First up, Louis T. writes in to ask:
What happened to that seasonal retheming of WDW’s “Haunted Mansion” that you talked about a few years back? I thought that the Magic Kingdom’s version of Disneyland’s “Haunted Mansion Holiday” was supposed to have officially debuted this past October. But that never happened. Was this project actually cancelled or did you just get your original information wrong?
Dear Louis T.
Actually, my original information was dead-on. Two years ago, I had people in Magic Kingdom Operations telling me about all the money that was then being poured into WDW’s “Haunted Mansion” in preparation for “HMH” ‘s arrival. How effects that hadn’t worked since the late 1970s (EX: The chillers in this Liberty Square attraction. This particular effect replicates that sensation of super-cold air that humans supposedly feel whenever they’re in the same room as a spirit) were finally being repaired. All because WDW management was now getting this Magic Kingdom favorite to be in tip-top shape once its initial “Haunted Mansion Holiday” makeover began.
But then the money that was supposed to be used for the very first installation of “HMH” at WDW got sucked out of the Magic Kingdom’s annual operational budget (Supposedly to fund the desperately-needed-fixes the then-still-floundering “Stitch’s Great Escape” needed at the time). And then the following year, when it came time for Disney to once again cough up all of the dough necessary to turn this sinister old structure into Jack & Sally’s Christmas-themed playland … Well, WDW managers had had a change of heart.
Mind you, it wasn’t that the folks at Walt Disney World had fallen out of love with the Pumpkin King. Far from it. They saw all of the money that Disneyland & Tokyo Disneyland were making off of their “Haunted Mansion Holiday” seasonal overlay and thought “Well, I want some of that.”
But — at the same time — these WDW management-types recognized that WDW’s Magic Kingdom was not at all like the original Disneyland and/or Tokyo Disneyland. Where 60% of the people who push their way through the turnstiles at those particular theme parks each day are locals. Folks who’ve come from less than 100 miles away in order to experience some Disney magic. Who typically visit their local Disney theme park at least two & three times each year.
So when an individual visits the original Disneyland and/or Tokyo Disneyland and sees that this theme park’s “Haunted Mansion” is down for six weeks while its seasonal overlay is being installed and/or closed for three weeks while all of the “Haunted Mansion Holiday” decorations are being removed … That’s not exactly a hardship. These folks know that — the very next time they drop by this theme park — that it’s more than likely that the “Haunted Mansion” will be up & running again. So they’ll get their chance to commune with those “999 happy haunts” then.
On the other hand, people who visit the Walt Disney World Resort … Better than 60% of these individuals are out-of-towners. Folks who’ve traveled from cities & towns that are at least 300 miles away from Lake Buena Vista. And many of these people have saved for years for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience some Disney magic with their family & friends.
So when an individual like that comes such a long way at considerable personal expense … Only to find that one of the Magic Kingdom’s signature attractions is closed for almost two months each year, so that some seasonal decorations can be installed and/or removed … Well, that’s not going to wash.
Taking a cold-blooded look at this entire situation, WDW management anticipated a Guest Relations nightmare should they ever actually go forward with their initial plan to install “Haunted Mansion Holiday” at the Magic Kingdom’s “Haunted Mansion” each holiday season. They could just picture red-faced tourists screaming at the hosts behind the counters at City Hall, demanding some sort of explanation as to why this signature attraction has to be closed for a sixth of every year.
FYI: This is also why WDW officials eventually backed away from the idea of seasonally retheming the Magic Kingdom’s “it’s a small world” attraction. Even though Disneyland’s “it’s a small world holiday” has proven to be hugely popular with Orange County locals, with attendance levels at that Anaheim theme park going straight through the roof ever since this season redo originally debuted back in November of 1999 … The amount of time needed for the installation and then removal of all those “small world” – themed holiday decorations means that it’s just not practical (from an operational standpoint, that is) to duplicate this particular redo at Walt Disney World.
So does this mean that WDW is now going to become “The Nightmare Before Christmas” -free zone? Far from it, folks. With the brand-new Disney Digital 3D version of this 1994 Henry Selick classic due to roll into theaters later this year, the Mouse obviously believes that there’s lots of life left in old Jack Skellington.
