I like Constance Hatchaway a whole lot, but I've always thought that the way they project her fact onto her head isn't all that great an effect. It kind of looks like they're projecting it onto a balloon or ball. The Beating Heart Bride is definitely spookier and a better-executed effect, so...that bride but keep the rest of the attic exactly how it is with Constance :)
Rockport269 Its always genuinely confused me seeing all the incredible animatronics that Disney made before Constance was ever put in, but they went for this strange effect that just looks so cheap to me
I wish that Constance was an actual full audio-animatronic (similar to Red in Pirates or the witch from the Great Movie Ride)... she seems so “cheap & cheesy”, especially next to the legendary Hatbox Ghost...
Beating heart, hands down! The thumping was cool and we would thump on the back of the doom buggy in front of us when family or friends were in it for the scare.
I prefer the beating heart bride as it's more spooky, but Constance ties the story together better. I wish they could have both, I mean have Constance morph into the beating heart bride, then just turn all dark and then back to her original state. This would be in keeping with the changing portraits in the downstairs hall...
Why? The Beating Heart Bride is a tragic forlorn character, NOT an axe murdering sociopath. Constance Hatchaway & Beating Heart are two distinctly different takes. Tokyo Disneyland retaining Beating Heart is proof positive of this.
I like that idea but if I were to tweak it to my preference just a little further I would love if the wedding photos were redone in the portrait style from the stretching room. I don’t like all the mixing of art style in the ride. The Portraits are one style, the animatronics are of course sculpted but I think they agree with the approach in the portraits. Then you’ve got Constance and the wedding photos (and yeah, ok, Leota) which are all real people and therefore different from the rest, and THEN you’ve got Hatty which is fun but is like a spin-off, cartoony interpretation of the original art style. It’s all too hodgepodge to me. It’s not visually cohesive.
Me too. I think the beating heat bride was really creepy, given the the fact that she has got a beating heart, it’s a symbol of both life and mortality, making her the only entity in the HM that is neither dead nor alive.
Never saw the beating heart bride; but seeing her in your video; I really like her over Constance. More eerie without a face; and I think they should combine Constance’s story and the beating heart bride. Off subject; why doesn’t WDW have a Hatbox Ghost?!?! I really want him in Florida’s Haunted Mansion!
SGT DH I think the mentality behind it is that WDW never had the Hatbox Ghost at all, so adding him wouldn’t have as much significance as adding him to DLR did. Same with Tokyo, I’d imagine
N05L31 I know it was a BIG deal getting him back in DL; but I would still like him here in WDW. Think Dressing up like Hatbox and walking around the WDW Mansion would give them a hint? 😁
Combine the eerie creepiness if the Beating Heart bride, with the story akin to Constance. We don't know Who she is, but according to all the junk in the attic, it would have been an Amazing wedding with someone she was truly in love with = More tragic. Let's US find the clues in the attic, a portrait if the two love birds, a trunk covered in foreign country stickers, ala the honey moon, ete. I think WE, the guests, could come up with her tragic backstory, and it would give us a reason for multiple ride-throighs, too!
The beating heart bride was a lot scarier IMO, to the point where i refused to sit by the side she was on when I was younger. I don't know if I like Constance because she's more tolerable, or the beating heart bride because she was creepier.
Agreed! Even as a teen, I wouldn’t really look at her because the perversion of a white, pure bride with the illuminated eyes creeped me out. And the fact that we couldn’t see her face….scary.
So apparently there were three bride "characters". The first was a corpse, and was only in the attraction for a little while. At that point, she was supposed to be the bride and murderer of the Hatbox Ghost, and every time her heart beat, his head would move to the hatbox (this is found in the book/record The Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion). Even after the Hatbox Ghost was removed, they kept this villainous bride, though her model changed a few times to the shadowy one in the video. Later, in the 1970s, the Haunted Mansion was remodeled and the story was changed. The new bride, Emily de Claire (the most human beating heart bride), was the unfortunate bride of Master Gracy/the Ghost Host who was scared to death on her wedding day by Madame Leota and a vengeful Hatbox Ghost (her death was the reason Gracy would hang himself). In 2006, Emily was replaced with Constance (the bride of the mansion's newest owner George Hightower), who presumably chased Emily out of the attic or permanently destroyed her spirit with her spectral hatchet (an ability she was shown to have in the comics; a perk to dying in the property). Constance stands there today, with the Hatbox Ghost keeping his distance from her pure evil spirit. However, Emily may still be around, as evidenced by candlelight that can be seen floating past windows when looking at the mansion from the outside and a wedding ring sealed in the concrete walkway in New Orleans Square.
