waited, it was worth it. The ride was totally different and enjoyable in a new way.
 
...things don't meet our expectations. I love HHM and love the original form too, both equally. Both are just such campy fun. But that said I loved the Nightmare before Christmas, I have been humming "this is Halloween" for weeks now.

But I hear you, for me that was Space mountain vs. Ghost galaxy....I LOVE space mountain, but really disliked Ghost galaxy, it was so disappointing as I was really looking forward to it.

Kind of like when you see a really decadent looking cookie on a Christmas cookie tray, only to bite in and ick...that is not yummy!
 
I also kind of wish it would actually come up for Christmas instead of Halloweentime. Ghosts are spooky and Halloween-y enough; I don't feel like there need to be nearly 4 months devoted to the Jack Skellington/Christmas-ish version.

Mel522 said:
I personally love both. I just wish they wouldn't do the Holiday overlay for Halloween. I just don't understand the logic of taking down Haunted Mansion to create a Christmas themed ride for Halloween.

I actually emailed Disney about this. Personally, I am not a fan of HMH (or Tim Burton movies in general), but I get that people really like it. We went at Christmastime last year and the overlay was kind of fun and in the Christmas spirit. But, I went at Halloweentime this year and was really disappointed to not have the original HM. I knew what to expect and all, but was surpried to find myself missing the original -- it just seems so much more Halloween-ish. I, too, agree that it should be a Christmas overlay, but leave it alone for Halloween.
 
We knew about the overlay. I guess we did not think it would be everything NBC, just some Jack here and there.


That is so funny to me, because having some Jack here and there would make absolutely no sense. It NEEDS to be all or nothing, IMHO. It is not like putting Jack Sparrow into the PoC ride, or the Disney characters on IASW.

I like it, even the outside is so well done. But if I HAD to choose, I would pick the original I suppose. I think guests that have not SEEN NBC have the most trouble with it. My kids loved NBC, and watched it often when they were young.
 
Like bumbershoot, it took me quite a while to begin to appreciate it. I was very outspoken at first about how garish and ugly I thought it was, and I hated that I never got to see the original because the overlay stayed up so long it covered both seasons I go.

However, it did grow on me over time and now I enjoy it. I have to admit that it will never be my favorite but I now like the songs and some of the characters, and I love to see what the giant gingerbread is going to be each year.

I agree it would be much better if it was only up for the Christmas holidays. 4-5 months of HMH is too much.
 
Personally, I don't like scary things, so regular HM is out for me. Even when the people pop out from graves (yes, even with their Santa hats) it creeps me out. HMH for me all the way.
 
We love it! We ride it so much more often when the overlay is up. We like it so much more we are almost bored on that ride the rest of the year....but then again our family is really into nbc. Dh has a half sleeve tattoo with the all characters and we have a pretty big collection of merchandise from throughout the years so we may be a little partial:)
 
We love it! We ride it so much more often when the overlay is up. We like it so much more we are almost bored on that ride the rest of the year....but then again our family is really into nbc. Dh has a half sleeve tattoo with the all characters and we have a pretty big collection of merchandise from throughout the years so we may be a little partial:)

My hubby has a NBC half sleeve too!
 
I enjoy both styles.

I'm not sure that Haunted Mansion Holiday would only work at Christmas. They would have to close it for the month of November to put in all of the holiday stuff. I kind of like it the way it is now.
 
I'd like to know if the OP has ever seen the movie? I can see how it wouldn't make much sense if you haven't seen the movie. The point of HMH is really very clever. Jack thinks he's going to "improve" the ride and bring Christmas to it. Of course he doesn't really understand Christmas, which is why the decorations are so funny. He decorates the HM the same way he tried to do Christmas in the movie. My favorite is the wreath with teeth. :lmao: If someone hasn't seen the movie or doesn't like the movie, they probably wouldn't like HMH. However, my family loves this movie and we like this overlay better than the orginal. I like having new details to look at.
 
We love love love it~~and actually prefer it!
We'll be there in a few weeks and I'm so excited to see it. I think they did a fantastic job. Guess I'm not looking too deeply into it, just really like it.
 
Sounds like I need to watch the movie before we go...as it's been YEARS since I've seen it. And I really want to enjoy the HMH overlay...because I have heard amazing things about it. :)
 
I personally love both. I just wish they wouldn't do the Holiday overlay for Halloween. I just don't understand the logic of taking down Haunted Mansion to create a Christmas themed ride for Halloween. :confused3


Obviously you're not alone as several people in this thread have agreed with you.

But I think if you're going to do a NBC overlay you have to include Halloween! How can you bring in The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who is the equivalent of the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus for his holiday - Halloween, and not do it until November? Now that doesn't make sense to me.
 
But I also kind of wish it would actually come up for Christmas instead of Halloweentime. Ghosts are spooky and Halloween-y enough; I don't feel like there need to be nearly 4 months devoted to the Jack Skellington/Christmas-ish version.

I personally love both. I just wish they wouldn't do the Holiday overlay for Halloween. I just don't understand the logic of taking down Haunted Mansion to create a Christmas themed ride for Halloween. :confused3

We went at Christmastime last year and the overlay was kind of fun and in the Christmas spirit. But, I went at Halloweentime this year and was really disappointed to not have the original HM. I knew what to expect and all, but was surpried to find myself missing the original -- it just seems so much more Halloween-ish. I, too, agree that it should be a Christmas overlay, but leave it alone for Halloween.

Well, considering Jack and his cohorts are from Halloween Town and travel to Christmas Town, I completely get it. The overlay works well for the whole holiday season (okay, it doesn't have to do with Thanksgiving specifically, but the holidays book-ending it, which really does make up the season).

I enjoy both styles.

I'm not sure that Haunted Mansion Holiday would only work at Christmas. They would have to close it for the month of November to put in all of the holiday stuff. I kind of like it the way it is now.

Exactly, then people would be very upset for it to be down during their holiday visits.

But I think if you're going to do a NBC overlay you have to include Halloween! How can you bring in The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who is the equivalent of the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus for his holiday - Halloween, and not do it until November? Now that doesn't make sense to me.

:thumbsup2


As for how I feel about the overlay, I've come to really enjoy it! I used to be indifferent, as NBC was a movie I neither liked nor disliked, but now it signals the start of the holidays to me. I find it very fun and a nice change from the regular HM.
 
HMH is something that grows on many because it's become another DLR tradition. Each year they set up a different gingerbread house inside so it's fun to go back each time to see what kind of changes have been put in place.
 
We went to Disneyland in early Oct and the Haunted Mansion was already made over with Jack Skellington. We waited in a long line to get on the ride and then it was a mess, no storyline and it just looked like they threw Nightmare before Christmas decorations up over everything. Would love to get other opinions of the subject.


My family prefers HMH over the HM. :blush: We missed it this October during our trip to WDW.
 





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