Disney Parks Thread: October Edition

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW8BjI7pLrI

AMA I'm a former Haunted Mansion butler.

The parties are super fun. They have ghost actots out in front of the mansion interacting with the guests and they hand out as much free candy as you can carry. GOOD candy too. The parade is a blast as well and if it's anything like last year one of the few places to still Ralph and Vanellope.

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>>86839002

What's your personal opinion of the Mcdonald's-playland-esque queue?

Is it Disney™ candy, or generic stuff?

>>86839153

I only worked at the Disney World Mansion so I'm not familiar with the others. In general I'm a fan of it. I'm a purist when it comes to the rides but when we're talking about them enhancing some otherwise mundane part of the experience I'm more than willing to give it a shot. Case in point the stunning standby queue for Peter Pan. I got to walk around in that and take photos before it opened and I was blown away.

And except for the bride's attic, which I feel is too generically executed to really capture the Disney feel, I'm a fan of the more recent changes to the mansion ride itself. Yeah the old hitchhiking ghosts will always be classic but the interactive ones are super fun and the guests love them. Same with the hall of staircases.

So I like the interactive cemetery. When it works. Every morning we had to do a pre-opening walk through and inevitably I had to X out half the shit as being non-functional. Most guests never notice.

>>86839002
Any word on WDW getting the Hatbox Ghost?

Can we take a moment to acknowledge how incredibly stupid it is for Disney to transform the perfect Halloween ride into a Xmas ride before November 1st?

>>86839815
NBC doubles for a Halloween special, so it works in September-October too

As long as there's a demand for it and it remains cost-efficient to do, they'll keep doing it

>>86839722

Anything's possible but I wouldn't bank on it. Sadly the Mouse likes to spend most of it's money on Disneyland, which they consider to be their showpiece. They tend to let WDW get run down and a bit shoddy simply because it's such a huge hub for international visitors that they don't seem to notice the shoddiness. Many was the time I'd glare up at the peeling wallpaper in the stretch room(which totally ruins the illusion of course) and mutters something under my breath about Walt spinning in his grave.

>>86839917
Is it a management thing at WDW? Or do the higher ups just snub the park of refurbs and upgrades?

>>86840036

There's a very real hierarchy in the company. My immediate managers were tasked with day to running of the various lands, customer service and overseeing the cast. Any real decisions are made at the very highest levels of the company and as I understand it there's not much autonomy. Even the local heads of WDW pretty much just carry out the directives of the suits. The reason for this is that all the parks are ran as money-printing factories essentially and it was made clear to me many times that, even though efficiency is the final of the four keys, I was to focus on it. In other words getting as many bodies through the attraction as quickly as possible. And in other other words, unless an argument could be made that adding HBG to the Orlando Mansion would somehow increase profits and justify the costs of installation you'll never see it happen.

>>86840364

in other other other words, if they determined that peeling wallpaper would not impact ticket sales, then they wouldn't spend even the reasonable fees to get it repaired. Every few years the rides go down for a couple of weeks to get refurbished and any maintenance that can get kicked down the road until then gets kicked.

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>>86840364
What's their excuse behind the interactive queues at Peter Pan and Mansion, or the animatronics at Grand Fiesta Tour? I don't see that kind of stuff increasing profits.

This is partially why I prefer to vacation at Disneyland. World is so shallow and vanilla by comparison, and it's sad how so few people realize it.

>>86840584
>>I don't see that stuff increasing profits

... except for you know, making the lines more bearable, thus making an increased wait time seem less harsh? Meaning more people will que because you're not standing around letting your feet get sore for an hour, you're doing stuff.

>>86840681
Oh so it's more about extending the queue, and the fancy stuff is just a bonus.

>>86840584

The interactive queues are there to keep the guests entertained during long wait times, just as they appear to be. It's a relatively new feature and a cool one imo. I'm always ready to hate on the suits but they know what side their bread's buttered on. Sure the fastpass guests zip right to the front but if you're stuck in the regular line for 90 minutes you're less likely to complain or go online and give negative reviews if you and the kids are entertained and placated during that time. People would go fucking MENTAL waiting in line for Buzz Lightyear(where I worked at before mansion. I blew away my mansion trainers with my efficiency at the position where the fastpass line and regular line meet at the entrance to the mansion. I got a four keys card on my first day from a manager. I just laughed and so did they when they found out I came from Buzz. We called that position 'the meatgrinder' because Buzz would break down alllll the time and you'd start getting screamed at by parents) and if you've been on that attraction you know that, other than the fully animatronic Buzz at the end of the line, the queue is pretty dull and shitty.

