Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Mickey's Halloween Party: Haunted Mansion Holiday



A trip to Disneyland during October wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Haunted Mansion. During the Fall/Winter season, the Mansion is taken over by Tim Burton's characters from "Nightmare Before Christmas."



Faux carved pumpkins are added to the berm above the Mansion:



Inside the elevator, all of the stretch portraits are replaced by framed stained glass ovals, such as this one of the Haunted Mansion:



and one of a Christmas tree:



visions of Sugar Plums?



Not quite…looks more like snakes to me.



Nobody creates crazy like Tim Burton:



The video effects in the roof of the elevator are fairly convincing.





Jack and his ghostly dog Zero make an appearance:





Even the hangman goes digital:



I finally have fairly decent animated gifs for all of the changing portraits in the hallway outside the elevators:



Can you spot Zero in a few of these as he flies across the canvas?









The black light cutouts really photograph well, unlike so much of the dimly lit Mansion. One of these days I'll have to get an animated gif of the Mayor changing faces.



The spider that looms overhead as your Doom Buggy takes you through the attraction.



A collection of bones for Zero:



Leota floats overhead during the Halloween season, surrounded by a collection of glowing ornaments:



That durn railing gets in the way of decent Ballroom photos.



Wouldn't you love to be able to walk around in the Ballroom and see all the details up close?



The attic also has plenty of details to see:





If you've ever wondered if this list changes from year to year…



the answer is "yes." Here it is in 2012:



But from 2003 to 2012, the list looks pretty much the same:



A portrait of Jack as Santa as you exit the attic:



A view of the graveyard as your Doom Buggy goes down the hill in reverse:



This little gremlin replaces the raven throughout the attraction:



Zero and Jack outside the gates to the graveyard:





This area is a lot of fun, but fairly loud with a lot going on.



It just doesn't seem to have the harmony of the original Haunted Mansion where the music, the characters, and the effects seem to all work together to create a narrative that flows effortlessly.









The little gremlin again, barely visible at left:



Be sure to click on this one; I created a wide panorama of the Oogie Boogie wheel of fortune:



Wow…that's a lot of photos. Are you ready for Pirates next?

See more Daveland Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday photos at my main website.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the Halloween updates and all the great pictures! I so want to go to Disneyland for Halloween next year, it is my goal. We have gone to Walt Disney World at Halloween numerous times and we love it. I have never been to Disneyland but it is getting planned.

K. Martinez said...

The image of the Jack O' Lantern with the lit candles in the attic is awesome! You did an outstanding job as usual. Thanks, Dave.

Chrissy @ Adventures in DIY said...

Your photos are awesome, Dave!

Daveland said...

Melissa - Are the decorations fairly similar at WDW?

Thanks Ken & Chrissy!