The Fabulous Disney Babe
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I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween, and Happy New Year to those of you who celebrate it today. So, what did you dress up as? I was a computer teacher! (Oh, all right, I stayed home and handed out candy.)  Alice, visiting Daddy and the rest of the Hill Clan in New England, was Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We saw tons of Tiggers and quite a few Woodys. Whatever you did, I hope it was safe and fun! I hear the party at Downtown Disney's House of Blues was wonderful.

It seems everyone has written about Haunted Mansion Holiday but me. What do I think? I love it! I hope it comes back every year. It's fresh and fun, yet respectful to the integrity of the original attraction. I had a chance to speak to Steven Davison, the creative force behind Haunted Mansion Holiday, at the press event on the 16th. I had a new tape recorder for interviews, and am embarrassed to tell you that I pushed "play" instead of "record" for my first two interviews of the evening, Steve Davison and Melissa Joan Hart, (who loves the attraction, was nice to fan Alice, and while she loved filming the Animal Kingdom episode of Sabrina, doesn't see a Disneyland visit coming anytime soon now that she's with The WB.) What a pro you are, Fab! Fortunately, I remembered most of the discussion, which was about future projects ("nothing official yet, but you never know...") and about Steve's great respect for those who created the original Haunted Mansion attraction, including Marc Davis ("a genius") and X. Atencio. He also pointed out, and I believe he mentioned this in Doobie's interview as well, but it's an important note so I'll repeat it, that the setting for the attraction changeover is an event that happened after Jack took off as Sandy Claws but before he reached the "normal humans'" houses and learned a whole new meaning for "missile-toe". The Haunted Mansion was the first house he visited as Sandy Claws, and his version of Christmas was a howling success there. It's also why you don't see actual characters there except for Jack and Zero, except for Sally at the end, back in Halloween Town, urging Jack to "hurry back".

There are many nice little touches in the changeover.  The "Mickey Mouse doll possessed by a demon" from an early version of the poem replaces the raven seen throughout the ride. Familiar names pepper Sandy Claws' list in the attic; Madame Leota speaks of "three life lines, giving aid" in a poke at Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. I am also grateful to Steve Davison, who confirmed that it was his idea to have Kim Irvine, the original Leota's daughter and a brilliant Imagineer to boot, replace her mother for the séance scene. Like in the original mansion, little fantastical touches are everywhere. Corey Burton's Ghost Host is a "dead on" impression of Paul Frees. The Sandy Claws figure is breathtaking. I love what they did with the busts....and they took the teacup out of one of the Graveyard Ghosts' hand and put in a champagne glass. Yes, it should have been a martini glass, but you can't always have perfection! Steve was happy with the fan response, but was a little scared about the reception this extreme change in the Mansion would have. He's not resting on his laurels, however: he was working on LuminARIA, the new Christmas show for DCA's Paradise Bay.