Medea–then get your SO there FAST. Like within the next month or so if you can because the change IS coming,only nobody knows when.
IDBB
Lady Mondegreen: you’re not a wimp. Ghost rides scare the living hell out of me. So much so that I have never actually plucked up the courage to go on ANY of them. Even the spooky laughter I can hear from outside is enough to make me panic. A couple of times I’ve been on some slightly freaky rides with weird lights and moving floors and such like, and I have to steel myself to stop myself running out. And ordinary museums with mannequins dressed up * so that if you saw them for a certain angle they could maybe, possibly, look like a ghost * get my heart beating like a hummingbird’s.
That Haunted Mansion looks freaky. Mannequin ghosts? Gah!!!
I guess I must have an over-active fear of putting myself in danger because I otherwise adore ghost stories and films and want to write the spookiest ghost novel ever one day.
I still have trouble with the idea that people found Alien Encounters genuinely scary (although I can understand it traumatizing small children). I found it hilarious–I mean, lines like:
“Yuck. Whose brain is this?” and
“Eurgh…My mouth was open!” (upon the explosion of the nasty creature).
How could that not be funny?
FWIW, my niece–a dainty little 13-year-old at the time–found it even funnier than I did. She took perverse amusement in loudly asking to repeat the ride in the presence of shaky-looking fellow guests. She also giggled all the way through the Haunted Mansion. I suspect she was the scariest thing in the park that day. 
Only one Disney ride ever truly scared me. There I was as a tot, grooving on the giant snowflakes in the old “Inner Space” ride, when the buggy spun around to reveal a Giant Eyeball watching me. I freaked.
Love the HM and continue to be amazed how traditional mechanical effects (and a ton of imagination) trump any modern bells-&-whistles sensation.
One question, though: What the heck is Alien Encounter? I’ve never heard of it. Is it a WDW-specific attraction? I’ve only been to DL, and even then, the last time was when they opened the Indiana Jones ride. I’m intrigued about the details.
Great HM website, too, btw.
ArchiveGuy, Alien Encounter is behind Space Mountain (in Disney World). Well behind you if you stand in line at Space Mountain.
It is the scariest scary attraction I have ever done! I thought it was great!
I tended to be a pretty pathetic ride wimp when I was younger than, say, 9, but I always loved the HM. However, I’m not sure I wasn’t already a little older than that by the time it was opened. Be that as it may, when I was younger, the cruder sorts of HH’s they’d have at carnivals always scared the bejeesus out of me. The Matterhorn also used to scare me silly, but I now find it pretty tame for a rollercoaster.
Thanks, Zazie, although, having never been to WDW (as I mentioned) nor heard of the ride, this really doesn’t tell me anything. What’s the premise? Is it only at WDW? How long’s it been there? I don’t ever plan on heading all the way to FL just for Disney, so the answers don’t have to be spoiler-free (though just a general gist is preferred).
I believe it’s only in Orlando. I’ll describe it in the spoiler box below (in case anyone has a WDW trip coming up).
The ride is a new-technology demonstration by an alien megacorporation–the XS Corporation. The line is full of spiels about the wonders that XS brings to life, and all manner of warnings about who shouldn’t ride the ride. Once you take your seat, a kind of harness-deal clamps (gently) down on you from above, supposedly as a safety precaution. Robin Williams comes on screen as an XS researcher and extolls the virtues of a new, near-instantaneous interstellar transport system. The company president interrupts the planned demonstration, announcing that he will demonstrate the safety of the new teleportation system by having himself personally transported to Earth to meet the viewers. His meddling has thrown the whole deal off schedule, however, and they wind up beaming him directly into the mass of an alien planet. After a few frantic moments, Williams announces that he’s reestablished the fix on the president, and is continuing the transport. The lights flicker out briefly; when they come back up, a horrific alien monster is standing in the transport tube–Williams got the wrong alien. The lights go back out as he tries to beam it away, there’s a loud shattering sound, and when the lights come back up, there’s a hole in the tube and no sign of the monster. The lights fail completely, and they show a tech being sent to fix the problem on one of the screens. Needless to say, he meets a horrific end (see the “Who’s brain is this?” quote). There follows a period with the monster stalking around above your head (the harness presses down on your shoulders, hot’n’wet breath blows on your neck, etc). Eventually, they coax the critter back into the chamber and blow him up (hence the “My mouth was open.” line). It seriously scared a lot of people–including a number of adults–by including a bunch of phobic targets: darkness, insects (the alien was somewhat insectile), enclosed space, pressure, etc.
Hey, ArchiveGuy, you can get some snippets of the Alien Encounter ride atIntercot.com. Great site for the Disney parks.
Hrm. It’s weird- I remember being a little panicked when I went to HM when I was 7… Went again when I was 29, but wasn’t healthy enough durring the trip to get to HM (and I really wanted to). I’ve worked in several high-budget ‘haunted houses’…
And I hate the things.
It’s weird. I like knowing how it works, and seeing the cool effects, but having things jump out just to scare the bejesus out of me? No thanks.
I was 6 when I went to Disneyland with my parents. I ended up taking the elevator/stretch room back to the top with my mom and the operator. Yup, pretty wimpy.
And all of this at the “Happiest Place on Earth”.
That’s it kids. It’s the best the world has to offer. Ghosts, Pirates, animal attacks, evil stepmothers and alien attacks. This is the best you will ever get.
And you know, they’re right.
Thanks for explaining the Alien Encounter, I don’t know how to make a Spoiler box!
Zazie to use HTML coding tools like a spoiler box or a hyperlink, first click on one of the “quote” buttons to the lower right of someone’s posting. (BTW, if you do that, you don’t have to use the person’s posting in quotation form, as it does by default. You can erase the quotation and start fresh with your own posting.)
NEAT! thank you!
It also works if you hit the post rely button or if you preview your post.
Either way when you will then get the click menu for things like spoilers, smilies, font changes and adding links.