Man you guys are asking all these depressing questions about the fiduciary aspects of the park. Don't you want to know about the ride itself and what the job was like for butlers and maids? For instance at the top of the stretch rooms where the bodies are hanging we have a little break room area with lockers and rest rooms. We called it 'Master Gracey's Puzzle Room' and if that was where you said you were headed everyone knew you needed to go and piss. And if you were just taking your break there you could listen to the screams of the guests over and over and over ad infinitum.

I can keep answering the boring, disheartening stuff too if you prefer.

>>86840900
>Don't you want to know about the ride itself and what the job was like for butlers and maids?
I'm up for hearing about it, personally.

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The new additional rhyming headstones seemed kind of contrived, disingenuous, and... gay

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>>86840900
>ark. Don't you want to know about the ride itself and what the job was like for butlers and maids?
I'm an autismo and a former CM too whose gone full autismo reading MiceChats Haunted Mansion thread, those Haunted Mansion blogs and Doom Buggies fan sites, so chances are any questions I could even think of I already know the answer to.

The only way it could get better for me is to go behind the scenes myself.

That and my degree is in management, so I like to hear what management is like in parts of the parks I didn't work

here's something I don't hear a consistent answer on; is there spare parts and shit literally hidden barely out of view of the guests?

>>86841008

>I'm up for hearing about it, personally.

Well you have to be more specific than that. I'm answering questions, not writing a memoir.

I'll give you a freebie. On my first day I was given the unofficial backstory of the mansion, which is that Master Gracey has passed away and we, the long-suffering maids and butlers were eagerly awaiting word of our inheritance when you, the Master's distant relatives suddenly arrive to spoil everything. Hence our surly, discourteous and slightly homicidal attitudes towards you all. I was always telling the guests to not turn their backs on whatever maid or butler I was passing them on to for the next stretch of the line.

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>>86840900

I like to linger a bit longer in the stretch room for ~30 seconds after everyone files out so I can hear the soft whispers, which is one of my favorite parts of the ride (Reminds me of SK's Rose Red). Does this disrupt the flow of things, or otherwise annoy you?

>>86841141
oops, redundancy

>>86841141
>I'm an autismo and a former CM too

I'd like to hear more about where you work/worked! And indeed there were. On the backside of the mansion facing the bus stops(one of the perks of working Mansion, you can hop off the bus from the parking lot and be at your position within 5 minutes) was always littered with some piece of equipment or some animatronic that they either didn't have room for in the nearby repair shops or no longer cared about. There were a few old carousel horses and teacups and assorted junk like that. I almost shit myself one day when I turned the corner and ran into two giant diamondback rattlesnakes on a big rock. They had been removed from the Animatronic Native American exhibits on the river boat path and I'm sure some engineer left them right there as a joke.

Other than that the general rule was that if it was an area the guest wasn't going to see then they weren't going to spend a dime theming it. Sneak through a door you shouldn't and you're faced with drywall and pipes and plywood.

When you're on the ride and your buggy is circling Madame Leota, behind you and one level beneath is a big wide open maintenance area with walls full of tools and work tables and chairs and the like. It's dark and you're facing away and it's like 20 feet below you so you never know it's there. And in the ballroom that HUGE sheet of glass that they reflect the dancing ghosts on had to be installed in one giant piece. So behind your buggy is the second of two huge maintenance areas. If the glass got destroyed, god forbid, they could remove the section of the building behind the buggy track and the maintenance area along with it to bring in a new piece. Pretty sure that's the original glass from 1971 though.

Also Haunted Mansion was the very first building constructed for WDW.

>>86841211

If you're just lingering so you can be at the back of the crowd that's fine. No butler or maid is going to let you linger longer than that though because the doors are on a timer and as soon as they close we activate a button in a hidden panel on the wall while the room resets itself and open the door leading in. Then we rush out just in time to greet the next group. It is a TIGHT timeframe and occasionally it can't be helped and we have to skip a show, usually because of a wheelchair or ECV guest. I have got too many stories about nearly getting my shins shattered by some oldster on an ECV trying to drive around in the dark. Constant headache and when I quit my job they had begun to experiment with requiring the guests to leave the ECV's outside and transfer to wheelchairs, just like at Buzz.

