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

JT Garner this is SO interesting, I absolutely love this. Thank you for sharing. I can’t believe more people don’t know this!

Thank you for that. I appreciate it

So Offhand Disney was right!!! IT ALL COMES BACK TO JEAN LEFITTE

Ive been watching a lot of disney videos and there are actually multiple stories ive seen in youtube comments about the origin of these characters and theyre all different, especially during whatever time period it is and which park youre in

I love the bride , poor thing

Wasn't easy without having the Ghostbusters back then either!

I love that line as well, shows he always had a story for something rather than just saying something boring like "It's been delayed".

Carson's Collectibles This just makes me think that Walt Disney went to wizarding school as a kid. This has the porential for much geeky Harry Potter fan theory.

Me too! It's just lovable.

Carson's Collectibles I love how Walt would always seem to turn every little thing into something special to never drop Imagination

Mr. D. seems insistent on calling nearly every attraction in the park "the House of Illusion!"

Every dark ride is a house of illusions from a certain point of view

He calls that every dark ride because of the illusions

"Museum of the Weird!" "MuUUUseum of the Weiiiiird."

Disney was a nuisance when he was younger

Throwboy Walt: in uhhhh dosni Empire? Employee: it’s- it’s fuckin Disney land man

Walt: It is called snowy gray.. er.. what do we call it again? Worker: Walt.. Snow White.. you know... the first movie you ever made! Walt: Oh yeah! It always forget about it. Worker: 🤦‍♂️

Walt:"Mortimer mouse, erm what do we call it?" Worker:"Mickey mouse" its funny because mickey's original name was mortimer

The line from Walt that always gets me is "You believe in pirates, of course?", as if they were mythical creatures! He says it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uof_fMbGyIM.html

I believe in pirates. In fact... I am one!

But the Haunted Mansion being spoken about in the video is for the Disneyland Anaheim. Not Florida so ....

OMG YOU ARE SO COOL!!!

ReddJack That is so cool!

It's been back before I had an annual pass 3 years ago and saw it multiple times

@@coltonandjen I mean, doubting everything is a good approach, but don't you think that you may miss out on a few things if you do? A cast member isn't even a big claim. it's not like he's saying he was a fucking imagineer.

Hessed3712 they use to sell BB guns in Frontierland

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that some Americans will take their guns EVERYWHERE if you let them. It's like they're their babies or something.

right , exactly what i said................. gun? there? Last place youd expect a drive by to go down !

That's what I was thinking. Like who the heck shot at it???

BB guns in Frontierland definitely explains that. A kid gets a BB gun, and then goes on a scary ride, and decides to shoot the ghosts, not realizing a large and expensive piece of glass is being shot instead.

Madam Leota and the singing busts are also projected charcters

rattyeely This is true! But somehow I feel that it’s not quite the same, maybe it’s because her full body is a projection versus just a head, right?

rattyeely Madame Leota and the busts match the feel of the ride better in my opinion

There's a video where someone synchronized her soundtrack to an animatroinc skeleton, and the effect is a lot more unnerving, imho

Christopher Wall Ahh that sounds cool, do u have the link?

never give up mate who knows someday you will be there.

☹️ don’t say that. Save up some money if you need to, scrounge all the discounts and stay during off season. Disney’s expensive but it can be done on a budget if ya know the tricks.

Exactly. Living halfway across the world means that I'll most likely only get to visit these parks 1-2 times in my life or never at all, but learning about them this way is still a lot of fun!

+Sherlock holmes it sounds stupid: I am from switzerland and I was the first time in the Park in Orlando when I was 4 and our family werent able to afford to go again now I am 28 years old started my own Company a few years ago and a motivation for me is that I want to go once a year to disney with whoever wants to come Family/friends etc. And this is a huge motivation for me to keep working hard

Also being a floridian doesn't hurt either lol I am by no means wealthy but I have been to Disney a few times, and now considering it is officially cheaper than universal there is that

I agree. Constance has all the subtlety of a battering ram. The impression I got was Disney saying, “You should be scared! Feel scared!” Instead or letting it be natural. The mysterious bride was always better, because your mind will always come up with something worse than reality.

Absolutely! I don’t feel like she fits the feel of the ride

You hit the nail on the head mondenkindqueen. The attic scene is the climax of the spooky part of the ride before descending into the more lighthearted graveyard scene. As such Disney really wants the bride to be creepy, but she feels really forced. The psychotic murderous bride angle doesn't work for me because she doesn't appear threatening in any way. She just stands there, looking off in the wrong direction while delivering empty one-liners through a corny voice effect. The projection effect is underwhelming and just pulls me out of the magic of the ride.

