tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post4485426964218165557..comments2024-03-07T09:25:09.142-08:00Comments on Long-Forgotten: Stroll Around the Grounds Until You Feel at Home, Part TwoHBG2http://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-74629277047825931512022-12-03T14:28:15.012-08:002022-12-03T14:28:15.012-08:00I’ve actually had a nice long conversation with a ...I’ve actually had a nice long conversation with a major Disney Imagineer, detailing my appreciation for a comprehensive design feature, to which he said ‘yeah, I didn’t intend that, but very interesting, I see what you mean’. <br /><br />The woman who helped acquire many of the antiques for NOS, from New Orleans itself, is alive and well (here in late 2022) she may know why there are so many bird cages beyond the obvious reasons stated here…big sale at Bird-Cages-R-Us? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-72299823021227558002021-09-29T09:59:18.819-07:002021-09-29T09:59:18.819-07:00Sorry, don't know.Sorry, don't know.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-11760840460141122672021-09-28T14:20:25.425-07:002021-09-28T14:20:25.425-07:00Do you have any information regarding the type of ...Do you have any information regarding the type of Roman column used to display the sundial? I was able to find one of the exact sundials used, but cannot find any source material for the column itself. TFadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12871422494627200472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-55405528178105276382021-05-21T21:01:33.431-07:002021-05-21T21:01:33.431-07:00I would've guessed the lemonade set might have...I would've guessed the lemonade set might have been for " invisible" guests, (Sarah Winchester had a tea set on a small table for the ghosts she thought were haunting her mansion). As for prop placement, I used to do set dressing and liked to do the props as if they were a glimpse into the lives of the characters. The minimalist approach outside the mansion is well done, and doesn't hit you over the head with a story like the junk in the post 2006 attic.Mark Hillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15567880806058959239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-88550132113330264212021-04-28T20:55:00.799-07:002021-04-28T20:55:00.799-07:00Yes, thanks, I just noticed it myself this morning...Yes, thanks, I just noticed it myself this morning and was very pleased to see it.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-40802411873290524082021-04-28T18:39:12.987-07:002021-04-28T18:39:12.987-07:00I'm pleased to report that as of 2021, the tel...I'm pleased to report that as of 2021, the telescope on the second story porch has returned. It's definitely a different design than the one that was out there from '97 to '01, and it now sits on a tripod rather than on the railing, but it's in almost exactly the same position as it used to be, so I'm inclined to say that it's not a coincidence. Unfortunately, the old-timey barometer doesn't seem to have returned along with it, but as you said in this blog post, not many people probably would have noticed that anyways. Here's a YouTube video that shows it off really well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6tQw4qxrDc.Carter McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117988035785416827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-78564347364183699702018-03-29T19:40:28.620-07:002018-03-29T19:40:28.620-07:00Speaking of changes made to the mansion's grou...Speaking of changes made to the mansion's grounds recently, they re-did the sundial! It looks way too new and a bit ugly now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14818713586238780591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-8183292269430492282018-03-28T23:35:49.616-07:002018-03-28T23:35:49.616-07:00It's relatively new. Added last year. It disgu...It's relatively new. Added last year. It disguises a phone box. Most Mansionistas think it looks modern and out of place, with a terrible choice in colors, but your mileage may vary.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-2563858306568466982018-03-28T22:36:59.464-07:002018-03-28T22:36:59.464-07:00I was recently visiting Disneyland and noticed som...I was recently visiting Disneyland and noticed something strange on the first floor veranda of the Haunted Mansion. I'm not sure if it is new or not. As you enter the porch from the side of the house, there is a large, dark grey birdhouse with a stereotypical haunted house look (Boarded up windows, cracks, cobwebs, etc...) I think it is a nice homage to the original haunted house concept.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14818713586238780591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-6572331830997023992017-08-31T23:32:56.050-07:002017-08-31T23:32:56.050-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13155653917560443229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-11781533306245216142017-06-19T17:55:24.383-07:002017-06-19T17:55:24.383-07:00The wreath and bunting came back for 2017! I saw i...The wreath and bunting came back for 2017! I saw it when I was at the park last month!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14818713586238780591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-73746779350680916192017-05-23T04:30:56.158-07:002017-05-23T04:30:56.158-07:00The wreath is up again: http://fs5.directupload.ne...The wreath is up again: http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170523/ynuavrls.jpg (Photo taken in February 2016)Juliannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-35593524027901027322014-10-24T13:18:05.177-07:002014-10-24T13:18:05.177-07:00Regarding the telescope, I have a photograph.