There's something off about the effect for Constance (though I think WDW is a little more effective than DL). So I'd bring back "beating heart". She's very creepy.
Gordon Free I wish that Constance was an actual full audio-animatronic (similar to Red in Pirates or the witch from the Great Movie Ride)... she seems so “cheap & cheesy”, especially next to the legendary Hatbox Ghost...
I miss the old beating heart bride! the now one is too cheesy and campy. the first time you see it, the joke is old. "till DEATH do us part" gah! But the old bride always gave me chills. you could genuinely feel for the character. Forlorn and forgotten. I had my own "head cannon" for her. that she was cheated on, on her wedding day, and was pushed out the window of the attic.
The Constance projection has never looked quite right at Disneyland (the effect looks better at WDW and I’ve never understood why they didn’t go back and tweak DL’s.) Beating heart bride was scarier. I do love Constance’s story and the additional effects and props added to the attic for her story. If they just fixed the effect for Constance, I think it would be perfect.
I actually really hate Constance, I love the mystery around the beating heart bride (Emily Gracey) there are a few stories about her that are just way better than some random lady killing her husbands Also...Constance just doesn’t seem to make sense with the rest of the mansion cause she’s the only one with a story
I'll be more specific: she's the only one with an *obvious, explicit, in-your-face* story. Every ghost in the Mansion presumably has a story, but with the others you're at liberty to imagine it for yourself. It makes each trip through the Mansion more personal, like you're piecing things together along *with* the ghosts. There's no room for creative interpretation with Constance--she's a gold-digger who offed five husbands for their money. Ho-hum.
Constance's story is so cliche and on the nose. When the rest of the ride has mystery to it why do we get a really bland thing with Constance? The Beating Heart Bride has room to form your own story and that's what I prefer.
I like the beating heart bride better because of the way the story was portrayed. She said nothing, which added to the mystery and spooky factor of who she was. You can also tell a story without saying a word. Constant would work in this way; her speeches feel like an exposition kick to the face. Of course, they probably assumed for children, once again assuming they can't figure anything out without beind told. Which isn't true, kids are much smarter then our society gives them credit for and we just dumb down our media... then end up with dumb kids. *ramble*
I found the beating heart bride much creepier. It's the subtle things that I find more effective. It allows the audience/ride goers to let their minds wander about her story, adding a bit of mystery. The unknown is truely terrifying.
I prefer the original bride. She was forlorn and eerie. The new Constance bride is too overtly menacing to be scary and doesn't suit the tone of the rest of the ride. Additionally, her projection effect is far too obvious because of the amount of movement they give her across a body that doesn't change. The illusion is not convincing at all.
Same. There's something tragic and unsettling about being in a dusty old attic and coming across what should be a woman on the best day of her life rotted by broken hopes and dreams, wondering what the hell happened. Constance is just a boring stereotype villain.
I like the beating heart bride, because that's the one that was there, the first time I ever went through it. Growing up nearly 1,000 miles away from Disneyland, my mother regaled me of stories of the Magic Kingdom (I was born in So. Cal., but we moved when I was very young). I had the storybook version of the Haunted Mansion with the little 45 record (you know... "You'll know it is time to turn the page, when Tinkerbell rings her little bell like this.) Anyway, with my Haunted Mansion storybook and my mother's description of the ride, I had a decent idea of what to expect... or at least I thought I did. I surpassed my expectations, and one thing I remember clearly was that beating heart. Wish they would've left that in. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
The beating heart bride is by far my favorite, but I prefer the Version of her waiting with a lit candle for her lost seaman love "till the last beat of her heart"
I like the beating heart bride the best.her glowing eyes reminds me of the 1st time I saw the jawas from the 77 star wars film.her eyes always make me think of jawas
I think Constance makes sense in relation to the macabre sense of humour the mansion has, but I admit to have a fondness for the innocence of original bride with her beating heart. The idea of a ghostly wedding party is rather charming and sort of puts forward an idea of "Hey! Life doesn't stop after death, folks! Have fun!".