>>86841580

Also, something I didn't know until I was a butler, those whispering voices are supposed to be the gargoyles lining the walls taunting you.

>>86841458
>I'd like to hear more about where you work/worked!
I was a custodian, so I was basically assigned to restrooms or sweeping streets. There isn't a whole lot of interesting stuff backstage where I worked (Epcot) other than the finale of Figment being so close to a garage door you can push your head and hear it, and the Food/Wine and Flower/Garden buildings being stored behind the Showcase.

I also got to go through just about every building at some point. I "got lost" in the Mexico building just because I wanted to explore it. Most other show buildings in WSC aren't very big.

>>86841819

Ha ha, Mexico has a big backstage area huh? Awesome. And yeah, can confirm, most buildings utilize every inch of space within them. At Mansion our breakroom was was this pitiful area about 18x6 feet. Technically the nearby mouseketeria was our designated break space so we couldn't complain about the cramped space but when you're on a 15 minute break you're not gonna want to walk five minutes to the moue and five minutes back just to sit there for five minutes. Also kudos on being custodial. No one would ever suspect it but that's one of the best jobs in the parks. You get to wander around from location to location, pin trade with the guests and not be chained to some rigid rotation schedule all shift long.

Something else I remembered: In the big graveyard scene at the end where the ride slopes down, there's a secret area under the backside of the slope where every single maid or butler who has ever worked the mansion since '71 has signed their name on the plywood wall. And in the ballroom scene by the rocking chair granny is a big photo album with pictures of maids and butlers who have passed on. There is a surprising number of trannies and drag queens contained on the pages within.

WDW CM reporting in.

I work at OP's attraction.

AMA or whatever.

>>86839002
In Florida?

Because we probably worked together if you are.

>>86842139
Is most of the stuff posted accurate?

>>86839691
So we definitely do know eachother.

And you had enough seniority to open.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

>>86842200

That wasn't me, but this is. So you know Pete and Dan and Pete's wife(whose name I forget). Were you around when Jorgy was a coordinator?

>>86842200
Just shut up and fuck

>>86839917
I'd put money on getting the Hatbox Ghost. In the 2007 refurb, we got everything they got in their 50th refub.

Plus: They built two of them.

Plot Twist: I don't want him.

>>86840900
Buzz before Mansion.

Narrowing it down!

>>86838177
I've got tickets for one of the Halloween parties a DL later this month.
How packed should I expect it, and anything I should specifically make sure I hit?

>>86842303

I was a skipper too, and once I got trained at jungle you rarely ever saw me at mansion anymore because oh god sweet fucking jesus I was born to be a skipper.

>>86841208
>Hence our surly, discourteous and slightly homicidal attitudes towards you all.

Not supposed to be a thing.

>>86842108
>Ha ha, Mexico has a big backstage area huh?
Its building has 3 levels of hallways and at least two break rooms. Usually the rooms are where the Mariachi band stores their stuff or takes their breaks. Donald has his own special area too.

Japan also has a third floor exclusive cafeteria/break room that we weren't allowed to use, you can guess why.

>>86842194
In this thread? Mostly, yeah.

How about Luis, everyone's favorite giant snuggly bear? You butler/maids get to work with him?

>>86842245
June.

And I've been around for a very long time.

As in before he was a Coordinator.

>>86842342
I'd bounce back and forth every bid between Mansion and Jungle. I'll get this eventually.

>>86842415

Yes, June of course. And who do I know that's been working at Mansion that long and might also be a comrade? There can only be one answer.

Are you yourself a very tall, very giant human being?

>>86842452
Nope.

No way I'm going to tell you who I am, though.

>>86842467

same here. I can figure it out though. Hmmmmmm... were you first in line when Memento Mori opened?

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this is getting kind of creepy

and not in the spooky way

>>86842481
Nope.

>>86842526

Wow I dunno I might not be able to figure this out. Butler or maid, give me that much at least.

And is Kim still a manager?

>>86842566
Do you work at land or world?

>>86842566
She is.

>>86842612

I worked at Disney World. I left last year. I really miss being a skipper and I miss doing foyer and stretch rooms. I don't miss load 2, not a fucking bit.

