Looking for Haunted Mansion Holiday info

[Anater]

How does the overlay compare to the original? I've never been on the Holiday version and I'm wondering if there is anything that would make it too freaky or frightening. I'm trying to decide what rides are definitely out for our four year old. He's generally fearless but I don't want to scare the wits out of him (at least not too early on the trip....lol) if I can help it. Just trying to get an idea of what effects there are and how it differs. Thanks!

 

[ByTheHook]

Not scary at all. Think of fake snow in front of a glow-in-the-dark paint scheme. You could always rent the Nightmare... movie to see how he responds to it (the ride version itself is very tame by comparison, though).

 

[flyinshirer]

I was actually disapointed when we took our daughter 3 years ago (she turned 5 then). I wanted to have them experience the original, scary version of it. Although it's cool to see something different, it is not scary at all. The stretch room is the worst part IMO.

 

[silence]

My 4 y/0 couldn't wait to get on the "GHOSTIES" ride, so we were super happy the last day of our trip was the kick off of the Halloween season.

i think the holiday version is not nearly as scary as the original.

 

[DLR29]

I really liked HMH when I rode it for the first time last December. I rode the regular in August and I (unlike a lot of people) prefer the holiday to the regular (please don't hurt me!). I loved all of the details added, especially in the graveyard scene. It's amazing how much they put up in a few months.

The actual ride movement isn't scary and, actually, the ride visuals aren't that scary either. Just tell your 4 year old that it's all funny and not real and it should be ok. I also found the holiday more humorous than the regular and less scary.

 

[XTinabell]

I would normally agree with everyone else but i just wanted to let you know the last year when we rode this a little girl about 3 years old looked up at the paintings in the stretching room and one of the pictures terrified her, she started screaming really loud and crying. They didn't make through the rest of the ride which is unfortunate becuse the rest isn't scary. So maybe take caution in the stretching room that some of the pictures on the wall may be frightening.

 

[DizneyMommy]

My usually fearless 2 year old who has been on every ride at DL a million times, gets a little scared when they change it to HMH. She really just gets scared in the stretching room, when the lights go out at the end, because the big head above freaks her out and there are inevitably people who scream at the top of their lungs to be funny. As long as you have a tight grip on your child during that part, the ride itself is a cake walk.

 

[gnbuggy]

I really liked HMH when I rode it for the first time last December. I rode the regular in August and I (unlike a lot of people) prefer the holiday to the regular (please don't hurt me!). I loved all of the details added, especially in the graveyard scene. It's amazing how much they put up in a few months.

The actual ride movement isn't scary and, actually, the ride visuals aren't that scary either. Just tell your 4 year old that it's all funny and not real and it should be ok. I also found the holiday more humorous than the regular and less scary.

I am with you. For a few years I always ended up going to DL during HMH, and I was irritated that it was like that. I was completely ready for them not to have the holiday overlay. I went last May, and surprised myself when I said I missed the HMH.

 

[bumbershoot]

I have actually never seen the movie, because the visuals freak me out. So the overlay is NOT something that makes me happy. The images do something very negative to me.

OK I'll state that I've only been in the line for HMH, b/c the people screaming in the stretch room scared my then-2 year old SO bad that we had to take the exit (which was then scarier than I figure the ride would have been, sigh). He was fine until those people screamed.

There should be a small-children-present-no-random-(adult) screaming ride-through a few times a day. What do you think?


Someday I'll go on HM again, someday...(first adult trip it was closed, second time DS had to leave the line, this trip I just had no interest...maybe we'll go during "normal" HM season in '08)

 

[disney-super-mom]

DH and I prefer the HMH layover because of all the color and detail it adds to the ride. Our two boys (8 & 4) have never seen it without the layover, so I'm not sure what they would think of the regular version.

They don't find the ride scary at all. The only parts they didn't love when they were a little younger was the stretching room and the part where you go by the Oogy Boogie dude. They DON'T like him. He is kinda freaky. We were riding one time when all of a sudden the vehicles stopped for about 5 minutes, and we had the unfortunate luck of being stuck right in front of the Oogy Boogie dude. I thought my oldest (who was 5 or 6 at the time) was going to freak, but instead he kept his cool. He looked a little like a deer caught in headlights the whole time being stuck there (eyes as big as saucers!), but he remained calm.

Of course by now they've been on it so many times that it's become old hat. Now it's just fun!

 

[Rapunsel]

make sure you FP this ride.. The lines were very long this weekend. Might be because it just opened, but get a fp!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that when our kids were really little (4 and 1, almost 5 and 2) we prepared them for the stretching/screaming room by practicing at home a few days before.

We would go through the 'spiel', then turn off the lights so it was dark, and then we would all scream really loud. It was like a game, and our kids would laugh and giggle everytime we did it. By the time we got to the real thing, they were prepared and had no problems with it at all.

 

[Anater]

I COMPLETELY forgot about the stretching room and the screaming. Thanks for the reminders and great suggestions! Having a way for the kids to ride the ride without the creepy intro is a great idea....too bad they don't have an alternate entrance. I looked online for photos of Jack Skellington to show my son and they are releasing a 3D version of the movie this month. We watched the trailer and he thought it was hilarious. So, we're renting the original through NetFlix, I think that getting him familiar with the characters is a good thing. I'm already forcing him to watch all the Disney movies before our trip so he'll know the characters - what's one more?

 

[Anater]

I COMPLETELY forgot about the stretching room and the screaming. Thanks for the reminders and great suggestions! Having a way for the kids to ride the ride without the creepy intro is a great idea....too bad they don't have an alternate entrance. I looked online for photos of Jack Skellington to show my son and they are releasing a 3D version of the movie this month. We watched the trailer and he thought it was hilarious. So, we're renting the original through NetFlix, I think that getting him familiar with the characters is a good thing. I'm already forcing him to watch all the Disney movies before our trip so he'll know the characters - what's one more?

 

[bumbershoot]

I have a bit of advice, in case anyone else ends up with a kid who is freaking out.

If you've made it to the exit right before you get on the ride, JUST RIDE. The exit is very very long, the walls are painted black, there are numerous twists and turns with almost inadequate signage.

Frankly, going through the exit caused FAR more stress on him (and me!) than just going on the ride would have caused.



This year we did practice (not as far as turning out the lights) with the screaming thing, but then DS disliked POTC so very very much (after being fine at 1 and 2 years old), and it had JUST opened at the end of our trip...we just decided to skip it until the next time. Wasn't worth the possible stress, and we had many other rides he DID like.

 

[jeffmit]

We prefer the original haunted house, but the holiday update was much less scary for our little one.

We enjoy them both, but prefer the original.

 

[Ratpatootie]

I love the NBC layover much much better than the original.