BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 From Imagineering Disney (LOVE this site!) ABANDONED DISNEY: Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking Ghosts Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 10:40PM Posted by Admin Take a look behind-the-scenes of a four-decade favorite that is no longer what it used to be.... Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking Ghosts. How it worked It is no secret that holograms were never used in The Haunted Mansion. Old stage techniques including Pepper's Ghost effects and the use of two-way mirrors are about as low-tech as you can get while still accomplishing jaw-dropping "how'd they do that" illusions. You'll notice in the above diagram that the "ghosts" were on a revolving track lined up with the Doombuggies on the opposite side of what look like normal mirrors. Light reflecting off human guests would reflect off the surface of the mirrors. At the same time light shining on the hitchhikers behind the mirrors would be visible through the mirrors, allowing both ghosts and humans to be seen together. Get it? It's like walking by a highly reflective office building and seeing yourself in the windows and seeing electric lights inside the building all at the same time. The right lighting conditions were needed to pull off the illusion. If the house lights in the room behind the mirrors were to turn on, the mirrors from the other side would look more or less like clear glass. Disneyland or Magic Kingdom? Seen here are two fantastic pics from Long-Forgotten where we learn that Disneyland's Hitchhiking ghosts on the "ghosty-go-round" have no hands. Hands were included in the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland versions.Dark Beards? You'll notice the handless Disneyland figures happen to have white hair. And these Magic Kingdom figures have dark hair. They both are supposed to have white hair as to better reflect light through the mirrors. As was mentioned in a previous post, oil, grease, and dust cake the artificial hair of the Haunted Mansion ghosts and the hair becomes far less visible especially in the Ballroom and with the Hitchhiking Ghosts. Occasionally fresh hair could be spotted along side old dingy hair, illustrating the importance of clean, white hair. So long, fun illusion that entertained us so well for all those years. For the time being, we still have Disneyland's low-tech, high-entertaining, original effect: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Kewl!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 I'm looking at these pics and thinking this would be a perfect blog entry for the, mysteriously missing of late, Disco Yeti... just imagine how snarky he could get about abandoned ghosts without hands... *sigh* where is that Yeti anyway??? :-\ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Monique - You never fail to amaze me with all the stuff you dig up. Get it? "Dig up?" :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Geez Deb, that's a pretty grave sense of humor you've got there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 That is just neat! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roberta 42 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Do they not do this anymore or am I misunderstanding?? I will be really sad if this feature is gone. It was my favorite part of the ride as a child. Very cool pics!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Do they not do this anymore or am I misunderstanding?? I will be really sad if this feature is gone. It was my favorite part of the ride as a child. Very cool pics!!It's been replaced with, from what I understand, a much cooler effect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laura 17 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 What!?! They are gone? I saw they were changing something last time we were there, but I thought they were just refurbishing. has anyone seen the new fangled effect? Is it as good? Why can't things just stay the same..... And where is that Yeti anyway? :dance: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 You will LOVE the new effect, and since it's probably digital and CGI, they will be able to do so many new cool things with it at very little cost!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Another great find, Monique!I am surprised by how primitive the old effect seems by today's standards. It's pretty remarkable that they came up with it in the first place, and that it lasted as long as it did.Spoiler Alert- If you want to be surprised by the new effect, don't read the rest of this post.You will LOVE the new effect, and since it's probably digital and CGI, they will be able to do so many new cool things with it at very little cost!!I agree!The new additions to the Haunted Mansion attraction are great.In the end scene, the hitchhiking ghosts now do a bunch of different things, not just sit in your Doombuggy. For example, if there are two people in the Doombuggy, they can create an effect where your head is switched with the person sitting next to you. Once, when I was riding solo (which happens a lot with a party of three), a ghost plucked off his beard, and put it on me. Fun! And, there are other possible scenarios too. This new addition recreates the old "how did they do that" feel for this attraction.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HillBillyWhisperer 20 Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorites but I have not been to a park in many years. It looks like I am gonna have to hit MK on my next visit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Do they not do this anymore or am I misunderstanding?? I will be really sad if this feature is gone. It was my favorite part of the ride as a child. What!?! They are gone? I saw they were changing something last time we were there, but I thought they were just refurbishing. has anyone seen the new fangled effect? Is it as good? Why can't things just stay the same..... And where is that Yeti anyway? :dance:No worries folks!! This article just talks about the old way the effect was created. The technology has been updated, but the ghosts are still there - better than ever from what I've seen recently!Check out more on the all enhancements to the Haunted Mansion attraction on THIS THREAD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.