Season Eight, Project Two: Haunted Mansion Holiday

Team Wild Cards 

Haunted Mansion Holiday – Oogie’s Revenge

It is a dark and stormy night, sometime between Halloween and Christmas, and as you enter Liberty Square, you rush to the Haunted Mansion, considering that it’s your favorite ride in the park. But as you gaze past the gates and at the Haunted Mansion from afar, you notice immediately that something is not right. The house is lit a bit more dimly than usual, and there’s a bunch of little lights emanating from the outlines of the windows and from inside the conservatory. Spectral orbs? No, actually. They seem to be Christmas lights… on the Haunted Mansion. Immediately, you notice that the gates are lined with garland and the small plaque reading “The Haunted Mansion” has a bit on the end reading “Holiday”, brightly lit in green and red. What you DON’T notice, though, is that just as you leave the plaque and enter the graveyard queue the plaque suddenly becomes overwritten by a piece of green, glowing graffiti, reading “Oogie’s Revenge” in piercing green fiber-optics. 

You eventually enter the main queue and hear a quiet and somewhat creepy, slow moving, music box-esque medley of “This is Halloween” and “What’s This?” playing amidst a blowing wind sound. You see several marble-bust style figures of characters that you will see in the Mansion. The biggest statue, just in front of the invisible horse-drawn hearse, is one reading “Jack Skellington”, which is the only one standing upright. You notice that Jack periodically sprouts a large green fiber-optic moustache… seems like a mischievous troublemaker is vandalizing the Haunted Mansion… To the right of the Jack statue is an overturned statue of “The Mayor”, which seems to have a happy face… until the piercing green fiber-optic graffiti lines draw a sad outline onto his face. To the left of Jack we notice “Sally”, but her statue is the most gruesome of all: Her head, severed off of the neck of the bust, sits with cracks on the side of what’s remaining on the bust. Taking the place of Sally’s head on the bust is an angry jack o’ lantern, which glows in the same green color as the fiber-optics. You notice a wreath on the invisible horse’s neck, too.

Suddenly, the lights grow even dimmer on the Mansion’s façade while the wreaths, garlands, and other lights on the Mansion remain fully lit. The music box music stops. There is a flicker of strobes on the house and a “zapping sound” accompanying it. The effect is that the entire Mansion loses power, flickering and eventually stopping all of the extra “Christmas decorations” from lighting up. Glowing green lines, similar to the fiber-optic lines seen earlier, outline the edges of the windows and doors of the Haunted Mansion, which (when they completely trace the house) burst apart. Suddenly, a bright yellow light engulfs the façade of the Mansion. The shadow of Oogie Boogie appears on the light, cackling in an evil manner and turning into a flood of bats, which cover the Mansion and turn it black again. Soon after this, the Mansion’s lights come back on with the garlands, wreaths, and Christmas lights, as well as the creepy music box.

As you enter the Graveyard queue, you don't notice much different than usually, but you notice that some of the gravestones have little black-and-white Christmas bows on them with poinsettias decorating the ground.

You enter the Mansion and find yourself in the Foyer. A small room decorated with simply lit multi-color wreaths and brightly-colored presents with odd bows and nametags decorate the room. The fireplace is burning brightly, and above the mantle is a portrait of a Victorian man… but suddenly lightning flashes in the room. The fireplace goes out, and the portrait of the man turns into an image of various multi-colored bugs forming a shape… as time goes on, you notice a green cloth skin sealing the bugs in.. into what…? It turns out that the shape is Oogie Boogie! It would probably be wise to remember the fact that Oogie’s made of bugs for future reference…

You hear a deep, ghostly voice in the room; it’s the Ghost Host. He says:

“A long time ago, longer now than it seems,
In a place that perhaps you've seen in your worst dreams
For the story that you are about to be told
Takes place in a Haunted Mansion full of mold
I know that you're curious to see what's inside
It's what happens when two holiday worlds collide..."

The doors to the Stretching room suddenly open, and you are ushered in by the maids and butlers of the Mansion. Once inside, you notice that the stretching room portraits have changed, and now feature Santa (Sandy Claws), The Mayor, Sally, and Jack Skellington. You see each of the character’s faces and parts of their bodies.

“Welcome, foolish mortals, to our Christmas Delight!
Come witness Oogie Boogie's most chilling fright!
It's time for our holiday tale to begin;
There's no turning back now! Please, come all the way in.”

The doors to the Stretching Room close as the room begins to stretch, revealing more and more of the character’s bodies as well as a Haunted Mansion background for Jack, a Christmastown background for Santa, a Halloweentown fountain background for The Mayor, and a Dr. Finklestein Laboratory background for Sally. Soft music-box music, not unlike the queue music, plays for a short while as the room stretches. The eerie sounds of children singing "La la la la la..." is heard. Soon, the Ghost Host begins speaking:

“Jack's annual Christmas plans were on their way
Transforming this Mansion for a Holiday;
But while decorations were hanging with care
Jack's nemesis Oogie Boogie caused a scare!”

Suddenly, the music changes, turning into a demonic version of “Kidnap the Sandy Claws”. The room begins to change lighting as the walls get darker and the room turns deep shades of purple and green. The portraits begin to get “vandalized” with the green lines from outside, outlining the portrait frames. The Ghost Host continues…

“One day, Oogie Boogie took all Jack held near,
Mayor, Sandy Claws and Sally, his heart's dear.”

Suddenly, Sally, Mayor, and Santa disappear from their respective Stretching Room portraits and you hear cries for help as if they’ve been trapped somewhere deep in the Mansion. Big, gaping blank spaces remain in the place of the three characters, while Jack’s portrait seems to frown. The Ghost Host says:

“He took out the Haunted Mansion's festive cheer
And turned it into a funhouse full of fear.”

Suddenly, on the word “fear”, you hear a horrible scream and the lights flicker. You notice that Jack has been replaced in his painting… by Oogie Boogie. Continuing his speech, the Ghost Host says:

“Oogie would scream, with his face in a grin:
‘It's my turn this year! It time Oogie should win! (These lines are said in Oogie’s voice, you see his “painting” begin to move and talk)
Lock, Shock, and Barrel, go tear this place down!
Jack's never seen this in Halloween Town!’”

You suddenly notice that Lock, Shock, and Barrel have entered the remaining vacant portraits, grinning and laughing demonically.

“'Cuz this year it's OOGIE! MY turn to have fun,
and deadly surprises for Jack Skellington...’”

Another lightning strike occurs and the lights on the paintings go out. Overhead you can see Oogie, holding onto the neck loop of a large red-and white striped noose. The air is deathly still. He says his lines directly at you:

“‘So come, try to stop me, I swear and I dare,
But expect death from fright and a really good SCARE!’”

You hear the instrumental of the lines "Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out To Socialize!" blare, and the room goes pitch black with a scream. The lights fade back on, but the portraits remain in their "Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Oogie" states. The lighting in the room is dark purple and green, and a door has appeared for you to exit out of. The Ghost Host says:

“Come now everybody, let's go; Look alive!
The true Christmas Fears will soon take place inside...”

