My 24 hours with the Legendary Disney Imagineers!

I've been wanting to sit down and write down my memories from the Doombuggies event for several weeks now. I had hit an all time high from that event, only to hit an all time low the next day when we got back to find that Sam had lost his job of 14 years! Needless to say, its been a rough couple of weeks, but we will be fine. Sam had been looking for a change for quite awhile and the Universe just gave him a little shove! :)

Back to good times...

Many months ago, during the planning stages of the Doombuggies.com event, I volunteered to transport the Imagineers to our swinging wake. I never thought in a million years that it would actually happen, but sure enough, as the days crept closer and closer to the event and plans were being solidified, I was contacted to fulfill my intention to transport! I couldn't believe it. It took a couple of days for me to accept that I was going to be driving X Atencio and his lovely wife to the event - that they would be in my car! In my mind, I envisioned picking up our guests, making simple pleasantries and driving the rest of the way in awkward silence. And that would have been just fine - because X Atencio, the man who wrote Grim Grinning Ghost and the script to the Haunted Mansion, the man who wrote Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me and the script to Pirates of the Caribbean, was going to be in my car! My CAR! I still haven't let my kids sit in those seats, yet! ;p

When my husband and I arrived at X's house, we were greeted by X himself! I couldn't feel my hand as I reached out to shake his. I was in such a daze. After loading the luggage, and making sure all hands, arms, legs and feet were safely inside the vehicle, we were on our way. To my total surprise, a conversation started about our kids and their grandkids and the perquisites of parenthood. But then it happened.. We let it slip that Sam and I are uber fans of Haunted Mansion. Mrs. X started talking about the Haunted Mansion and X's role in creating the Best. Ride. Ever. When Mrs. X realized that we were huge fans of the ride, she looked over to X and said, "Oh X, you'll have to show them the tombstone in the backyard when we get home." My jaw hit the steering wheel, but I was able to compose myself before they had a chance to notice the super dork driving the car.

Mrs. X had a funny story to share about the tombstone. When she and X married almost 20 years ago, the soon to be Mrs. X hadn't shared with her friends all the details about X's history with the Happy Haunts, including the displaced tombstone given to X after a remodel of the queue. You can imagine her friends' surprise as they entered the backyard for the wedding reception to find a rather large tombstone placed among the petunias in the flower bed. The maid of honor approached Mrs. X, asking if she knew what she was getting into, marrying this guy who had his former wife buried in the backyard!

Our trip to the Disneyland Resort was filled with stories from both X and Mrs. X, making our trip better than we ever imagined. Turns out X and his wife are just really nice, down-to-earth people, and were grateful for the transportation and our company! By the time we arrived at the Grand California hotel, I felt like we were old friends. We didn't think it could get any better, but shortly after arriving, we were invited to join X, Harriet Burns, Blaine Gibson, and Bob Gurr for a mixer at the Napa Rose, hosted by David O'Neal of Extinct Attractions. It was the perfect opportunity for me and Sam to meet Harriet and Blaine, since we had, just days before, been asked to drive them, along with X and his wife, home from the event!

Blaine Gibson, X and Mrs. X, at the Napa Rose mixer

Even though we both brought our cameras, both Sam and I were in too much awe to remember to use them. We managed a very few shots.. of which I'll share more when I continue the story tomorrow. 

Prelude to the Doombuggies 10th Event!

The past 24 hours have been one of the best experiences we have ever had! Here are some of the highlights:

*Sang Grim Grinning Ghost with the X Atencio, while standing in line at the Haunted Mansion.
*Saw Blaine Gibson's personal art collection in his home.
*Shared wine and cheese with Harriet Burns at the Napa Rose.



Where are my manners?!?!  I've got to thank Steve for this shot!  This is the only picture we got with both of us with X and it wouldn't have happened if Steve hadn't offered!  Thanks so much!

I will share more just as soon as I float off of cloud 999!

