How come Hong Kong Disneyland can have a frightening Halloween event but the Anaheim original can’t?

Jim Hill

13 years ago

So how did Disney diehards react to the recent news that Walt
Disney World would soon be getting a brand-new interactive experience, "Sorcerers
of the Magic Kingdom" …

… and Disneyland Park would soon be bumping out the borders
of its Fantasyland section with the addition of a new "Fantasy Faire"
experience?

Just as you might expect. By complaining loudly.

"So what was the reason for the complaining this time?," you
ask. Basically the problem (as theme park purists see it, anyway) is that these
proposed rethemings / additions to WDW's Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park is
that they don't really fit in with the story that's supposedly being told on
Main Street, U.S.A. Which – as all good Disneyana fans know – is supposed to be
this idealized version of small town America at the turn-of-the-century.

Which is why I hope that the Disneyana fans who are making
such a big fuss about Fantasy Faire and "Sorcerers
of the Magic Kingdom" don't hear about what's going on at Hong Kong Disneyland
later this month. I mean, the very idea of a Magic Kingdom receiving a really-for-real
horror-themed overlay …

… where Main Street, U.S.A. could actually be the stepping-off
point for a Universal Studios-style walk-through haunted house …

Where – according to the official scenario for this HKDL's
Haunted Halloween attraction …

Over a hundred years ago, something went terribly wrong with
the hotel situated in Main Street U.S.A., and it became haunted thereafter.

The reason has always remained a mystery. Only recently has
it been discovered that Victoria Maxwell was taken by the dark force and her
ghostly soul now roams the rooms and corridors of the hotel, hungry for new
victims and eager to scare guests with new antics.

So, if you seek a
spine tingling experience, check into the Hotel. We hope that you'll be able to
check out.

You can almost hear the theme purists out there already
moaning about how Walt would never allow an attraction like this
to be part of the original version of Main Street, U.S.A.

Which isn't exactly true. Take a gander at this piece of
concept art from 1951. Back when Disneyland was originally going to be built
across the street from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. To be specific, on an
8-acre parcel of land on the other side of Riverside Drive.

At Walt Disney's request, Harper Goff put together a sketch
for a side street that was to have come off of Main Street, U.S.A. Where – if Guests
had wandered off in this direction – they would have found a church, a
graveyard and a haunted house.

Here's a closer look at Harper's take on that haunted house.

Where – if they'd have gotten up the nerve – these Guests
could have then joined a walking tour of that haunted mansion … er … house.
Where menace loomed in every corner …

… and your tour of this Main Street, U.S.A.-based attraction was to have concluded with a sudden
appearance by the Headless Horseman. Who
– ironically enough – is the central character of this year's Haunted Halloween
celebration at Hong Kong Disneyland.

So as you can see, Walt had a far more free-form view of
what fit in his theme park than most Disneyana fans do today. Which – given that
Disney thought that it was perfectly okay to cap off his Main Street, U.S.A,
area with a fairytale castle as well as a 1/100^th scale version of
the Matterhorn …

… is kind of understandable.

But before it seems like I'm deliberately going out of the
way here to bash Disney diehards, let me share what one veteran Imagineer had
to say when I asked him / her if a Hong Kong Disneyland-style Haunted Halloween
event would ever work at Anaheim. In a word, they said "No." But not for the
reason that you might think.

Here, I'll let this WDI vet explain:

Hong Kong Disneyland will be six years old next week.
Whereas the original Disneyland is 56 years old. Hong Kong Disneyland still has
parts of its backstage area that haven't been built up yet. Which means that
there are places where you can actually build a temporary walk-through exhibit.

You ever been backstage at Disneyland? Especially between
Main Street and Tomorrowland? There's no room back there to build something
like a haunted house. And there's even less room between Main Street and
Adventureland.

Then when you factor in how tiny Disneyland's walkways are –
especially in the Adventureland part of the Park – there's just no way that we
could safely stage like something that "Cursed Jungle" thing that they do at
Hong Kong Disneyland.

Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park that was deliberately
built to absorb huge crowds. That's why all of its walkways are so wide.
Whereas most of Disneyland's walkways were designed to handle people back in
the 1950s. Back when Guests were a lot more polite and not nearly as big as
they are today.

So, at least in this WDI vet's eyes, Disneyland really couldn't
do an event like Hong Kong Disneyland's Haunted Halloween. Not because
Disneyana fans would revolt if they encountered a really-for-real horror-themed
event inside of Walt's theme park. But – rather – because at this point in Disneyland's
history, this 56-year-old theme park lacks the necessary wide open spaces
backstage where haunted houses could then be built on a seasonal basis.

More to the point, given how tight & small so many of
Disneyland's walkways are … Well, it would just be unsafe to attempt to set up
any scare zones / deliberately frightening character encounters inside of this
theme park.

Interior of the Fantasy Faire Theatre in Disneyland's Fantasyland section prior to the
February 2004 opening of "Snow White: An Enchanting Musical."
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

Mind you, once Disneyland's new Fantasy Faire complex opens
in 2013 on the site of the Carnation Plaza Gardens … Well, that then opens up a
huge piece of real estate between the Storybook Land Canal Boats and Mickey's
Toontown. You know? That spot which the current version of Fantasy Faire
currently occupies?

"So what do the Imagineers have in the works for this
soon-to-be-vacant spot at Disneyland?," you query. I don't know. But I bet you –
when the Disneyland Resort finally gets around to revealing what its plans for
this part of that theme park is – there will still be Disney diehards who then
complain loudly about those plans.

Which is just … scary.

Your thoughts?