Count Jack Noire i like both of them. constance’s effect could be improved, but overall i think they each have interesting aspects to them :)

Puns are not threatening and her puns weren’t funny. They just don’t fit. She doesn’t really fit. The Haunted Mansion as it stands, does not really have room for an overarching story, and her inclusion just feels disjointed from the rest of the House. It COULD work though, the problem is that she’s NOT focused on anyone. Who is she threatening with her puns? If she MUST be there, she needs to threaten US. Get angry that we are intruding. Threaten us for finding out her secret. With a character like that, you need go big or go home. If you can’t tie her into the rest of story, tie US into her story. I feel they were “frightened” (pun unintentional, I swear) and didn’t want to scare children too much. Unfortunately, it just leaves you with a lukewarm experience.

Disney History Institute is where the footage is from, and his video is fascinating! Here's the link to the full version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VnERBLhd5ac.html

Matthew Chenault when I was 1!!!

Indeed it is! Supposedly I've heard they do keep the AC on really low for this point, but it's not quite what it was intended to be...

I know that they keep the temperature in the show building moderately low, but not the "running chills" that they were intending, yeah.

They should bring it back.

Yeah, I remember as a young teen when it happened to us. Definitely triggers fight or flight, and sometimes, the former wins out. My friend in the buggy took a wild swing at the knight which thankfully didn't connect.

I was,too.

I thought it was the same at both parks to be honest, the 3 hitchhikers in animatronic form at the entrance of the crypt with the CGI versions playing tricks in the mirrors.

Also, it's got more history and charm. To take that away would be a massive shame. Offensive almost.

Agreed. CGI is amazing and everything, but some iconic things (the original Hitchhiking Ghosts, for example) should be left in tact as a legacy.

'Terrible' has no true meaning.

I just want to know why did they get rid of the hitchhiking ghosts animatronics at Magic Kingdom?

According to this video, the materializing ghosts near Madame Leota are no longer there. Since that dialog refers to them, I guess they decided to take it out.

It comes and goes. Usually after Haunted Mansion Holiday.

I was going to comment on the removal of the lines as well. I remember they removed those lines, then put them back for a while, then removed them again. I've heard various reasons, such as that the addition of Spanish safety spiels at the loading dock threw of the timing of those lines, so that it basically went straight from "...shhh listen" to the next line and no longer had the same dramatic effect. I have no idea how true that is, though, but I remember some people saying that over at MiceChat many years ago. That explanation still seems weird to me, though.

Honestly, from what I can tell, it's likely the thrown-off timing and the fact that the audio can be so easily drowned out by the loud sounds of the hallway.

The TNT Raider I’m currently reading a book about the Haunted Mansion’s development and they definitely were there! I’m too young to remember anything before the 2006 refurb but the book has all of the dialogue. There wasn’t any reason inside on why it was removed.

Thank you! I also adore the BHB and was so upset when I found out that she was replaced. Constance is spooky, but predictable. RIP BHB you will forever be in our...hearts.

This! ^

Sadly, dude. It isn't gonna happen. Disneyland isn't planning on doing more updates to the Haunted Mansion. So, you're stuck with Constance Hatchaway. But at least you got the Hatbox Ghost back.

@@hunterolaughlin Well, Disneyland needs to think about the older fans. Seriously.

@@jimmymelendez1836 Look into your heart. You know deep down no matter how much you and the older fans complain, the original bride is never going to come back.

BB gun that used to be sold in Frontierland.

1974 a guest brought in a .22 caliber and shot a hole in the Mansion, Primeval World and a giant snowflake that was in Adventure Through Inner Space. They didn't start doing bag checks until the 2000s (post 9/11) and it wasn't such a big deal back then to carry a gun around, though I believe they were prohibited on Disney grounds. The person was apprehend and no guests were harmed.

@@princezzpuffypants6287 WHY did that guest do it?!

@@flamesofchaos13 - The police reports never mentioned a motive as far as I am aware. People do a lot of stupid stuff at Disneyland. Maybe he thought he would have a story to tell his kids....

Princezz Puffypants lol

I remember this differently. The cast members were in response to guests jumping out of the doom buggies to scare people in other cars who were getting caught and mangled in the machinery. I was a kid but I grew up right next to Disney and it was a huge deal when someone got hurt on THM and the cast members showed up only after that. I went on to work as a cm in college and we had at least 2 incidents of guests jumping off attractions and getting mangled in the time I was there.