As you exit the room and enter the purple and green loading hallway, you can hear the voice of The Ghost Host giving us a few words of safety while a quiet and up-tempo version of "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" plays…

“Oogie Boogie came here from Halloween Town,
You'll notice his devious work scattered ‘round.
This year he's decided to make Christmas Fear,
The scariest Mansion you’ll see in your years.

And now, a dark carriage will take you away,
Sit back, rest in peace in you black Christmas sleigh.
Your sleigh will accommodate one or two or more
We're hope you're prepared for what Oogie has in store…”

As you walk through the hallways of the Mansion, you can hear a quiet, fast-paced, and frightening mash-up of “Kidnap The Sandy Claws”, “Oogie Boogie’s Song”, and “Grim Grinning Ghosts” playing. You enter one of your own Doom Buggies, set against a wall of green and purple light and paintings of Oogie in various poses, with each painting lined with garland with tiny purple and green lights. Your first stop is the Portrait Gallery, where paintings of The Mayor, Santa, Sally, and Jack appear, but then suddenly, transforming with the “green light” effect and a flash of lightning, the subjects of the paintings a replaced with Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Oogie.

“Attacking the Mansion, Oogie changed in a swoop,
Soon was festiveness gone, all by Santa’s evil dupe!
Dices and cards, scary robots, machines,
Helped to create Christmases had in bad dreams.”

You enter the Library now and see the beginnings of Oogie’s Takeover. While a few remnants of Jack’s makeover have been kept, a Christmas tree is inside of a paper shredder and comes out as bugs flying out on the other side of the machine. Christmas lights flicker, and a Scary Teddy Bear hangs onto a hanging chord of lights, swinging back and forth. You can also see Jack’s shadow, as he calls out for Sally. You hear this as you enter the next room:

“More rapid than pumpkins, the Mansion was changed
What was soon jolly, by Oogie was deranged.
And what do you see with your terrified eyes?
Oogie's first minion, Lock, who loves to surprise”

As you enter the Music Room, you see a grand piano being played by Oogie Boogie’s shadow. Oogie's shadow plays the same musical mash-up as heard throughout the room, but (of course) with piano accompaniment. The room is trashed with crumpled wrapping paper and horrible glowing green light coming from inside the piano. Suddenly, Lock pops out of the piano, surprising all that happen to be in front of the effect at the right time. From here, you notice that the music builds in intensity all the way up to the Clock room.

Next, you enter the M.C. Escher Staircase scene. This room is filled with bright colors popping in and out on the stairs (to disorienting effect) and ghostly presents sitting upside-down on the stairs. You can also see floating day-glo dice spinning rapidly in the air. Once in a while, you notice that the glowing green graffiti lines make another appearance here, writing things like “Oogie’s #1” and “ I Am Your Nightmare” on the sides of the stairs.

Next you see the floating eyeball room, which are now accompanied by demonic floating smiles. All of a sudden, amidst the eyeballs and smiles floating in space, Shock appears in a flash of purple light! It seems that he’s lending his own pair of eyeballs and teeth to the mix. 

Next you enter the Endless Hallway scene. First you come across a suit of armor, which is manned by Barrel. Barrel pulls down on the armor’s hand, which sets off a “slot machine” above the Armor’s head. It rolls to reveal three “Oogies” resulting in a payoff of… nasty bugs. You see the bugs scurry across the floor and then into your Doom Buggy (with some help of air hoses). Gross! The hallway itself has wreaths on every door. You can see Zero floating through various doors and emitting a ghostly howl, as if looking for Jack. You enter the next room as the narration continues:

“Everything but gambling was ignored, for Oogie, that was pleasant.
For HIM, the real fun is in trapping The Mayor in a giant present!
The man-eating plant was released from his cage
And hid Santa from Jack in a wild rampage!”

You soon see the Conservatory’s “coffin” has been wrapped as a present. The one now wishing to break out is, in fact, The Mayor! You can see his hat and part of his head poking out, spinning and changing emotions quickly while he grumbles and screams! Scary Teddy appears again here, attempting to pull the lid off of the coffin. You also see that a toothy, man-eating wreath has Santa tied up in his vines on the ceiling! Santa is wriggling to get free, but the vines simply pull tighter. Once again, you hear Jack call for Sally.

You soon enter the Hallway of Doors, where behind every door (each door lit in green line grafitti) you can hear a cry for help from a different Halloweentown Citizen. The knockers are turned off, but the screams coming from the doors make this a memorable area. One of the knockers DOES knock, though, because Scary Teddy is (in effect) riding it back and forth, banging his head on the door every time it knocks! Maybe he's trying to open the door or something.

Soon you come across a large clock with the number “13” in the “12” position. You also see a small “Days ‘Till X-Mas” sign underneath the clock face, which is accompanied by a “day counter” that spins out-of-control. As you enter Madame Leota’s parlor, you hear this:

“Oogie's frightful changes, were unlike another
So ring our the bells, there's more fear to uncover!”

Here you enter Madame Leota’s chamber, which has been transformed into a roulette wheel by Oogie Boogie! This is the first room where a major music change occurs. Suddenly, the frantic music abruptly gives way to the slower, jazzier "Oogie Boogie's Song" which plays as tarot cards float from the sky and Madame Leota recites spooky incantations. Oogie actually appears in this room in full AA form, just underneath Madame Leota.

“OOGIE: On the Thirteenth day of Christmas, poor Jack lost to me:
13 rings of power, ending his reign as the pumpkin king!

LEOTA: 12 skeletons dancing, all looking forward to your end.

OOGIE: 11 Cages floating, Jack's friends all traped there!

LEOTA: 10 screaming guests, unknown to the evil that lies inside.

OOGIE: On the Ninth day of Christmas, Jack lost to me:
9 happy haunts, for at him they no longer want to laugh!

LEOTA: 8 Bugs of Knowledge, that answer with the truth that is sure.

OOGIE: 7 Pearls of Wisdom, to keep Sally bewitched to me.

LEOTA: 6 Mystic Mirrors, reflecting futures yet to be.

OOGIE: On the Fifth day of Christmas, Jack lost to me:
5 town citizens, for they are now under my command.

LEOTA: 4 Wheels of Fortune, To Spin their Rich and Golden Song.

OOGIE: 3 Special Mask, tricking all of those in need.

LEOTA: 2 Passion Potions, That Love and Romance may Succeed.

OOGIE: On the First day of Christmas, Jack Skellington lost to me:
The Mansion! This Haunted Mansion for my return to be COMPLETE!”

As you exit this room, the Ghost Host says this:

“Oogie and Jack, they finally fought, anticipation was biting;
In one felt swoop the Mansion’s history would quickly need rewriting.
And all at once, happy haunts did materialize,
Like a nightmarish painting by Currier & Ives.”

