Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion opened to the public on August 9, 1969, nearly a decade following the construction of the building itself, and was an amalgamation of many of the different ideas considered by Imagineers over the course of the preceding two decades, including the “scary” approach of Coats and the “humorous” approach of Davis. Themed as a stunning antebellum mansion set in the New Orleans Square section of the park, the Haunted Mansion was an immediate success for Disneyland, setting a single-day attendance record for the park.
The Haunted Mansion Comes to Florida
Although the exterior façade of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion was completely different from its Disneyland counterpart, the interiors of the attractions are almost identical. In fact, the Florida version was constructed simultaneously with its California twin and later shipped to Florida. Because of this, the Disney World version was installed in April 1971, several months ahead of the Magic Kingdom’s opening date of October 1, 1971. The Florida mansion officially opened with the rest of the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, and quickly became a fan favorite that has entertained guests for almost fifty years.
In 2007, the Haunted Mansion underwent a substantial refurbishment during which the exterior portion of the attraction received some much-needed cosmetic work and cleaning. This refurbishment also included significant enhancements to the actual attraction experience:
In the séance scene, Madame Leota’s crystal ball now appears to be floating, instead of sitting on the table.
The very interactive closing to the Haunted Mansion now allows the Hitchhiking Ghosts to actually “follow guests home.”
The portraits in the Portrait Hall that now change when lightening strikes replaced older portraits whose eyes appeared to follow guests in their Doom Buggies.
The “endless stairway” scene replaced the original “spider stairway.”
The attic scene was enhanced to provide the “Constance Hatchaway” storyline.
The renovation also provided a much-needed enhancement to the attraction’s audio system.
The Haunted Mansion’s interactive queue, which includes the interactive crypts and other elements discussed above, opened to guests in 2011.
chapter six
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe
Once we’ve settled on a story and how to tell it, Imagineers can create a backstory. Elaborate or simple, passed down orally or fully documented, written out or constructed from visual references, the backstory is the “behind-the-scenes” legend of an attraction, a land or a resort. It keeps design in focus, serving as a touchstone for decisions from light fixtures to background music, providing a consistent atmosphere, depth, and believability. It means every Imagineer on the project knows who “lives” in the land they are building.
—The Imagineers, Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making MORE Magic Real (2010).
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe is a quaint store in the Magic Kingdom that specializes in Christmas ornaments, decorations, and related items. It celebrates the Christmas season all year round (just like my family) inside the friendly confines of Liberty Square. While many Walt Disney World guests have at least heard of Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, most rush past this hidden treasure on their way to headliner attractions like Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad without giving the shop a second thought.
Even guests who do take the time to visit Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe probably don’t realize that this colonial establishment is more than a nice place to buy a new nutcracker (although they do sell some great ones). Like everything else in Disney World, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe tells a story. This story is set in a very specific time period with detailed theming and storytelling props hidden in every nook and cranny of the store.
Backstory
Official Backstory
The Disney company has never disclosed an “official” backstory for Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. Until recently, guests were left to their own devices to discover the many storytelling elements and props hidden in and around the store in order to discern its backstory. In The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World (2005), the Imagineers did provide some general background information about the theming for Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe:
This location, which had previously operated as three distinct storefronts—a perfumerie, a silversmith, and an antiques store—was brought together as a single shop. In order to maintain individual identity for each space, a back story was devised to give life to each, while tying them together with the unifying theme of the holiday season.
In 2009, former Disney Imagineer Shawn Slater disclosed the official backstory for Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe on his blog. How did Slater even know about this backstory? Simple…he created it! According to Slater, the backstory for Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe is as follows:
Here in Liberty Square, at the close of the 18th century, Americans herald the birth of a new nation and their new-found freedoms, including the religious freedom to celebrate the traditions of Christmas. It’s a simpler observance, prior to the advent of tinsel or trees or Santa Claus. Beautiful greens, adorned with fruit and pine cones and other natural items, decorate doors, sashes, and mantles. Candles gleam in every window, and you can almost smell the mince pies and plum pudding baking.
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe is actually a series of buildings, storefronts with 2nd-story residences, brimming with busy craftspeople preparing for the upcoming festivities. Each “shop” has its own purpose and, thereby, its own character.
More formal in nature, the Music Teacher’s Shop is set with recorders, mandolins, and fiddles—perhaps readied for playing at a ball in honor of Twelfth Night (January 6). The music on the sheets and meeting the ear is that of Watts’ beloved “Joy to the World” and traditional English favorites “The Holly and the Ivy” and “I Saw Three Ships.”
Next door is a Woodcarver’s Shop, casual and more rough-hewn. The tools of the trade sit amidst curled shavings of pine and cherry. In the corner is a lovingly crafted hobby horse, and decorative holiday ornaments are all around.
