It’s the Halloween special! Chris goes through the most famous ghost stories at Walt Disney World — the construction worker haunting Pirates of the Caribbean that cast members say good morning to every single day, the bellhop at Tower of Terror’s Platform D who causes so many ride malfunctions that nobody cleans D alone at night, the little boy on the Doom Buggy at Haunted Mansion, the dolls on It’s a Small World that move when the ride is off, and the bride at the Grand Floridian who fell over the railing and is still waiting. Then Kelli takes us through the complete history of Halloween at Disney World — from “Halloween Weekend” in 1972 where the big draw was free Haunted Mansion admission, all the way to today’s $229 tickets and sold-out parties.
In this episode:
- Columbia Harbor House getting a major menu upgrade starting October 28: beer-battered fish and chips, hand-breaded fried shrimp, a new plant-based crab cake sandwich, and a Boston cream pie
- The Music of Epcot is now streamable on Apple Music and Spotify — 23 songs from classic EPCOT to modern day
- Victoria & Albert’s, Citrico’s, and Toledo at Coronado Springs all received entries in this year’s Michelin guidebook — the first time all of Florida was included. Victoria & Albert’s retained its Michelin star for the third consecutive year
- Three new Nyala calves born at Animal Kingdom — not on the savanna yet while they bond with their moms
- Quartz, a white wallaby Joey with albinism, born at Conservation Station — now appearing in Jumping Junction, where guests can walk through with the animals for the first time
- Hazel Hightower revealed as the newest member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, solving the D23 mystery contest
- The ghost of George at Pirates of the Caribbean — cast members greet him every morning and night or he causes ride problems
- Two women reportedly killed on an early Pirates malfunction still seen around the ride
- It’s a Small World: cast members see the dolls move when the ride is off, and one woman claims a doll turned its head, looked right at her, and waved
- Tower of Terror Platform D bellhop ghost — cast members refuse to clean Platform D alone; they all do it together as a group
- The elderly man with a cane at Haunted Mansion who vanishes when you approach — every cast member describes him the same way — and the playful little boy ghost who loves the graveyard scene
- The Grand Floridian bride who fell over the third-floor railing and haunts that section of the hallway to this day
- First-person account: Disney enthusiast rode Haunted Mansion as the first happy haunt of the day and had a little boy look back at him from the doom buggy ahead — except he was the only rider
- Halloween at Disney World: from “Halloween Weekend” in 1972 (free Haunted Mansion admission!) to “Saturday Night at the World Halloween Party” (1976), Halloween Hysteria 1979 ($8.95 tickets, Doctor Hook and The Police performed), CBS’s Disney’s Halloween Treat (1982), and the debut of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on October 31, 1995 for $16.95 ($17.95 at the door). By 1997 it had doubled to two nights. Today tickets range from $119 to $229
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro & Download Shoutouts (Scarborough ME, Franklin TN, Stade Germany)
5:20 Main Street News: Columbia Harbor House New Menu
7:27 The Music of Epcot Now on Streaming
8:00 Victoria & Albert’s, Citrico’s & Toledo in Michelin Guidebook
10:14 New Nyala Calves at Animal Kingdom
11:22 Quartz the Albino Wallaby Joey at Conservation Station
12:23 Hazel Hightower Revealed — Society of Explorers & Adventurers Mystery Solved
13:50 Tomorrowland: Ghosts of Walt Disney World — George, the Bellhop, the Doll & More
27:40 World Showcase: The Full History of Halloween at Disney World (1972–Today)
🔗 Listen on audio: Apple / Spotify / iHeart
📍 More from us: scfadp.com
📸 Instagram: @SCFADP
#WaltDisneyWorld #DisneyPodcast #DisneyGhosts #HauntedMansion #DisneyHalloween #MickeysNotSoScary #DisneyNews
Transcript:
Speaker 1 0:00
Super kind of super whatever the insider thing is.
Chris 0:05
Hello, out there, all you Disney fam and family and fans, welcome to another episode of the Supercalifragilistic Awesome Disney podcast. My name’s Chris,
Kelli 0:16
and I’m Kelli.
Chris 0:18
As you can see
Kelli 0:20
or hear, we’re
Chris 0:21
you’re struggling, right? I’m struggling, but if you watch us on YouTube, you might see why.
Kelli 0:26
Yeah,
Chris 0:26
because I really love my costume.
Kelli 0:29
It’s a great costume, but you just keep looking at yourself. It’s true,
Chris 0:32
like like superhero. But I look so good in superhero pose.
Kelli 0:38
You do, and you’re not even dressed as a superhero, but
Chris 0:41
but they’re basically. I’m
Kelli 0:42
just saying, but yeah, no, okay.
Chris 0:45
You, I mean,
Kelli 0:46
I know. So I’m not on topic at all. I’m not talking about sorcerer Mickey. I’m not talking about dead
Chris 0:52
eyes.
Kelli 0:52
But I know a couple weeks ago I said that pumpkin Mickey was my favorite Mickey, but really it’s sorcerer Mickey. Okay, sorcerer Mickey is my favorite Mickey. I have a stuffed sorcerer, Mickey. Okay, and so I love sorcerer Mickey, and so that’s who I am for Halloween. So if you’re watching on YouTube, you can see I’m dressed as sorcerer Mickey, and I’m totally killing it. Some
Chris 1:11
glitter freckles.
