sally – KaylaAnn

Hello Everyone! We are finally in October, the true start of the holiday season that kicks off Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!

I absolutely adore this time of year and to welcome in October, I am doing another Disney-focused blog: this time on one of Disney’s most popular Halloween-rides!

The Haunted Mansion:

Nightmare Before Christmas Style

The Haunted Mansion was first opened in August of 1969, featuring 999 happy haunts, although there is always room for one more *wink wink, nudge nudge.* And for five years, the ride remained the same throughout the seasons.

However, in September of 2001, Disneyland re-imagined the Haunted Mansion with a holiday twist and so it adopted many aspects from the beloved film Nightmare Before Christmas.” In the 1993 film, protagonist Jack Skellington of Halloweentown feels empty of purpose and bored with the routine Halloween that passes year after year. He stumbles into Christmastown and, after kidnapping Santa Claus (all for the cause of course), chaos reigns. The line between Halloween and Christmas is erased (completely ignoring the fact that Thanksgiving lies in between). What we have left is a mishmash of scary and funny (a lot like the original Haunted Mansion itself.

Currently, Disneyland hosts the Nightmare Before Christmas themed Haunted Mansion every year September through December. From the haunted elevator ride (ahem *stretching room*) to the spooky hallway to our main foyer, Halloween and Christmas can be seen everywhere! Zero’s bones have completely taken over the first room of haunted armor and pumpkins easily replace the singing-stone heads.

However, the greatest masterpiece displayed every year is the Gingerbread house! Made entirely out of edible gingerbread, handcrafted and uniquely designed, the Gingerbread houses are more and more elaborate every year. This year, the magnificent gingerbread house is accompanied by a ginormous spider who is quickly ensnaring the house within its grasp (and who can blame him? It looks delicious!)

As you travel throughout the ride, you will come face-to-face with many of the classic characters from the movie such as: Jack Skellington (complete in his Santa suit), Sally (dreamily leaning against a gravestone), Zero, the Oogie Boogie Man, and so many more!