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I'm equal parts surprised and relieved that Disneyland still has Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and that it still is like THAT

Everything else remotely scary, marginally less marketable, or potentially offensive is getting/has been removed, and Toad is still just, "Fuck it, here's some reckless driving and Hell."

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*Walks in through Haunted Mansion doors* Honey, I'm home

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Just watched Haunted Mansion (2023) and yeah, they did good. In my opinion, at least. (SPOILERS as I ramble my thoughts. Obviously.)

Enough park canon material included to make me very happy! And best of all! We still don't know the origin of the Mansion! Ahhh! Perfect!

They have the WDW Mansion belong to Hattie (movie verse's Alistair Crump), but our classic mansion, while owned by Gracey who made a big mess with the help of Leota, still has an undefined origin.

There was an emphasis on the Captain. I do like that. He's a major hitchhiking ghost and one of the friendlier ones right away (technically). He's still left ambiguous, though. His haunts make him the Mariner, but he's anyone from Captain Gore, to Culpepper Clyne, to unnamed and forgotten captain.

I am actually a big fan of Gracey and I love his inclusion. He's the owner, or was the most notable one, at least. Not the originator of the place, but he was handed the role of "fucked up stupendously" and I love that for him. I'm speaking lightly but genuinely, this movie does show us grief in a lot of its forms and I can honestly say that I laughed and cried my way through the movie. They did very well.

So yeah, I enjoyed seeing the way they played out the cycle of grief, his desperation inviting the madness of a dark player. Hattie's origins are good by me. I only cared that he was NOT tied to Constance. The two can be diabolical ghosts but I didn't want him to be one of her victims. Big bad murderer in his own right is good with me. Love that journey for him. I do wish the cgi had been a little more...greenish and glowy. And I wish he'd been a little more playfully devious. But I was good with it. No surprise villain or unexpected twist—just ghosts we know, weaved into a tale, and real humans that worked.

I also loved the art style during Bruce's expositional talk about Alistair Crump. Like, damn, I want more of that. Deeply love it.

From cheesy to heartfelt to genuinely nice, this was a great ride. I laughed, I cried, I loved the story. I love that it was about the people. It was about genuinely difficult emotions that none of us can outrun. I love that there's a Mansion full of Happy Haunts in the end.

It didn't feel like they were rewriting or forcing a new canon. Hell, they had Bruce reference the endless crazy theories about the place. The ghost appearances came straight from existing, physical characters (love the Mummy of course). Stories like the dueling brothers and Constance already existed, and played right into the Tragic Souls after Gracey and Leota had already poisoned the Mansion through his grief.

Hatbox Ghost was the only one given an expanded backstory because the story needed an antagonist. I was good with that. Honestly the Crump Manor bit surprised and delighted me. But I also don't care if people view this as only one of many possible theories. I, personally, quite like it. I could probably ramble on this point further but I'll end it here.

Good movie. Well suited to the material. Playful, spooky, intense. I will definitely be watching it again.

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I think that a Society of Explorers and Adventurers movie absolutely sounds promising, but I worry if Disney has the tact to pull it off respectfully. The SEA is, at its most basic, a bunch of mostly white people going around the world and collecting relics from a bunch of indigenous cultures on almost every continent. They’ve made the concept work so far by putting a distinct line between the “good” members of the SEA who received these treasures as gifts in return for help (such as Henry Mystic, Indiana Jones, Jock Linsey, etc.) and the “bad” SEA members who steal and pilfer their treasures (Harrison Hightower, whoever that dude was in the Halloween overlay of the Jungle Cruise attraction), and nonaffiliated ones like Albert Falls.

But it’s easy to separate the “good” and “bad” members of the SEA in the context of a theme park geared towards children. Adapting the SEA for a cinematic movie will introduce the concept to a much larger audience with a greater capacity for critical thinking, so Disney needs to be extremely careful with this concept. 

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All the birds sing words and the flowers croon

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Swiss Family Robinson Tree house can only be done in very nice weather

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But Agrabah has something that no other place in the world has .

- Genie 

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Disneyland Secret #230

18 seconds. The cast member in the Enchanted Tiki Room pushes a button to start the program. From there, there is an 18 second wait until Jose wakes up. Often members of the audience are asked to wake Jose up or the cast member him/herself may do it. It is also a request you can make if the cast member is obliging. Walt Disney use to come a wake up Jose.

Photo Credit: S.Deal

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Sometimes happiness is a dole whip and adventure land.

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Disneyland Secret #229

In the planters, near the entry to Indiana Jones and the Temple of The Forbidden Eye, if you have a sharp eye, you can find this little house. This is the house of Patrick Begorra—a leprechaun who lives in Disneyland. This little man has a whole story which you can read in the book, The Little Man of Disneyland.

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Disneyland doesn’t change all that often; so when it does it’s kind of a big deal.

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