Kelli 1:12
I do have glitter freckles because I went to slumber party last night. But so I’m totally, I’m totally killing it, sorcerer Mickey. And you are a Jedi, honey. Who in the world would listen to this?
Chris 1:28
Your source, Mickey. I’m a Jedi. We’ve got a Disney podcast, and we’re talking about either of those things. No, no. Today is a very special Halloween episode.
Kelli 1:36
I know it’s a special Halloween episode, but who’s listening to us? That was me giving you a second. Oh, that was a cue. That was a cue. Who is listening to us?
Chris 1:43
You actually want to know? Sorry, folks in Scarborough, Maine. Look,
Kelli 1:50
okay, that sounds fun.
Chris 1:51
This is a beautiful seaside town. Several gorgeous beaches, including some popular for surfing. But there’s one attraction in this town that trumps all other attractions. Okay.
Chris 2:04
Lenny the moose at Len Libby’s Candy Shop.
Kelli 2:08
Is he a real moose?
Chris 2:10
Well. Okay. Unveiled on july 1, 1997. Lenny is a life-sized moose. So yes, life-size.
Kelli 2:19
Okay. Life-sized moose.
Chris 2:20
Made of 1700 pounds of milk chocolate, standing in a pool of water that is actually just white chocolate tinted with blue food coloring.
Kelli 2:31
Wait a second, July what what year?
Chris 2:34
july 1, 1997.
Kelli 2:36
That that chocolate mousse has not melted since 1997.
Chris 2:41
I think he might be indoors.
Kelli 2:44
Oh, I was like, that is crazy. What did they do to stabilize that chocolate?
Chris 2:51
I don’t know.
Kelli 2:52
That’s insane.
Chris 2:53
We’ve got a picture of him. We’ll put up. He’s you can’t eat
Kelli 2:56
him. Let me see. It’s Lenny’s. Got a name. He’s straight out of chocolate. I saw
Chris 3:03
somebody online. Some source was calling him knobby, and I don’t like that. I don’t like that. Winnie makes a lot more sense. I was just
Kelli 3:08
thinking about that guy on the the socials that makes everything out of chocolate. Well, he always those he eats it afterwards. He takes like a big bite out of it. Maybe they
Chris 3:17
made two, but then that would really be sad for when he had a partner, and I don’t have partner, got to have three. You had to make three.
Kelli 3:25
Don’t name the third one. All right, Lenny the Moose, Frank Scarborough. Yes.
Chris 3:33
Oh yes, Scarborough, Maine.
Kelli 3:34
Welcome, welcome, all you fine folks.
Chris 3:37
Franklin, Tennessee, named for Ben Franklin, home to about 85,000 folks, including an impressive list of celebrities: Carrie Underwood, Justin Timberlake, Brad Paisley, and his wife Kim Williams Paisley, the actress; Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Alan Jackson, Kathy Lee Gifford, Amy Grant, Vince. Wow! I mean, it just goes on. A lot of Nashville folks is pretty close to Nashville.
Kelli 3:57
Okay,
Chris 3:58
so yeah,
Kelli 3:59
wow, that’s cool.
Chris 4:00
Big list of famous folks.
Kelli 4:01
Huge,
Chris 4:02
and somebody that was playing quarterback last night in a football game. I saw also
Kelli 4:05
from Franklin, Tennessee. Okay,
Chris 4:07
yeah. Okay, Stade, Lower Saxony in Germany. Stade. S T A D E, and it rhymes with Blade. I looked it up.
Kelli 4:16
Okay.
Chris 4:18
Okay. I was I was on it yesterday. Today.
Kelli 4:20
Not so much.
Speaker 2 4:21
Yeah.
Kelli 4:21
Okay.
Chris 4:22
Lower Saxony, Germany, beautiful historic town, about 45 kilometers west of Hamburg. First mentioned, and we. I only brought this up because while I was looking for these other like the founding dates of these other towns, sometimes I’m like, oh, 1700s. Wow, that’s impressive. No, this town was first mentioned in records in 934, like just three digits, and was formally recognized as a town in 1209. And you remember that time we went to Helen, Helen, Georgia? Yeah, yeah,
Kelli 4:56
yeah, yeah.
Chris 4:57
Town looks like that, although I guess Helen, Georgia. Georgia looks like that town.
Kelli 5:01
Helen, Georgia definitely looks like that town. Yeah. Yeah. So,
Chris 5:04
so it’s beautiful, beautiful little town, and we’re just we’re you know we’re huge in Germany. Well,
Kelli 5:09
we basically been there then because I’ve been to Helen, Georgia, several times. That’s
Chris 5:14
so insulting to the people of state.
Kelli 5:17
I’m so sorry, Germany. Welcome, state Germany.
Chris 5:20
Yeah. You want to talk about the news?
Kelli 5:21
Let’s do the news
Chris 5:24
thing. Columbia Harbor House already an underrated dining, quick service dining destination.
Kelli 5:31
It is. I really love eating on their second floor, looking out the windows, looking out the windows, get a window seat on the second floor of Columbia Harbor House. Yeah,
Chris 5:38
because and it’s a much bigger place. It holds a lot more people than you think it does. But that that little strip where me and my mom used to eat Monte Cristo sandwiches. I
Kelli 5:47
know.
Chris 5:47
Well, they’re they are finding their fried fish roots. Okay. Starting in just a few days, october 28, they’ll begin serving beer battered fish and chips. They should have always had that. Yeah. Hand breaded fried shrimp with fries and a new you’re you’re gonna love this a new plant based crab cake sandwich
Kelli 6:12
crab with a K I guess maybe no thank you but
Chris 6:17
all of them looked good and delicious but I mean, come on, we come for the fish and chips.