The beating heart bride is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen at Disney. With that being said, I used to refuse to ride the haunted mansion as a child because it was too scary. I think Constance is a nice addition, and makes the ride a little more family friendly. While not being as “scary” as the beating heart bride, I think it better ties in with the aspects of the haunted mansion’s whimsical ghost theme instead of trying to actually scare people. For everyone saying Constance isn’t scary enough, what else in the mansion is scary enough? I think she’s about as scary as anything else in there.
Family-friendly? A Black Widow with an axe (or in this case, a hatchet) to grind is more family-friendly than a melancholy, forlorn Bride whose tale encompasses love lost?
The beating heart bride, I think she is the spookiest bride of Disney. Like what is more terryfing than being hauted by a lonely bride with a heart beat. Imagine: You are all allone and you are apart from the group. The hallways are dark only a little bit of candle light guides you in The Haunted Mansion. There is creeking doors and floors so your mind can tricks you with sounds. Some time later you thought you heard a heart beat. You are afraid and thought you saw two twinkeling yellow eyes luring at you from the staircase to the attic. You watch to the staircase but nothing to see... you go upstairs to the attic where you hear the sound of a beating heart again. Your candle goes out and you can't see a hand for your eyes. The heart beating comes more near to the location you stand. You see a red kind of light thats "pumping" to the sound of the heart. You are creeping out and search for a way back. Only what you can see is the window, you run to the window and you felt a some kind of push and for you knew you are falling down from the third floor. But you survive the fall if an another kind of energy saved you from the dead... two yellow, glowing eyes where still lurking at you behind the gaping hole from the broken windows.
"Like what is more terryfing than being hauted by a lonely bride with a heart beat." Having your family killed right in front of you, being the last living person on earth, the black death, I could go on.
Constance is my favorite version of the bride. I love her audio clips and the axe she holds! I love her so much I am actually dressing up as her for Halloween!
Not really. Connie already offed her 5 beaus before karma finally got to her, meanwhile surrounding Hattie are several hatboxes & considering his own hat trick with his decapitated head, we can deduce what is in the others (namely, the severed heads of each of Constance's 5 hubbies). So, unless Hattie is Constance's accomplice in each murder, he has no tangible link to Constance's story.
I always referred the beating hearts bride as Emily. I miss her so much, I much preferred her to Constance because there was still some mystery behind her. Who was she? Why is she there? That kind of stuff.
When I was younger, growing up in the late 70's and 80's, I always found the Beating Heart Bride to be one of the scariest scenes at the Haunted Mansion. For me, Disneyland is very nostalgic, with wonderful memories around every corner... so even though Constance Hatchaway may fit into the overall story better, I still prefer the beating heart bride from my childhood.
I would have liked to have to have seen the original scene, with the Bride and Hatbox ghost(working). Since it was originally supposed to be one of Marc Davis's jokes. Hatty was supposed to loose his head with each beat of his bride's heart.
I agree. Seeing so much of her, and making her so directly menacing, isn't nearly as effective in my opinion. I also don't think the current effect looks very convincing, which really hurts the scene.
I see it more as if Disney was trying so hard to be creepy and tech oriented that they totally failed at both. Like Joseph said, the present bride is neither frightening or convincing.
