Expansion and Enhancements coming to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

Aug 29, 2023 in "Disneyland Resort"

Forum Forums Tweet Share Tweet Share

Gallery / 4 Photos
Haunted Mansion ground expansion concept art at Disneyland

Posted: Tuesday August 29, 2023 1:!1pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disneyland Resort has revealed plans for a major expansion and update to one of its most beloved attractions—the Haunted Mansion. Slated to begin in 2024, these updates promise to delve deeper into the lore of the mansion while adding new features to enhance the visitor experience.

An Expanded Story

According to local legend, the Haunted Mansion was originally built by a wealthy sea captain. Over the years, the mansion's staff has dutifully maintained its spooktacular appeal. With the forthcoming expansion, visitors can look forward to an extended outdoor queue that promises to immerse them in the mansion's tales and legends. This includes stories of Master Gracey, Madame Leota, and a mysterious one-eyed cat.

Haunted Mansion ground expansion concept art at Disneyland

Beyond The Haunted Grounds

Each of the mansion's new gardens will showcase unique elements that range from water fountains and gazebos to themed statuary and landscaping. Guests will also have a chance to explore a new greenhouse that serves as the growing space for the Haunted Mansion's groundskeepers. Fans of the attraction will be pleased to know that existing features like the pet cemetery and the horse-drawn funeral hearse will remain.

New Retail Space

But that's not all. Madame Leota, a prominent figure in the Haunted Mansion, will extend her ethereal presence to a new retail shop located next to the attraction's exit. Housed in Leota's carriage house, the standalone shop promises to offer goods that will leave visitors "dying" to know more.

Haunted Mansion ground expansion concept art at Disneyland

More Updates Around the Corner

Besides the Haunted Mansion expansion, Disneyland also plans to spruce up the plaza adjacent to Tiana's Palace. The new design aims to create a serene, park-like setting that honors the area's historical significance while offering a tranquil space for relaxation and live entertainment.

Haunted Mansion ground expansion concept art at Disneyland

Improved Accessibility

Finally, the project aims to improve accessibility for all. A new elevator exit specifically designed for guests with disabilities will be added to the Haunted Mansion.

Construction Timelines

Construction for these enhancements is set to begin in January 2024.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

StarBright3 days ago

Agree! While I like Constance the character well enough, the projected faces always look so fake. A mix between the 2 would be a nice improvement.

NobodyElse3 days ago

Maybe they should just avoid the projection and bring back something like this: I seem to remember one with blue/violet eyes that were hard to focus on. This was always creepier to me than the newer versions.

MagicWDI3 days ago

Interesting differences. I didn't even pick up on them the last time I rode each version, both last year. All I remember is that I didn't like either version lol Hopefully whatever changes they do to the DL version is a noticeable improvement. Crossing fingers

CraftyFox3 days ago

Bingo. To my knowledge, the form and dressing of the mannequins are different between the coasts. The mannequin at Disneyworld features actual arms and significantly more layers of veiling around her face and torso (this is especially obvious in videos where the veils are being blown by the fan in front of the figure). The Disneyland figure is entirely armless and is often seen with sometimes as few as two layers of veiling (it varies whenever she returns from the Haunted Mansion holiday). Here is a particularly egregious photo of the Disneyland bride: Note the complete lack of arms and veils. The arms are what give the WDW model the heightened sense of three-dimensionality, while the veils obscure the shapes enough to keep her spectral rather than obviously projected. The two also have totally different projections. On the left is Disneyland while on the right is Disney World: Because their figure has actual arms, the WDW Constance has a dress accurate to the changing photos, with full bishop sleeves and a high neckline. Due to the lack of arms on the Disneyland figure, she has smaller cap sleeves that read better when projected onto the veil.

JustInTime5 days ago

I get it. I responded before reading the entire thread. Sorry I contributed to that.

Disney Irish6 days ago

It was a dog pile effect, so sorry if it came across as snarky. Its one thing for an "insider" to say its not coming back, but it comes across as just dog piling for non-insiders to then come in just a couple posts later to say the same thing.

truecoat6 days ago

The new AA's use electric motors and are more reliable than the hydraulic systems of the past.

JustInTime6 days ago

If you’re 100% aware then why the snark when people say it’s not coming back this year? I mean, you basically agree? It was just weird and unnecessary.

Disney Irish6 days ago

My response to that was they did something fairly similar back in 2020 after coming back from the pandemic closure. The discussion back then was again that regular HM also wouldn't be back for over a year. That they would never have HM only opened for a short period of time before switching to HMH, so they'll just keep it closed to reopen for HMH. And what happened, regular HM came back and was open for a short period of time before switching to HMH. So there is precedent for it to happen if they decided to make it happen. Also the "naive" bit was really a joke, just a saying if you will. I'm aware there is pretty much a 100% chance of it not coming back in July.

JustInTime6 days ago

You don’t have to be an insider to see the writing on the wall. You yourself said you were being naive. The budget to uninstall HMH, install HM, uninstall HM and reinstall HMH is being used on this refurb. In no world does it make sense to bring back Mansion for a few weeks only to turn around and take it down again. Trust me. I want HM in 2024. I’d prefer it to never leave again. Ideally, HMH would take a year off at minimum.

Disney Irish6 days ago

I like how everyone here is an insider now and knows the exact timelines of projects with great details about what is being done lol. Anyways, if it doesn't open with regular HM and opens in August or September with HMH its no big deal to me. I'm cool with HMH, it was just a hope for those that want regular HM in 2024. But it appears that is not to be. Oh well.... 🤷‍♂️

JustInTime6 days ago

Zero chance, unfortunately

lazyboy97o6 days ago

Not really. You remove stuff from where you’re working and that’s it. How extensive the work is doesn’t really change that.

Disney Irish6 days ago

My trip is not specifically planned around this, so if it doesn't open in July its not a big deal to me. Though the overhauls you've referenced here, especially described by you as being "pretty extensive" and some scenes being described as being gutted by others, would seem to indicate they would need to remove most if not all of HMH to do that work. Anyways we'll see what happens soon enough.