ht...Regarding the telescope, I have a photograph. <br /><br />https://33.media.tumblr.com/a540de8a8249e0bec0669ab802ba8f89/tumblr_ndytgt9IxW1r0zq7so1_500.jpg<br /><br />It may be very difficult to identify it as the same or otherwise, because it's hard to see it from anywhere but across the way at the top part of the Jungle Cruise queue, but I think it is possible. The shape of it seems similar enough. I'd be interested to see if any better pictures could be found of this particular telescope. I'll be on the hunt for them!RequiemBellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-71157888040901179772014-10-15T00:15:06.803-07:002014-10-15T00:15:06.803-07:00Interestingly enough, I noticed in Adventureland a...Interestingly enough, I noticed in Adventureland a telescope of similar appearance. It's on a different platform, a tripod, but I think it could be the same one, unless it's been there since the beginning of time. I took a photograph, but am not sure how to get it to you! RequiemBellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-17665048788784486772014-02-03T23:21:33.391-08:002014-02-03T23:21:33.391-08:00I would just google around, check ebay, etc.I would just google around, check ebay, etc.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-74425766974528145082014-02-03T18:58:30.653-08:002014-02-03T18:58:30.653-08:00Where can I buy a Virginia metalcrafters no 23-1 s...Where can I buy a Virginia metalcrafters no 23-1 sundial?Laura Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10603038447020916061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-57469936159510409792013-08-17T18:36:35.302-07:002013-08-17T18:36:35.302-07:00I don't mean to snub the Orlando Mansion, but ...I don't mean to snub the Orlando Mansion, but the truth is, I've never seen it in person and can't claim any particular expertise with regard to it. With Anaheim, I've grown up with it since it opened and can draw on my own experiences. Besides, the Internet already has an expert on the WDW version, and that's Foxxy over at the <i>Passport to Dreams Old and New</i> blog. She's the one you should properly pressure for more Orlando HM history and artistry.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-4692386115640542602013-08-17T17:59:29.069-07:002013-08-17T17:59:29.069-07:00I love your posts about one of my favorite rides o...I love your posts about one of my favorite rides of all time. Recently living in California I've been able to ride and experience the original haunted mansion over and over again, I like reading about the little secrets and trivia you have dug up.<br />Originally I'm from the east coast though and mainly grew up with the haunted mansion in Orlando which I think looks the creepiest out of the two. I notice you talk about the Anaheim Mansion a lot but could you talk about how the exterior of the wdw haunted mansion has changed a lot over time? I remember seeing photos of the mansion back in the 70s when it looked pretty cut and clean on the outside. Over time the look of the exterior has been given a more decayed look. It would be cool to see some history on the wdw mansion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-86243448509944377432013-07-09T17:44:40.883-07:002013-07-09T17:44:40.883-07:00Incidentally, I took your cue and looked through D...Incidentally, I took your cue and looked through Daveland's old NOS photos, and it's true that there are several birdcages visible. With most of them, it's impossible to tell if anything is in them, but check out this one:<br /><br />http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/danolson/Blog%20stuff/Lafitte%20Blacksmith%20Shop/CTMIUSA_126_Dev_NHH_zpsdecb030c.jpg<br /><br />Real or fake? I suppose fake, but there are birds in that one, and I suppose that there could have been birds in the others as well.HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-69301675130406288932013-07-09T10:12:16.120-07:002013-07-09T10:12:16.120-07:00Great stories. I hadn't really noticed that N...Great stories. I hadn't really noticed that NOS had a lot of empty birdcages hanging around. And the picture you describe is in fact my "second best" photo of the HM birdcage in the post.