And just because Jack & Sally now won’t be moving into the Magic Kingdom’s “Haunted Mansion” doesn’t mean that the cast of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” won’t soon be able to find somewhere to settle at the Walt Disney World resort. The way I hear it, WDI allegedly has a number of “TNBC” -related irons in the fire right now for WDW. These ideas suppsedly range from a “Nightmare” -themed dark ride that would be built at Disney-MGM (This proposed attraction would reportedly occupy the spot where the “Sounds Dangerous” show currently sits) to several nights of “Nightmare” -themed fun at the studio theme park.
As for that last idea … This would be a hard ticket event that would held after-hours at Disney-MGM. With the basic goal here being to create an annual on-property Halloween-themed happening that would then appeal to those individuals who consider the Magic Kingdom’s “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party” to be far too juvenile to attend.
In short, the Mouse is looking toward Jack Skellington to finally help them come up with a way to effectively combat Universal Studio’s hugely popular (and profitable) “Halloween Horror Nights.” Based on what the WDW guests (Who were recently guest-surveyed about this proposed annual event) have been saying, this “Nightmare Before Christmas” -themed redo of the studio theme park could debut as early as 2007. The evening’s entertainment would include a special “Nightmare” -theme parade & fireworks show as well as an all-new version of “Fantasmic” entitled “Fiend-tasmic.” Which would then supposedly paid tribute to all of Disney’s great villains.
Mind you, there are those with the WDW organization who believe that it would be probably wiser for Disney-MGM to walk before it begins running. Meaning that it probably would be smarter to hold off on this “Nightmare” -themed Halloween party until that “TNBC” dark ride is actually built. That way … Well, WDW’s event planners would then have a logical hook for the inaugural event (As in: Come to a special after-hours party at Disney-MGM. Be among the first guests to experience the studio theme park’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” ride). And if that after-hours party proves to be a success, then they can launch the annual “TNBC” -themed event for Disney-MGM.
So — getting back to Louis T.’s original question now — No, my original information about WDW getting ready to install a version of Disneyland’s popular “Haunted Mansion Holiday” seasonal redo at the Magic Kingdom’s “Haunted Mansion” wasn’t wrong. All of those changes & improvements that I talked about earlier were actually made at that Liberty Square attraction. But then — over the past two years — WDW management’s plan for this Magic Kingdom attraction changed. Which is why my story about this planned redo had to change too.
Here’s hoping that — over the next year or so — that the folks at Walt Disney World don’t change their minds yet again and then opt to pull the plug on Disney-MGM’s proposed “Nightmare Before Christmas” dark ride and/or back away from the idea of holding an after-hours “Nightmare” -themed party at the studio theme park.
Next up, Kaye R. writes in to say:
“Hercules” is my absolute favorite Disney cartoon. Do you have any new stories to share about that animated feature?
Dear Kaye —
Actually, what I find interesting about “Hercules” is the people who almost did voices for this 1997 animated feature. Among the well-known actors who auditioned for parts in this Ron Clements & John Musker film were Brendan Fraser (For the role of Hercules), Anne Heche (for the role of Meg) and Rod Steiger (For the role of Zeus).
On the villain’s side of the fence, comedian Richard Lewis was actually Ron ‘n’ John’s first choice for Hades’ minion, Panic. But Lewis’ trademark kvetching didn’t translate all that well to the world of animation. Which is why Richard was eventually replaced by “Max Headroom” himself, Matt Frewer.
As for Hades himself, Musker & Clements had hoped to persuade Jack Nicholson to come voice the Lord of the Underworld. And Nicholson was said to be quite eager to play this part. Unfortunately, Jack was never actually able to terms with Disney when it came to what Nicholson thought was an appropriate salary for this role (My understanding is that — in addition to being paid handsomely for voicing the part of Hades — Jack was also looking to get a healthy cut of all the “Hercules” toys that featured his character’s likeness). Which is why Nicholson eventually took a pass on the project.
After that, Ron ‘n’ John worked with John Lithgow for a year or more. Seeing if this “Third Rock from the Sun” could fill the Lord of the Underworld’s sandals. But try as he might, Lithgow just couldn’t bring the energy or the ego to the part that Musker & Clements were looking for. Which is why John was eventually let go.
After that, Ron ‘n’ John tried out William Shatner (Who — I’m told — gave a really fun reading but ultimately wasn’t big enough in the part) and Phil Hartman (Who — in his last moments at the mike — read a few pages of the script as Jack Nicholson. Giving Musker & Clements the sense of what their film really would have been like if Disney had finally be able to work out some sort of arrangement with Nicholson. And I’m told that those scenes really soared) before eventually settled on James Woods. Who (obviously) did a bang-up job in that role.