As you enter the Ballroom, you don’t only notice the Oogie Boogie-style gingerbread sculpture, but also that Jack and Oogie are fighting in the middle of the ballroom! You see that Oogie and Jack (projected onto the scene) are hanging from the chandelier (which swings their movements), weaving in between the dancers, and running across the table (where the silverware and dishes clatter when Jack and Oogie "run" over them). The song mash-up here is “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” and “What’s This?”, and even the songs seem to be in an epic battle. Of course, the occasional snippet of “Grim Grinning Ghosts” plays too, as in the whole rest of the Mansion. Jack and Oogie say the following lines:

OOGIE : “Oooh, so the great Jack Skellington wants to save his friends? I don't think so!”

“You will not stop MY CHRISTMAS!”

“This is my time, Jack! You lost!”

“Want to bet I'm winning this time?”

JACK: “Don’t you DARE treat my friends like this and ruin our Christmas!”

“Your Christmas is CRAZY! STOP!”

“This Mansion was not made for your evil biddings, Oogie!”

“Where is Sally?!?!?”

You move into the Attic, where Oogie’s worst horrors are kept. You can hear a crazy, upbeat version of only “ Kidnap the Sandy Claws”, not a mix of any other songs. Terrible spiked traps fall from the ceiling while giant playing cards with arms holding knives attempt to cut you in half and giant slot machines shoot at you. Suddenly, you notice that Sally is actually tied to the back of a coffin hanging from the ceiling, pleading for help. You see Scary Teddy chewing at the ropes tying her together in an attempt to free her. You turn and see Oogie in the Bride’s normal position, crazily flailing and… deflating. You notice that he’s half ripped open, and you can see bugs coming out of the outsides of Oogie. (Some sculpted, some projected). Wind machines make his exterior extra-wavy. You notice Jack on the side of Oogie with a string in hand pulling at Oogie’s cloth and releasing more bugs. Oogie howls in defeat (“My bugs! MY BUGS! How could you do this to me? STOP! MY BUGS!)

You exit this scene backwards, only to see projected bugs running down the sides of the Doom Buggy in front of you. You may also see Lock, Shock, and Barrel tied together and hanging from the “roof” of the Mansion swinging back and forth! They say such things as:

"I knew we shouldn't have done this!" 
"Now we're DEFINITELY on the naughty list!"
"SHUT UP all of you!" 
"This is all your fault" 
"No, it was YOUR FAULT!"
"This is SO unfair!" etc.

The Ghost Host says:

“Jack pulled a string and brought Oogie to an end,
All of Oogie's bugs away he had sent.

(In Jacks voice, you hear:) ‘Now what better gift on my friends to bestow,
Than a party in a graveyard full of white snow!’"

You enter the graveyard, all covered in snow. You hear an upbeat mix of “This is Halloween”, “What’s This?”(similar to the mix in the Finale of the Nightmare Before Christmas movie), and “Grim Grinning Ghosts”. You approach Jack (taking the Caretaker’s place as usual), in his festive attire, standing next to Zero and chatting with the coming Doom Buggies. He says:

“So, Oogie Boogie thought he could take over the Mansion, and ruin Christmas? Well, he didn't count on me interrupting!

How Splendid! Christmas is saved!

Ho Ho Ho! What's this? Oogie is gone, let’s party!

Can you believe your eyes? I finally did the right thing this time! Happy holidays everyone!

Look Zero! I think they like our Christmas!

Fruitcake anyone? Let's celebrate!

Ho Ho Ho! I really outdid myself this time! Oogie's gone and Christmas is back!

Look at all those happy faces! The Mansion is saved!

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

Ho Ho Ho! He He He! Now that Oogie's gone, it's Christmas time!

Welcome to my Christmas Celebration!

Have you been naughty or nice?”

We come to the main Graveyard, where everything has been covered in snow and festively decorated. The Citizens of Halloweentown play with the ghosts; they seem full while the ghosts remain transparent. The Singing Busts (not pumpkins, but rather with reindeer antlers on) sing with Constance & the Hatbox Ghost and the 3 Hitchhiking Ghosts standing on either side of them, getting into the holiday spirit with transparent scarves, gloves, and hats! They each hold transparent music-books, with the cover reading "Christmas Scare-ols". You can even hear the Ghost Host’s disembodied voice humming the melody here! Finally, you pass by the Mayor and Santa, having a discussion about next year’ Halloween/Christmas.

Mayor: (Sad Face) Sooo… Sandy Claws, am I on the good list? 

Santa: Ho Ho Ho! Of course!

Mayor: (Turns Happy) Oh joy! I just can’t WAIT for my presents!

Santa: But Jack IS in charge of Christmas this year, you know.

Mayor: Oh, yes! I hope he gets me that new hat that I wanted!

(Scary Teddy pops out of Mayor’s hat)

Mayor: (Turns Sad) AKK! Hey! You there! Get out! GetOutGetOutGetOut!

Santa: Ho Ho Ho!

Mayor: Why are YOU laughing?

Santa: It’s just like Jack told me: “Life’s no fun without a good scare!”

Mayor: This isn’t very fun for me!

(Scary Teddy pops back down, Mayor’s face turns Happy)

Santa: Happy Halloween!

Mayor: Merry Christmas!

Both: And a Happy Boo Year!

Mayor: Hey, Sandy Claws, do you think that I can "make Christmas" next year? I’ve got TONS of great ideas!

Santa: I don’t see why not! Unless, of course, you plan to give the children shrunken heads as presents! Ho Ho Ho!

Mayor: (Turns Sad) Never mind…

(Scary Teddy pops up out of Mayor’s hat!)

Santa: I think there’s something in your hat…

Mayor: AAK! GetItOffGetItOffGetItOff! JACK! HELP!!!!

Santa: Oh Ho Ho! It looks like the little fellow’s taken a liking to you!

Mayor: What a frightening little monster… just perfect for the occasion!

(Scary Teddy pops back down, Mayor’s face turns Happy)

You now enter the Hitchhiking Ghost Room, which has no music (as it acts as a musical buffer between the Graveyard and the Final Scene. You hear this from the Ghost Host:

“May Jack's "ghostly presents" now follow you home,
And stay in your hearts - where'er you may roam.
For now you know what happens when holidays meet,
You might get a trick, or a holiday treat!”

Now you see not ghosts following you home, but rather, presents! If possible with RFID, these presents will have large nametags that read your name. Each of the presents has a special surprise that pops out of it. Some are candies, some are creepy toys, and one or two even have Scary Teddy pop out of the boxes!

Finally, you exit this room and hear Sally’s song play instrumentally in the background. This isn’t a particularly sad rendition of the song, though; in fact, it’s sweeping and romantic. You see Jack’s Christmas attire in a pile next to the Doom Buggy’s track and when you look up above the exit area, where Little Leota is now situated, you can now see a panorama of Spiral Hill, all curled up at the top with a giant full moon behind it. Completing the scene are silhouettes of Jack and Sally holding hands and looking eye-to-eye-socket in the moonlight. Clearly, Jack and Sally go together, now and forever. 
You exit your Doom Buggies as the Ghost Host says:

“I hope you’ve enjoyed our holiday story,
Raising the safety bar is a task for me.
Exit to the left; do it in good cheer.
Happy Holidays to all and a Scary New Year.