Kelli 6:23
Gosh,
Chris 6:25
yeah, we do.
Kelli 6:26
I know. I mean, to the crab cake, I’m still thinking about it.
Chris 6:30
Okay. Well, look, they’ve also got here. Here’s really what’s going to bring me in the door. They’ve also got a new Boston cream pie. Okay. Yeah. And it is just so lovely and delicate and scrumptious looking. I just had to have it. I don’t think I’ve ever put together. Is Columbia
Kelli 6:46
Harbor House supposed to be like from the Northeast? Is it supposed to be representative of Northeast?
Chris 6:50
That’s in Liberty Square there. Oh, I’ve never. I’m today years old. You know, I think this is probably geography adjacent. It is,
Kelli 7:02
and I don’t have a PhD in geography.
Chris 7:05
Yeah, yes, Columbia Harbor House.
Kelli 7:08
Okay,
Chris 7:09
all all that’s like New Englandy.
Kelli 7:11
Well, then they really should have had more New England type food on the menu. It’s kind of a shame. Well, they had
Chris 7:18
well, they had lobster roll. I had lobster roll with this crab
Kelli 7:20
cake.
Chris 7:21
I know you don’t, but when we went there, I had their lobster roll. It was good. Okay.
Kelli 7:26
Was it real lobster?
Chris 7:27
Yeah, I feel like. Okay. Okay. You can now stream the music of Epcot on Apple and Spotify. It’s literally an album called The Music of Epcot.
Kelli 7:38
Oh, fun! Yeah, yeah. It’s
Chris 7:40
23 songs from classic Epcot to Modern Times. Think of like the the music you hear as you’re going into that the Arrival Plaza there at Spaceship Earth, that kind of music. But also then like music from rides like Soarin and Remy’s Adventure and all that fun stuff.
Kelli 7:55
Okay, all right.
Chris 7:57
Yeah, so that’s good. I did it yesterday. It was nice. It
Kelli 7:59
was nice. Okay, good.
Chris 8:01
Yeah, Victoria and Alberts got you know got a star a few years ago, a Michelin star. Right, right. Well, Victoria and Alberts, Citrico’s, and Toledo, which is over at the Coronado Springs Resort,
Kelli 8:16
okay,
Chris 8:16
all got entries into this year’s Michelin restaurant guidebook. They didn’t all get stars, but they did all get entries, and it’s the first time that all of Florida was included in Michelin’s rating system. And Victoria and Albert did retain their star for the third year in a ref.
Kelli 8:37
Don’t we say Michelin?
Chris 8:40
I think somewhere they do. Just don’t think people that grew up in South Carolina do.
Kelli 8:44
I think that’s how Stanley Tucci pronounces it. Michelle Lane. Michelle.
Chris 8:48
It’s still a tire company. I mean, it’s really the tire company. Is it the tire company? It is really the tire company. What
Kelli 8:53
actually? You know, I’d love to do a deep dive on that sometime as to why a tire company. Why I know the answer. I know you do. I know the answer. I’m saying sometimes. I know the answer. I’m throwing it out there. I know the answer. Sometimes, but like, why a tire company would be known? Feels like
Chris 9:08
when a guy really, really, really wants to mansplain, but he can’t, and he just don’t. We’re on we’re on
Kelli 9:13
time limit, honey. I’m sorry, you can’t mansplain. Yeah, hold it in.
Chris 9:18
So they did retain their star anyway. They’re using the their plaques from being entered into the Michelin guidebook and still having their star for all three restaurants. They they just arrived. This all was announced in May, but their plaques came okay, like to display. Okay, and Disney’s using it as an opportunity to to honor the chefs and the team members to help create the magic there at those places. We should go to Citrix Coast. I just keep hearing really great. I’ve heard good things about Citrix,
Kelli 9:45
and you and I are both fans of Vicky and Al. I mean, we did one of our first episodes in the pod was Vicky and Al. I still have the the menus.
Chris 9:54
I know from when we went to Vicky and Al. Yeah, that’s special. And that was before it was Michelin starred.
Kelli 9:59
I know.
Chris 10:00
They’ve also had a AAA five diamond award since 2000. Anna Forbes Travel Guide five star award since 2018. Okay, and no other Florida restaurant has all three of those things.
Kelli 10:10
Wow, Vicky and Al’s. Okay, yeah, well,
Chris 10:14
babies all over the place at Animal Kingdom.
Kelli 10:16
Oh,
Chris 10:17
three new Nyala calves. They’re not on the savanna yet. While they spend time bonding with mom, but we’ll have a picture of those and everything. They’re just stinking adorable. The they they all have little white stripes that help them hide from predators as babies. They lose the stripes. They get a little bit darker, and the boys grow tall spiral horns.
Kelli 10:39
Ooh.
Chris 10:41
So we but we don’t know if these are boys or girls or their names or anything yet. We’re still very early days.
Kelli 10:46
Why do the white stripes help them hide? I would because they
Chris 10:50
they they’ll hide down in the brush. Their their their brown fur is lighter when they’re younger, and the white stripes. See, I feel now like I’m mansplaining.
Kelli 10:58
Yeah, I do a little bit too, and I don’t think you’re right about this. I don’t think white helps you hide
Chris 11:03
in their environment. It does. I read that. I read that as part of why they have white stripes. I thought you might ask.
