Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Sinking Room

Greetings Ghost Fans,

Over the many years that the Disneyland Haunted Mansion has been open, there were several problems with maintenance that accumulated over the decades. When Haunted Mansion Holiday first debuted in 2001, many of the problems were looked over and fixed.


One such problem was a leaky gasket underneath the Stretch Rooms. Over the night, the Stretch Room would slowly stretch as it lost hydraulic pressure. By the time the morning came, the Stretch Room would either have to be raised or lowered depending on its starting position. This problem had been in existance since at least 1995 when this photo of the room being retouched was taken. The wall behind the Stretch Room ledge is clearly visible from the slow sinking due to periods of non-use during the rehab.

However, since the installation of Haunted Mansion Holiday the Stretch Room has been fixed and quietly awaits for unsuspecting mortals before it makes it descent.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Corpse Bride

Greetings Ghost Fans,

When creating the Haunted Mansion, Marc Davis did a lot of whimsical drawings and concepts to be used in his debate of Light versus Fright. However, some of his works weren't all that hilarious and may have actually supported the Coates campaign for Scary rather than funny.


In this concept we see one of the many bride concepts created by Davis. In this rendition we see a somewhat sad looking bride transforming into a skeletal corpse. Wether this was for an effect or a changing portrait concept, it is unknown.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

He's Making a List... Again...

Greetings Ghost Fans,

Quite a while ago, I had posted about a few of the names found on the Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday attic list. Well, this time we're going to The Land of the Rising Sun for Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare.

Chris Crump - Oversaw the installation of the Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare show and son of Rolly Crump.

Larry Nikolai - Designed the concept artwork and final attraction artwork seen within Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare for scenes not already in Disneyland.

Jason Badger - Lighting Designer for Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare.

Also on the list is Leota and Stevie, already mentioned on the original List post.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Neglected Details - Master Gracey

Greetings Ghost Fans,


At the Ghost Relations Dept., there is quite a number of different bits of media to surf through to construct each weeks postings. One thing I have come across are the Walt Disney Imagineering photos taken of each stage of the Master Gracey portrait. The painting is projected and sometimes the crisp clear details cannot be seen in the same way if you were looking at an actual print itself. All of the stages in the painting have amazing little touches that just show how much Imagineering pays attention to even the smallest details, such as the flesh still rotting off of his skull.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

The Ever Changing Changing Portraits

Greetings Ghost Fans,

At current of the four mansions there are three incarnations of portrait hallways with changing portraits. The first and original, Disneyland, secondly, Phantom Manor (though it is missing the April December portrait) and now Walt Disney World taking place of the Sinister 11.

Marc Davis created quite a few concepts for changing portraits. However, in the model building phase, several of the concepts were tried out in the miniature model hallway to see what might work best. In the Osmonds Special and in early model photos, one set included The Black Knight, The Burning Man, The Witch of Walpugis and The Wilting Roses.