Yesterworld: The Evolution of The Haunted Mansion & Abandoned Effects (The Disneyland Original)

Exploring the evolution & Abandoned Effects of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion

TWITTER: @Yester_World
INSTAGRAM: yester_world

Some Fantastic Haunted Mansion in-depth history videos I was referring too:

Special thanks to:

SoCalAttractions 360

Videos Used:

SOURCES:

[jtgarner]

Just a fun bit of trivia, the brokenhearted aka "beating heart" bride DOES have a backstory and it's quite long and complicated and ties into an unused concept. I was a cast member for 4 years from 2001-05 and this story was taught to us as part of orientation:

Originally, Haunted (Mansion) and Pirates (of the Caribbean) were meant to be linked. The mansion was to have been purchased by a sea captain for his young bride, Priscilla. The couple was very happy together in the beginning. Until one day when the captain was gone and Priscilla was bored and decided to go into the attic and look through it...

She discovered a chest there filled with gold, jewels and other plunder. It seems her dear husband was a pirate. And not just ANY pirate...through more rifling through the attic, she came to find out he was the notorious Captain Blood!

Upon his return, Priscilla confronted him with what she had found. The captain then siezed his young wife and flung her down a well, drowning her.

This well was to be in front of the house when the attraction was still meant to be a walkthrough - and it would not be filled with water, but blood. Upon leaning down over the well, a voice would say, "Ding dong bell, Priscilla's in the well. Who put her in? The evil cap-i-tan!"

Then when you entered the mansion as part of a tour, you would enter a room with a picture of a sea captain. As the lights went out in the room, a storm with lightning and rain would lash the deck in the portrait where the sea captain stood. As the portrait filled with water, a projected effect of a bride with a beating heart would come through the wall, screaming. She would lunge at the captain, both would disappear and water would pour out of the painting into the room.

This was abandoned because they could not get the water effect to work right, and because eventually the walkthrough was abandoned in favor of a ride. However, this is the reason the bride stands in the attic (where she found the evidence of her husband's crimes) and why her heart is broken (because her love murdered her).

[Carson_The_Director]

Omg I love the reason Walt used why it wasn’t open yet. “We’re collecting the ghosts”
SO COOL

[rjdruhan]

The Blowing Ghost (actual name of the effect) in the Seance room was removed intentionally by an Imagineer in 2003. His reasoning was, Leota had not finished the ritual, so we shouldn't be able to "see" any ghosts at that point.

Source: I was a Cast Member at the Haunted Mansion in Florida at the time. I happened to be in the break room while he was explaining this, on a phone call to his team.

Edit: If it was moved to the graveyard that was after my time. But that would match the reasoning I heard him give, since once you are in the GY the ghosts are now materialized

[firstlast]

"The house of uh... illus- what do we call it again?"
- Walt Disney

[nickpompeii]

I'm never gonna make it to Disney, so these videos really do wonders for people who are not rich enough or able bodied to go to Disney themselves. Thank you Mark.

[Throwboy]

Walt: “The Mystical Castle… er what do we call it again?”

Worker: “The Magic Kingdom.”

[akirafudo]

I do like the character of Constance Hatchaway better than the other brides but I don’t like that she’s a projection because it clashes so much w the rest of the ride which is animatronic. Kind of wish she was animatronic too

[thetntraider]

Something I noticed a while ago, was that they removed an entire section of dialogue from the ride, specifically the conservatory, and hallway before Madame Leota.

“All our ghosts have been DYING to meet you! This one can hardly contain himself!

Unfortunately, they all seem to have trouble getting through. Perhaps Madame Leota can establish contact. She has a remarkable head for materializing the disembodied.”

Did they ever give an explanation on why these lines were removed?

[natalie]

I am very into the old footage of Walt talking about the early stages and prototypes . By current time those amazing miniatures are most likely no longer in existence, but man it would be so cool to see them! I also loved the alternate stretch room paintings.
I wish there was a tangible place like a legit Disney Museum, or even better, a recreation of the Disney of the past. It could have everything accurate from the golden years, just call it Disney Classic.

[markposillico]

I WAS THERE WHEN THE ACTORS WERE IN THE ATTRACTION! THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THAT! It was super scary. At the end of the hall way with all the doors the doom buggy spun around quickly, and BOOM there he was! You could hear screams from each car behind you getting closer and closer. AMAZING!!!

[NumeroLetter]

I wish they would do away with Constance Hatchaway and bring back the Beating Heart Bride. With the BHB, there was an element of mystery to her. You don't know who she is, what her story is, or why she's there. All you know is that she is a mournful-looking bride, looking at you wistfully as her heartbeat reverberates through the room. That allowed people to have fun speculating about her and what her backstory was, allowing people's imaginations to come into play! But now, it's pretty cut and dry-- Constance is a black widow who cuts off her husbands' heads. No mystery or imagination involved. It's just not as fun!

And also, I would LOATHE to see the Disneyland Hitchhiking Ghosts replaced with CGI! I'm a strong believer that practical effects are much more immersive and should be used when at all possible!! Removing them would be a tragedy!

[Lionloverky]

Wait, you FOUND some old footage of the HATBOX GHOST in the ride as it was on opening day?

[Hessed]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who the heck shot off a gun in these rides?!?

[matthewheid]

I do not want to see the CGI hitchhiking ghosts added to the Disneyland mansion. They look flat and unrealistic on the screen, which you can see if you have good eyes. Half of the time I ride the WDW version, the ghosts don't work (they may not appear in a mirror, they may perform the wrong action, they may not be properly aligned with the Doom Buggy, etc.). The original hitchhiking ghosts, while they don't do much, look more realistic because they are REAL figures and the effect is more convincing than the terrible CGI one that WDW currently has.

[thetntraider]

5:35 oh, so that's the purpose of the "Hot and cold running chills.. Shh.... Listen...." line

[kylefrank]

I wish the horse hitch had some animatronics to give it a little bit of swaying movement, or have the neck of it dip down sometimes, to really sell the illusion that it's a ghost horse, not just a floating harness. And I also wish that The Bride with a blacked-out face and glowing heart would come back. The new one might have the creepy smile, but when you start getting to the side of it, the head just looks like a big lightbulb.

[avidmakeupuser]

I remember a cast member being in the knight suit and jumping out when I was young. I screamed and my dad and brother in another buggy heard me and laughed. :)

[FANTAVISION]

"There are holes from a .22 round" wait... what? Why? When? How?

[AteTinaB]

Constance’s CGI looks so bad ... at least on video. I like the heart beat bride a lot better, especially the last one. The play around with lighting makes such a difference and that’s just so cool to me!

[DML]

I think the scarier version of the Haunted Mansion went to Disneyland Paris. I've seen videos of it and holy shit.