When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake, spooks come out for a swinging wake, but Disneyland guests are in for more than a few surprises as the Haunted Mansion reopens its doors. As exciting as that sounds, many might be disappointed by some of the new changes at Gracey Manor.
A recent update from Disneyland shared that some of the mansion's scarier elements have been toned down after a lengthy refurbishment. While guests will indeed be treated to a new queue experience and a store themed around Madame Leota, there's also been a massive tonal shift.
Mellowing out the manor
If you know anything about the history of Disney's Haunted Mansion, you know that part of its essential identity is its mix of merry and macabre, making for some rather ghoulish delights. It's this balance of elements that keeps fans invested, but Disney is getting ready to undo it.
As Constance is replaced by a new Attic Bride (seen above) and Imagineers are in talks to remove the hanging corpse at the opening, several pieces of the mansion's mythos are crumbling under the weight of a changing culture.
Although the new bride reuses a concept that predates Constance by decades, the idea that one of the ride's original sequences could be cut has many clutching their pearls. A report from The Los Angeles Times shares the following, along with a statement from Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine.
"And there may still be more work to do inside the Mansion. When Imagineering last made updates to the attraction in 2021, Irvine’s team spoke of potentially removing the hanging corpse in the stretching room, noting such an image could be triggering for some guests. 'We’re still looking at that,' Irvine says. 'That one is complicated, structurally … One thing at a time.'"
While it's certainly important to keep up with a changing audience, Disney has already been in hot water after the whole Splash Mountain debacle. Now, it looks like the Haunted Mansion might be next on the chopping block.
In this writer's opinion, taking out the scares from a literal haunted house ride is 50 shades of silly. Moreover, if the company is willing to make these kinds of edits to a Disney original, how long will it be until the other manors get the ax? Now that is truly a scary thought.
Disneyland's Haunted Mansion reopens on January 18, 2025.