@@wehaveapiperdoone I don't know what year it was, but I did see annoying teenagers getting out of their doom buggies and knocking on the other doom buggies. No cast members came in, but a voice over an intercom told the kids to knock it off and get back in their buggies.

She looks that bad in person, if not worse. Even looking at her straight-on is... disappointing

The only time she looks good is when shes her tiny self at the end. Shes so small you cant see her features

I thought she looked fine.

@@princezzpuffypants6287 Bad is meaningless

@@gryphonp5729 um... no. Bad is the opposite of good, pleasurable, desirable... it's meaning is dependent on it's use. For example, in my above statement (the other comment appears to have been removed, but mentioned how bad Constance looks in video though the person had not seen her in person) the word "bad" meant the effect was ineffective. This conversation on the other hand has very little meaning...

The ghost horse thing would be so cool. I was also thinking that moving some of the dirt under the animal graves or making the statues move just slightly sometimes would be spooky.

I like your idea! Maybe just a sound effect of a horse, really, like a subtle neigh, not too loud. Honestly had no idea it was implied that the carriage had a horse lol.

@@dandeleon2764 Yeah, just a little bit more to the hearse/harness illusion would make it even cooler. I'm pretty sure I *have* heard a neigh before from a speaker in the planters, but it's rare. I've also found out since I wrote this that the current Bride is supposed to be possessing a mannequin, so the head being weird from the side is actually intentional.

To be honest a fan and smoke/mist machine could solve about half of those issues. Every 2-5 minutes* a bit of mist is released, and a fan blows from a grate under the reins, or from the hearse itself. The harness stays still but some loose leather reins move in the breeze. Anyone standing near the front feels air, as if a ghost horse is snorting in their direction. The hardest part would be masking the mechanical noises. This could be solved in one of two ways: a sound effect of a horse snorting is played... *or alternatively, and relating to how frequent its triggered: a voice activated system could be introduced. A guest approaches the herse and says something like "giddyup!" Or " whoa!" The guests own command would have to be fairly loud. And the mechanical noises would be less a flaw, and more a sign the guest did something right. There would then be a short cooldown... say 30 seconds to 2 minutes before another input could be registered. For events the mist could be left running, and a projector could create the image of a horse standing in the reigns. Natural wind would make the horse appwar to be a wispy apparition

@@Robb1977 Someone give this man an Imagineering job

Wait really? Could you link a video?

@@pogpogpurinn ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_P567t1IzCM.html

I grew up with the Paris Phantom Manor and when I first saw the American versions I was like ?? This isn’t scary at all. I think part of why it’s scarier is because the animatronics are old xD Tbh I’m afraid of what they’re changing it to in its refurbishment, it’s been closed a hell of a long time.

CyDragonGM ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r7y_ilmmt2Y.html

DML897 YES!!! It’s so much scarier I’ve been to the one in Florida when I was young and I was fine! WHEN I WAS SEVERAL YEARS OLDER we went to Paris and it was creepy!

The original phantom manors graveyard" scene was completely dark af. The whole thing was

She has that fear look of her design The glowing yellows eyes. The red beating heart. It feels so uncomfortable and disturbing and I love it.

The TNT Raider A common theory is the person was shooting at the duelists

@@ColeWalker Duel? More like triple... I'll see myself out.

Yes question y r u commenting so much when u can just type them all together? Its kinda pointless.

It's pretty obvious that the ghost duelist shot the place up.

Not necessarily the same thing, but there is a Walt Disney museum in San Francisco. It has some original Disney memorabilia (like Walt's 7 tiny Emmys)

I really hate that they changed originals. I can understand it, but it hurts- like something beloved had died and you can no longer visit. CGI is cheap. And it shows. Making something more detailed and realistic doesn’t mean it will be better. It, a lot of times- and especially when used for fright themes- makes for less effect. The mind likes mystery and likes to fill in the blanks. CGI is “demanding”, and it’s not fun. The animatronics and projections have so much more character because it allows the audience’s imaginations to have control. There’s no artistry in CGI where as these older effects were hand made with dedication and devotion...that shows. Computer effects are flat even though visually they are very detailed. It just looks more fake and spoils the effects.

Sorry to hear about that.

I'm so deeply sorry you had to go through this and in such a young age.

Laughing Man what? Constance was such a cool part of the ride.

Laughing Man I couldn’t agree more. Constance, or as I think, has a pretty good story, but her overall look isn’t my favorite. I think it would be cool if they had a figure similar to Melonie Ravenswood from Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris, but not the same story.

yeah I'm not a fan of the current bride either i always think the same when i go on it that the other brides were better. my favourite one was the one they mentioned in this video which people thought was the first bride but wasn't. the one where you couldn't see her face just lit up eyes and her heart. that's the bride that was there from me being little and i really wish they still had her.