You feel the hint of a evil still in the Mansion, though…

That’s when you notice the glowing green grafitti. It scrawls “Hurry Back” on the sides of the exit hallway, and you can also hear an echoed laugh… the laugh of Oogie Boogie. Perhaps next year he WILL get his revenge…

Team All Stars 

Season Eight, Project Two

The Haunted Mansion Holiday SpookTacular

"Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems..."

The Haunted Mansion ride and the Tim Burton stop motion animated classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas" are both instantly recognizable cult phenomenons within the pantheon of all things Disney. It is among the most renowned theme park attractions in the world, and the film practically has its very own sub-culture. Needless to say, this marriage of elements is exactly what made Disneyland's "Haunted Mansion Holiday" the roaring success that it is to this day. Having said that, it's always been somewhat of a disappointment to me that what HMH basically boils down to is just...Some Christmas decorations. I mean, yeah...there's more to the whole thing than that, but it just seems that with such a promising premise, the Imagineers never really did all that much with it besides a couple characters here and there. Granted, it was cool seeing Jack in his Sandy Claws attire in the graveyard, but where was everyone else? Well, obviously MEW and KingMickey were thinking along similar wave-lengths, as they were the ones who gave us the challenge to do a super charged Haunted Mansion Holiday to begin with. As the All Star team, we all felt a commitment to sheer quality, and detail. We wanted this Mansion to literally be the ULTIMATE best of both worlds. We went out of our way to make sure that pretty much every last detail from the movie found a place in the ride. Will it be over-doing it? Well, only time will tell, but I'm pretty happy with the ideas presented so are and am confident we'll have a pretty stellar project regardless.

Before we begin, I'd like to lay out the GENERAL idea of our Mansion. Basically, the Holiday SpookTacular is an event being put on by the Mayor of Halloween Town inside the mansion. He has invited every citizen of Halloween Town to put their own little touch on the Mansion's decor. Needless to say, Holidays do, in fact, collide. Lock Shock, and Barrel enter the picture, a long with everyone's least favorite bag of bugs Oogie Boogie, and from there the ride turns into a frantic attempt to stop Oogie and the trio's mayhem while at the same time the SpookTacular is going on within the mansion. The Mayor of Halloween Town and the familiar Ghost Host will share narrating duties. Anyways, just thought I'd lay out the general premise for you before we got started. With that in mind, let's take a tour of the ultimate clash of Disney's world famous ghost house and Tim Burton's ultimate cult classic. This is the Haunted MansionHoliday, All Star Style! 

"We'll take care of the outside, the ghosts will take care of the inside..."

As you Approach the Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World's Liberty Square, at first you can't really tell that all that much has changed. Unlike the Disneyland counterpart, this version of the Mansion will have a very "less is more" quality to presented itself from the outside looking in. Saying that, I mean there will be NO big Jack scarecrow, nothing to really call attention to the Mansion itself. The first change guests notice as they approach the gate is the large colorful banner hanging above our heads. It reads "Holiday SpookTacular" in red, blue, and green lettering, prepping us for the surprises yet to come.

In the queue itself, the scene is basically made up of a bunch of smaller details. Jack, Oogie, Sally, Finklestein, and the Mayor will all have their own unique interactive graves, a long with a Zero grave that of course would fit perfectly in the Pet Cometary. Oogie’s tombstone is shaped like a wheel and is carved to look like one of Oogie’s Wheels of Fortune which has a set of dice in the very center. The wheel is slanted upwards a bit and is placed on a small pedestal which has an epitaph carved into it. In the freshly filled burial site has multi colored bugs and snakes crawling through the dirt. Sally’s tombstone is somewhat ornate, being pretty large with borders on the sides. Though the grave seems to be crumbling with age, it’s still has some quality of beauty to it. Engraved above the epitaph is a rose which is engraved at about the only part of the grave that doesn’t have a crack going through it. Taking a cue from Master Gracey’s tombstone, Sally’s has a dead rose placed in front of the stone.

The Mayor’s grave is a bit different. At first, it appears to be a regular tombstone with the happy side of the mayor engraved into it with an upbeat epitaph underneath. Every once in a while, a clap of thunder can be heard. After the clap of thunder, guests will see the tombstone transform from the Mayor’s happy side to his sad side. Both the epitaph and the face will quickly turn sad. Doctor Finklestein’s tombstone looks like a normal, somewhat boring tombstone with the usual epitaph that the others have. The top left corner of the tombstone is made from rusted metal to serve as a reference of the top of his head being made of metal. Jack’s tombstone is the biggest of the five and is placed right next to Sally’s tombstone. His grave looks pretty normal and has his sleigh engraved into it above the epitaph.

A couple smaller details of the outside queue include scary black and orange wrapping paper hanging from the roof of the mansion and traditional NBC pumpkins adorning some of the fence posts. In addition to this, at night time guests will also be able to see shadows of various NBC characters busy at work decorating from inside the mansion. There's also a few strands of Christmas lights throughout the courtyard, but as I said, the idea is that it will be very subdued. There also won't be any "Scarrolls", but instead just a slow, creepy version of "Sally's Song" can be heard, mixed with Grim Grinning Ghosts and just a hint of This is Halloween. A quick note about the music in this attraction before we venture forward. Obviously, "This is Halloween", "What's This!", and "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts" will be the main musical themes of the attraction, celebrating both the two main holidays in the film, and of course the classic attraction itself. In addition to this, the ride's soundtrack will also blend with other Nightmare songs, overall giving guests what I hope will be a memorable orchestrated blend of music to accompany the ride. With that out of the way, let's step inside and find out what happens...

"When two holidays collide"

Stepping into the entrance foyer, the first thing that people instantly take notice of is the large portrait of Jack Skeleton hanging directly in front of us. Jack is sitting in a large armchair with a devilish grin on his face, looking stately as always in his Pumpkin King attire. In the background of the painting, there's another painting of "Holiday Hill" (or whatever the hell that curly hill thingy is called...you know what I'm talking about) with autumn leaves blowing all around it. There is also a Jack-O-Lantern sitting on a desk off to the side of Jack. A soft but strange choir can be heard as the room fills. Finally, the doors close and the narration begins. As the narration plays, the portrait of Jack slowly starts to change. His clothes slowly turn from black to red, a hat slowly begins to appear on his head, the painting gradually transitions into a winter scene on the hill, and the Jack-O-Lantern turns into a Christmas tree. You guessed it. Throughout the narration, the portrait gradually transitions from Halloween to Christmas. Gee, I wonder if this transition will be a running theme of the attraction...

Anyways, here's the narration in its entirety.