As a kid growing up in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s, nothing in the haunted mansion scared me more than the beating heart bride. The grave statue that blinks every 15 minutes, the donald duck chair, the hallway of paintings, the self playing piano, all of these things gave me chills, but that attic man...the long build up, with the clutter all around you and the heart beating before you could even see where it was coming from was unnerving. You knew something was there, but you didn’t know what right away. And when I finally saw her for the first time, I shit bricks. Just something about her, wearing her white robes, the red glowing heart, and whatever was in her hand...and, the way she *moved*. The beating heart bride from the early 2000’s looked more like a human sized, possessed living doll to me, and it was bigger than me at the time too. You could tell it was mechanical, but it was rather silent in terms of machinery and the pop up screaming head made it really erie. The image of that bride was burned into the back of my retinas. It scared the crap out of me, and for some reason, I loved it. I was fascinated by her. I’ve always been fascinated by what scares people, including what scares myself. The newer bride isn’t as scary to me, because the movements sort of reflect that of an actual ghost, although I do like her. The haunted mansion has always been one of my favorite rides.
U know the hatbox ghost gets a raw deal The bride gets the entire attic to put all her stuff and the hatbox ghost gets shoved in the corner near the hole to the graveyard Blasphemy
the beating heart bride seems scarier in my opinion as she has way more shadows and not as bright like the new bride who is all white thus you can see all her features while the beating heart bride is darker hiding her in the shadows thus giving her a creeper appearance although the new bride's voice saying "I do" does still give me chills did the bride always talk or did that come later?
I can see where they're trying to add a story to the haunted mansion, but personally for me the old bride will always be spookier, hoovering there with glowing eyes that are not blinking and a beating heart... YUP that part of the ride always used to scare me. Now with Contstance, it's just the Pirates ride but with ghosts. If we could have the old bride and the hat box ghost that would be grand... I mean creepy...
I think I like Constance more, because it seems she gave us foolish mortals, a new vision on the background story of the attraction. I like your videos so much!
ooof... can i say both? both are very good. I feel like Connie's story makes the whole attic scene more cohesive (a bride who takes heads and a ghost with a disapearing head has a good amount of pizazz, yanno?) but the effect for the beating heart bride is very haunting and beautiful. I'm in love with both of them tbh.
beating heart bride was the best one, it was creepy, had no context, just stared at you with the menacing heartbeat. The fact she had no story and just was there, said nothing, just added this scary atmosphere. There was some versions where she had a jet black face so you couldn't see any features except her piercing yellow eyes which in my opinion was the best one compared to the blue smiley face one.
She had a story. Countless retellings of them in fact. Most of them involving tragedy, loss & heartbreak, of course. This made her a melancholy character whom you actually felt bad for & even pitied, despite her creepy atmosphere.
Beating Heart. The sound of the heart going into the attic was always terrifying to me as a child. This new bride looks ridiculous. Bring back the Beating Heart Bride. And while you are at it.....we wants the original redhead. :)
Redd & The Redhead are one and the same. Disney just made her a female pirate like her Marc Davis Venus-inspired portrait (the one with her mostly naked except for select pirate garb in appropriate places) at the beginning in the cave with the pirate booty/loot/treasure & skeletal pirates, her depiction in "Curse of the Black Pearl" under the pseudonym of Scarlet & via influential historical lore ala women swashbucklers like Anne Bonnie.
I agree. Constance Hatchaway, and her background story, had to be placed on the left hand side to make room for the Hat Box Ghost. My favorite ghost of all time.
Update Constance to look less silly. Not project onto a flat surface. Also. Though her name is Hatchaway, an axe would not have clean cuts as in the pics. Make the guys disappear altogether and her having a “memento” instead. The beating heart version added a level of creepiness that made the graveyard scene more fun
I liked this attraction since the first time I enjoyed it, way back in I think like 1982? Maybe earlier, but it ended in 1989. Those were trips with my "birth family". When my family(married and having kids), we started going in 2006. So while I remember a lot of the mansion of old(er), most of my memories are of the current configuration, so the Black Widow Bride is my favorite.
I remember one time when I was at Disney World, I was in one man’s dream explaining the theory of Phantom Manor and talking some about Treasure Island, and I noticed people slowly walking up to me and listening to me like a tour guide- it was weird...