She definitely needs an update...with how cool the hatbox ghost looks Constance looks extremely outdated.

Constance as a concept is fine. Constance as she is now is hokey.

Codename Kendall But I like Constance...

Always!

Exactly, Constance doesn't look scary at all

Same here. I love the Beating Heart Bride. Prefer her instead. Luckily she can still be seen in the one in Tokyo Disneyland.

She had such a better story and I didnt feel like I was temporarily taken out of the Mansion into some evil place of serial murdering ghosts the way I do with Constance - who is poorly designed, I must say. I WOULD have LOVED to see an update to the Beating Heart Bride

Most people don't. It just saves $$$$$.

I don't care for Constance either. The idea of a soulful bride, waiting for her love that will never come back, is just more touching, than the psycho who replaced her. Pretty much the difference between "The Haunting", and "Friday, the 13th."

LordofFullmetal THANK YOU!!!!

What you say has no true meaning 'LordofFullmetal'.

Agreed... I detest CGI. Any CGI used in any ride I gaurantee it will ruin it.

Concept_nothing 818 Hell yes! I would love a truly scary haunted mansion!

@@galaxionart9338 That's what Claude Coats wanted as well, but Marc Davis' team opposed this, on the grounds that because this is Disney, they didn't want to make the tykes for whom much of the park was dedicated to piss themselves in fear or have nightmares for weeks based on the attraction that's supposed to be a fun romp through a haunted house with 999 happy haunts.

TherealRNO Still a shame, though.

​@@TherealRNOwwfpooh Ironically, Snow White's Scary Adventures, a Fantasyland ride is more of an actually scary haunted house attraction than the Haunted Mansion...at least the original WDW version. This version WAS designed by Claude Coats, almost as if he was frustrated that he couldn't bring HIS vision of Haunted Mansion to life and decided to do that with Snow White!

@@andrewchung2940 Of course, due to the overwhelmingly frightening nature of it & audiences/park guests NOT understanding that they were supposed to BE/EMBODY Snow White in the attraction, the Fantasyland dark ride WAS eventually tamed/toned down, with one stateside park actually losing their version of it with the New Fantasyland expansion, in favor of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, loosely tailored after the recent 7D cartoon series.

@Black-Handed_Ice_ Gwiazda lol thanks. They should really bring back the other bride. You could tell that way more thought and consideration were put into her than into this balloony Lizzie Borden chic.

Beth, that's a hilarious comparison, truly one for the Disney Archives. I agree, though, the HBH is more enriched and blends in with the Mansion's storyline.

I feel like the new bride is better.

John Pedro yeah. The current version doesn’t blend well with suicide.

I like Constance more than the other brides, and yeah they should update the effect, but overall, she's one of my favorite ghosts in the mansion... But shit, that comparison was funny as hell.

Ray B But isn’t that the goal of CGI effects in the first place?

Exactly!

Some like it, some don't. If you don't like it then lets say 'too bad', hate never fixes anything.

​@@gryphonp5729 i think the only people that like it are people too young to have seen how much better it looks without cgi

I've always had citations on each clip and image used, but awhile back decided to use a different font and scale them up to be easier to read.

It wouldn't work. Em's too sweet & melancholy to fit in with Lizzie Borden-wannabe Connie, even if Hattie would love to have her back again.

TherealRNO, is right. They're never going to bring her back. No matter how hard you wish for her to back, you know it's never going to happen. You have to accept the loss and move on. I did the same with The Great Movie Ride 's closure back in 2017, and you'll eventually have to as well.

@@hunterolaughlin Dude, shut up!

@@hunterolaughlin Disney bought back Enchanted Tiki Room and The Hatbox Ghost never say never.

@@Clay3613 I still highly doubt they’re going to bring back the Old Bride. They only brought back Enchanted Tiki Room because Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management literally caught on fire. I’m sure if the fire incident never happened, Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management would still be in operation today. I mean, if it was in operation for 13 years until the fire, then it’s a guarantee they would’ve still left it running regardless of the backlash and criticisms.

Aw man, I wish I was there! This has been the longest I've gone without riding the OG Haunted Mansion since I was a kid!

