Secrets Of The Haunted Mansion

Hello there

This is kind of an off-shoot post from the All The Fun Of The Fair posts I forgot I was doing ages ago, and it has a bit of recent back story.

So, a pal of mine was visiting Walt Disney World in Florida last week, and - as she had some gentle shopping instructions from me - it was only fair that I be her WDW guide for the trip. Sadly, this was done remotely, so I had to endure endless jealousy as she showed me where she was and what she was doing.  

In fact, on the subject of that, we had a FaceTime call at one point so I could show her where there was a secret, tucked away shop that sold Muppets clothing.  It turned out that it had shut down, which was a gloomy thing, but when I got off the call I was getting weirdly tearful.  Then loads of tears for ages. I've watched lots of Disney World videos and stuff over the years, but there was something about seeing it right now - like LIVE - that made me really sad not to be there.  I am very much hoping that when she reads this she feels terrible about it, so I can gain points back (definitely not her fault in any way, shape or form).

You see, this post is under her instruction really.  I argued that everyone already knows the trivia I am going to impart here, but she was steadfast that she didn't know it, and that it would be 'of interest to people'.  I'm not naming her, and it is up to her if she wishes to comment, but I still reckon I am right on this one.  Still, I caved in, realised it was something I would enjoy writing about anyway, and spent today putting this post together.  There ended up being a load of prep... I mean, it is interesting...

So, we are going to be discussing a specific effect in the Haunted Mansion ride. A flagship effect really. Seeing it on Tomorrow's World when I was very small, was the prompt that I needed to desperately want to to go on that ride. I do think that even now, it's mind-blowing in its effectiveness.  Whilst also being mind-blowing in its simplicity.  

It's just on a scale that makes folk dismiss it as being what's going on.  It's physically huge.

(picture credit - Authors own when the ride stopped for a bit...the rest of them are frustratingly  blurry)

That's what we are looking at today.  The Grand Ballroom of the Haunted Mansion ride.  If you can't see, there are ghosts all around the long table.  You can see right through them too.  They appear and disappear.  I'm gonna tell you how this is achieved.  Assuming you've never seen it on hundreds of YouTube videos or worked it out for yourself. 

Lest you think I am just recycling here though, I have done some bespoke illustrations and some Gifs to explain it properly.

Before that, a brief honorary mention to another aspect of the ride that I think is sometimes underappreciated.  Namely, the "Doom Buggy".  This is the car that you are transported around the ride in.  I find it fascinating how much they secretly do.

(Photo credit - wherever I screen grabbed it from online)

They're a very simple design, but ultimately serve the purpose of essentially blinkering the rider.  They have in-built speakers, where the ride narration and music plays, and they swivel as the ride progresses.

(photo credit - see last photo)

There's the mechanism beneath them, which rotates the buggy wherever you are meant to be looking.  Due to the design of the cowled upper part, alongside a (arguably unnecessary) safety bar, you are unable to look behind you, or even round corners.  The buggy is completely controlling what you look at, without you even being aware it is happening.  It's ingenious. For proper nerds, this is called Omnimover tech, and controlling the eyeline is its raison d'être.

It also plays a big part in the ballroom scene, as - again - it prevents the rider from seeing the man behind the curtain, as it were.  Or in this case, the people beneath (and above) the track.

Illustration time....

Not all my art is painstaking dots (but it's better when it is).

This is an approximation of what you see.  The dining table is empty, but quickly transforms into this...

Spirits appear at the table and around the room.  Completely translucent, and seemingly impossible.

Those of you who already know will be screaming it, but for those of you who are learning, this effect is called Pepper's Ghost. Some people call it an illusion, but I have always felt that is the wrong word.  I've had arguments about it, that I may have even been losing and never let on.  My dispute with the term illusion is that this isn't a trick of the eye.  What you are seeing is exactly what is in front of you.  Actually, I suppose that is an illusion isn't it?  It's giving the illusion that something is happening that isn't as it seems.  Do you know what, forget this part. I did tell you that I was never convinced I'd won that argument...

I'm not going to go into the history of Pepper's Ghost, partly because I'm not hugely familiar with it and partly because Dr K Cherrell of the Burials & Beyond Patreon was horrified when I mentioned I was going to write about it.  Apparently she's had a post in development about it for a while.  Which is the sort of thing I would say when I'd actually done nowt. Still, I'm nothing if not respectful, so I shall stick to the Haunted Mansion aspect.

Well, except to say that Pepper was Professor John Henry Pepper who developed this "illusion" in the olden days (1862).  It was in carnival sideshows and that sort of business.  The Haunted Mansion certainly takes it as a starting point, but develops it significantly. Still, we mustn't be too hard on Professor Pepper, who I presume is no longer with us. The Imagineers at Disney had far more technology at their disposal in the 1960's.  

At the very least their teeth weren't made of wood.

So here is what plays out...

That took ages to upload.

So that's what we are seeing at this stage in the ride.  It is, however, the things right before you that aren't registering though.  

If you have never experienced it, then you'll have to take my word that this glass is very much not apparent.  Two things come into play with this.  One is the air-conditioning of the ride, which blasts a little harder in this room, giving a real sense of the open space.  Secondly, on a subconscious level, the sheer size of this glass seems impossible.  It is properly, enormously, huge. It's three storeys high in fact.  They had to build the ride around it apparently.

This glass serves the purpose of reflection.  As you saw in my original photo, the whole ballroom is kind of dark.  Certainly dark enough that anything lit brighter would reflect in that glass.

The spirits are reflections of animatronics carefully positioned above and below the Doom Buggy's track.  

Let's look at a reverse angle...

So when these are lit up...

Go on then, let's have another little animation...

If I'd known that was my last "free" Gif export, I would have just saved it for the next one.  That one will have a watermark because of this.

Our hidden mannequins are now lit brighter than anything else in the room, but we can't see them because they are hidden.  Unless there's a big massive pane of glass in their reflective path...

As such.

And this post now becomes sponsored by imgplay "for all your Gif needs if you have run out of the free ones on another app that you've now deleted in annoyance".

That's how it's done.  Another one of life's big questions answered, as promised, on this Patreon of many colours.

I'd also argue that if, say, I'd got my pal to get me some Haunted Mansion merch that I was, say, gonna receive today, then isn't there a chance that it's tax deductible due to this post?  Just a chance?  All I need is something to try and argue...

Oh and absolutely finally, if anyone is going to Disney at any point, and fancies doing some hunting for me, can you let me know, because I remembered a thing today that I really wanted but she's already back in the UK.

It's that, if anyone can find one at a car boot sale or something.

Oh and whilst we are at it...

I also need that because some idiot at Disney is seeing fit to make it stupidly rare, despite the other three being readily available.

Hey come on, surely I am allowed some public notices at the end of a well put together multimedia post?  I mean, I could have just uploaded the hastily scribbled explanation I sent my pal when she was there:

But I didn't.  I worked very hard for you instead.

I've uploaded the new Etsy stock as well... Just saying...

Hope you are having a lovely week of it so far, and that all is well in the world with you.

Much love and much more

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