Disney’s ongoing attempts to modernize its parks and movies to be more sensitive to consumers might be aimed at one of its most famous dark rides.
The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. is currently undergoing a refurbishment and one iconic set piece on the attraction might be getting the chop.
Opened in 1969, the Haunted Mansion has become a world-famous dark ride. Some consider it the greatest ever made. Its unique story and fun special effects make it a whimsical but slightly scary tour through a New Orleans mansion, home to 999 ghosts, “with room for one more.”
For those who don’t know, guests enter the ride via a “stretching room” which is actually an elevator. When the doors close our disembodied “Ghost Host” welcomes you to his home and challenges you to “find a way out.” He then adds that he himself escaped by disturbing means; hanging himself from the rafters in the attic. Guests then see a hanging skeletal corpse above them just before the room goes black and through sound effects makes it seem like the body has fallen into the crowd.
Here’s the scene:
It’s an iconic moment, perhaps the scariest in the attraction, but some people complain it’s an insensitive McGuffin that trivializes suicide.
Rumors have been circulating among Disney enthusiasts that this latest refurbishment might include the removal of that opening scene, specifically the noose. The Disney blog site Inside the Magic reports that Imagineers and top brass know about the controversy.
“‘Disney is well aware of these complaints.’ Back in 2021, Michele Hobbs – who works as a producer for Walt Disney Imagineering and previously managed a refurbishment of the attraction – told Los Angeles Times that the scene’s removal has ‘been discussed for sure’ and that ‘it’s definitely something that we’re thinking about.’”
Disneyland is the oldest of the company’s theme parks and therefore carries with it a legacy of outdated American ideals. They have tried to repair that reputation by making changes that reflect the attitudes of modern society.
Rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean have been reworked to remove any misogynistic undertones, and recently Splash Mountain has been updated to erase any racial insensitivity that may have been present in its “Song of the South” homage.
Back to the Haunted Mansion. The nooses have been removed from all iterations of the ride across all properties except Disneyland Paris.
Unfortunately, the public won’t know the fate of the hanging corpse until next year. The current construction update is estimated to be completed in late August which means the annual Nightmare Before Christmas overlay will probably be in effect. That re-theming doesn’t utilize the hanging corpse prop at the beginning of the ride.
Of course, the removal of the hanging Ghost Host is just a rumor at this point, but given the circumstances: The recent refurbishment, the acknowledgment of the problem by execs, and the changes to other parks are good indicators that the opportunity is there and the timing is right.
But let us know what you think. Should Disneyland keep its hanged man’s corpse or scrap it out of respect for those it triggers?
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