Nearest the Liberty Tree is the quaint home of a family of Pennsylvania Germans, folk artists and craftsmen whose hospitality is evident in the beautiful items they offer for sale and in the pot of hot cider they keep on the stove. They are always ready to welcome townsfolk and travelers alike, spreading wishes of good cheer.
At Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe(s) of Liberty Square, Christmas comes anew with the dawning of each day, its spirit alive forever in the hearts and homes of its residents.
Slater explained that once the backstory was written and approved, Imagineers began the process of incorporating “story-related graphics to the location apart from the signs identifying Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe,” and further that “[t]his allowed an opportunity to not only add another layer to the storytelling, but also incorporate a bit of Hidden Disney.”
Storytelling Elements
The backstory for Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe begins from the moment you first enter Liberty Square. As you cross into the land from the central hub, you enter a new world of early Colonial America on the brink of the Revolutionary War. The atmosphere is breathtaking, with visually stunning representations of Federal and Georgian architecture featured throughout Liberty Square, the sounds of fife and drum music playing in the background, and the smell of freshly baked funnel cake from Sleepy Hollow Refreshments.
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe sits to the left of the entrance walkway once you cross the bridge from the central castle hub into Liberty Square, across the street from Sleepy Hollow Refreshments and the Hall of Presidents. It occupies a relatively large piece of theme park real estate (essentially an entire Colonial square).
As described in the backstory, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe appears from the outside to be three separate buildings, each of which is visually charming, cozy, and composed of brick, stone, and wood façades, respectively. The interiors include old wood floors and low hanging ceilin
gs, further emphasizing the Colonial time period represented throughout Liberty Square. These interconnected “buildings” are portrayed as storefronts, with each of them telling a different story and having its own distinctive character. As the story goes, the business owners of each store live on the second floors of these buildings, with the businesses themselves conducted on the first floor. This portrayal also ties in nicely with Liberty Square, as many store owners during the time period represented would live in their respective stores or in adjacent living quarters.
The Music Teacher’s Shop
The first storefront to the immediate left as you enter Liberty Square from the central hub is a music teacher’s shop. This two-story structure has a dramatic red and orange brick façade and features two separate stone chimneys rising through its roof.
Pay close attention to the book-shaped sign hanging from the corner of the building from a wrought-iron hanger. It reads, “Music & Voice Lessons, by appointment, Ichabod Crane Instructor.” This is, of course, a tribute to the character Ichabod Crane from Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It is also a tribute to one of my all-time favorite Disney animated features, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
The Imagineers described the music teacher’s shop as being “decorated with period instruments being prepared for the holiday season.” Inside this shop, amongst a wide variety of other Christmas selections, you will find many items supporting the music instructor theme, including fiddles, mandolins, and other vintage musical instruments. My favorite items that support both the music and Christmas themes, and which are actually described in the backstory, are the various sheet music displays that decorate the interior walls, including “Joy to the World” and “The Holly and Ivy.”
The Woodcarver’s Shop
The second storefront is themed as a woodcarver’s shop. Its façade is also a two-story brick structure, though shorter and less imposing than that of the music teacher’s storefront. A gated courtyard in front of the building creates a welcoming entrance, and features a magnificent Christmas sleigh. A sign in the shape of a wooden rocking horse reads “Woodright, Fine Carving, Wood Working, Toy Making, Carpentry.” A wooden stairway rises directly above the main entrance to the woodcarver’s shop and leads to a second-story entrance to the store-owner’s living quarters.
The Imagineers described the woodcarver’s shop as having “a more casual, handmade quality—dressed with the tools and materials of the trade, ready to carve Christmas toys.”
Inside you will find many vintage woodworking tools of the trade spread throughout the establishment, including replica Colonial-era saws, drills, clamps, and other tools. You will also see many wooden toys and dolls, including on the fireplace mantle. You may even be lucky enough to find a carved Pinocchio doll sitting high atop a shelf. Could this in fact be the shop of Geppetto from the classic 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio? Given the geographic location and historical setting of Liberty square…probably not. But it is still a fun connection to think about.
Don’t miss the cords of wood piled near the cash register, no doubt the raw materials needed by the woodcarver to create his fine products.
The Pennsylvania-German Family
The third and final storefront of Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, and the one closest to the Liberty Tree, is the home of a Pennsylvania-German family of craftsmen and tailors. This two-story building features a grey stone façade, with another smaller, almost separate yellow wooden building connected to it. Unlike the music teacher’s shop and the woodcarver’s shop, there is no signage on the exterior that labels which business is housed therein. However, it does have a wooden sign labeled “Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe” because, theming notwithstanding, guests need to know what the actual name of the store is.
The storefront includes one of my favorite tributes in all of Walt Disney World: a small, heart-shaped sign that hangs to the right of the door as you enter the shoppe. It reads: “KEPPLE, est. 1779.” Kepple is the name of the Pennsylvania-German family who run the shop, and is also a delightful tribute to Walt Disney’s paternal grandfather, Kepple Disney. The date (1779) is a nice thematic touch tying into the colonial time period of Liberty Square.
