Note: I got lazy my last few weeks here in Orlando and neglected to keep up with my blog. I'm home in California now, however there are still a few things I wanted to share with you! This entry should have been written and posted around Wednesday August 4th.
Yesterday morning I had the incredible opportunity to take a tour of the Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom. Not the tour that most day guests get in a Doombuggy. This one allowed us to explore the mansion on foot.
A few of my co-workers and I got up VERY early and met at the Magic Kingdom at 6am, long before any park guests got there. We rode the cast shuttle to the Utilidor entrance and headed over the the Mansion. The parks are eerie when there are no guests or ambient music, and Magic Kingdom is especially creepy under those conditions. We were met by two ladies who had both worked at the Mansion for many many years and knew the attraction frontwards, backwards and inside-out. They led us on a walking tour through the ride path with all of the worklights on (which still isn't very bright), and pointed out tons of little details, told stories, and explained how things worked. I thought I knew the Haunted Mansion pretty well, but I still learned a lot on the tour, much of which would be impossible to explain or point out to anyone riding the ride.
I don't want to ruin any magic, but I will share a few cool details with you:
As in many dark rides, there are pressure-sensitive mats along the ride path. When someone steps out of their vehicle (or drops something), the ride immediately stops and the operators are alerted. Disney took extra precautions in the séance scene with Madame Leota, as her technology is still a closely guarded secret and people have attempted to steal her ball before. If you activate a pressure mat in this room, the ride will stop AND Madame Leota will quickly float to the ceiling, well out of reach of any ne'er-do-wells.
The stretching room originally had 8 speakers, which didn't really create any cool surround effects. The stretching rooms were recently upgraded to 120-speaker systems that can create some amazing surround effects. I got to see the computer that controls them, and on the screen it shows all of the sound clips bouncing around the octagonal room, just as the guest would hear it from inside the room. I hope California gets that sound system soon.
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| Look closely at this book in the library scene. On the front cover? Jack Skellington. The book title? The Nightmare Before Christmas. |
Within the ride there are five hidden Jack Skellingtons, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. These were placed after it was decided that it wouldn't be to their advantage to transform the Floridian version of the Mansion each October-January like they do at Disneyland. They are pretty invisible to the naked eye, but if you take some well-planned flash pictures on the ride you might see a few (don't do it—flash photography is not allowed and they'll spiel at you).