Kelli 11:14
Okay. Well, whatever. I do want to make sure they stay, you know, safe for what happens. I think they’re
Chris 11:19
pretty safe right now.
Kelli 11:20
Okay,
Chris 11:21
Quartz. A sweet little wallaby Joey was born with albinism. She’s already showing up in Jumping Junction, a section of Conservation Station that used to be like the former affection section. You could yeah. Well, the wallabies, the red and the gray kangaroos, are in jumping junction and they’re they’re just starting this year a program where you can actually walk through that section with the animals. You can’t touch them, but you can walk. You know, you’re scared because you think those kangaroos are going to come at you.
Kelli 11:53
Well, but I would also really want to touch them. I
Chris 11:56
know you would. I know you would.
Kelli 11:58
I’d be like that one wants to hug me, especially especially when you
Chris 12:01
see little baby quartz,
Kelli 12:02
right? I would want to hug them so bad, but kangaroos will scratch your eyeballs out. Yes, and their and their pouches are not fuzzy on the inside. Don’t Google that. Don’t Google that. Their pouches are not fuzzy on the inside. Do not Google that. Wow,
Chris 12:24
Hazel Hightower was revealed as the newest member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. She’s daughter of notorious SCA member Harrison Hightower III. This is a cue to we we need to do a deep dive on the Society of Explorers
Kelli 12:39
and
Chris 12:39
who they are. You do, yeah. That’s definitely a you segment for sure.
Kelli 12:43
So this was all
Chris 12:45
part of the contest that started at D 23 this year when an artifact was found to be stolen from a box, right? And they they put out all these clues to try to get people to figure out who did it. And
Kelli 12:57
it was Hazel.
Chris 12:58
It’s Hazel Hightower. Did
Kelli 12:59
who found that? Did somebody like win the prize or whatever?
Chris 13:02
I love that though. Jazz hands,
Kelli 13:05
Nikki jazz
Chris 13:07
hands. So, yeah, I don’t. There’s there’s another there’s another riddle out there too that came that she brought as she was outed, right? Oh, because she wrote a whole letter and everything. It’s it’s a whole thing. Okay, they they didn’t skimp on this contest or the results and all that. They’re they’re really pushing it. Okay. There’s some that might coincide too with like the Disney Plus TV show they’re they’re supposedly developing around SCA.
Kelli 13:34
Okay. Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. Okay.
Chris 13:37
All right. So who’s doing Tomorrowland? Me. I’m doing Tomorrowland. Ready? You ready for tomorrow?
Kelli 13:41
Dear God, did you have caffeine this morning?
Chris 13:45
Yeah, I’ve got it over here beside
Kelli 13:46
me. I’m worried about it. I’m worried about what was in that. So tomorrow
Chris 13:52
land. All right. So we’re it’s spooky season. Spooky season. This will be our episode right before Halloween, and so four years ago, almost to the day, we released on October the 23rd, 2022. We released an episode where I talked about three ghosts at Disneyland.
Kelli 14:12
I remember that one. There’s a redheaded ghost,
Chris 14:15
and there’s one that gets on the spaceship. No, no, space mountain. Space mountain.
Kelli 14:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They can
Chris 14:22
ride with you there. Yeah, two seaters. I
Kelli 14:23
know it’s so great.
Chris 14:24
Okay, so we’re going to talk about the ghosts of Walt Disney World.
Kelli 14:31
Okay, so exciting,
Chris 14:32
and it’s in Tomorrowland because I’ve never seen one of these ghosts.
Kelli 14:35
Okay,
Chris 14:35
hope I do.
Kelli 14:36
Love it. I
Chris 14:37
sort of hope I do. Okay,
Kelli 14:40
I definitely do.
Chris 14:41
First, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Kelli 14:45
Of course, there’s a ghost on pirates.
Chris 14:47
Of course, there is. Of
Kelli 14:48
course, there is. Okay, tell me about it.
Chris 14:50
George and I’m calling George and the two ladies, although they’re not really related to each other. So lore says that during the construction of Pirates of the Caribbean, there was a young wealth. Who fell and from some scaffolding or whatever he was working on and died. Name was George. Probably considered by the cast members the most famous and well-known ghost at Disney World.
Kelli 15:16
Okay.
Chris 15:17
Okay. So you can see him in lots of different places apparently throughout the attraction and behind the scenes, but especially in the room world when the town’s on fire, supposedly that’s where
Kelli 15:30
that’s where George is where
Chris 15:32
it happened. But where the dog is holding the keys, supposedly there’s a door somewhere in that room that the cast members refer to as George’s door because he’s so often seen there, and the cast members will report that he’s seen in the control room sometimes, and that if he’s not respected, he’ll cause problems with the ride. And so cast members show up every day and over the PA system they say good morning, George, and then before they go, they leave at night. They say good night, George.
Kelli 16:03
Oh my gosh!
Chris 16:05
Yeah, the two ladies have been supposedly seen in and about the ride. Suppose Lore says that an early ride, like right after it opened, the it was going down the drop, it jumped the tracks. These two women flew out and got killed, and that you can still see them around the ride from time to time.
Kelli 16:27
Okay,
Chris 16:28
so that’s Pirates of the Caribbean.