But — to be honest — virtually every animated film goes through something like this, Kaye R.. As the production team chases after an actor that they ultimately can’t get (EX: Al Pacino as the voice of Hopper in “a bug’s life“) and/or has to replace a great performer who — for one reason or another– just isn’t working out (EX: William H. Macy, the original voice of Marlin in “Finding Nemo“). That’s just the nature of the business.
Finally, Bill F. writes in to ask about:
Do you have any news on WDW’s River Country? One of the main reasons that my family & I used to really enjoy camping at Walt Disney World is that we’d then get at least one day at that water park. Why’d Disney shut it in the first place? Are there any plans to re-open it?
Dear Bill F.
To be honest, WDW’s River Country was a victim of its own popularity. From almost the day that the “ol’ swimmin’ hole” first opened at the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground (Back on June 20, 1976), RC was ridiculously popular with WDW visitors. In fact, there was many a guest who actually missed out on their chance to experience Whoop ‘n’ Holler Holler (I.E. River Country’s two themed water slides) because they failed to make it down to the park before it reached capacity. Which on some days happened as early as 10 a.m.
Of course, given the number of tourists who’d complain bitterly about driving all the way over to Fort Wilderness only to encounter that “Sorry! River Country is sold out for today!” sandwich board … In the late 1980s, the Imagineers finally got serious about dealing with Disney World’s water park capacity problems.
First Typhoon Lagoon opened in June of 1989, then Blizzard Beach opened in April of 1995. A third WDW water park — Ragin’ Cajun Lagoon — was proposed back in the late 1990s but ultimately never built. Since that time, Disney World has allegedly also toyed with the idea of constructing a “Pirates of the Caribbean” -themed super water park on property. But — to date — beyond a few concept paintings, there’s been no real movement on that project.
And as for River Country … Well, given its relatively small size and remote location, once Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach opened for business, guest demand for access to WDW’s original water park fell right off.
Which — in theory — should have been great news to campers at Fort Wilderness. Meaning that they’d no longer have to compete with virtually every WDW guest in order to experience Slippery Slide Falls and/or White Water Rapids.
But then the state of Florida supposedly changed the statutes governing the safe operation of water parks. Insisting that each of these operations now had to get their water from a chlorinated municipal supply, rather then just recycle unfiltered water from a natural source.
And since River Country (With the exception of Upstream Plunge, the 330,000 gallon clear water filtered pool at the base of Slippery Slide Falls) got all of its water from Bay Lake … Once that statute was in place, the end was in sight for the Fort Wilderness favorite.
Mind you, there are those that say that — because of the charter of the Reedy Creek Improvement District (I.E. That piece of legislation that basically allows the Walt Disney World resort to be self-governing) — that the Mouse could have fought this piece of legislation. If it really wanted to.
But the fact of the matter was … The Walt Disney Company really didn’t want to fight the closing of WDW’s River Country. The success of both Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach seemed to clearly indicate the direction that Disney World should be taking with its water parks. In order for these operations to really be successful, they needed to be centrally located off of one of the resort’s main roads with an enormous parking lot.
And given that River Country was a smallish water park that had limited capacity and was really difficult for WDW guests to get to … Well, it’s easy to understand why the Mouse finally pulled the plug on the operation back in November of 2001.
Since then, there’s occasionally been talk of reviving River Country. Of spending the $20 – $25 million that would be necessary to seal off WDW’s original water park from Bay Lake. So that guests who are staying at Fort Wilderness would then have their own ultra-cool swimming area like the Beach Club’s Stormalong Bay.
But given that the Imagineers are also supposedly toying with the idea of building Buffalo Junction (I.E. A Western-themed hotel that would sprawl from Wilderness Lodge & the Villas at Wilderness Lodge all the way to Pioneer Hall), spending money now to revitalize River Country just doesn’t make sense. Particularly given that — in just a few years — you could be tearing down the place in order to make room for a brand-new WDW resort.
Which is why River Country remains as it is today. Gates closed, overgrown with weeds. And on a humid spring day like today, it surely would be fun to take one more trip down Whoop ‘n’ Holler Hollow.
Speaking of which … Here’s hoping that all you JHM readers find fun & safe ways to spend your long Memorial Day Weekend. Nancy and I plan on spending the next three days picking up the pieces here at the site. So that JimHillMedia can then finally be back up to full strength when Monday morning rolls around.
Thanks again for all your patience this week. We’ll see you again on Monday, okay?
j