I haven’t been in years-ahve they upgraded the holographic displays?
I remember the chandelier floating in air-though that is pretty primative by todays’ standards.
Anyway, has this ride been upgraded signifuicantly? It was always my favorite…the other one being the “Hall of the Presidents” (how is Bill Clinton looking?
Can’t speak for Disney World, but at Disneyland, nothing really has changed–the old school technology is still extremely clever and highly effective (and the music and voice work are still pure genius).
The only thing that has changed is that usually between Halloween and New Year’s, they convert some of the props and set designs to emulate characters and visual elements from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Cute, but still not as awesome as the original.
This is in contrast to the other New Orleans Square ride, PotC. That has been upgraded to include a truly creepy, Uncanny Valley, recurring animatronic Jack Sparrow–an enormous and unnecessary distraction. They also changed some of the music cues throughout the ride. Still great fun (and in my top 5), but not quite as brilliant as what it used to be.
Actually, Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion has been updated several times throughout the years, with many new (though subtle) effects added. One of the biggest is that the crystal ball containing the head now floats around the room.
Disney World’s has actually gone a few steps further recently from what I’ve heard, though I haven’t been on that one in years.
Still the same basic rides, but they have been improved.
Also true of WDW. They did a deplorable ‘upgrade’ some years ago (my God, it must have been more than 15) that included ghouls that shot upwards from behind tombstones and the like with a shrieking sound that irritated the living hell out of me. Another upgrade several years back saw the ghouls slowed and the sound effect removed, and more importantly, some really clever new tech bits that enhance the ride. For example, there are glowing eyes that glare out of the darkness at you that segue into the eyes in the wallpaper, with the first wallpaper eyes blinking occasionally. All of the good effects of the past have been preserved. The Bride’s ring has been removed from the pavement outside the HM, and the Bride’s story in the attic expanded and improved, IMHO.
And now I must hum: mmmm MMMMM mmmmm mmmmm, mmmmm MMMMM mmmm mmmm …
It’s my very favorite Magic Kingdom attraction, and has been since I was in single digits.
They’ve updated some stuff that I thought was really cool in a 2007 upgrade - the designs on the wallpaper start to turn to little blinking eyes, there are paintings that change their image (blacklight paint, I believe) when the lightning flashes, and there is a stunning room that is reminiscent on this MC Escher print.
They also added a lot of new animatronics to the graveyard sequence and updated the “bride” and her story a bit. I was afraid that they would screw with the ride and that it would suck but I was really impressed with pretty much all the changes. They did a great job.
Oh, this is all the Walt Disney World version.
SPOILER ALERT: This page has some pictures including a mock-up of the staircase room and a picture of the previously mentioned wallpaper. And if you just can’t wait to see it (or many other rides), you can always watch a well-edited ride-through at this site. That guy does a lot of great work.
And Bill Clinton looks fine in the Hall of Presidents. I don’t think they did a great job with Obama, though. Just doesn’t look like him all that much to me.
I was there just last week (at the WDW Haunted Mansion). As others have mentioned, the last major refurbishment was in 2007, when the whole ride was shut down for several months.
Considering this recent refurbishment, I was surprised to see that the graveyard is currently being worked on (as of last week). It’s completely blocked off from the queue right before you pass through the turnstiles, so they’re doing something in there right now. The ride is still open, though.
The thing I miss most is that all the cars used to be #12, as written on the back. That was gone when I was at WDW this spring.
There’s a reason for that. In the same way they put Johnny Depp animatronics into the Pirates ride, there were plans to put Eddie Murphy bots into the Haunted Mansion. They stepped back from the brink on that one, but that left them with this Eddie Murphy animatronic figure, and nothing to do with it.
Then came November, 2008.
The attic has had some changes. The bride is crazier for one thing.
Nah, a nice addition. Works very well.
That was never a Bride’s ring, that’s what was left of an old guard rail.
It’s been a while but in EuroDisney outside Paris, they had a voice over telling a story through the ride which I’ve never heard at Disneyland or World.
Shun the unbeliever! Shun!
Yeah, I know, but the post remnant with the broken-off drill bit which was taken by some to be the Bride’s engagement ring thrown by her in her despair from the attic before she died there has in fact been removed, as has the Bride’s despair, so make of it what you will.
Well and good. What I’m waiting for is an upgrade of Tommorowland, or Epcot, to showcase the real “Singularity” technologies of the possible-future – nanotech, genetic engineering, strong AI, neural-electronic interface, etc. Of course, in Epcot, at least, it seems they’re limited to showcasing things corporations already have or expect soon to bring on the market.
Obama was elected president and they had a way to re-use the Eddie Murphy animatronic figure.
The Haunted Mansion is my favorite WDW attraction, bar none. I love it.
All the same, I have to say that for all the upgrades (mostly for the better) – and especially after seeing the fantastic living portraits at Hogwarts in Universal’s Islands of Adventure – the Stretching Room remains disappointingly lame.