Kelli 16:30
Okay,
Chris 16:31
all right. I
Kelli 16:31
mean that kind of be a cool place to haunt. It
Chris 16:33
would be a cool place to haunt. I mean it’s probably second best. I don’t want to die
Kelli 16:37
at Disney, but it would be a kind of a cool place to haunt.
Chris 16:42
Yeah, I
Kelli 16:42
could get down with that.
Chris 16:43
I mean, yeah, be a good place for ghosts, and it’s a great place for ducks.
Kelli 16:47
Yeah, no, if you’re a duck, that’s the place. Try to find your
Chris 16:50
place there. Try to get in that. Try to get in that. Get in that HOA. You’re really doing good. All right, this one creeped me out. Living dolls on it’s a small world, creepy, real creepy, already creepy. Many cast members have claimed to see the dolls move even when the ride is turned off. One lady though has a truly horrific story. Oh no! When she was 10 years old, the ride began to malfunction, and the music slowed down and then sped up in a really unusual way. Then the lights went out, leaving everybody in pitch dark blackness, and all you could hear was children screaming.
Kelli 17:34
Of course.
Chris 17:36
When the lights came on, this lady claims that one of the dolls turned its head, looked right at her in the eyes, and waved, and then went back to normal. She swears by it.
Kelli 17:52
Oh my gosh!
Chris 17:53
Yeah, I know that’s a good one.
Kelli 17:56
Do you think that woman’s ever been on that ride again in her life? That’s a good question.
Chris 18:00
Tower of Terror bellhop.
Kelli 18:05
Okay, it’s a good one.
Chris 18:08
Supposedly, in the early days of the ride, a cast member was working platform D. Now, if you’ve ever been on the ride, you go through the lobby, you go through the library,
Kelli 18:20
yep,
Chris 18:21
and then you end up in the boiler room. Yep, right. The boiler room is where which way to go. Choose your own adventure. Choose your own. Yes, and there are four ride platforms.
Kelli 18:30
Yeah,
Chris 18:30
A, B, C, D. D is the farthest to the right. Yep. This bellhop was working platform D when he had a massive and sudden heart attack and died, But they say he’s still working platform D, and if he gets ornery, he starts messing with that ride system. So cast members will say that D goes has issues way more than the other three. I was about to say
Kelli 19:00
I don’t know that I’ve ever ridden. I don’t think we’ve ever
Chris 19:02
been on D. I don’t think D
Kelli 19:04
has ever been operational when we were there. Even
Chris 19:06
maybe we know why now. Like
Kelli 19:08
even on a busy day, I think the most I’ve ever seen is A, B, and C. I don’t think I’ve ever. I don’t think I realized there was a D. Well, the
Chris 19:15
cast members they all have you know duties when the park closes at night, right? How they have to just get things set for the next day, but cast members, you know, so like the people that work A, they’ll take care of A and B, you’ll take care of B and C, but nobody does D at the end of the night by themselves. They do A, B, and C, and then they all do D as a group. Really? Just to you know, keep that that guy with the bad heart from messing with him.
Kelli 19:47
Oh gosh! So he’s angry about it. Yeah.
Chris 19:50
Yes.
Kelli 19:50
He’s not a happy ghost.
Chris 19:52
Angry about it. Okay. Haunted mansion. Woo!. Pawn and mansion. Cast members regularly see an elderly man walking with a cane, and he’s always alone. Like regularly, I’ve looked at that word like three times. Like regularly, you you see him regularly.
Kelli 20:16
Regularly, because
Chris 20:17
I mean, they could say they see me there regularly. Any cast members who have tried to approach him, like sir, can I help you? He immediately vanishes, and every one of them has always described him the same way. He’s an elderly man, looks very similar to what everybody else says, and always has a cane.
Kelli 20:38
Like, is he? He’s wearing same outfit. Same
Chris 20:40
outfit, looks like same same old man with a cane, and always vanishes. And you ask him
Kelli 20:45
if you can help him, and he vanishes. Vanishes.
Chris 20:48
There’s also supposed to be a little boy ghost
Kelli 20:55
that is
Chris 20:56
that just loves the haunted mansion and loves playing. Oh
Kelli 21:00
yeah,
Chris 21:00
in the haunted man for sure, right? Just loves to play inside. Oh my gosh, that
Kelli 21:05
would be
Chris 21:05
yeah,
Kelli 21:06
that would be goals. Especially
Chris 21:08
loves the when the the jump scares through the graveyard scene. Yeah, loves hanging out there.
Kelli 21:12
Absolutely.
Chris 21:13
So, one of the guys that that from Disney Disney worldenthest.com, I got I got was one of the sources for these stories, and orlandohaunts.com was another one. But the guy that wrote the Disney World Enthusiast story said he’s like, “Look, I don’t believe in ghosts,” and frankly, the whole idea of it freaks me out.
Kelli 21:37
But
Chris 21:38
but I do. He did have a story of his own. So he rope dropped one morning. This has been a while back, and he was like, since incredibly rope dropped. I mean, he was like right at the front. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said that he got he was he was walking through Liberty Square towards by the Columbia Herald Rail, and towards Haunted Mansion, and he was like, “I cannot believe how alone I am right now. Like, like there is nobody with me going this way at Rope Drops.” There was a bunch of people that went straight through Fantasyland or Tomorrowland or even Adventure Land, but he’s like, “Nobody, nobody went this way with me.” And he’s like, “So I’m I’m by myself, and there’s a cast member standing out front of the haunted mansion. They waved me through. I think nothing of it. I was so early, he says, that they like the stretching room was still was like open all the way through. Like I could go right right through the lobby, you know, the foyer, right into the stretching room, and I he could he was like, I could walk right out the back of the stretch to the loading area, right? He’s like, so I stood in the in the stretching room for a bit, wondering if you know what’s going on here. Still haven’t seen anybody else except for that one cast member, and he’s like, so after a few minutes, I decided, okay, I’ll just go into the loading platform, and there was a cast member there, who says, “Welcome, you’re the first happy haunt of the day.”
