"Those with a keen eye will notice something strange when they leave the mansion and enter its spooky cemetery on their Doom Buggies … but what disquieting metamorphosis is happening in this space?"
The overwhelming choice of fans who've seen or heard about the new window is that it will be the new home of the Hatbox Ghost.
The Hatbox Ghost was an original character from the Mansion that Disney removed soon after the ride's debut. The character was a hunched, skeletal ghost whose head disappeared, only to materialize in the hatbox the ghost was carrying. The disappearing/reappearing head effect relied on lighting, and pretty much failed. But absence can make the heart grow fonder, and the Hatbox Ghost became a legend among fans over the years. In 2013, Disney Imagineers created a new Hatbox Ghost animatronic, minus the hatbox, for the D23 Expo in Anaheim.
When I rode the Mansion this week, that new window looked to me too small to be for that Hatbox Ghost animatronic I saw in 2013, unless it were to be staged far behind the window, which would be tough given the relative lack of space in the show building there. But that doesn't rule out a different version of the Hatbox Ghost in that space. (Remember, the D23 ghost didn't have the hatbox, which anything called a "Hatbox Ghost" would have to have, right?)
If you're planning to visit Disneyland in the next few weeks, keep your eyes open for a new ghost in the mansion, whatever it might turn out to be.
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However I rode HM in WDW a few weeks ago twice. Once, the ghost who "enters" your doombuggy (near the very end of the ride) rode on top of the doombuggy. The other time it appeared that a ghost appeared in our car, pulled off my son's head (my son was riding with me), and then held it in his hands.
I'm now guessing that this was actually the Hatbox Ghost having his head materialize in his hands ?
Has anyone else seen this ?