Disney teases the Hatbox Ghost materializing later this year at Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion

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Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost at Walt Disney World

Posted: Friday April 21, 2023 2:15pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

As part of Disney's Halfway to Halloween week, the Disney Parks TikTok has teased the Hatbox Ghost, which remains on target to materialize at Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion in 2023.

@disneyparks The legendary Hatbox Ghost will be materializing this year at Walt Disney World ??? #Disney #DisneyParks #HalfwaytoHalloween #Halloween #HauntedMansion #HatboxGhost ? original sound - Disney Parks

Announced at the D23 Expo, the Hatbox Ghost character will be added to the Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion with a debut set for 2023.

Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost at Walt Disney World

The addition of the Hatbox Ghost to Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion comes after years of speculation, and its return to the Disneyland Haunted Mansion in 2015.

The Haunted Mansion at Disney World

Disney did not say if the Haunted Mansion will be closing to add the new Hatbox Ghost scene.

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Touchdown4 days ago

Do you want to know how it works? Because I’ve seen it not work properly at DL The head screen is very quickly lowered into the body and back up. I also believe the screen may constrict a little as well but I’m not sure on that. It’s hidden by the puff of smoke animation. The animation was not working properly one time I rode. Doesn’t really spoil the effect for me, just makes me appreciate it more

Kittlesona4 days ago

I very much assumed this was how the heads work. Now I’m wondering why the effect isn’t more timed with the positioning of the doom buggies. The different practical effects of the mansion are fascinating!

yensidtlaw19694 days ago

The only lenticular I can think of that featured inside one of the Mansions was this one from the wall that hid Disneyland's Hatbox Ghost install. Bats like the ones from the stanchions appeared to fly around inside the window as you rode by. Never quite understood what they were going for there, but it was a lenticular:

TeriofTerror4 days ago

I'll leave those to the Country Bears. 😉

MisterPenguin4 days ago

Well, then, I stand corrected! Maybe it's the pearls....

RainbowFigmentum4 days ago

In each of the photos with the husband, she gains a pearl to her necklace, as his head disappears.

Mireille5 days ago

Is this a Liberace joke?

VicariousCorpse5 days ago

It's actually a two layer scrim with lighting in front and behind. At 8:35 you can see the doom buggy stopped and the transformations continue looping. While Disney loves their lenticulars for promos and merchandise, they're even on the construction walls for the mansion at Disneyland, I don't think they've ever been used inside any mansion.

yensidtlaw19695 days ago

The portraits aren't lenticular - if your Doombuggy gets stopped in the Attic the portraits will still continue changing. They're a modified version of the Changing Portrait Hall portraits.

MisterPenguin5 days ago

The effect is positional. If you stayed still, there would be no transformations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_printing

VicariousCorpse5 days ago

The timing is independent of the doombuggies. They just switch back and forth between the two with equal amount of time. It's just coincidence and timing of your riding.

HMF5 days ago

Most likely, No.

Kittlesona5 days ago

Slightly off topic, but am I the only person who seeing the headless portraits in reverse? By that I mean, EVERY one of them I see the man headless first and then he “regains” his head as I continue to view it. Surely it’s meant to be seen the other way right? So that we know they all lost their heads? My fixation on that each time I ride takes me out of the malevolence of the attic each time.