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13 September 2007: Haunted Mansion reopens

Right on schedule, Disney this morning reopened the Haunted Mansion at park opening. Walt Disney Imagineering did a fantastic job on this refurbishment, in a very short amount of time, ensuring the attraction is back open ready for the Halloween season.

Haunted Mansion 2007 video
Video from this morning's opening of the Haunted Mansion, including a full ride through. NOTE: Due to the extremely low light levels, most of the video is dark. However, hopefully it gives you some idea of the changes, and of course you can hear the new audio. The best way, of course, is to get to the Magic Kingdom as soon as possible to ride it for yourself.
(Right click the link above, and select SAVE TARGET AS..)
WMV, 14 mins duration, 30MB.

Photos from this mornings opening

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Above: A queue instantly forms after the rope drops at 9am.

Above: The wait time is posted as 13 minutes! It soon became much more!

 
Above: The exterior of the wonderfully restored Mansion

 
Above: The queue area

SPOILERS BELOW

Highlights of the Haunted Mansion refurbishment

• The whole of the exterior has been repainted and looks wonderful.
• A new red colored canopy has been installed over the queue line.
• The parlour room with the fireplace and changing portrait appears to be laregely the same as before.
• The stretch room is a MAJOR improvement. It is almost entirely new. The decor has been completely refreshed. The audio sounds terrific, it has deep bass, multi-positional sound. There are also new sound effects, including creaking as the room stretches, and sounds of bats flying around. There is also a piece of new dialog from Phantom Manor - "I didn't mean to frighten you, so prematurely...". Besides the great additions, the actual stretch room mechanism is now silent and very smooth, which really helps with the whole illusion.
• The load area has received a considerable amount of extra theming. The moving eye portraits are now in the load area. The carpeting is new, lots of great cobwebs hanging from the spooky looking light fixtures. There is also a new load console for the cast.
• A note on the Doombuggy, they now run silently, and no signs of any dropped audio. All the of the dialog is crisp and clear.
• There is a new window with lightning flashes on the left hand side, which are opposite the portrait gallery. As the lightning flashes, the portraits change. Its a great new scene.
• The new staircase scene is a very welcome new addition. There is a lot of detail here, and it is the kind of thing you need to see lots of times to take it all in.
• Exiting the staircase room, there is a corridor of eyes.
• The séance room has the much talked about floating Leota head. It really is an amazing special effect, and has to be seen to be appreciated. Videos are not going to do this justice.
• In the ballroom, there are signs of cleanup and enhancements, but nothing significant.
• The attic has had the most attention. It's awesome. All the popup heads have gone from this scene, and been replaced with detailed sets, with portraits, and a sinister background sound track. The ghostly bride is excellent, and is genuinely spooky!
• The graveyard scene now has only 2 or 3 popup ghosts in total. They are used much more effectively, and they no longer scream. The rest of the scene seems unchanged, but has all been cleaned and restored.
• Little Leota looks new and refreshed.

Overall it's a terrific update, and really restores the mansion to it's rightful status as one of the best attractions at Walt Disney World. WDI and the Disney cast did a terrific job of getting this done so quickly, and above all, to such a high quality level.

Just a final word, you really need to see the attraction in person to appreciate it, photos and videos are not going to do this justice.

Discuss the new changes on our forums at http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=225146

10 September 2007: Latest Haunted Mansion refurbishment photos

The Haunted Mansion is set to reopen this Thursday after it's extensive refurbishment over the last few months. The photos below taken today show the current state of the exterior and queue area.

1 August 2007: Priority access to the new Haunted Mansion for Annual Passholders in September

The official Disney AP holder website has released the following:

"Make yourself at "tomb sweet tomb" in the home of 999 happy haunts, where there's "always room for one more." Inside, hop on a Doom Buggy to get in the "spirit" of things. Experience the stretching room, the séance and hitchhiking ghosts in this Disney classic.

Ride along with your ghost host as you discover new spine-tingling encounters with creepy special effects and an all new scene exclusive to The Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom® Park. On select days in September, Passholders can enjoy priority access to this enhanced classic attraction.

Passholder Priority Access:
September 14, 9:00 AM - Noon
September 15, 9:00 AM - Noon
September 16, 9:00 AM - Noon

Additional Information
All Guests seeking priority access to The Haunted Mansion attraction must show valid Pass and photo ID.
Dates and availability subject to chance without notice.
Should the attraction experience any downtime during this event, we apologize in advance for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
"

25 July 2007: Haunted Mansion details begin to emerge

Some exciting information is beginning to materialize regarding the currently in-progress Haunted Mansion refurbishment. Besides upgrades to the audio, lighting and special effects systems, the floating Madame Leota head and the Haunted Bride from Disneyland will both be installed, and best of all, they have both been improved on since the Disneyland installation. Another great addition to the mansion will be a completely new scene, taking place in the former spider scene. It's an all new multiple staircase scene, unique to Florida's mansion. There will also be other additions throughout the attraction scenes, including new props.

The new improved Haunted Mansion is set to open in September 2007. Don't expect it to reopen early though, as the timescales are apparently very tight to get everything completed.

6 June 2007: Haunted Mansion now closed for refurbishment

9 March 2007: Haunted Mansion refurbishment dates confirmed

The Haunted Mansion will be closed for routine refurbishment beginning Wednesday, June 6, through Wednesday, September 12, 2007, reopening to Guests on Thursday, September 13, 2007.

18 February 2007: Haunted Mansion refurbishment coming soon?

There are currently plans to carry out a fairly extensive refurbishment of the Haunted Mansion this year, beginning June 2007, and completing in early October 2007. These dates are not yet confirmed, so don't plan trips around them, but they have been put forward as a likely timeframe.

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