Main Street Minutes

Volume 4

Wow what a busy month this has been! The Main Street Magic crew has been out and about collecting all kinds of great content for you as well as staying on top of all the news and updates coming out of our favorite theme parks. Follow along each week with new podcast episodes every Tuesday and Friday and be sure to check our website at MainStMagic.com for all the latest Disney Details.

---

October Main Street Magic Episodes

• Trip Review: Marriott Village, Shiki-Sai, AP Merch Event, Journey of Water, and More
• Walt Disney World’s Best Breakfasts
• Trip Review: Drury Inn at Universal, Cowfish, Blue October at The Walt Disney Theatre, and Nomad Lounge
• Disney Dining: Most Magical Atmospheres
• Eat, Drink, Shop, and Ride with The Morning Monorail
• A Main Street Magic Community Q & A Part 18
• A Main Street Magic Community Q & A Part 19
• Top Ten Disney Halloween Songs (Coming October 31st!)

Trivia

1. What was the original name of the company founded in 1923 that eventually becomes The Walt Disney Company?
2. What was Disney’s first feature film?
3. From first to most recent, list all the Disney Parks worldwide.
4. In what year did Chip ‘n’ Dale make their debut?
5. How often do our hosts visit Walt Disney World (hint: it’s been mentioned on many recent podcast episodes)?

---

This Month in Disney History

• October 1, 1971: Walt Disney World Resort opens in Orlando, FL
• October 1, 1982: EPCOT opens as the second park in Walt Disney World
• October 15, 1998: Fantasmic! Debuts at Disney – MGM Studios
• October 16, 1923: The Disney Brothers Animation Studio is founded in Los Angels, California

---

Upcoming Events

• Festival of the Holidays: November 24 – December 30 including the ever popular Candlelight Processional (read here for a complete list of narrators).
• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party AND the ALL NEW Jollywood Nights Christmas Party: Tickets On Sale Now! (Get your free quote)

---

Wonderland Crew Exclusive October Events

Join Wonderland Crew!

---

Deals, Discounts, & Promos 

Save Up to 25% on Rooms 

Select Nights October 2 – December 25, 2023

---

Disney+ Subscribers Save Up to 35% on Rooms 

Select Nights October 22 – November2 and November 26 – December 25, 2023

---

Annual Passholders Save Up to 35% on Rooms this Holiday Season 

October 2 – December 25, 2023

---

Stay, Play, and Dine! Receive up to $200 per night dining credit on select stays October – March. (minimum 4 night/4 day park ticket)

---

Save up to 25% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels—valid for stays select nights January 9, 2024 through March 24, 2024. Book by December 15, 2023!

---

COMING SOON! Special Offer just for families visiting Walt Disney World early 2024. Stay tuned for details!

WELCOME FOOLISH MORTALS…

Welcome Foolish Mortals!  Join me if you will for a ride on one of the most popular rides in the Magic Kingdom.  Disney’s Haunted Mansion has one of the most intriguing back stories of all the rides in Walt Disney World.  The ride actually debuted  in Disneyland in August of 1969.  There was much debate and controversy over not only how this attraction would look, but also what the storyline would be.  The ride is located in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square and Walt Disney World’s Liberty Square in the US parks.  Imagineers first proposed a dilapidated, abandoned looking home for the ride, but Walt did not like the idea of something looking less than pristine in his park. With this new direction, Imagineers started trying to develop the backstory for this hauntingly amusing ride.  The project was delayed due to the company’s involvement in the 1964-65 World’s Fair and by the death of Walt Disney in 1966.

The initial idea for the ride was to be a walk through, haunted house type experience.  However, the ride development team quickly realized that an attraction of this type would have a very low capacity and incorporated the new omnimover ride system that we know today as Doom Buggys.  One of the Imagineers proposed a “Museum of the Weird” as part of the attraction that Walt Disney had intended to be a restaurant experience attached to the ride.  Imagineer Rolly Crump was primarily responsible for  the ghouls and goblins proposed for the Museum which was sadly cut from the project before it opened .

The next big hurdle for Imagineers was to determine if the ride was going to be spooky and scary or family oriented fun.  Fabled Imagineer Marc Davis wrote a hilarious, gag filled story for the ride while his counterpart, Claude Coates developed a true haunted house that could frighten even the most stalwart guest.  Compromise was reached when a third Imagineer, X Atencio, determined that the best approach was to combine the two stories, resulting in the creepy first half of the ride and the hilarious graveyard ending.