LOL

Connie is only the Black Widow Bride from '06-present. The previous Beating Heart Bride, though officially unnamed in the end, went by many other names regardless. Starting with Priscilla Gore during Ken Anderson's Captain Gore/Captain Blood narrative featuring the Sea Captain/Mariner as the woeful bride's questionable fiancee in a manner akin to infamous pirate Blackbeard to possibly bridge a link between Pirates of the Caribbean & Haunted Mansion as they were the last park projects conceived with Uncle Walt's initial input - not counting the purported plans for the future E.P.C.O.T that never materialized - before his own untimely passing put the divergent styles of the Mansion into limbo until X. Atencio's catchy theme lyrics coupled with Buddy Baker's ominous score that repeats the same overarching track in different keys was used to somewhat haphazardly merge the directly frightening background atmosphere of Claude Coats with the overtly comedic puns & sight gags of Marc Davis to create the disjointed nature of the ride in its fully realized form, Emily Cavanaugh Gracey nee De Claire of Gracey Manor for the 999 grim, grinning Ghost Gallery of obituaries (character bios) once occupying doombuggies.com as created by both ex-Cast Members & super fans of the ride lore alike on top of the unfortunate bride being named thus for the corresponding Haunted Mansion Comic Book from SLG Comics, renamed in 2003 yet again but this time to Elizabeth Henshaw per that year's comedic farce film wherein stale comedian Eddie Murphy's realtor character of Jim Evers stole the rightful spotlight away from the clearly cursed & not-so Happy Haunts the movie was supposed to be about so that the film's solid score & foreboding atmosphere before all of the campy cheesiness ruined it served as the movie's only redeeming qualities to the point that horror buff Guillermo Del Toro had been tossing around ideas for a proper scary but funny tribute to the beloved attraction just to have his plans seemingly put on indefinite hold until Disney ultimately put the kibosh on the purported film Del Toro claimed would shine a light on the resurrected Hatbox Ghost in spite of a teaser for the scrapped feature at D23 a few years back featuring Corey Burton doing his near dead-on Paul Frees impression as The Ghost Host by reciting the Stretching Room's iconic opening dialog for the teaser's chilling voice-over against a backtrack throughout the rest of the famous instrumental used & lastly, Beating-Heart was simply called Bernadette for alliterative purposes within the Lonesome Manor level located in Bog Easy from the Epic Mickey video games. However, despite being a long-term doombug (a dedicated fan of The Haunted Mansion & its counterparts), I have never heard of Beating-Heart (also called Bleeding Heart by some) ever being referred to as Kate Candle Wick before. Are you sure you didn't just invent that name for the previous melancholy bride yourself?

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh Really? I didn't know that. No, I didn't invent the name of the previous melancholy bride. I found it on Haunted Mansion Wiki.

Probably the grandfather of the lowlife that tried sneaking a gun onto Kilimanjaro Safaris two years ago

Very happy to hear you enjoyed it!

She IS there, WITH the rose..on the tombstone, in the stretching rooms.

Thank you for saying that, I've actually been trying to "loosen up" the narrative a bit to include some of my humor and personality. Glad to know it doesn't distract from the story!

It was never real from the start, it was made for the ride.

@@gryphonp5729 you are all over this comment section just being a wind up merchant lol what a twat

Bad is meaningless

i bet you have a really punchable face

Yessss practical effects need a gallant return!

@@stephiel9285 agreed. even when CG's at its finest quality, puppets and costumes and other effects like that look somewhat more realistic

with ya 100 percent. cant stand it. no matter how 'real' it looks its always gonna be fake and flat and has no immersive character to it.

totally agreed!

Omg! That’s the only thing I remember about that game!

You mean this? www.reddit.com/r/Imagineering/comments/7u4kpj/bmode_carnotaurus_head_on_dinosaur_this_one_is/ The post says it's basically just a B-mode backup when the main head malfunctions

maddog miner I second this

What do you think you'd prefer to see there? Maybe move the Hatbox Ghost back into the attic?

Hattie's hat trick with his decapitated head was supposed to synch up with the original bride's glowing heart & thudding heartbeat & since a scheming, conniving, treacherous, selfish, patronizing, bad pun-spewing Black Widow bitch like Constance is incapable of any positive feeling except murderous glee, she cannot have a heart worth beating, even though the previous bride's effect is still played, albeit drowned out by the Bridal Chrous dialed up louder & Connie's cringy, cheesy lines mocking traditional wedding vows overtaking it so it takes a trained ear to catch it. So, unless they redo the Mansion Attic back to any of its 1969-2006 variations & axe - pardon my own bad pun - the Black Widow for an update to her Beating Heart predecessor, ol' Hatbox stays on the veranda where he currently is located.

WDW still had theirs when I visited in 2007.