Ghost Host: When Hinges Creek in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls whenever candle lights flicker where the air is [gets cut off]
Mayor:Testing, testing, 1. 2. 3. Helloooo? Is this thing on?
Ghost Host: Who are you? And what are you doing spooking people in my mansion!?!?
Mayor: Oh Hello there, sorry about that, I'm Mr. Mayor and I'm here to talk to the guests about the Decorating competition.
Ghost Host: Oh so your the man who's been messing up the outside of my house.
Mayor: Oh no, I let Jack do that. Dont you like the way it looks?
Ghost Host: Well... Um... No.. I mean I dont really get to go out much so I'm actually not quite sure what it looks like.
Mayor: Oh that's just awful! (switches from happy to sad) You, stuck, all alone, in this huge mansion, with only these foolish mortals to ease the pain! Oh however do you survive! [Starts Bawling]
Ghost Host: I'm not so terribly lonely there are 999 mildly happy haunts that call this mansion home too.
Mayor: [Stops crying and changes suddenly back to happy] OH there ARE?!? Well then we cant have you all just sitting in here and not enjoying the marvelous decorations! Jack, Oogie! I want you two to continue your little decorating competition with the residents inside the house.
Ghost Host: Mr. Mayor, um, would you mind if I tagged along, I do love a good swinging wake now and then.
Mayor: Oh well of course! Lets get a move on then, we've got to make sure everyone's getting into the holiday spirit!

With that, the doors open and we are admitted into the stretching room. As guests enter the chamber with no windows and no doors, The Mayor, in classic HM fashion, ask guests to kindly step to the dead center of the room. The first thing guests will notice are the four large portraits which are placed around the walls which show Sally holding a small Christmas tree, Christmas Town, A large snowman being decorated by elves and last but not least, a portrait of Jack who is dressed like Santa in a snow covered pumpkin field with a large sack of demonic Christmas presents. The last picture is the most ornate with a gold frame decorated with green garland and red ribbons and is placed over the door which guests will exit through. Since the stretching room in MK doesn’t actually move, the room will stay as it is when the portraits are completely stretched though they will change as you will see later. All the lights in the room go out (save for a few blue and green lights that dimly light the portraits) as the narrators begin their narration. As the narrator is mid sentence, a loud lightning strike is heard as the unseen section above the ceiling is revealed. After the lightning strike, guests will notice that the pictures have completely changed to a Halloween theme which shows Sally holding the small Christmas tree which has now burnt up into a burning stick, Halloween Town with Oogie’s face in the moon, A ‘pumpkinman’ which is being decorated by Lock, Shock and Barrel and Jack, who is now dressed in his pumpkin king attire, in a pumpkin patch holding a bundle of shrunken heads over his shoulder as he grins manically at guests. They will also notice that the paintings a now lit by deep reds and oranges. As guests look up, they will see Lock, Shock and Barrel hanging on a rope which is slowly descending towards guests. At the end of the rope is ‘Sandy Claws’ who is being hung upside-down by his feet. As the rope stops moving, the three trick or treaters greet guests saying that they represent Oogie Boogie who has decided to crash this Christmas party starting with the kidnapping of ‘Sandy Claws’. They then tell guests to leave this room and continue to see what else Oogie has in store for them. With the lights still dim, guests pass under the now changed portrait of Jack and enter the second queue. As guests are leaving, the voices of the gargoyles can still be heard but saying different phrases that go with the Halloween vs. Christmas theme.

Here is the narration for the Stretching room

Ghost Host: Here in this gallery, we see some portraits detailing the holiday spirits you are to encounter.
Mayor: Doesn’t it just look horrible?
Ghost Host: Don’t you mean jolly?
Mayor: Oh, right.
Ghost Host: Continuing on- (Lightning Strike...)

Lock: Haunted Holidays everyone!
Shock: We’re taking over!
Barrel: It’s Oogie’s Mansion now!
Santa: This can’t be happening! (Thunder clap)

Mayor: This is just terrible!
Ghost Host: Indeed. Listen, I’ll take the guests through the rest of the Mansion. You go get that trio of pranksters. Come along now, and stay together please.
A wall opens and we exit into a hallway as we hear:
Mayor: But I’m only an elected official! I can’t do this by myself!

"Please keep all hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the sleigh"

As guests enter the short hallway between the Stretching Room and the Doom Buggies, a slow, almost eerie version of "What's This!" can be heard, combined with Grim Grinnin' Ghosts. It's important to note that even though "What's This!" is the big up-tempo number, here it will be down tempo due to the situation at hand. The four portraits hanging on the wall of this hallway will be replaced by portraits of Oogie, Finkelstein, the Mayor, and Sally (I think we've seen enough portraits of Jack for one afterlife...) They are all simply but stately and add another air of class to the NBC theme. Soon we reach a room covered in garlands, skulls, and orange, black, red and green lights. A sign on the wall reads FREE SLEIGH RIDES. Black Christmas sleighs, adorned with a killer wreath on the front, come out from behind a wall and turn a corner so that they move along the back wall. Harlequin Demon and Mr. Hyde stand between the sleighs and the queue.As guests approach the Doom Buggies, they see that each one is adorned with its own wreath on the side of the car. Hyde and the Demon are serving as safety spiel givers for the occasion.

(Spiel A)

Harlequin Demon: Hello, everyone! Are you having a good holiday?
Mr. Hyde: We hope you are, but that doesn’t mean you can just fool around in here.
Harlequin Demon: So please remain seated, keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the sleigh, watch your little boys and ghouls, and no flash pictures please.
Mr. Hyde: Refusal to follow these rules will automatically put you on the Naughty List.
Harlequin Demon: Thanks, and enjoy your tour.

(Spiel B)

Mr. Hyde: Welcome, my dear fellows.
Harlequin Demon: We hope you’re ready to see what’s in store.
Mr. Hyde: But please, we ask that you remain seated, keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside your sleigh, watch your children, and refrain from flash photography.
Harlequin Demon: Or else we’ll come after you in the dead of night! [Hyde whacks him] What?

We board our sleigh and go into the depths of the Mansion.As we pass under a staircase, we see Scary Teddy floating above us via a balloon with sharp teeth. The first room we come across is the Portrait Room. Yay, just what we need, right? Don't worry, the ride will be going past portraits very soon. The centerpiece of the Portrait Gallery will be the Zombie Band, who will be playing a lively, up tempo blend of This is Halloween mixed with Grim Grinnin' Ghosts to get us in the mix, a long with a bit of their "This is Santa Claus" rendition. Yes, I said the portraits will be PLAYING music. In Harry Potter like fashion, the Zombie band's portraits will be magically enhanced to perform for us as we make our way further into the mansion. Why are these paintings bewitched? Why not. Just go with it, because if you start questioning the logistics of everything, we could be here all night...

"Creaking doors and creaking floors..."

