Saturday, June 24, 2006

Here Comes the Briiide....

Greetings Mortals!

This weeks blog posting is somewhat unique and calls for a rather different introduction. This as you may recoginize is a YouTube embedded video. Ghost Relations Department contributor Leotas Child was lucky enough to be stopped in the Disneyland Attic near the bride. She was able to capture the entire one minute loop and with a little Ghost Relations Dept audio editing, the entire audio loop can be heard as well. Many thanks goes out to Leotas Child!

NOTE: This video was added a day early to test the embedding of Youtube Videos.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Urn your spot as ghost #1000

Greetings Ghost Fans!

We all know that the Haunted Mansion can be a dangerous place. You could end up hanging from the rafters, walking forever down an endless hallway, getting stuck within a coffin or coming face to face with a bride with an axe to grind.

However, there is a hidden danger at Disneyland that most guests don't even realize exists. Most people like to take advantage of the ample seating around the Haunted Mansion gates to take a load off. However, lurking behind them by only a few feet is something deadly. That's right, some of the urns contain a little more than plants. They sometimes also contain Black Widow spiders. An official plant guide for Disneyland states that in some urns atop the pillars around the perimeter of the property have been known to play host to these creatures. Luckily every October through January, the spiders live in the nice warm Ballroom, decorating the tree.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

The Little Bride?

Greetings Ghost Fans!

This week features the very first post about Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris.

At the end of Phantom Manor, much like at the other Haunted Mansions, guests are greated by a miniature Ghost Hostess telling us how we might be able to join the other 999 Happy Haunts. However, at Disneyland Paris, this entity takes on the appearance of a small bride and is even referred to as "The Little Bride." However, what is interesting to note is the fact that when the Imagineers referred to this scene, instead of naming her The Little Bride, they continued to label her, Little Leota. Since there is no official story as to who this character is, it is a new debate as to whether this is in fact a miniature bride, another incarnation of Leota or perhaps a new character all together.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

A Haunting Look...

Hi Ghost Fans!

Many people know that the Haunted Mansion was partially inspired by the 1963 film, The Haunting. Most notably is the Corridor of Doors with its constant banging and buldging of doors. Perhaps in tradition, the producers of The Haunted Mansion film wanted a little bit of the Haunting in their movie as well.

Gunnar Ahmer is a well known artist in the film world. He has created numerous paintings for films with amazing detail. He has been known to recreate many real paintings with stunning accuracy. One of his more famous works is in the 1999 remake of the Haunting. The house is overshadowed with a large painting of the previous owner of the mansion, Hugh Crain. For the 2003 Haunted Mansion film, Gunnar was employed to create all of the paintings within the mansion. This meant several in the bedrooms that the camera never saw, a few in the library, the one that Jim walked out of, the changing portraits and the painting of Edward Gracey and Elizabeth. Sadly, most of these paintings were never seen in the film. If you own the DVD, be sure to check out the tours of the 2nd floor bedrooms where some more paintings can be found, and also check out the set photos.

Welcome to June!

Greetings Ghost Fans!

I would like to welcome you all to another new month of the Ghost Relations Department. I want to thank everyone who has e-mailed me to help with new posts in the future. With this new information I can hope to provide better posts with more visual aids.

I am sorry that I have not posted information just yet as to the identity of the husbands. I am waiting on a little more information on my end before I just post a few names.

Now for the monthly reminder... When you visit any Haunted Mansion, show the utmost respect for other visitors, the attraction itself, and the Cast Members who try hard to provide great entertainment. I also suggest that if you notice a Cast Member going above and beyond in their duties to make your experience memorable, that you take a short trip to City Hall and fill out a compliment form. This is one of the few ways to let a Cast Member know that they did a great job.

If you have any tips as to new items that I could include in this blog, please e-mail or Instant Message me. I am more than willing to give proper credit, or full anonymity can be retained.

I hope you enjoy this months posts,

-Ghost Relations Dept.