This is a bit of a strange review simply because I've only been in this store once and it was a Passholder preview night, so it was before it even officially opened. But it had such a profound effect on me that I was practically tearing up the entire time (and believe me, I wasn't the only Disneyphile in line geeking out). It wasn't due to open for a few weeks yet, but everytime we ended up on that side of the Magic Kingdom, my eyes would longingly drift over toward the store...hoping for a miracle. When I noticed a small line forming past the Rapunzel bathrooms and underneath the walkway that separates Fantasyland from Liberty Square by the Columbia Harbor House, I knew what was happening, so I got in line immediately!
If there is one single ride at Disney World that I am extremely passionate about, it's The Haunted Mansion. Almost every major ride at Disney World has a gift shop, but all the Haunted Mansion ever had was a cart and not a very good one. It was so insignificant, I never even took a picture of it (neither did my sister, trust me, I scoured years of photos looking for even a far off shot of it and nada). I had always heard that they had always meant to put the Haunted Mansion store here:
But never did for some reason (probably because of the lower-level location). But now all that has changed! What was once a stupid store called Yankee Traders that basically sold housewares and candy:
Is now Memento Mori, and is 100% Haunted Mansion! We stood in line for a while, but once we were allowed in, it was in small groups (although the interior was filled to the max and it was hard to take good pictures, forgive me yet again). I have never seen so much Haunted Mansion merchandise in my entire life and I wanted to buy everything (although, I didn't because I barely had any money left...Kate was lovely enough to buy me a birthday gift in there though and my Sister was amazing and put more money in my bank account, so I splurged more than I should have). Even just looking at this pictures again makes me tear up and this is only a smidge of the products they had:
Most of the artwork around the room changed (like they do in the mansion)
and they also had this picture you could purchase of yourself where they changed you into a zombie, but I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want a picture of themselves dead (and that's exactly what the finished product looked like...you after you'd been rotting for a while, brilliantly realistic, but weird and creepy). They did it in a separate, closed off room, so I didn't see it done, but I did see samples along the walls (unfortunately, no pictures).
Had the line not gotten so long it would have been hours before we could have made it back in, I probably would have gotten back in line. Even after checking out, it was truly hard for me to exit the store, social anxiety disorder/packed full of people be damned! I truly can't wait to go back and enjoy the store more (although I'm sure it's probably still pretty crowded 24/7).
Thank you Disney for FINALLY giving us a Haunted Mansion store!!!
If there is one single ride at Disney World that I am extremely passionate about, it's The Haunted Mansion. Almost every major ride at Disney World has a gift shop, but all the Haunted Mansion ever had was a cart and not a very good one. It was so insignificant, I never even took a picture of it (neither did my sister, trust me, I scoured years of photos looking for even a far off shot of it and nada). I had always heard that they had always meant to put the Haunted Mansion store here:
But never did for some reason (probably because of the lower-level location). But now all that has changed! What was once a stupid store called Yankee Traders that basically sold housewares and candy:
Is now Memento Mori, and is 100% Haunted Mansion! We stood in line for a while, but once we were allowed in, it was in small groups (although the interior was filled to the max and it was hard to take good pictures, forgive me yet again). I have never seen so much Haunted Mansion merchandise in my entire life and I wanted to buy everything (although, I didn't because I barely had any money left...Kate was lovely enough to buy me a birthday gift in there though and my Sister was amazing and put more money in my bank account, so I splurged more than I should have). Even just looking at this pictures again makes me tear up and this is only a smidge of the products they had:
Most of the artwork around the room changed (like they do in the mansion)
and they also had this picture you could purchase of yourself where they changed you into a zombie, but I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want a picture of themselves dead (and that's exactly what the finished product looked like...you after you'd been rotting for a while, brilliantly realistic, but weird and creepy). They did it in a separate, closed off room, so I didn't see it done, but I did see samples along the walls (unfortunately, no pictures).
Had the line not gotten so long it would have been hours before we could have made it back in, I probably would have gotten back in line. Even after checking out, it was truly hard for me to exit the store, social anxiety disorder/packed full of people be damned! I truly can't wait to go back and enjoy the store more (although I'm sure it's probably still pretty crowded 24/7).
Thank you Disney for FINALLY giving us a Haunted Mansion store!!!
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