I prefer the original attic Bride and her backstory. It was on her wedding night that she played a game of hide and seek with her groom and hid inside an old sea trunk in the attic, as she hid inside the lid of trunk closed by itself and she suffocated.
Oddly enough, the one time I rode the Haunted Mansion back in 2005, I don't remember seeing the Bride. I remember Little Leota, Leota herself, the Ballroom, and the Graveyard, but that's it.
I personally love Constance. She is the closest thing the ride has to an "antagonist" which will benefit greatly for the new HM movie. A film exploring the relationship between Constance and The Hatbox Ghost is what I'm hoping for! The old bride is fine, but I like that in the attic we expand the story of the former owners of the mansion before it became a retirement home for ghosts.
The ride does not need an antagonist. It's a haunted house whose undead citizens want you to join them in the hereafter. That alone is antagonistic enough without an axe murdering bitch whom the Ghost Host and/or Master Gracey should've done in the moment she murdered her first husband. I want Beating Heart back. Her story of tragic love actually fits the Haunted Mansion more than schizoid Connie ever did.
I say the faceless bride is the winner in this case, the reason is and I'm pretty sure everyone can relate to me on this is because she just looks more terrifying.
I always thought it was strange that Constance is the most overtly evil ghost in the Mansion. I also think that projection effect they use on her looks terrible and it kinda creeped me out when I was younger, bit uncanny valley to me.
Beating Heart Bride, hands down. I love Constance as a character concept, but having just seeing her for the first time last year in WDW and the BHB when I was a kid at WDW, I just felt BHB was more spooky.
I actually kind of miss the ghosts and ghouls popping out at you during the attic scene in Florida's Haunted Mansion. And also the beating heart bride. I don't ike the projection on Constance.
♩ She, Hatchaway about her I don’t know what it is But I know that I can't die without her She, Hatchaway a’breezin’ I don’t know why it is And there doesn’t have to be a reason… Slash away ♫ ~Billy Ghoul
Btw for those who said that Constance brings more plot than the bhb the beating heart bride does indeed have somewhat of a backstory that explains a bit about her, here's her backstory: th-cam.com/video/Bu0-bElhDY8/w-d-xo.html
Y'know, I've been thinking about how imagineers could bring back the old bride, without changing Constance's story. They could make an animatronic that resembles Constance, give her a bouquet of flowers on one hand, and instead of a candle, a Hatchet on the other, and of course, a glowing beating heart. And in a way, the glowing heart would make her more twisted, as it'd mean that to some degree, she loved her husbands in her own sick twisted way. and instead of just talking, it'd make her silent again, which would also make her more of a psycho.
Why? Psychotic bitches who marry only for wealth & status DON'T love their husbands. That's why the heartbeat still being on the soundtrack doesn't make sense, because it only works if the Attic Bride is forlorn & melancholy, NOT a schizoid axe murdering sociopath.
The original bride (and her 2 reworks) were always the best and spookiest. The backstory helped a lot with that. Constance is too much of a "Disney Villain" in my opinion, and the history created from Disney, cast members and fans of the Haunted Mansion is more tragic dealing more with loss. Besides, Constance is too bright, too 2 dimensional, and looks like a display from in front of a mall electronics store. In my opinion, of course.
I prefer Constance because she gives the mansion a story. I like knowing things better than not knowing them. But I still like the beating heart bride too. It would be nice if they put her back in, like next to the hatbox ghost or something.
I like the Beating Heart Bride more than Constance. I always found BHB to be far more creepy and intimidating. Constance I find to be too goofy to take her seriously. It's all of the mugging and overexaggerated way the woman playing Constance is doing that just kinda kills any tension that has been built up in that scene, while BHB has subtlety thanks to the eerie design of the character, her menacing glowing eyes and never-ending beating heart that add to an unnerving character.