>>86842566
Luke?

>>86842624

>She is.

Okay, I don't miss it that much then. Sorry about that.

>>86842662

Ha ha no but Luke and I were bros back at Space Mountain. He left the company?

>>86842640
Ah ok cool so whats the difference between lands haunted mansion and worlds haunted mansion? I've never been to world

>>86842665
See now I wanna hear a Kim story.

>>86842665
She and I get along.

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>>86842784
No Hatbox Ghost, and the beginning/end is extended a bit to have the queue area from Land be the first part of the ride, and Lands loading area is turned into a library/piano/stair case scene.

Different exterior facade too.

>>86842784
Mansion's exterior is New England Dutch Gothic, and Disneyland's is southern Antebellum.

The ride from the grand staircase on is mostly the same, with some small cosmetic differences. Florida has three extra show scenes at the start of the ride, and an extra one at the end. All of those show scenes basically exist at Disneyland, but as part of the interior queue and exit, instead.

I could get super detailed if necessary, but that's basically it. They are more similar than almost any sibling attractions you'll find on the coasts.

And, of course, the stretch rooms in Florida are just effects rooms, while in California they're elevators.

>>86842892
Thanks anon. This is pretty neat info. So do people still drop ashes in world?

>>86842925
Yes.

>>86842842

I don't wanna bitch about Kim if you two get along. I got along with just about everyone except this one time she got super confrontational and out-of-proportion with me. I work in management now too and yeah, okay, you can be a hyper aggressive butthole if you want but don't expect people to not talk shit about you behind your back if that's the kind of manager you are.

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is it bad that i find the ballroom girls to be total qts?

>>86842892
Is it really difficult to change the direction a doom buggy faces for a new scene? I remember that being a big debate about the hatbox's ghost scene on micechat, since people weren't sure if the doom buggies always faced his direction as they moved down the attic or not.

Also why is the Disneyland loading area (specifically when you actually board the doombuggy) so empty? Everytime I go in there I can't help but feel like the black unpainted wall sticks out like a sore thumb. It looks like an indoor tennis court.

>>86843060
No, it's not.

I mean, it takes some work, but it's not a big deal.

>>86842948

I bet if I look at the shift exchange facebook page I can figure out who you are by seeing whose active...

>>86843085
and what would you gain from that besides coming off as a stalker?

>>86842948

If you are who I think you are then you were one of my favorite jungle/mansion coordinators.

>>86843107

Ha ha I'm not like that, don't worry. I just think it's cool you're a /co/mrade too.

>>86842967
Matt?

>>86843132
I'm not that person, I was just butting in because it seems kind of weird and obsessive

>>86843132
Just for the record, there are at least two different CMs posting here, in addition to you.

So now I have more people to figure out.

>>86842948
>>86843085
so what time is the 3'oclock parade?

>>86843111
If I am who you think I am, that's really nice.

Which is why I don't think I am.

>>86843134

Nope. Though he is one of my mancrushes.

>>86843147

Good luck, I'm crashing. Miss you guys. Keep making magic moments.

>>86838177
Haunted mansion remake fucking when?

>All this talk of Disneyland being superior to Disney World

Man, I guess I've been missing out. A relative of mine was a long-time CM in one of the resorts, so we ended up going to WDW a lot. I've always been interested in the park's internal workings and it's cool to see a fan community behind it.

>>86844981
Guillermo del Toro turned in a new script draft a few months ago that he's really satisfied with.

>these former workers reconnecting
NOW KISS

>Park CMs swapping stories
>Resort CM

Resort CM life is boring as hell in comparison.

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>>86844981

Hopefully never. I'm glad the Eddie Murphy schlock exists, and that it bombed. Did you forget what happens to Disney theme park attractions when movies based on them are popular?

Don't trust Del Toro, either. A lot of his shit ideas made it into the Hobbit movies despite Hackson taking over.

>>86839002
Is the not having to constantly smile thing fun?

>>86846541
Del Toro wanted more of the fairy tale tone of the actual book. PJ's the one that grimderped things up and put the stupid romantic subplot in.

Laketown's design was one of the few things from the art produced for del Toro's version to make it in.

>>86846541
>Did you forget what happens to Disney theme park attractions when movies based on them are popular?

