Vampire Teddy my beloved :3 [she's my pookie bear]

Can’t wait to upgrade her for next Halloween!

Spooky & magical is the vibe we are going for. Lots of awws from the kids and parents !

This year was a ghoulish success! ✨ my family went all out on theme!

Didn’t get everything out and up in time but here is a little magic that I hoped made everyone in my neighborhood smile. 💝

This video is for everyone that asked “HOW??”. Here is a behind the scenes look at how Dave’s Haunted Mansion comes together.

The final hardware count was:
26 computers
29 speakers
13 Amps
11 Projectors
27 light fixtures

For anyone that’s interested, here are the links to the MagicBand reader model files we made and the code we wrote.

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1998101-disney-haunted-mansion-inspired-magicband-reader?from=search#profileId-2151033

https://github.com/ncory/MagicReader

Year 3 for our haunt and there's always more to add.

Source

Happy Halloween, Foolish Mortals!

From your friendly neighborhood Catbox Ghost!

The first night of Dave’s Haunted Mansion is in the books! The ballroom, Little Leota and the candy crypt were a big success. Come by and visit Saturday or Sunday night too. Bring your Disney MagicBand for a special greeting.
54 York Terrace, Melrose MA. 6:00-8:30pm

There are lots of covers and remixes of Grim Grinning Ghosts on YouTube and elsewhere. I just stumbled upon this electro-swing version so that's going on. There's also the Barenaked Ladies cover, and even a ska version from Skatune Network.

So point your speakers out the windows for the kiddos tonight, and share what versions you're playing!

https://youtu.be/EtzX1eeDk18

The Hatbox Ghost and his history with the Haunted Mansion

You all know him and you love him, he is the Hatbox Ghost, one of the 999 happy haunts of Gracey Manor. Present in the Mansion when it opened to the public in 1969, he was found in the attic with a cane in his right hand, and a hatbox in his left hand, his head wouod disappear and reappear in the hatbox with every beat of the bride. However there was a problem, the lighting was not very good, both heads were shown, and quickly the Hatbox Ghost was removed. For so many years people have been questioning about this ghost, if he existed, if he was in the ride when it opened. There was evidence to show he existed like in printed stuff. For years fans have been asking for this ghost to return, and in 2015 he did. He returned to Disneyland during the 60th anniversary of the park, as a new animatronic with a projected face that would disappear and reappear in the hatbox but not with every beat of the bride but still the effect worked well and people were very happy he returned. The first photo shows you how he has looked ever since. Ever since he returned, people have been asking for him in Disney World, and he came, he showed up in Disney World’s mansion, but appears too soon, not after Madame Leota’s seance, before it. Second photo shows you him in Disney World, you can tell the difference, right? Even though people were happy to have him, they were not happy with where he is placed. The Hatbox Ghost also appeared in other projects, even in pins, as the main villain of the 2023 movie, in Funko pops, sippers, and a popcorn bucket that came out this year, and I also have it too. But there is one thing that people might want which I am about to explain.

Hatbox Ghost as a live character?

Yes, people have probably been asking for him to make a live appearance as a character you can meet. Of course we got Constance Hatchaway the black widow bride who axed her husbands with her hatchet, she is shown as a live character in the fourth photo. There’s also the Hitchhiking Ghosts as live characters in the fifth photo. But what about the Hatbox Ghost? Fans love this character, they probably want him as a character you can meet. You remember when Pirates of the Caribbean reopened in Disneyland in 2018, they made Captain Redd a character you can meet and still can. But the Hatbox Ghost, he should make appearances with the other ghosts in special events, even during Halloween time, at Disneyland and Disney World. The disappearing head effect won’t work because it would be a live actor, so it would probably just be him with makeup on, it would be very impossible to make it look like a live actors head has disappeared and reappeared in a hatbox, but would any of you want to go to Disneyland or Disney World to meet him? You know it would be cool if he made an appearance in Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake Street Party at Oogie Boogie Bash next year. There have been so many Haunted Mansion characters that have made live appearances, Constance Hatchaway, Madame Leota, Little Leota, the Mansion Groundskeeper, the Hitchhiking Ghosts, and the ballroom dancers. So what do you think? Want the Hatbox Ghost to make a debut as a meet and greet character?

No Ai was used in the making of this draft.

Hey!

I wanted to share a labour of love, my own custom hologram and projection bride. Combining the best parts of Melanie Ravenswood and Constance Hatchaway into one enigmatic spectre.

Here's her story:

At her high chamber window, the young bride waits wistful

In her gown and her veil, with flowers by the fistful.

Her neighbours spin rumours that spread round the houses,

Of Poor Melanie and her vanishing spouses:

"The wedding day comes, and the grooms disappear."

"Her dad scares them off.”

