Two decades ago Walt Disney Imagineers had a genius idea. Fuse the characters and concepts from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas with Disneyland’s classic Haunted Mansion. Known as Haunted Mansion Holiday, the overlay lasted from Halloween through Christmas 2001. But it proved to be so popular with guests, it’s become an annual transformation. And this year marks its 20th anniversary. According to a report from the official Disney Parks Blog, Disneyland will celebrate Jack Skellington’s anniversary in style.
The main feature of Haunted Mansion Holiday is the enormous gingerbread house in the mansion’s grand ballroom. The 999 happy haunts always dance around the room to celebrate. Meanwhile, guests smell the sweet aroma of gingerbread throughout as their Doom Buggy passes by. Every year, the gingerbread house is completely different. For the overlay’s 2oth birthday, this year’s gingerbread house will feature elements and Easter eggs from all of the gingerbread houses that came before.
Disney Parks Blog
Among the elements from past years includes the Monster House from the first-ever Haunted Mansion Holiday and the “Scary-Go-Round” house. Oogie Boogie’s creepy crawlies are present too, a nod to when he took over back in 2017. Since this year’s patchwork house is a collection of the previous year’s elements, it has the name “The Gingerbread Franken-House.” To see the complete list of which parts of previous houses received a nod in the new house, head on over to the official Disney Parks Blog.
Disney Parks Blog
Of course, Disney will have a ton of Haunted Mansion Holiday 20th anniversary merch for sale too. It includes the usual t-shirts and pins, and for this week only, in celebration of the announcement, park guests can get their very own Jack Skellington sipper at French Market and Harbour Galley in Disneyland. These are only available through July 18. And they will probably disappear fast. The 20th anniversary version of Haunted Mansion Holiday begins at Disneyland on September 3 and runs through January 2022.
Featured Image: Disney Parks Blog