Kelli 23:07
Okay,
Chris 23:07
right. Enjoy being the first happy haunt of the day. So he gets in his doom buggy, and right before they turn, you know how whenever you’re going into this hallway, and then they turns right, but right now he can still see the doom buggy in front of him.
Kelli 23:25
Yeah,
Chris 23:26
and a little boy sticks his head out from around the side of the doom buggy and looks back at him and his and just waves.
Kelli 23:35
But he’s the first happy haunt of the day.
Chris 23:37
But he’s the first happy haunt of the day. How is that possible? So he’s like, okay, I was freaked out a little bit, especially after we turned around, and I know that the kids behind me behind you now, yeah, right. But went through the rest of the ride, nothing on you know weird happened the whole rest of the ride.
Kelli 23:57
Okay,
Chris 23:59
but when I got to the end of the ride, the cast member that was there waiting said, “Did you did you enjoy being the only happy haunt, the first happy haunt of the day?” He’s like, “Oh yeah, the other one told me that too.” But there was a kid that was on in front of me, and the and the guy was like, “What are you talking about? No kid, just a mischievous little ghost,
Kelli 24:23
and so he, the dude, still doesn’t believe in ghosts. I mean,
Chris 24:25
I feel like I would believe in ghosts. I feel like
Kelli 24:27
you got to believe in ghosts at that point, right? That feels ridiculous to not believe in ghosts at that point.
Chris 24:33
Now, little bonus one here. I saw a video. There’s there’s a lady on one of the platforms that talks about these things, and she says there is a ghost of a bride that haunts the Grand Floridian in the main building.
Kelli 24:51
A bride that got married there. A
Chris 24:53
bride that got that was that was getting married at Disney, and she fell over the rail and died. And so now, there’s like on the third floor of the main building, like when you’re in the lobby area, that like there’s a there’s a section of the hallway up there that cast members try to avoid at all costs
Kelli 25:14
because that’s where that brag was because that’s
Chris 25:16
where she was and they and they see her surprisingly.
Kelli 25:20
Do you think her husband pushed her over the rail?
Chris 25:23
I mean, maybe, but I feel like before we need to see what she might have said before that.
Kelli 25:29
I think it was probably his fault. She’s just waiting for him to show up with some other bride. She’s gonna take them both out. Come back here, big man. Bring another ride. Better go
Chris 25:44
to Bay Lake.
Kelli 25:45
Go push you right to the Crocs. You better go to Bay
Chris 25:49
Lake. So yeah, those are the those are the ghost stories. Now, to be clear,
Kelli 25:54
all
Chris 25:55
those stories of death and damnation. There’s no documented proof that any of those people actually died the way this before. Yeah, well,
Kelli 26:06
I mean, why would
Chris 26:07
you why would you publicize it if you you know?
Kelli 26:09
I mean, Disney’s got a way of covering that stuff, huh? You know what I’m saying? I do know what you’re saying. They got they got they got tunnels that go underneath. You know what I’m saying? They got tunnels. You got any bodies you could push through that thing before somebody catch y’all? The the
Chris 26:25
guy, the old man at at the Haunted Mansion, supposedly is a guy that that crashed his plane into Bay Lake in the 40s, and his ghost just wandered the swampy marshland areas of Bay Lake until Haunted Mansion was built, and he thought, “Oh, I’m a haunting. That’s that’s where I
Kelli 26:51
need to be, right there.” Oh, so he didn’t. He wasn’t working. He wasn’t a cast member working. No, this was just a
Chris 26:56
ghost in the area that somebody finally built a house for. Wow. Otherwise, there’s no. I don’t know why I waited around 30 years. You know. Well, then we should know
Kelli 27:06
his name.
Chris 27:07
I feel like that. We
Kelli 27:08
should know his name.
Chris 27:09
Well, as you just you know said, Disney clearly covered it up.
Kelli 27:14
Covered that up. Paid his family off. Whatever. They’re
Chris 27:17
probably they’re probably creating Seven Seas Lagoon from this their Bay Lake, and they found his plane. Oh, we got to cover this
Kelli 27:24
up. You know how Disney ghosts and corruption, ghosts and corruption. They go hand in they go hand in hand, don’t they?
Chris 27:34
So that’s my ghost stories for Walt Disney World. I think there’s some over in Epcot too, but we might save those for another Halloween.
Kelli 27:40
Okay, awesome! I love it. I love it so much. You
Chris 27:43
ready for the World Showcase? I
Kelli 27:44
am. I’m ready. So, World Showcase, we are doing the history of Halloween celebrations at Disney, and mostly Disney World. Okay. So, you know, a lot of us remember Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party because that’s what’s going on right now, and it’s been going on for quite some time, but we don’t really think about how that got started, where where we began. So the first Halloween celebration was called, and wait for this. The title is rock solid: Halloween Weekend.
Chris 28:17
Whoa!
Kelli 28:18
They really imagined that one hard. The Imagineers go crazy, right? This is why.
