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eventeers were divided into two groups. One group
had their Haunted Mansion seminar within the Enchanted
Tiki Room, while the other took place within the Hall of
Presidents (shown above). We will recap the
latter. Guests were able to pick up their
merchandise and have it shipped earlier in the day.
In the early evening, guests began to gather in
Liberty Square for the evening seminar. At the same
time, many formed a line in Liberty Square for a chance to
purchase left-over merchandise with the quantity
limitations lifted. This is always the highlight of
the evening for "Ebay powersellers", who
view these events as a money-making
opportunity.
At 7 pm, guests entered the
Hall of Presidents for the seminar entitled "The
Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdoms to the
Movies". The decorations
can be seen above. The hosts are shown below.
The vice president for WDW
merchandise, Elizabeth Boyce (above, left) was introduced
by Steven A. Miller, (above, right) ambassador for the
Walt Disney World resort. They gave a brief welcome
and then introduced the speaker for the evening: Imagineer
and author Jason Surrell (below, left).
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Mr. Surrell is authoring a
book on the Haunted Mansion, and provided an excellent
recap of the Haunted Mansion from its first conceptual
designs by Harper Goff in 1951, to the present day teaser
trailer for the Haunted
Mansion movie due out in November of 2003 (poster
shown below). Though the story behind the
Mansion is that of a retirement home for 999 happy haunts, there
are also many rumors behind the mansion. Mr. Surrell
spoke a little about these rumors and the tale of the "Blood Family." It was
said that Captain Gore (also referred to as Captain Blood
or Bloodmere), pictured above right, killed his new bride and
then hung himself. Both the bride and Captain
Blood can be seen in the attraction today. The ghost
in the "And
a ghost will follow you home..." event sculpture
also features Captain Blood. Though a little dark
for the typical Disney story, Marc Davis' renderings of
the "happy haunts" have lightened the storyline
of the attraction tremendously. For a well-written,
step-by-step history of the Haunted Mansion, visit doombuggies'
Haunted Mansion history page.
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Following
the seminar, guests headed out into Liberty Square
for various event festivities that would continue
on until midnight. With the seminar ending at
8:30, most guests headed straight for the buffet
lines.
Continue
to the Dinner |
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