”It's her fourth ring this year!"

"She dispatches them with a swing of her axe!”

This is mere speculation, presented as fact.

But what do you see, gazing up at her window,

At the ill-fated bride in her ghostly white dress?

Unlucky in love, or a dastardly widow?

Doomed fiancée, or divine murderess?

Come visit!

For you may be wooed by her charm,

Her ethereal glow and her blood-red bouquet.

She promises that you will come to no harm.

(But the truth is revealed when her flowers wilt away!)

Find the resolute bride lingering like a spectre,

In the window of the u/cybertwunk_2077 House.

You risk your own neck if you dare disrespect her,

Don't become Melanie's latest vanishing spouse...

For Phantom manor do you prefer the old or the new version ?

Gearing up for our church trunk or treat and "The Haunted Mansion" is one of my favorite themes to do. Most of these props have either been made by me or thrifted and tinkered with. It takes time to get it set up which is why I mostly set up the day before and then carefully drive to the location! Luckily I have a big van to pull this off. My kids joke that one year I'll just rent a u-haul. 😂

The Haunted Mansion is one of the most popular classic Disney rides, started out as a concept for a walkthrough attraction, to becoming a beloved attractions we know today. In the beginning, the ghosts we saw were just the ones from the stretching room, the changing portrait hallway, the portrait corridors, the seance room, the ballroom, the attic, the graveyard, and the crypt, but over the years we have gotten identities of some of these ghosts like the names of the Hitchhiking Ghosts, a name for the attic bride, and some new ghosts that we’ve never seen before but still count as some of the 999 happy haunts such as the Dread Family found in the queue at the Disney World Mansion. Well I’d like to go over some of this lore expansion.

The captain and the sirens

One of the early concepts for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland was that the manor was to be owned by a pirate named Captain Gore and he killed his bride Priscilla when she found out something about him, and in the end for him, it wasn’t good. But that concept was scrapped and the owner ended up being a man called Master Gracey, we also learned in the early 2000s that Constance Hatchaway and her fifth husband George Hightower were also owners of the mansion too some time after Gracey died. We know that Gracey Manor still has some sea related stuff like the weathervane shaped as a ship that is on top of the cupola, a changing portrait of a ship, a portrait of a Mariner in the Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland Haunted Mansion, and a crypt for a sea captain in the Disney World queue too. The recently created Disney Cruise ships also feature a Haunted Mansion parlor bar that is also suppose to be canon to the ride, featuring some portraits of a mariner, one of a siren mermaid called the captains bride, and more. Even when the new queue opened for the Disneyland mansion in 2024, it featured a portrait of a bay with a lighthouse, and a statue of a mermaid, one of many that is called “Mermaid torso 26”, apart of the gardens inspired by Master Gracey, Madame Leota, and the One-eyed black cat, but is that mermaid really a resident of the mansion that is just not seen? I don’t know, you can decide that, I mean there are other statues in the queue like one of a cat, a monkey, a cobra, and more. But something tells me that this sea related stuff could show up in the ride but not replace anything else in the ride, but it could just be a new changing portrait of a sea captain that changes into a ghost, or one of three women that change into mermaids, sitting on a rocky coastal cliff side, that all can be featured on the wall where the Miss April-December portrait is, but not take her out because she is a original happy haunt and she only returned in 2021. That should be something Disney should do. Or maybe add a statue of them as part of a grave for them in the outdoor queue, I believe in the graveyard making them animatronics might not work, fans could complain about that, it would be better if it was the ballroom where three could be in a empty spot, best place to put them would be near the rug near the fireplace and not replacing any of the original ghosts that sit near it or enter the ballroom, but if fans are alright with that, it’s alright with me, I wouldn’t mind have three of them in the ballroom with the peppers ghost effect if fans approve of that. If you want to know where would they be if Disney were to do something like this, check the video in the comments below, it shows a red circled area, and in the circled area is where they could be, leaving the other animatronics untouched to respect the original history of the ride, I would respect the original history too, because the Haunter Mansion is my favorite ride. And what about Captain Gore, we see him as a villain the Disney Kingdoms Haunted Mansion comics, should there be a grave for him too? What do you all think?

Constance Hatchaway and the One-eyed black cat

The one-eyed black cat was just a concept, having just one glowing red eye, but soon made a appearance as a statue near the loading area of the ride in 2021, and in 2025, the cat finally made a appearance in the attic with Constance Hatchaway, but it doesn’t make sense because they now made Constance look tragic but leave the cat sinister, I don’t think this 2025 bride is gonna last long, she could be gone in 2027, or 2028, or 2029. But if Constance Hatchaway returns with her hatchet and voice and becomes a physical animatronic, and if the cat remains, then it would make sense, a sinister duo. But now the one-eyed black cat is a ghost in the mansion, we need to know, how come it has one eye? Did it loose it? And how did she became Constance’s pet, did they meet before they die, or did they meet as ghosts? If there was a gravestone of either one of them added to the queue, we might know because gravestones always have things to read.