The first real room we come across is the library. This of course is a rather small affair, but nonetheless is starts to set the stage for characters decorating their rooms. Keep in mind that as all this is going on, the Mayor is working frantically behind the scenes with the Oogie situation. Anyways, the library's occupants are the trio of vampires from the film. One is hanging upside down, one is sitting in the famous red "Donald Duck" chair reading a book (perhaps "Dracula" or another vampire classic...), and the third is admiring himself in a hand mirror, but of course we cannot make out a reflection. The vampires have also covered the room in blood red wrapping paper, their "contribution" to the Holiday SpookTacular. The ghost host asks if we are in the mood for a good Scarroll as we move into the music room, which has been completely THRASHED by the Behemoth. Sheet music is scattered everywhere, and bent and damaged instruments lay piled throughout the room. Scary Teddy can be seen from a top a mantel in the room playing guitar. The Behemoth sits at the piano, playing the worst rendition of "Jingle Bells" you'll ever hear in your life. In addition to his contribution to the score, the main background score will at this point be a mid-tempo orchestral combination of "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts" and "The Town Meeting Song" from the film.

While the Mayor can be heard in the distance calling for Lock, Shock, and Barrel, we find ourselves going up one of many staircases. While the one we are on traditionally goes upward, others are seen traveling in other directions that defy the laws of physics. All banisters on the staircases are adorned with garlands. Spiders can be seen crawling on the steps of the other staircases. Every so often the Man Under the Stairs pops out from behind a staircase. And not just one staircase-sometimes from one, sometimes from one on the other side of the room, sometimes from the one we're on! We reach the top of the staircase and twist down a small descent in pitch darkness. Suddenly, without warning, the glowing red eyes and ground-sharp teeth of the Creature Under the Bed appear out of the darkness as it growls. We go away from it, but then it appears again! We get away again, and find ourselves at the Endless Hallway scene. This is a very simple scene where the NBC ghosts simply flash in the hallway and yell "Booo!" for a quick second before disintegrating again. We then come across the moving suit of armor. This time, however, we can hear Lock, Shock, and Barrel rustling around inside, arguing amongst themselves. Off to the side, laying on the floor is their Trick or Treat sack, which is stuffed with an animal with some pretty distinguishable long ears, that is fidgetting around inside the sack trying to get free. "What should we do with the rabbit?" Barrel asks. Shock replies by saying "Just listen to what Mr. Oogie Boogie says. When in doubt...STUFF IT!" Occasionally the helmet will lift up to reveal one of the kid's faces. As we approach the conservatory, we can make out the distinct sound of running water...

"We have to stuff him SOMEWHERE, right?"

One of the first noticeable things about the conservatory is that, instead of the classic Raven perched at one end of the room, instead there is a goldfish bowl that has become so dirty, the filth has become opaque to the point we can't see inside it. Scary Teddy pops out of the bowl wearing a mask and snorkel. The decorations adorning the walls--mostly freakishly-shaped corals, sharp sea urchins, and fish skeletons--start to come into view. The glass window in the back opens to a sea where skeletons of various sea life swim by. Undersea Gal can be seen sitting on one end of a casket. She holds a large clam that she opens to reveal a shrunken head. Skeletal hands try to pry open the other end of the casket, as it seems the inside is filling up with water. Thanks to an image-mapping effect (like seen at Snow White's Scary Adventures or ElecTRONica), water can be seen seeping out of the casket.

We continue backwards through a hall covered in red goop. Doors, all stuck shut from the goop, line the hallway. The doors seem to knock by themselves, or more appropriately, from behind. Voices, including the Mayor, are heard from behind the doors, yelling the classic "Get me out of here" lines. Beneath a small TOMB SWEET TOMB embroidery are a pair of eyes and a long, crooked nose in the goop. On the ground below these is the suit belonging to the Melting Man, which the goop seems to be coming from. We pass by a demonic clock featuring no hour but “13”. A sign to the left of the clock points towards the next room. It reads OOGIE’S LAIR. Lock and Shock can be heard arguing about the Easter Bunny, who is stuck inside the glass case of the clock. Lock comments "well, we had to stuff him SOMEWHERE, right?"

"Are you a gamblin' man, Santa?"

As guests pass the famed demon clock, they will enter right into the sceance room where Oogie has decided to set up shop with the help of Madame Leota. The first thing guests will see is the large stage in the center of the room which holds Madame Leota and Oogie. Oogie is placed right behind the table which Madame Leota floats over as he continually asks for her help, occasionally turning to talk to guests or laugh at “Sandy Claws” who is chained to Oogie’s wheel of fortune, which hangs on the back wall, where all of the spaces on it say ‘spin again’ except for one which says ‘death.’ As the wheel continuously spins, Santa occasionally asks for the guests help or yells at Oogie telling him that he’s “definitely on the naughty list.” Next to the wheel is a large lever with a small silver skull on top that Scary Teddy is dangling from occasionally pulling it to keep the wheel spinning. Leota continuously talks to the spirits of Halloween through rhyme(really similar to her dialogue in the regular ride but tweaked a bit to bring it into the story of the ride.) Under Leota on the table are Oogie’s set of bright red die that have a small orange and purple snake twisting its way through the holes of it. Hanging from the ceiling are large playing cards which each involve Oogie and other NBC characters. The king card features Oogie wearing an ornate crown and holding a scepter, the queen card is Sally with a crown of dead roses and the Joker card has Lock, Shock and Barrel in their bathtub on it. Any other card that is not a face card just have Oogie’s red dice on it instead of clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades. Right before leaving the scence room, guests pass behind a curtain which has an AA Jack Skellington, decked out in his Pumpkin King attire, hidden behind it. As guests pass him, he occasionally turns to guests and says things like: Well, I guess it’s up to me to save Santa.” When he’s not talking, he moves a bit to look over the side of the curtain to figure out his next move. After passing through the room, guests exit and enter the ballroom

Halloween is Making Christmas!

The Ballroom's decorations are overseen by the witches, who turn the whole room into a giant celebration of all things witchcraft. On the table is a large brew filled with demented gingerbread men and the like being stirred by the two witches. While on the subject of demented sweets, they decorate the room. A large tree made of real gingerbread stands in the room, which ghost dancers pass through. As we leave the area, we pass by the Mayor-his happy face on. The music in the Ballroom will be a sweeping orchestral mix of "This is Halloween", "Something's up with Jack", and of course "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts" (at this point, it's safe to say that that song will be featured in the through-line of every room's individual score). The witches cackle and hum along to the music, and there's even thunder claps emphasizing dramatic moments within the score. 

Mayor: It’s all good, folks. Oogie’s been defeated and those horrible pranksters have been detained. Come down to the graveyard; we’re having an absolutely SpookTacular celebration. (Switches to sad) just...be on the lookout for those three hooligans. Boogie's been contained, but those three could still be ANYWHERE. 

With that, we make our way into the attic, passing Finkelstein and Igor working on an important experiment. Mechanical machinery rests to our right, sparking as if about to override. As we turn a corner, we see Finklestien to our left at a lab table, on which rests some skeletal reindeer. Igor stands not far from him, holding a box of bone biscuits. Scary Teddy can also be seen in the area getting electrocuted every time Finklestien attempts to activate his experiment. 

