I was smart enough to walk very briskly to the Haunted Mansion to get my first (and only) look at this year's Holiday overlay. I say only because by the time I exited the attraction, the line wrapped around outside the gate back towards the French Market. No thanks!
Things started pretty much the same as before, with the faux stained glass overlays in the elevator:
The guests stuffed inside got to see them morph into another vision as the elevator descended:
This year, the static Jack Skellington head at the top of the elevator was replaced by some elaborate animated tableaus:
Ah, the hanging skeleton. Not sure if I like the animation, even though it was definitely more lively. Technology has still not progressed enough to make the animation look real. It is still obviously a projection effect. One day though...
In the changing portrait hallway, the pictures on the hall had all flipped horizontally. I knew this because I compared them with the photos I shot last year.
Here's Sally. You can just watch mesmerized at this little animated gif all day long.
Sure it's 2 dimensional. Sure it's probably just a cardboard cutout. I still love these "Nightmare Before Christmas" characters at the loading queue.
Until I saw this photo, I'm not sure I ever really noticed the purple spider before!
Zero floats in the endless hallway:
Madame Leota is back to floating around, just in time for the holidays:
The ballroom had something new to look at with this cake centerpiece that continues to display a new Jack Skellington face.
That darn railing sure makes photos difficult in this scene!
Once again, it appears that I missed the list. I guess Santa knows more than I give him credit for.
The graveyard scene is so dimly lit, I wonder how many guests are able to catch all of the witty little vignettes that happen behind the scrim?
Oogie Boogie, one of the few Holiday overlay additions that actually shows some animatronic movement:
I do like these little Lock, Shock, and Barrel popups.
Despite the fact that the Holiday overlay mainly consists of static props placed over the regular ones, this little Sally figure bothers me. Compared to the ethereal Little Leota, Sally just looks positively cheap.
Thanks, Jack - see you next year!
See more vintage & current Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday photos on my HMH web page.
Great picures Dave. It's like being there in person.
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I really hope that the new ceiling in the stretching room is just for the holidays. I'm not sure I could cope with them taking away real prop skeleton.
ReplyDeleteDid you notice how Zero flies in and out of all of the paintings? That was new for this year I think!
AMAZING photos as always too! Especially of Zero atop the gingerbread house!
I am really astonished at how good your photos of the Jack projection in the stretching room turned out. I agree with you, it still feels like a projection - if only they can somehow get 3D effects without the use of special glasses.
ReplyDeleteYes, wonderful photos as always, Dave! Thank you for sharing them with us. I was going to ask you the same thing that "Janey" did about the new effect with the transforming paintings. Zero can be seen in the paintings flying from one to the next. It isn't constant though. You have to wait and watch for it. I think the only reason I noticed it was because there was a long line and we were stuck in that hallway for a while.
ReplyDeleteI did notice Zero going between the paintings...that was a fun change. I wss too lazy to wait to catch him in photos after I noticed him the first time.
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