The Imagineers described this location as “the home of a Pennsylvania-German family, warm and inviting and ready to spread good cheer to friends, neighbors, and travellers alike.” The interior includes numerous props that emphasize this overarching theme, including shirts, scissors, cloth brushes, numerous spools of thread, quilts, and other items sitting on a shelf behind the cash register and hidden in corners that you would expect to find in a craftsman’s shop or a tailor’s shop.
While the music teacher’s shop, the woodcarver’s shop, and the tailor’s shop each has distinctive theming to their respective businesses, they all share the common elements of warmth, coziness, and charm of quaint Colonial shops. Rustic wooden floors, low ceilings with wood beams, a large brick fireplace, and numerous Disney-decorated Christmas trees help create one of the most welcoming retail locations in all of Walt Disney World. Another nice touch is the smell of cinnamon and pine that radiates throughout the store.
Real History
When the Magic Kingdom first opened on October 1, 1971, Liberty Square did not include Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. Instead, the location housed separate shops offering guests some of the most unique souvenir options in all of Walt Disney World.
A silversmith shop sold silver spoons, bowls, trays, and other “sterling and pewter gifts like those in vogue during the 1700s.” The silversmith shop also featured a sign hanging above the door that read: “Johnny Tremain, Proprietor.” Johnny Tremain was a 1943 novel by Esther Forbes that was later made into a Disney live-action movie of the same name in 1957. Both the novel and the film were set in Boston, Massachusetts, prior to the commencement of the American Revolution, a natural tie-in for Liberty Square. Another connection was that Tremain was an apprentice to a silversmith.
The second store was a perfume retailer known as Mademoiselle Lafayette’s Parfumerie. This unique location allowed guests to create custom perfumes based on numerous different ingredient combinations. The parfumerie even provided guests with the ability to re-purchase those custom-made fragrances, as “[e]ach personal scent [was] assigned an identification number so that it [could] be ordered by mail.” Guests could also purchase a variety of pre-packaged fragrances.
The third and final store, Old World Antiques, opened in 1972 as an antique shop that sold interesting and very expensive items such as grandfather clocks, vintage jewelry, “[a]ntique crystal decanters, colonial china and early American furniture.” In many cases, these were genuine historical artifacts that, not surprisingly, came with a correspondingly high price tag.
In the mid-1990s, the silversmith shop, Mademoiselle Lafayette’s Parfumerie, and Old World Antiques were all closed. The location was refurbished into a single establishment (theming notwithstanding), Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, which opened on February 5, 1996.
chapter seven
The Liberty Tree and the Liberty Tree Tavern
There’s a time for casting silver and a time for casting cannon. If that isn’t in the Holy Writ, it should be.
—Paul Revere, Johnny Tremain (1957)
The history and atmosphere of Liberty Square are defined largely by a majestic oak tree that grows in the middle of the land and a table-service restaurant that sits in its grand shadow. The Liberty Tree is located directly across the street from the Hall of Presidents and is one of the most breathtaking natural elements in any Disney park. The southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) is more than one hundred and fifty years old, weighs approximately thirty-eight tons, and is approximately forty feet tall and sixty feet wide. The Liberty Tree Tavern, on the other hand, is a quaint Colonial-style inn that serves family-style meals complete with hearty helpings of turkey, roast beef, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. While seemingly unconnected other than by virtue of their names, the
stories behind the Liberty Tree and the Liberty Tree Tavern are inextricably intertwined, as they both trace their roots to the early days of the American Revolution and a group known as the Sons of Liberty.
Backstory
The Liberty Tree
The backstory for Disney’s Liberty Tree, which is inspired by true American history, is displayed for guests in two different places. A wooden sign displayed near the Liberty Tree reads:
The Liberty Tree
The original Liberty Tree, a stately elm, was a rallying point for pre-revolutionary activities. The open space under its branches was called “Liberty Hall” and a flag pole was erected through its branches with a hoisted flag the symbol for action.
Countless inflammatory cartoons and verses were nailed to its trunk and many Tories hung in effigy from its branches. Perhaps its proudest moment was the repeal of the Stamp Act when innumerable lanterns blazed among its branches for all to see.
A plaque at the base of the Liberty Tree adds further information regarding its historical significance:
THE LIBERTY TREE
UNDER THE BOUGHS OF THE ORIGINAL LIBERTY TREE IN BOSTON IN 1765, PATRIOTS, CALLING THEMSELVES “THE SONS OF LIBERTY,” GATHERED TO PROTEST THE IMPOSITION OF THE STAMP ACT. IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED, ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN TOWN HAD A LIBERTY TREE—A LIVING SYBMOL OF THE AMERICAN FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ASSEMBLY. OUR LIBERTY TREE IS A SOUTHERN LIVE OAK QUERCUS VIRGINIANA, MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD.
The Backstories and Magical Secrets of Walt Disney World Page 14
