A new version of the Hitchhiking Ghosts could catch a ride home in your Doom Buggy and Constance Hatchaway may redecorate her chilling attic bride scene during the extensive makeover of the Haunted Mansion dark ride at Disneyland.
Disneyland will update the Constance Hatchaway attic scene and the Hitchhiking Ghost mirror effect during the extended closure of the Haunted Mansion renovation, according to WDW News Today.
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The classic haunted house attraction in New Orleans Square will return by the start of Halloween Time 2024 on Aug. 23.
The Haunted Mansion closed in January for an extended renovation of the outdoor queue area that will add a new accessibility elevator for wheelchair users exiting the ride and a new retail shop at the attraction’s exit.
Disneyland does not have any additional Haunted Mansion details to share at this time, according to Disneyland officials.
Concept art of a new retail store at the Haunted Mansion’s exit themed as Madame Leota’s carriage house. (Disney)
Hitchhiking Ghosts
The Hitchhiking Ghosts that follow you home in the mirror effect at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland will become animated projections, according to WDW News Today.
The audio-animatronic Hitchhiking Ghosts just before the mirror finale will remain unchanged.
The Hitchhiking Ghosts that materialize in the Disneyland mirror finale are currently achieved using a Pepper’s Ghost effect.
The Haunted Mansion attraction at Florida’s Magic Kingdom has been using animated projections in the mirror finale for several years, according to WDW News Today.
“They can obviously do a lot more with animations,” according to the Freshly Baked Disney parks vlog. “They can get more creative with it and have more fun with it.”
Concept art of an expanded Haunted Mansion queue featuring a fountain, gazebo, statues, greenhouse and a garden inspired by Madame Leota’s incantation. (Disney)
Attic Bride
The updated Attic Bride scene will introduce a new rear-projection window behind Constance Hatchaway, according to WDW News Today.
The window addition could tie into new and previously abandoned backstories created for the beloved attraction.
The updated backstory for the classic Disneyland attraction could draw inspiration from a “local legend” that the Haunted Mansion was built by a prosperous sea captain.
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A mariner ghost served as a central plot point in the 2023 “Haunted Mansion” film and a sea captain was a key character in early backstories created for the Disneyland attraction.
An early script for the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland created by Walt Disney Imagineer Ken Anderson that ultimately went unused involved a character known as Captain Gore or Captain Blood whose family met their demise in the mansion.
“A window behind Constance would be a very telling and very thoughtful addition to that scene,” according to the Freshly Baked vlog.
The Black Widow Bride was pushed out a window to her death by Captain Gore on their wedding day, according to an early backstory developed for the Haunted Mansion. In that telling, Gore hangs himself in the stretching elevator scene and goes on to become the celebrated Ghost Host of the mansion.
The backward Doom Buggy ride down the hill into the cemetery scene is meant to replicate Constance Hatchaway’s fall out the window, according to Freshly Baked.
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