I'd have to go with the black widow bride because you can do a whole lot with her back story to make her a more 3 dimensional character. Like hear would be a full back story: Constance Hatchaway didn't start out being a black widow bride. Her first marriage at age 17 was actually for love. She married a promising young commodity broker in Philadelphia where she was originally from. However the marriage didn't turn out as she had planned. Her husband was an alcoholic,a womanizer, and an abusive lout. After three years she killed him by cutting his head off while he was passed out in a drunken stupor. She told the police that she had gone for a walk and when she returned, she found her husband decapitated and suggested that an intruder broke in while she was out and killed her husband. The police believed her and she collected his fortune and insurance policy. After that Constance changed. She now saw men as nothing more than walking bags of money. She soon began her Black Widow career. Moving around the country taking on various aliases. She would marry wealthy young men and stay married to them for a while instead of killing them on her wedding day (she knew better than that) then after a few years she would behead her husband, play the grieving widow for the police, collect the inheritance, than move on to another city under a new name and begin the process over again. That his until she got to the haunted Mansion in New Orleans. while preparing for her 7th wedding she was in the attic, trying on her wedding dress when she was bitten by a rattle snake that had made its nest there and she died. Her groom to be, not knowing of his would be bride's past was so heartbroken, he committed suicide, thus allowing for the ghost host.
I like Constance Hatchaway a whole lot, but I've always thought that the way they project her fact onto her head isn't all that great an effect. It kind of looks like they're projecting it onto a balloon or ball. The Beating Heart Bride is definitely spookier and a better-executed effect, so...that bride but keep the rest of the attic exactly how it is with Constance :)
Rockport269 Its always genuinely confused me seeing all the incredible animatronics that Disney made before Constance was ever put in, but they went for this strange effect that just looks so cheap to me
Just saw a video the other day of the one in Magic Kingdom and it looks even worse I prefer the original bride but keep the constance story.
Rockport269 the Walt Disney world version doesn’t have the really cheesy look to Constance, it looks better shaped and more convincing.
Yeah I don’t like it, the audio is kinda cool though.(DisneyWorld)
I wish that Constance was an actual full audio-animatronic (similar to Red in Pirates or the witch from the Great Movie Ride)... she seems so “cheap & cheesy”, especially next to the legendary Hatbox Ghost...
I remember being terrified of the beating heart bride when I was little
Same. Bitch gave me nightmares for years. But I love all of the effects now haha
Yep, it scared the hell out of me.
Same
Beating heart, hands down! The thumping was cool and we would thump on the back of the doom buggy in front of us when family or friends were in it for the scare.
James' Journeys OMG, I grew up doing that too!!!
I'm glad I know there are others who do that lol
I prefer the beating heart bride as it's more spooky, but Constance ties the story together better. I wish they could have both, I mean have Constance morph into the beating heart bride, then just turn all dark and then back to her original state. This would be in keeping with the changing portraits in the downstairs hall...
Why? The Beating Heart Bride is a tragic forlorn character, NOT an axe murdering sociopath. Constance Hatchaway & Beating Heart are two distinctly different takes. Tokyo Disneyland retaining Beating Heart is proof positive of this.
If it was my decision, I’d bring back the faceless bride, but keep the decapitation storyline, the pianist, and the photos
Same!
Y e s
Yeet
I would also remove the dialogue, more creepy that way
I like that idea but if I were to tweak it to my preference just a little further I would love if the wedding photos were redone in the portrait style from the stretching room. I don’t like all the mixing of art style in the ride. The Portraits are one style, the animatronics are of course sculpted but I think they agree with the approach in the portraits. Then you’ve got Constance and the wedding photos (and yeah, ok, Leota) which are all real people and therefore different from the rest, and THEN you’ve got Hatty which is fun but is like a spin-off, cartoony interpretation of the original art style. It’s all too hodgepodge to me. It’s not visually cohesive.
Personally, I miss the Beating Heart Bride ... especially with the subtle *blubthump* in the soundtrack ;-)
the heart beat sound effect is still there... well at wdw it is i don't know about disneyland's
Me too. I think the beating heat bride was really creepy, given the the fact that she has got a beating heart, it’s a symbol of both life and mortality, making her the only entity in the HM that is neither dead nor alive.
