Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
The Haunted Mansion has lately been featured a lot in Disney news. Not only is the new movie being released later this month but a new series of Haunted Mansion-themed merchandise is available at Disney Parks and online.
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Haunted Mansion Closing
Credit: Disney
But this piece of news addresses neither of those topics. Walt Disney World has announced that the Haunted Mansion ride at the Magic Kingdom Park will close in August.
Credit: V Mills
But fear not, Disney fans! The strangely announced closure is only for a few days and allegedly for a “routine refurbishment.” As many Walt Disney World Resort fans know, it’s unusual for the theme parks to close rides for refurbishments during the summer months since that is when the Magic Kingdom Park sees the highest demand and attendance (at least outside of holidays and special events).
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The sudden announcement of the Haunted Mansion ride being closed has caused multiple sources to speculate that the Magic Kingdom may be getting its own version of the Hatbox Ghost just in time for Halloween.
Credit: Disney
Disney does not hint at this. Their official statement online reads, “From August 7 to August 9, 2023, Haunted Mansion will be closed for routine refurbishment.”
Who is the Hatbox Ghost?
For those unfamiliar with the Hatbox Ghost, the special animatronic was an original Disneyland Haunted Mansion resident on opening day. However, due to technical problems with the effect of a vanishing head, the Hatbox Ghost was removed from the attraction and was gone for almost 50 years. In 2015, he was reinstalled in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion using more modern technology. The Walt Disney Company has announced that the Hatbox Ghost would also be added to the Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion. However, they have failed to provide any further details.
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Credit: Disney
The Hatbox Ghost will also be featured in the Haunted Mansion (2023) film releasing on July 27 – Jared Leto will play the specter.
Credit: Disney
We all know the Walt Disney Company loves to surprise their Guests and fans, so perhaps they will continue the tradition with the “secret” addition of the Hatbox Ghost next month. It seems as though three full days of work on the attraction would be enough time to install the new mansion resident.
We will just have to wait and see what materializes and what surprises we can expect from our next doom buggy ride.