"Haunted Mansion" print by Jim Crouch

One of our most recent additions to our ever growing collection is the Haunted Mansion print by Imagineer Jim Crouch. This print is pretty incredible in that it showcases many of the fans' favorite characters from the mansion. I love how the duelists look more sinister, perhaps in part because they are staring more directly at you, rather than out of the corner of their eyes. The entire print has a darker feeling to it, which I love. The original oil painting is sold, but the print is still available at Disneyland, or was the last time I checked.. and at a very reasonable $35.00. I would pay that much for the double mat alone, with its custom looking design that adds to the overall drama to the piece.




Ghost Relations Dept. shared that Jim Crouch was the face of one Constance's doomed bridegrooms. Don't you just love the perks of being an Imagineer? You get to make a cameo appearance in Disneyland's most haunting attraction scene. Jim also put his work in another favorite Disneyland attraction - the Pirates of the Caribbean, in the pirate portraits that line the queue walls.

Haunted Mansion Collectibles New Look

Wow! Look what I did.

I love Google!

Haunted Mansion reopens 2008

In honor of the mansion opening today, rather than sharing a collectible, I decided to share the latest little upgrade to the mansion itself! It has been over a year since we’ve stepped foot inside our favorite tomb sweet tomb. The Mansion looked and sounded great! As I had suspected, we did find some new additions with the reopening. While not a major upgrade like we saw with the Florida refurb in 2007, sometimes its the little things that can make a big impact. The loading, unloading and upramp conveyor belts have all been given a custom, intricate scroll paint job. Much nicer than the faded directional arrows from the early days. This new walkway keeps more in character with the house, almost like a endless magical carpet inviting you in.




One other interesting note, while Sam was photographing the mansion exterior, he was approached by two young ladies, asking if they could take a picture of his tattooed legs. That's a first!

Haunted Mansion Shadow Box

Greetings Boys and Ghouls and a Haunted New Year to you all!

I've been dying to post for the new year, but was saving my post for something new and really special! Dave Avanzino announced on January 6th the much anticipated release of the Haunted Mansion shadowbox!  The item flew off the shelves at Disneyana and throughout the rest of Disneyland, leaving many Haunted Mansion fans to order theirs thru Deliverears, including yours truly!  I've been anxiously pacing my own haunted corridors for this piece to arrive and today, finally, the package materialized on my doorstep....

and it arrived broken. From what I've been reading on the various message boards, that seems to be the case when shipped.  No problem, though.  I'm just going to ship it back and hope that Disneyland restocks soon, as it is not a limited release (as of yet).  My friend, Guy, just picked one up yesterday, and must have purchased one of the remaining ones.  By the time Sam got there, they were once again temporarily sold out!

The detail is incredible and I have to say it is very quickly becoming my favorite piece.  Each letter represents an iconic piece in the mansion.  And the frame! Oh, the frame depicts the conservatory coffin with the "let me outta here" guy's hands on the four corners. Stunning!

Despite the long wait, increased price (over other Disneyland ride shadowboxes), and breaking in transit, this piece is spooktacular!


Oh, one more thing! In the few short months since this blog started, we've been getting hits from all over! So, Greetings Foolish Mortals, to our fans from the Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Spain, Norway, Brazil, and of course, all our friends here in the US! Thanks so much for stopping by and hurry baaack!

Phineas Head

Greeting Foolish Mortals!
After a short break, I'm glad to be back and with a prize of a collectible! If only it were mine!

My good friend Guy has an amazing Haunted Mansion collection, but the pièce de résistance is this fantastic Phineas head from the Haunted Mansion attraction itself!



Here's how Guy scored this amazing piece...
"About 1990 or so, a man who worked in props in the film industry had acquired a real robot ghost head of Phineas from the Anaheim DL HM. He offered to sell it to me for the unbelievable price of $60.00!! I couldn't believe it! I don't think he realized how special this item was. Fortunately, I did. So it is now one of my most prized pieces in my ever growing collection."


Some people have all the luck! Well, we're lucky enough to have these photos! Thanks Guy! This is the closest to an authentic HHG prop some of us will ever get!





Happy New Year Everyone!