Report: Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Evening,

Report: Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Evening
Page 1 of 18

by Kim Petersen
October 5, 2001
A complete report from the October 3rd Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Event at Disneyland.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
ENCHANTED HAUNTED EVENING

Haunted Mansion Holiday - Sneak Preview Event
October 3, 2001

Check-In - Page 1
The event began as all events do - with check-in. The tables were set-up under bright blue umbrellas to the right of Disneyland's main entrance and had a queue line roped in front. Having the process continue through more than 9 hours was wonderful, you could actually be late and still be on time. Those with tickets to the event, but without tickets to the park, were not going to be entering until after 5 and would be able to enjoy a couple of hours before getting into line for the panel.

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The line for the secondary shopping - never very long through the day.
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I was in line shortly after the tables opened at 9:30AM and had my packet in hand and was on my way to the secondary shopping in less than 20 minutes. The packet contained several important pieces of information. Among them was a nice note from Cynthia Harris, President of the Disneyland Resort:

October 3, 2001

Dear Special Guest,

On behalf of the Disneyland Resort, I would like to welcome you to the "Nightmare Before Christmas Enchanted Evening" Sneak Preview Event.

We hope that your night is filled with spooktacular fun and nightmarish fright! As a Guest of this chilling evening, you are among the very first to experience our new Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction. For your added enjoyment, we have also arranged a panel discussion featuring some of the incredibly talented creators of Tim Burton's film, "Nightmare Before Christmas".

Our 999 Happy Haunts join me in wishing you a dreadfully wonderful evening and magical holiday season!

Best Witches,

Cynthia

Cynthia Harriss
President
Disneyland Resort

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Just in case you wondered where you were. The event was well managed.
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There was also an event itinerary so we wouldn't get lost and so that the event ran smoothly. There were a few changes to the schedule that had come in the event packet guests had received and a few guests were confused as to which schedule to follow - the one in the FedEx package, the one in the packet or the one on the event hang tag. Cast Members were operating from the packet and - for the most part - the confusion was minor.

An updated list of the evening's panelists was also included - they were:

  • Mike Belzer - Animator
  • Steve Davison - Disneyland Resort Entertainment Show Development
  • Rick Heinrichs - Visual Consultant
  • Eric Leighton - Animation Supervisor
  • Chris Sarandon - Voice of Jack Skellington
  • Henry Selick - Director of Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas"
  • Glenn Shadix - Voice of The Mayor
  • Frank Thompson - Panel Discussion Moderator and Author of "The Art of Nightmare Before Christmas"

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Guests received phone calls with this message - in case you hadn't heard a sign was placed at the beginning of the queue.
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