Chris 28:24
This is why they get all that. That was
Kelli 28:26
in 1972, and that was at Magic Kingdom. They promoted Halloween weekend on October the 28th and 29th.
Chris 28:34
Okay, so that that makes sense. It opened the park opened on October the first, one year prior to that.
Kelli 28:39
Right. Okay. So this is 1972, and so at the time, each attraction still required a separate ticket. Oh wow! Right, so it was like a fair. You had tickets to the individual attractions, and so the big draw for the weekend was you got free admission to Haunted Mansion. Oh, nice! Isn’t that nice? That’s fun, right? So the event also included some magic shows, character appearances, and screening of the Legends of Sleepy Hollow.
Chris 29:07
Oh, so it was
Kelli 29:08
it was it was mildly spooky. That continued for 1973 and 1974, two nights per year. Right, just the two nights a year. In 1976, they hosted Saturday night at the World Halloween Party. I really should have workshopped that one. Right. I actually think Halloween weekend was better. This was called
Chris 29:30
like it was called Saturday night
Kelli 29:32
at the World Halloween Party, and that one offered extended operating hours and a special theme.
Chris 29:38
Okay. All right. That
Kelli 29:39
was they really should have worked sharp sharp the work sharped that they should have worked sharped that at the time Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village which is now Disney Springs obviously that opened in 1975 so right around that same time area and they began. Hosting an annual Halloween party there at Lake Buena Vista.
Speaker 3 30:02
Okay.
Kelli 30:03
Okay. So there was there was some stuff going on. There was a costume contest.
Chris 30:06
Okay.
Kelli 30:07
Disney’s always wanted to include costumes, but it’s really tricky because of security reasons. Right. You got to be careful with stuff like that. People go crazy. In October of 1979, that’s when we renamed the event to Halloween Hysteria. That’s also when it first became a separately ticketed event at Magic Kingdom. So Halloween Hysteria 7979. It was part of a larger promotion called the World Series of Entertainment, and it was separately ticketed, and they brought famous musical talent to the park.
Chris 30:46
Okay,
Kelli 30:47
so it was part of a bigger thing, but they called that one specifically Halloween Hysteria, and I think that’s really the first time they did a better job with the name.
Chris 30:56
Okay,
Kelli 30:57
I think maybe we gave some thought to that. Anyway, that event took place from 9pm. to 1:30am. So it was a good time, and it included a magic show and entertainment from Doctor Hook and the Police. Okay, right? Great tickets. You want to take a guess at how much tickets were? It’s my favorite.
Chris 31:18
$17,
Kelli 31:19
$8.95. Wow! We go we go hit the inflation bullet point in just a second. I said $18,
Chris 31:30
and I was couldn’t have been more wrong. I was
Kelli 31:32
$8.95, and it was popular, but it didn’t return every year. Just wasn’t quite that popular. But there were still some Halloween festivities that took place at the resorts, like some of the resorts offered candy and trick-or-treating events and things of that nature. In 1982, CBS broadcasted Disney’s Halloween Treat, so it was the first broadcast event. It was a 60-minute special narrated by Hal Douglas as a Jack O’ Lantern puppet. Puppet.
Chris 32:04
Oh, okay.
Kelli 32:05
The film featured a variety of clips from from classic feature and short films, including characters like Madman Mim, Mad Mada Mem, Cruella Deville, and Snow White’s Evil Queen. I don’t know Mad Madame Mim.
Chris 32:21
She’s from Sword in the Stone.
Kelli 32:23
That’s a hard name to say. Mad Madam Mim. I think she
Chris 32:25
was Sword in the Stone. Let me know if I’m wrong. I’m sure you will. I’ll find out later.
Kelli 32:28
Yeah. So that was on CBS 1982. A year later, they launched. Wait for this, a Disney Halloween. Ooh, really? They were really workshopping some of these words, you know. Also, using Hal Davis to narrate, clips of Snow White’s Magic Mirror were re-edited and used in the film as well. And then there was a cameo by Michael Eisner.
Chris 32:55
Okay, right. It’s all these names are giving adventure. You know, they like to give adventure to every new attraction in the park.
Kelli 33:02
But you could tell there weren’t there nothing really stuck, right? It was we’re gonna try this, we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do this, this, this, this. Hey, this year let’s do blah blah blah. Let’s try this. See if it see
Chris 33:12
if it sticks to the. Okay,
Kelli 33:13
so do you know the year that Mickey’s Not So Scary debuted?
Chris 33:18
I’m gonna guess it’s way before I think, because I think maybe like in the late 90s,
Kelli 33:25
1995.
Chris 33:27
Okay,
Kelli 33:28
yeah. So it was October the 31st of 1995 is when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party debuted. So on Halloween night, tickets cost what? 1995. What do you think tickets cost for Mickey’s Not So Scary?
Chris 33:46
$25.
Kelli 33:48
$16.95. I would be
Chris 33:51
terrible at Price Is Right
Kelli 33:53
in advance.
Chris 33:54
Oh, if you
Kelli 33:55
bought it at the door, it was 1795. What
Chris 33:57
you could save $1?
Kelli 33:58
Well, and they still had tickets at the door. That doesn’t happen anymore. I guess that’s a fair point. That’s not a thing anymore. They still
Chris 34:06
had tickets at the door
Kelli 34:07
by 1997. So only two years later, the event had doubled to two nights, and and a special parade. What I mean? Can you just imagine how much has changed since then? Right,
Chris 34:25
30 years.