Finklestien: Hurry up, Igor! We have little time before Jack’s sleigh ride!
Igor: Yes, master.
Finklestien: And where is that Sally? She better not be at the celebration. She’s not ready for this much excitement.
Igor: Can Igor go to celebration?
Finklestien: No! I need you here!
Igor: Aaawwwww…

As soon as you are about to exit through the window, the Clown with the Tear-Away Face comes popping out of a corner, giving the attraction its only real "scare", moment. Seconds later, however, he takes off his face and begins joking with you. Like everything in the attraction, it's all in good fun. Our goal for the clown being in the attic was to provide the scene with a proper "Hatbox Ghost", meaning a ghost with a nifty special effect that would also serve as a scary moment. I'd say the clown fulfills this role quiet well. Anyways, with that, you begin your descent into the graveyard.

"And if you three think for even a SECOND that you're making the Nice List this year..."

Leaving the lab, we find ourselves outside looking down upon the Mansion’s graveyard. Immediately catching our attention is a large, snow- and jack-o’-lantern-covered Spiral Hill as well as a moon with various things flying by it. The Ghost Host comes in again. "Well, we’ve made it. Let’s go down and join in the celebration, shall we?" We rotate and descend backwards down to the ground, passing by a skeletal rooster. Upon reaching the ground, we go by Jack, now dressed in his Sandy Claws costume and Sally.

Jack: Welcome to our Christmas delight!
Sally: Are you all having a good time?
Jack: Of course they are! It’s my Christmas!
Sally: Well…
Jack: [ignoring that] Can you believe this Sally? Never in all my years have I seen a Christmas like this!
Sally: Me neither, Jack.

We proceed into the snow-covered graveyard and where the ghostly band plays. The huge snake slithers by them. Next up is a king and queen on a seesaw while the princess daughter rocks back and forth on a swing. The swing is suspended from a branch of the Hanging Tree, which the Wolfman occasionally jumps out from behind from. After a tiny descent, we pass by five singing busts (two of which are Henry Selick and Danny Elfman) singing as the Zombie Band plays behind them. Then we see a mix of resident ghosts and Halloween Town residents having a tea party. In the back, Zero and some other ghosts are flying in a circle. In a corner by the tea party are the resident mummy and the mummy from Halloween Town chatting it up. After passing some more celebrators, we then go into a crypt.

We see Santa, now free from harm, in an alcove, scolding what appears to be Lock, Shock, and Barrel. "You three have been on my naughty list for quite some time. And you are going to stay there! No matter how many good deeds you do in the future, there is no chance that you will ever get on my good list! You three should be ashamed of yourselves. Trying to harm an innocent, old man like me? That is just unforgivable." As we leave the scene, we notice something that Santa doesn’t: the Lock, Shock, and Barrel he’s talking to are really just cardboard cutouts of the trio, supported by pumpkins. We then pass by three mirrors and see that one of them is atop our sleigh. If it’s Lock, the he holds a can of spray paint and the front of the sleigh says (in mirror image) LOCK RULEZ. If it’s Shock, she dangles a bunch of garlic above us, filling the room with a smell of garlic, and the front of the sleigh says SHOCK RULEZ. If it’s Barrel, he holds a lollipop with a spider dangling from it over our heads and the front of the sleigh says BARREL RULEZ. Leaving the mirrors, we ascend a bit towards the exit of the crypt and see Corpse Kid and Winged Demon up on a ledge.

Corpse Kid: Hurry back.
Winged Demon: Hurry back.
Corpse Kid: Be sure to bring your gift certificate.
Winged Demon: Have a Merry Halloween.
Corpse Kid: And a Scary Christmas.
Winged Demon: Come back soon.

As we pass under the two (as well as Scary Teddy, who floats above us and waves a banner saying “Bone Voyage!”), we approach the unloading belt as the Ghost Host is heard one last time.
Ghost Host: Thank you for joining us. Now I will raise the safety bar, and you may make your way back to the mortal world. Please return soon, and have a frightfully good holiday.
We disembark the sleigh and pass by a huge killer wreath as we exit out.

Hurry Back...

Well, that's our Haunted Mansion Holiday for you. Just for the record to clarify the plot...the whole Oogie thing is really meant as a subplot. Jack defeats Oogie "off screen", simply because we didn't really have enough rooms to devote to both giving each NBC character their due AND giving Jack and Oogie MULTIPLE scenes. The core of the attraction is the Holiday SpookTacular that the Mayor is pulling off. The attraction from beginning to end will have a gradual build up to it. Things start really simple in the outside queue, begin with just paintings until we hit the Library inside the actual mansion, and then from there, the scenes just progressively get crazier and more elaborate until finally the ride hits its climax at the Graveyard, which is really meant to be an utter feast for the eyes with a huge cast of Haunted Mansion and NBC characters in attendance. We hope you have enjoyed your tour of our Holiday SpookTacular and that you'll come ...hurry back... and visit us sometime soon. Until then, this has been Team All Star with Project Two.

KingMickey's Feedback: 

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween and that you all weren’t stuck inside all day having to do this project, but if you were, more power to you!

Okay, as for the project. I think both teams performed superbly well. This project was a lot harder to grade than the previous one was, most likely because they’re both very similar, but they’re meant to be that way. Sort of hard to work around some things here. I think both teams accomplished the task of overlaying the mansion in a very Nightmare-ish state. Sure, I thought both projects had its pros and cons, but both teams had their own spins on the stories, incorporated their own additions and even managed to sneak in some Haunted Mansion and Nightmare references that only a true fan would catch. So, on my behalf, I commend both teams for their outstanding work.

First, I’ll cover the All Stars’ project. I thought your mansion was very outstanding. I liked your approach to not making the mansion’s appearance into this huge extravaganza and had a much more subtle approach. Your storyline was surprisingly very different than the Wild Cards (I had always thought they were nearly identical.) Very neat task of having a competition between Jack and Oogie. However, I have to admit that I didn’t see much of a clash between them. I would have liked to see more of a feud going on there, as I don’t think it came across as well as it should have.

One more con is that I appreciated the dialogue between the Mayor and the Ghost Host, but sometimes the lines were a bit too…cheesy, maybe? Or out of character? I don’t know, regardless, something just seemed a bit off. Now, I thought you made a great use of incorporating the characters from the film. You had separate rooms for the Vampire Brothers, the Band, etc. While I thought you could have gone further with the Endless Hallway scene, kudos for tying in the monster under the stairs into the new showscene. 

I actually liked that the first and only time you actually see Oogie is in his lair scene. That scene is hilarious and is in true Nightmare style. I particularly loved how we “defeated” Oogie offscreen, that way we don’t really know how he is defeated. It’s not like he’s killed or destroyed, so it would make sense for him to come back and start messing around the mansion again, so it actually would make sense if you were to re-ride the attraction. 