<br /><br />Q: "How can you tell time with a sundial at night?" A: "Stupid, use a flashlight."HBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-74645605447158809712013-07-09T04:02:22.866-07:002013-07-09T04:02:22.866-07:00I really like the bird cage. When I was young I ha...I really like the bird cage. When I was young I had a Disneyland board game and the Mansion card totally blew my mind, because the house was so totally different than the Florida house that obsessed me so. The photo on that card was the one taken from inside the '69 queue graveyard, behind a stone, looking at the south-facing facade. of course I brought out a magnifying glass and studied that photo as near as I could and you can almost see the birdcage in that photo. Of course it's fuzzy, and of course I was also convinced that the cluster of leaves in a tree directly in the center of the furthest forward sweep of the upper level balcony was one of the giant spiders from inside, strung up in his web on the facade. Of course I was also six, although I admit I was always a little disappointed that they never did do that.<br /><br />But anyway, the bird cage. Of course, New Orleans Square was lousy with empty birdcages in the 60s - you can see plenty on Daveland, and there's even some left today, so I don't think the WED prop department thought any more of it than they had when they pulled the wicker furniture and bird cage out the the same storage room where they kept all the props purchased en mass for New Orleans Square in 1965.<br /><br />Still, I think your overall point is sound. The practice of placing "stuff" on Disneyland's upper reaches is as old as the park and is meant to make the fake buildings seem inhabited, because they would be spooky if they seem uninhabited. When we see chairs on the New Orleans balconies we say "ah, the residents are just out of sight!". It's the presence of the furniture that is significant. But as soon as we're told that the mansion is haunted, the furniture becomes laced with sinister associations, and they signify the absence of life inside more than its presence.<br /><br />I also like the wreath and spyglass, although sadly the wreath has gone and the hearse, which I'm pretty sure was added s part of the same effort, has remained. In my ideal world we'd lose the pet cemetery and hearse and bring back the wreath/bunting, which is just enough to suggest the uncanny without going overboard.<br /><br />Funny story about the sundial: my parents actually had exactly the same sundial when I was young, years and years before I ever visited Disneyland. They kept theirs in a fairly obscure part of the garden, but of course by the time I was six I was making my own Haunted Mansion tombstones out of plywood and putting them on the front lawn as Halloween decorations. Every year I'd go wading through the garden, pull out that sundial, and place it very prominently in my graveyard exactly because of that same inscription, and for essentially the same reasons you outline: it looks old, it's an old fashioned way of telling time, and the inscription asks you to contemplate the passage of time itself. By the time I was running haunted house tours through my parents' house for Halloween, all of them inspired by the Mansion, I would put it out on the front stoop to give people waiting outside something to think about. I did my last one in 2002, and eight months later took my first trip to Disneyland.FoxxFurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00443092111956989561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-37978707435789636042013-07-04T12:51:20.999-07:002013-07-04T12:51:20.999-07:00As I subscribe to the sea captain story my immedia...As I subscribe to the sea captain story my immediate thought on the sundial is that it was a wedding present from one to the other. Or perhaps upon their engagement. It adds to the tragic air.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-81269963308593832432013-07-04T09:44:47.712-07:002013-07-04T09:44:47.712-07:00Nice, although the top piece with the weather vane...Nice, although the top piece with the weather vane is missing, or washed out by the camera exposure.Figment713https://www.blogger.com/profile/16000510266589974829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-38014462094800663312013-07-04T09:22:33.204-07:002013-07-04T09:22:33.204-07:00This is pretty close.
It's actually been aroun...This is pretty close.<br />It's actually been around for years, but it went up for sale last year and got lots of new press: <br /><br /> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiFQi0klvbIHBG2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05073387557562504315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444762441887107389.post-102969237757724842013-07-04T06:11:50.912-07:002013-07-04T06:11:50.912-07:00I wish WDW's mansion had these additions come ...I wish WDW's mansion had these additions come and go every now and then, or perhaps I never noticed.<br /><br />I wonder why some rich Disney HM fan hasn't built a replica of DL's Mansion (exterior anyway). Does Disney have a type of exclusive legal right to the exterior facade, or to the Shipley-Lydecker house?Figment713https://www.blogger.com/profile/16000510266589974829noreply@blogger.com