Several origin stories were tossed around for the Mansion: a sea captain who murdered his bride and then killed himself, the mansion home of an unfortunate family who all met a mysterious end, and a wedding party featuring established Disney villains and spooks.  Ultimately, the story is that of The Ghost Host,  Master Gracey, and the bride Constance Hatchaway, along with other supporting spirits.

There has been much speculation over the years that Master Gracey and The Ghost Host were one and the same. While the two characters have a similar story, Disney has not officially confirmed the two are in fact the same.  The Ghost Host is one of the original dearly departed residents of the Mansion who guides guests through the ride, beginning with one of the most iconic and well known monologue in theme park history.

Welcome Foolish Mortals, to the Haunted Mansion.  I am your host – your Ghost Host.  Our tour begins here in this gallery.  Here we we see paintings of some of our guests as they appeared in their more corruptible, mortal state.  Kindly step all the way in to make room for everyone.  There’s no turning back now.

Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination — hmm? And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows and no doors… which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out! Of course, there’s always my way.

From this point, guests travel via Doom Buggy through the mansion, beginning in the portrait gallery, past spooky doors, endless hallways, through the library and “up’ an Escher like stairway into the attic.  Here we meet another iconic resident of the Mansion, Madame Leota.  Leota is the medium who was entrapped in a crystal ball after trying to contact the spirit inhabitants of the Mansion to encourage them to leave.  The face of Madame Leota is that of Disney Imagineer Leota Toombs, but her voice was deemed to high and pleasant to recite Madame Leota’s incantation and these haunting words were instead voiced by actress Eleanor Audley (who was also the voice of Maleficent and Lady Tremaine):

Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat, call in the spirits, wherever they’re at! Rap on a table – it’s time to respond. Send us a message from somewhere beyond. Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween, awaken the spirits with your tambourine! Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond, let there be music from regions beyond!Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint by ringing a bell!

Then on into the ballroom where the more than a century old Pepper’s Ghost effect continues to fascinate visitors as spectral Mansion residents dance and sway throughout the grand hall. This is where the party really gets started as we are introduced to Constance Hatchaway – the gold digging bride who beheads each of her five husbands.  The observant guest will  notice that Constance gains a strand of pearls for each husband. 

Finally, guests make their final descent into the graveyard by “falling” backwards from the attic.  Here, guests join a swinging wake with the Grim Grinning Ghosts. And if you aren’t careful, one of the hitchhiking ghosts will follow you home!  But don’t worry, Gus, Phineas, and Ezra haven’t managed to actually escape the Haunted Mansion yet.  Your final encounter is with a mini-Leota telling you to Hurry Baaaaack and this time, it really is the voice of Leota Toombs.

There are so many hidden gems and back stories in this ride that it is no wonder that it has developed such  a cult following and is considered by many to be the greatest ride in all of Walt Disney World.

Cast Member Spotlight

I love Disney because

The promise that Disney delivers is like no other. There’s a feeling of nostalgia, happiness, home, love and so much more when I think about Disney. Disney was my childhood of watching movies and going around getting characters’ autographs. I personally never dreamed of working at Disney as my plan in life but I’m so thankful that’s where my path lead me. Seeing everything come full circle is so heartwarming. There’s something truly magical seeing the eyes of a child light up when they experience the magic of Disney and the eyes of an adult light up just the same. Disney is my favorite place to go for any occasion because I know that I’m going to have a great experience and create even more happy memories.

One of My Favorite Disney Memories:

One of my favorite Disney memories was when my family was able to visit me after I started working at Disney. To be able to show them Disney through my eyes was a whole new experience. As a child, my family took trips to Disney on family vacations so my parents were only able to experience Disney with myself and my sister as little girls. Same with my sister, she only experienced Disney as a little girl next to me. To show them that the magic is still there decades later was truly amazing. There’s more to Disney than some rides in a few parks. I have many Disney memories that I hold near and dear to my heart, but the ones that I share with my family are what I truly cherish; And I think that’s what Walt really wanted all along.

---

Cheshire Cat’s Puzzle Corner