Haunted Mansion ghosts make home improvements
The 999 ghosts that call Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion home have been busy redecorating the classic dark ride attraction and the grounds surrounding the estate while the mortals were away during the yearlong coronavirus closure.
The Anaheim theme park’s Haunted Mansion renovation brings new draperies, carpet, wallpaper and decor inside the attraction and fresh paint and plants on the exterior. The Haunted Mansion will return with the April 30 reopening of Disneyland.
The beloved New Orleans Square haunted house ride closed in January 2020 for scheduled refurbishments after “The Nightmare Before Christmas” seasonal holiday overlay was removed. The COVID-19 pandemic closed Disneyland in March 2020.
The two-month Haunted Mansion project called for refreshing interiors and exteriors and refurbishing some attraction mechanics along with lighting and mechanical work inside the ride building. No major visual changes were expected to be made.
The Haunted Mansion was one of a few classic rides that were undergoing renovations when the pandemic closed the park. In Fantasyland, King Arthur Carrousel has been refreshed and Snow White’s Enchanted Wish has been reimagined and renamed. Both rides will return with the park April 30.
The Jungle Cruise will not reopen April 30 as the boat ride undergoes major storytelling updates to remove negative depictions of native people. The existing version of Splash Mountain will return when the park reopens — with the planned “Princess and the Frog” transformation happening at a later date.
The 999 ghosts that call the Haunted Mansion home had a little help from Disneyland art director Kim Irvine and the Anaheim-based Walt Disney Imagineering team that worked on the attraction’s renovations.
A changing portrait that may be familiar to longtime Haunted Mansion fans will be rejoining the portrait gallery between the elevator and load station in the attraction queue. The “April to December” portrait shows a lovely young woman age instantaneously.
A folding room partition now hides the ride load area, encouraging riders to notice the “April to December” portrait before boarding their “doom buggy.”
The new dynamic portrait, which uses modern technology, is based on original artwork by Disney Legend and Imagineer Marc Davis.
A new cat statue next to “April to December” is based on discarded Haunted Mansion concept art created by Disney Legend and Imagineer X Atencio. One eye of the cat statue will occasionally glow red.
A memorial for a frog named Old Flybait — his tombstone reads, “He croaked” — is now surrounded by lily pads. A tombstone for a pet skunk named Stripey — “Your presence will always linger on,” reads his memorial — will be surrounded by society garlic, a purple-flowered plant known for producing a skunky smell similar to marijuana’s. A monument to Rosie the pig is surrounded by roses, while a cat tombstone is flanked by catnip.