I couldn’t have been older than six or seven years old when I first stepped foot inside The Haunted Mansion. Even at that young age I was already attracted to scary stuff, so on my first trip to Disneyland, I was drawn more to the creepy house in the middle of New Orleans Square than I was to the flying Dumbos or spinning tea cups.
I’m not one of those super brainy people who can remember every significant moment of their childhood, but I can recall my first time going through The Haunted Mansion in vivid detail – probably because it was slightly traumatic. Read More »
You don’t have to look too far amidst the theme-park discussions online, in forums and on Disney Twitter (which you can scoff at, but it’s very real and often very acrimonious), to find a number of common phrases thrown around. One of the big ones is about the late Walt Disney: “Walt wouldn’t have done it this way” or “Walt would do it this way”. It’s an easy response to filter and process any theme-park news of the day.
Happy about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Well, maybe it’s because you think Walt would have expanded Disneyland that way. Or perhaps that movie-themed land in the original Disney theme park bothers you. You could always argue that Walt just wouldn’t have done that. Whether Walt would’ve added a new land dedicated to a single series of films or not, we’ll never know. (This line of argument is always foolish, because literally none of us knows what a dead man would have done more than 50 years after his death.)
In the years after Walt Disney passed away, the feature-film division struggled, both in live-action and animation. But the theme parks largely thrived, with the first major addition that Walt hadn’t been directly involved in arriving in the dog days of the summer of 1969. In a lot of ways, The Haunted Mansion, celebrating its 50th anniversary today, is one of the more old-fashioned attractions in the Disney theme parks. But it felt revolutionary on Day One, and has influenced the parks more than you might expect.
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Posted on Thursday, October 6th, 2016 by Jacob Hall
In this edition of Theme Park Bits:
- Disneyland is finally ending Season of the Force.
- Shanghai Disneyland’s TRON ride gets a sponsored interactive area.
- The Haunted Mansion restores one of its original features.
- Disney files a patent for more theme park drone technology.
- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure reveal their holiday line-ups.
- More updates on those Guardians of the Galaxy rides.
- Trivia on the new entrance for the Incredible Hulk Coaster.
- New photos from Animal Kingdom’s upcoming Avatar land.
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The Toy Box is a recurring feature at /Film that rounds up some of the newest and coolest collectibles, decorations, gadgets and other memorabilia that you nerds might want for your shelves.
In this edition, we’ve got an outstanding two-pack of figures featuring the titular characters from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, a new picture disc vinyl set of the soundtrack for Star Wars: A New Hope, a fun Rick and Morty game involving Mr. Meeseeks and more.
See everything in The Toy Box after the jump.
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It’s been a while since the last Theme Park Bits, and I have a lot of bits saved up to discuss, including the following:
- Universal Studios Hollywood launches a virtual tour of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
- FastPass+-style tests being conducted at Space Mountain in Disneyland.
- Watch a multi-angle perspective video of Fast & Furious: Supercharged.
- Captain America will be leaving Disneyland next week.
- Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land permit maps reveal Disney Hollywood Studios changes.
- Could Disney World’s Star Wars Land open in time for Christmas 2018?
- Marvel teases a new Haunted Mansion comic book series.
- Disney World’s Hollywood Studios will launch a Disney villain-only dinner event called Club Villain.
- New details on Animal Kingdom’s upcoming “Rivers of Light” show.
All that and more, in today’s Theme Park Bits. Hit the jump to board the ride.
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This hasn’t been a terrible week for Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth). A few days ago he had his newest picture, Crimson Peak, warmly received at Fantastic Fest, and, apparently, he’s currently hard at work on another film at the moment. Little is known about project, but we think we have an idea for what this del Toro indie might be. Read more about it after the jump.
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When Guillermo del Toro said that Charlie Day and Burn Gorman’s scientists were the main characters of Pacific Rim 2, it suggested a drastic shift in focus from the Jaeger pilots who lead the first film, such as the one played by Charlie Hunnam.
Today del Toro was on a Television Critics Association panel for the second season of his FX series The Strain. After the panel I asked del Toro to clarify whether Hunnam would return, and/or take a backseat to Pacific Rim 2 characters played by Day and Gorman. Read More »
At Comic Con 2010, Guillermo del Toro surprised the crowd at Disney’s Hall H panel by publicly announcing that he would be producing (and probably directing) a new big screen adaptation of the classic Disneyland attraction The Haunted Mansion. Its been almost four years since that announcement, and development is still on going. Del Toro offered a new update on the project during his Reddit AMA. Find out what the filmmaker said about the development of the Haunted Mansion movie adaptation including details of new screenwriters and Doug Jones Hat Box Ghost development art, after the jump.
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There’s something for everyone in this edition of Theme Park Bits. From Back to the Future, to Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Little Mermaid, read about the following:
- Is Back to the Future returning to Universal Studios Hollywood?
- FastPass + is available to meet Mark Hamill and others at Star Wars Weekends.
- You can own an original car from the Walt Disney World monorail.
- Check out the new theater inside Animal Kingdom.
- See original concept art from Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride.
- What’s next for the Frozen franchise in the Disney theme parks?
- Watch a video combining Darth Vader and cupcakes.
- The Millennium Falcon takes center stage in a Star Wars Weekend promo.
- The California Adventure Little Mermaid ride got a quiet upgrade.
- Steven Spielberg speaks Japanese in new Universal Studios ad.
- Video and images from the Hogwarts Express ride at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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Cool Posts From Around the Web:
Things are always kind of mysterious in the world of Theme Parks. Whether it be a return to The Haunted Mansion or a curious $800 million investment, there’s always something to discuss. In this edition of Theme Park Bits, read about the following:
- Disney just invested $800 million more into Shanghai Disney, could it be for Star Wars?
- New changes have been made to the virtual Fastpass + technology.
- Look at the new cell phone charging lockers.
- A new video exploring the Ratatouille ride has been released by Disney.
- The Hatbox Ghost could return to The Haunted Mansion for the 45th Anniversary
- A fun rumor links a new Soarin’ and Indiana Jones.
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