So if the upcoming Tower of Terror movie does well, it means that the Tower of Terror ride will be changed back from its Guardians of the Galaxy facelift?

>>86842309
It's a capped event, so it isn't too bad. I went a couple years ago and lines for everything was fairly short, like 20-30 minutes for Indiana Jones throughout the entire night, short. I'd recommend doing the stuff you can only do then, like there's a parade and fireworks show that only happen during the party for instance. Candy when I went wasn't too great, but it might've changed since, so I'd recommend hitting at least one candy stop to see what it's like and then you'll probably know from then on if hitting more is worth your time. Also, you should be able to get in like a couple hours before they shut it off to people who bought party tickets; so you'll want to check out which time you can get into the park so you can spend as much time in the park as possible.

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>>86846541
Honestly, turning the OC rides into franchises is the only way they can survive in this environment of "Let's shoehorn random characters into these things".

That's why I want them to start making movies out of those comic books, especially Figment

>>86842260
Why tho?

>tfw you have waited over 40 days since your phone interview to hear back about the dcp
Guess im not getting in again :/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-av7xd2Llk

>>86847333
I waited 30 for mine. Are you in submission?

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Spooky

>>86847700
My status is in progress

>>86847938
Then you're not fucked (yet).

What are the Disney parks like? I've always wanted to go because it looks like a lot of fun but I'm based in Europe so I don't think I'd be able to go in quite some time. Is there an age where it stops being fun? I'm twenty four years old and scared of roller coasters, I don't know if they are a big part of the parks.

>>86848422
Only a few rides (the "mountains", which consist of Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Expedition Everest last I remember, plus Goofy's Barnstormer) can be considered proper rollercoasters, and they're relatively tame. As for age, I've seen tons of teenagers and young adults going with their friends, so I'm pretty sure the enjoyment factor is age-neutral.

>>86846679
Please. That decision was so stupid.

>>86848422
Most of Disneyland isn't really rollercoasters, though they are a lot of people's favorite part, and you're never too old for Disneyland.

>>86848422
>but I'm based in Europe
Disneyland Paris?

>>86848649
No.

>>86848422
As someone whose spoken to other Europeans on the topic of amusment parks, Disney World and Land are very different from EuroDisney. Though from what I 've seen Europeans have a whole different attitude towards theme parks than Americans do

>>86841208
If you're still there, what are some of the weirder things you've seen on the job?

>>86846820
This guy gets it.

>>86848288
Feels like it tho

Are all the princess actors stuck up when there offstage?

>>86845708
Disneyland has walts ghost in it.

Any Disneyland CMs here?

Why the heck would they pull the plug on Paint the Night so early? Its been barely 2 years.

>>86852909
Not a CM, but from what I've read, it's a few things. One is that since it's been running so frequently for so long, that it just straight needs repairs, another is that the costumes are especially heavy and aren't designed the best, so it's causing a fair number of injuries, and it's apparently the most expensive parade, so they're also aiming to turn it seasonal when they finish fixing it up.

>>86852909
>no more paint the night

nooooooooooooo

>>86842871
I wonder if Hatty will be added during the refurbishment for the end of November. Luckily my upcoming visit to WDW will be the week before it closes, though I don't know when I'll be back to see what's new for myself.
Also I just want to add I hate the interactive queue and miss just the small graveyard area, it lost that eerie atmosphere.

Can any Cast Members tell us spooky stories? I have heard from a friend that there's a ghost boy near the bullet tram in Disneyland, I'm interested in some more.

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I'll be going to the Halloween Party this upcoming Friday with a group of friends, at Disneyland. I'm beyond excited.

Have this neat animated poster.

For real, why do people always make such a big deal about the Hatbox Ghost in particular? Is it almost like a running joke to keep asking about it every time the Mansion is brought up?

>>86848422
Scared of rollercoasters?
Look it's like 1 min of fun and your adrenaline pumps up high and it's a rush.
Just try it, the thrill overcomes the fear.
I wont lie yeah I do get nervous because I hate heights but man it's pretty fun.

>>86853912
Because he was removed so abruptly and early on in the ride's run, he only survived in vague memories of people who rode in the first few weeks and some tie-in material. So mix that mysterious quality with a striking character design and you got yourself the Mansion's counterpart to Boba Fett.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnERBLhd5ac

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bamp

>>86856846
This reminds me of the big spider they used to have in the loading area of the DL version