Kelli 34:25
The event obviously has continued to expand in all ways, and today it takes place over the course of nearly two months. Select nights in August through the first night of November. Ticket prices have changed quite a bit. Do you know the range of Mickey’s Not So Scary ticket prices today?
Chris 34:46
I’m going to say 189 per adult, 179 per child.
Kelli 34:53
They range depending on the day, right? Some days are more expensive than others. You are not a. Capitalist at heart, honey. You got no idea how to price things. Some days are more expensive than others, and the range goes from $119 to $229 for the evening. Yeah,
Chris 35:16
mine was the average.
Kelli 35:18
So a few other special things to note since then. So Mickey’s not so scary has been a mainstay since then. Obviously, has expanded to months long celebration. Yeah, and I blame pumpkin spice for
Chris 35:30
the monthly expansion.
Kelli 35:33
Just pumpkin spice in general. The flavor pumpkin spice. You you blame the flavor of pumpkin spice. Okay, just checking. All Right, so it’s continued to expand, right? In 2013, we missed this. We we were together in 2013. We could have gone, and we missed this. We had
Chris 35:52
been for 10 years. In
Kelli 35:53
2013, the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon offered a limited time event known as the Happy Haunted Horseshoe, performers included the Cadaver Dans, which I’m a big fan of the Cadaver Dans. I almost dressed you up as a Cadaver Dan this year. I thought about it, but then I realized the costume I was looking at was actually Burt from Mary Poppins. I was like, easily
Chris 36:16
mistaken.
Kelli 36:17
It’s not. That’s not the same. And Miss Betty Blue, the ghostly magic of Abner Cadaver, and the dearly departed Stan on the piano. The show ran for a single week. I love that dearly departed Stan was on the piano. I
Chris 36:36
know. I just want dearly departed Stan
Kelli 36:38
on the piano. I think that’s fantastic. That was only one week. Happy Haunted Horseshoe for one week, and I think that’s
Chris 36:44
one week ever.
Kelli 36:44
Right, one week in 2013. I think they should bring that back. I agree. Hocus Pocus as a film was released in 1993, but you know it was a cult classic. Yeah, it took it. It’s a cult classic. It wasn’t until 2017 that we got the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, which is the big show that they have now. That that show was introduced in 2015, featuring the Sanderson sisters and an army of Disney villains, including Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, and Oogie Boogie
Chris 37:17
from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Kelli 37:19
Yeah. So, but that so the show was introduced in 2015. It became the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular in 2017. Miles Davis, we’ve got a dog wanting to get pet by by sorcerer Mickey. One last note: the show actually replaced the villains mix and mingle, which ran from 2005 to 2014, and featured a host of Disney villains celebrating Halloween. So things have things have not always been quite as set in stone as we might think. No,
Chris 37:53
no, no. They there
Kelli 37:54
at at Halloween.
Chris 37:55
Disney will make a they’ll make a change.
Kelli 37:57
They’ll make a change, but not so scary has been around for quite so long. Yeah, we did not so
Chris 38:01
scary ones.
Kelli 38:01
We’ve done not so scary. We didn’t pay $229 for tickets. No, ma’am, we
Chris 38:05
did not.
Kelli 38:06
I feel like our tickets were somewhere around the $89 mark. That’s
Chris 38:10
right. Yeah, and that might be where I got the 89 number from. Yeah,
Kelli 38:13
and we enjoyed it. It was fun. Great fun, right? You went around. There were there were different trick or treating, you know, buckets you could go to throughout the park. There were special rides open. There were special characters you don’t normally see. Yeah, yeah, characters you don’t normally see. And then there were also like free snacks throughout the park as well. Right. Oh yeah,
Chris 38:33
cookies and things like
Kelli 38:34
that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve done that, and it was fun. It was a good time.
Chris 38:37
I’ve got a friend that goes and tries to go this time of year, all the time, specifically for the not so scary. Yeah, Halloween’s her favorite time of year, and yeah, so she’s always supposed to go out.
Kelli 38:47
I love the park decorations at Halloween. I think they’re phenomenal.
Chris 38:50
They’re they’re they’re really gorgeous, and then they instantaneously take them down on
Kelli 38:54
overnight. Overnight, it’s awesome. Yep. Okay. So anyway, there you go. That’s our history of not so scary. It’s so
Chris 39:00
good. I don’t normally do a history session. I know, but I liked it. Good. You know who else probably liked it? All them listeners, especially the people, especially the people in Scarborough, Maine.
Kelli 39:12
Yes.
Chris 39:12
If you did like it, you know what to do now. Go out to wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a five star rating, and if that system allows you to leave a review, put one in there. That’s going to help drive people to the show. Also, like and subscribe on YouTube.
Kelli 39:28
Absolutely. And if you’re looking for more things Disney, visit scfadp.com. That’s S for Super, C for Cali, F for Fragilistic, A for Awesome, D for Disney, P for Podcast. It’s probably too late to order your Halloween merch, but it’s still out there, and so you could go ahead and order it for next year’s Halloween, right? And we’ll be having some holiday merch pop out there soon.
Chris 39:51
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Kelli 39:52
I don’t think I have, but I’ve got plans to become one. I know you do.
Chris 39:57
I know you do. You got real specific plans. I saw my grandma on the end of my bed. My great grandma end of my bed. Terrifying. With that, we will see you real soon.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
