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

Disney just teased the Hatbox Ghost again in a new video - no date... simply "this year".

I was hoping this week would put a date out for its debut!

I’m not a fan of when they add digital effects to the mansion, they stick out and are usually easier for people to “figure out” than the classic effects.

I was too!

Have hatboxes always been in the attic scene? Or were they recently added? Maybe because of anticipation of Hatbox ghost, I'm just now noticing.

Have you seen it at DL? I think it’s pretty great, the new hitchhikers here, not so much.

Thankfully, in person The Hatbox Ghost blends in quite nicely - his use of digital effects is well integrated and sparing enough that they do not scream *PROJECTION!!!* . . . unlike another certain Attic denizen who will go unnamed . . .

Hatboxes have been littering the WDW Attic since the 2007 "Re-Haunting" refurbishment - when Constance was added to Disneyland in 2006 they really amped up the allusions to The Hatbox Ghost despite him not materializing himself for almost another decade, and at WDW they followed suit a year later when they brought her over. Her story was designed to intertwine with his effect.

It's been on all this week at MK. The ride pictures now include these new figures in addtion to the hallway snap.

That’s interesting, makes you wonder how long his return was planned. I do have to say that I like having him on the balcony so you can see signs of him all through the attic before finally coming face to face. It’s nice that they designed Connie and HBG to play off of each other, but I wish they’d update Constance to use the tech for the hatbox projection. The Hatbox Ghost looks sleek and modern, while Constance looks like something you’d buy at spirit Halloween in 2009

When does it ever other than when they're building a new DVC property?

Hatbox Ghost’s return was years in the making and there were several times where it was on the cusp of happening.

I do vaguely remember hearing that they weren’t initially going to put him back in the attic and instead he’d be in the graveyard or ballroom and would only light up for AP guests or something of that nature.

"Planned" is a funny word . . . The Hatboxes that were installed alongside Constance could be seen simply as a nod to the infamous character that used to share that scene, rather than any sort of meaningful indication that he would be returning. Clearly he did, in the end, but correlation does not equal causation. There wasn't really any guarantee he was coming for the better part of a decade.

There had been a behind the scenes push for the return of The Hatbox Ghost from around the prep stage of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, but it never gained sufficient support to move money behind it. Meanwhile Constance moved into the attic not long after . . . but as I think is clear from the difference in their finished product, Constance and the eventual Hatbox Ghost had some different people devising their illusions. So it's more like Team A set the ball hoping some Team B would be able to spike it down the line. And thankfully they did.

I understand there were a couple real attempts at prototyping a figure between 2008 and his eventual return in 2015, if not also sooner, so things had been simmering for a while. More than once he came really close to happening before things fizzled. Guillermo Del Toro even set the plan for his unproduced Haunted Mansion movie to feature the HBG as either a or the main character, which would likely have all but secured his return to the ride had that movie been made and done well. So clearly there were people gunning for it to happen.

Ultimately I think it helped that the character proved to be merchandisable for nearly a decade. By the time they had a prototype that was a strong enough illusion it could be viewed upclose (and not somewhere hidden in the distance of the Graveyard or Ballroom, as had been considered) they were also in need of fun little plussings to tout as part of Disneyland's Diamond Celebration. So it was decided to go for it - but it had to be outside the attic rather than in, because, ironically, the means of achieving Constance filled the attic with too much ambient light for him to look right in his old spot. Which is funny both because the Constance team wanted an eventual HBG return, but also because that's very nearly the same issue that caused The Hatbox Ghost to be removed from the ride in the first place.

I've heard a few times now that The Hatbox Ghost at WDW may not appear in the same spot he does at Disneyland, which I haven't been able to confirm but is interesting to consider. Personally I'd love to see them give the whole attic another pass, put him in his old spot, put a new, creepy, non-Constance Bride in her original spot, and just do it up that way. But Constance also moves merchandise now, and as the trailer shows both characters are going to be in the new movie, so I'm sure they'll both be sticking around.

This is the way.

Tokyo's Bride figure is still a non-projection figure much more in line with the pre-Constance Brides in the US - They've fussed with their Attic a little recently, but by all accounts it's still a more successful scene than what we have Stateside:

Sometime in the past year I messed with a picture of that Bride in Photoshop, imagining how she might look if they merged that design with something like the old glowing-eyes Bride that used to be found in our Mansions. Imagine something like her paired with the new Hatbox Ghost instead of Contance . . .