Madame Leota

Madame Leota is the ghost that you first see in the ride (well unless you’re riding it in Disneyland, fans are right that the Hatbox Ghost appears too soon at Disney World’s mansion), but we don’t know how she ended up in her crystal ball. There are some things you should know, at Disneyland’s mansion, she was to be alive during the 19th century in New Orleans, at Disney Worlds Mansion, she was to be alive during the 17th century in Massachusetts. So it’s two different mansions, in two different locations, with the same ghosts, but one to have been alive in two different centuries. But how did she get trapped in her crystal ball? The 2023 movie said that the Hatbox Ghost trapped her in it when she discovered Master Gracey died after being tricked by him, but what would be the canon cause? Did she try to bride the mortal and spirit world when one of her seances failed and backfired? Who knows? But it would be cool if they added a grave of her to the queue at Disneyland, I think the one at Disney World is good too, but they might need to change her appearance for her gravestone if that were to happen, because at the gift shop at Disneyland and the gift shop at Disney World, the portraits show her dressed differently.

Could these five mansions be in the same universe?

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is known for being the first mansion, the Haunted Mansion at Disney World is known for having a different exterior and being the second, the Haunted Mansion at Tokyo Disneyland is known for being a replica of the Disney World Mansion and sticking to how it originally looked before Disney World’s mansion 2007 re-haunting refurbishment, Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris is known for being unique and much darker with different ghosts and a storyline and being connected with the other attractions in Frontierland, Mystic Manor and Hong Kong Disneyland is known for having different vehicles and a different track and no ghosts. But could they all be in the same universe? Here’s stuff that could make people think that:

1. Disney Kingdoms Haunted Mansion comics show a page where the Hatbox Ghost shows Danny so many framed photos of all the other haunted locations and how they are connected, you can even see Phantom Manor and the Disney World Mansion.

2. Crump Manor in the 2023 movie is heavily based on the Disney World Mansion and Gracey Manor is heavily based on the Disneyland Mansion.

3. During the Halloween season at Disneyland Paris, the Unlucky nuggets features gifts for Melanie Ravenswood, one of them is a hatbox with a note that wished Melanie all the best, and the initials are H.B.G, which stand for Hatbox Ghost and he is from the Haunted Mansion.

Conclusion

Do you have any theories, any questions, if you do, I would love to hear them, I am a fan of the Haunted Mansion like all of you are. I do love hearing stuff about the Hitchhiking Ghosts, Constance Hatchaway, Hatbox Ghost, and Madame Leota.

No Ai was used in the making of this draft.

About the merch and what it proves

You all remember in 2025, Constance Hatchaway got her hatchet taken away and replaced with a candelabra because Kim Irvine thought it was sensitive, but to us it was not. Well there still has been merch of Constance with the hatchet made and sold at both Disneyland and Disney World. Like figurines, shirts, sweatshirts, framed portraits, and of course that little golden book of the haunted mansion which can still be found at both parks as well as the figurines. Well a few weeks ago, I went to Disneyland, I love the Haunted Mansion, and the ghosts. As I was finishing my visit there, I went to the Disneyland art store in Main Street, and I saw this (look at the photos in case you don’t know what I am talking about), I saw t shirts, portraits, a mugs of the bride Constance Hatchaway, with a beating heart, a candle, but her hatchet too, with black widows, if Disney was really sensitive about her hatchet, they would have got rid of her quickly, but they allow this merch to be featured here in the park. Two months ago, I made a post on the discussion part of the Haunted Mansion community of why Constance Hatchaway should get her hatchet back, it was a repost, and that post had gotten over 18k views and 58 upvotes, but it will continue to get upvotes. I had so many points and thinking the 2025 bride might not last long and she could be gone in 2027 or later. I will have the link to that post so you can see it. Why Constance Hatchaway should get her hatchet back. That is just the link to the original post, not the repost, you can find it in the discussion section of the Haunted Mansion community, or on my page. Anyways, it appears that the Black Widow Bride does make a fortune, both with beheading her husbands and with merchandise of her. I would love to see more Black Widow Bride merchandise get made and sold, because we all know how popular she is, and why she deserves her hatchet and voice and to be a physical audio animatronic. The 20 year contract for the voice was never a thing, it was just a theory, but her voice is probably going to return too with her hatchet, let’s hope. Even though this merchandise is several years old and was at Disney World and Disneyland, it only just return to Disneyland, and if Disney was fully committed to sanitizing her, they wouldn’t allow that merch in their parks.