I also liked that Oogie was defeated somewhat earlier on, giving the guests the time to enjoy the remainder of the attraction. I thought the remainder of the scenes just really flourished out the rest of the attraction and ended the entire experience on a good note. For this project, I’m going to give the All Stars an A, just short of an A+.

As for the Wild Cards, I thought your project was just as great. I’ll admit that I’m not really a fan of making the outside of the mansion a fiber optic and projection fiesta, purely because it wouldn’t really fit well with the rest of Liberty Square and the mansion is so visible, but I didn’t see it as a big problem. I especially loved the rhyme scheme throughout the entire attraction. I thought that it was a great addition and really carried out the whole Nightmare/Mansion feel. 

I would have liked to see more character representation. I feel like Lock, Shock and Barrel might have been a bit overused, while some other character really didn’t get their chance to shine, of course, I mean other than Scary Teddy, which both teams incorporated phenomenally. On a side, note I really liked the interaction between Oogie and Leota and Mayor and Santa, characters who virtually are never even seen together.

I liked your graveyard scene and the way the entire attraction was summed up in the Crypt area. I just really liked how the graveyard scene was staged. Very nice.

I thought one of the major cons to the attraction was that you actually saw Oogie get torn to shreds and become a pile of bugs. While I know some may thing that a Good Vs. Evil storyline always has to end with the good winning and the evil dying, that’s not always the case. I feel like defeating him in a much more non-obvious way would have been more effective. It would make re-riding the attraction have more sense, instead of killing him off, only to, really, come back again. I feel that the ending is a nice touch, having Oogie quietly planning something, making it aware that he’s isn’t exactly gone, but I feel like he just died…it’s almost too soon for him to have his revenge…again. Either way, I thought that it was the only major thing.

So, in conclusion, Team Wild Card, and MEW you’re going to hate me, I give you an A. It’s up to MEW who decides will win, based on his scores. Like I said, I thought each project had its pros and cons, but either way, presented an amazing presentation to the point where I couldn’t decide between the two. I think you should all be proud of the work that you did! Good Luck to you!

ManEatingWreath's Feedback: 


First of all congratulations to everyone. We had a rough start and somehow or another you all managed to pull through and make your way to somewhat of a victory. I really appreciate everything that all of you have done so far and can only hope you keep pressing forward with your wonderful ideas and creations. Give YOURSELVES a round of applause. :) 

I'm going to start my review off with Team Wild Card. I believe the real strong point of your project was the wonderful script. Kudos to its author(s). Somehow or another it kept a constant flow to your attraction and as KingMickey said, kept up with that Nightmare/mansion feel. Very good job with this and the rest of your attraction for that matter. Before I point out the things I didn't like, I think I'll point out my favorite things. 

I LOVED the ending. The conversation between the Mayor and Santa was if I may say so, "EPIC WIN." At first I didn't like the fact that there was green graffiti in practically every possible location, but the ending is what really saved this "almost-con." The incorporation of "hurry back" in graffiti accompanied by Oogie's laugh was not only a great nod to Little Leota, but a great nod to a possible sequel, lol. Oogie and Leota also had a nice scene together which was something new and pretty cool. The music sounded pretty creepy and seemed to stay with the theme as well. Lock, Shock, and Barrel all made great cameo appearances, and I particularly loved the Endless Hallway and Corridor of Doors. Also, you incorporated Scary Teddy nicely, which was one of the things I was looking for the most in both projects. 

Now onto some of the cons. The battle in the ballroom was okay, but I'm not sure if it really fits in with that room's atmosphere. In my personal opinion something else could have been done with this room and the battle could have been moved into another room. The fact that they were projections was pretty cool though. The Portrait Corridor could have had more potential to it as well. Think about all the possibilities for Oogie's holiday portraits: Oogie turning into bugs, a snowman melting into Lock, Shock, and Barrel stacked on each other, a regular tree turning into a tree made of creepy crawlies, etc. Also it would have been cool to have seen "Santa Oogie" piloting a sleigh led by giant mosquitoes or something, but that's just me.

All in all I really enjoyed this project (Oogie is my favorite Disney villain after all) and thus bestow it the grade of an A. It was a fine read from start to finish and has definitely set a high standard for your team to live up to. I'm really hoping you guys are able to make each project better and better as this season progresses. You shocked me and have more than likely shocked others as well. 

And now onto Team All Star. At first I was a bit skeptical about the character gravestones. But then I red about the Mayor's tombstone and...LOL! This really set a great tone for the rest of your attraction, and to me really hooked onto it. I loved the subtle decorations here and there, and it made things all the better. From the Foyer through the Stretching Room (I really enjoyed the Mayor and Ghost Host, along with the original changing portrait in the Foyer, although it reminded me a bit of an unused Marc Davis concept). The incorporation of more characters from the movie was great, and strangely enough they fit in every room they called home. I lol'd so hard for the Behemoth scene. I wish you were able to have done more with the Endless Hallway...sure the ghosts were great, but there was something there that quite frankly wasn't there if that makes any sense. Team Wild Card had an epic win with the Santa and Mayor scene and you guys had an epic win with the Conservatory. For some reason Undersea Gal's holiday involvement just really stood out to me. I want to give major kudos to whoever came up with this idea, it was great. I could totally visualize her sitting on the casket. From that point on everything else was great, the gag with Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Santa was hilarious. However there was one thing I noticed that can be considered somewhat of a clone: Lock, Shock, and Barrel in place of the hitchhiking ghosts. You did make them do something different...but nonetheless. I'm only going to take about half of a point away from your project for this, just like I did with Team Wild Card. With that in mind your project gets an A, meaning we STILL have a tie...

I could tell that both teams had a lot of fun making this, judging by the fact it was so much fun reading! It was a pleasure reading both projects, but it was not a pleasure deciding which team got second. If you could both be first you would be, honestly this probably is one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. You both did great and it really makes me sad that one of you won't be able to win. But think of it this way (This is going to be a really cheesy statement, lol)...you both won, in a spiritual kind of way. You won for getting past the chaos of last round and dishing out some killer projects. Kudos once again. But once again only one team can get first (Despite the fact you both won, lol), and that team is...Team All Star...

This was a hard decision to make and I feel kind of bummed that Team Wild Card didn't get first as well, lol. Congratulations to both teams and of course Team All Star for getting first. In my book this one of my favorite SYWTBAI projects ever (I'm talking about both of them). They both screamed (Pun very much intended) how much fun you had while making this and as I said, it was VERY fun reading them. BTW, your work has inspired me so much that I might just do my own HMH for WDW.  

No one went for the Stalfos Power this round, meaning it's still up for grabs. But there will still be an elimination this round, and a kind of no-brainer elimination. Since Team Wild Card won second, that means they will be losing their nominee, and that nominee is Hack. I'm sorry Hack2112, but you have been eliminated from Season Eight...it's a shame to see you go, even though you've been absent for the past few weeks. I'm pretty sure we were ALL looking forward to seeing what you could dish out this season. I do understand that you had some personal issues going on, so I hope and pray that everything works out for you. Good luck and I hope that all is well.