Never saw the beating heart bride; but seeing her in your video; I really like her over Constance. More eerie without a face; and I think they should combine Constance’s story and the beating heart bride.
Off subject; why doesn’t WDW have a Hatbox Ghost?!?! I really want him in Florida’s Haunted Mansion!
SGT DH I think the mentality behind it is that WDW never had the Hatbox Ghost at all, so adding him wouldn’t have as much significance as adding him to DLR did. Same with Tokyo, I’d imagine
He's ours. You can't have him!
Mickey784cr I mean it’s the parks decision
N05L31 I know it was a BIG deal getting him back in DL; but I would still like him here in WDW. Think Dressing up like Hatbox and walking around the WDW Mansion would give them a hint? 😁
I have seen the Heart Beating bride before. Kinda miss her. She can still be seen in Tokyo Disneyland.
Combine the eerie creepiness if the Beating Heart bride, with the story akin to Constance.
We don't know Who she is, but according to all the junk in the attic, it would have been an Amazing wedding with someone she was truly in love with = More tragic.
Let's US find the clues in the attic, a portrait if the two love birds, a trunk covered in foreign country stickers, ala the honey moon, ete.
I think WE, the guests, could come up with her tragic backstory, and it would give us a reason for multiple ride-throighs, too!
The beating heart bride was a lot scarier IMO, to the point where i refused to sit by the side she was on when I was younger. I don't know if I like Constance because she's more tolerable, or the beating heart bride because she was creepier.
Agreed! Even as a teen, I wouldn’t really look at her because the perversion of a white, pure bride with the illuminated eyes creeped me out. And the fact that we couldn’t see her face….scary.
Same I used to close my eyes 😅
So apparently there were three bride "characters". The first was a corpse, and was only in the attraction for a little while. At that point, she was supposed to be the bride and murderer of the Hatbox Ghost, and every time her heart beat, his head would move to the hatbox (this is found in the book/record The Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion). Even after the Hatbox Ghost was removed, they kept this villainous bride, though her model changed a few times to the shadowy one in the video. Later, in the 1970s, the Haunted Mansion was remodeled and the story was changed. The new bride, Emily de Claire (the most human beating heart bride), was the unfortunate bride of Master Gracy/the Ghost Host who was scared to death on her wedding day by Madame Leota and a vengeful Hatbox Ghost (her death was the reason Gracy would hang himself). In 2006, Emily was replaced with Constance (the bride of the mansion's newest owner George Hightower), who presumably chased Emily out of the attic or permanently destroyed her spirit with her spectral hatchet (an ability she was shown to have in the comics; a perk to dying in the property). Constance stands there today, with the Hatbox Ghost keeping his distance from her pure evil spirit. However, Emily may still be around, as evidenced by candlelight that can be seen floating past windows when looking at the mansion from the outside and a wedding ring sealed in the concrete walkway in New Orleans Square.
And her heartbeat embedded in the Attic Audio soundtrack.
There's something off about the effect for Constance (though I think WDW is a little more effective than DL). So I'd bring back "beating heart". She's very creepy.
Gordon Free I wish that Constance was an actual full audio-animatronic (similar to Red in Pirates or the witch from the Great Movie Ride)... she seems so “cheap & cheesy”, especially next to the legendary Hatbox Ghost...
I miss the old beating heart bride! the now one is too cheesy and campy. the first time you see it, the joke is old. "till DEATH do us part" gah! But the old bride always gave me chills. you could genuinely feel for the character. Forlorn and forgotten. I had my own "head cannon" for her. that she was cheated on, on her wedding day, and was pushed out the window of the attic.
Same here. I loved the Heart Beating Bride only in Tokyo Disneyland still have her. Wish she come back.
Have you been to WDW because we have that as the story of an old pipe remnant that looks like a ring
@@SF-os4cq no I've never been to WDW but I know that story.
I love that the heart beating bride in the recordings of 1969 is said that is the bride of the hatbox ghost.
Are you referring to the Haunted Mansion Album?
I miss the beating heart bride so much. There was so much eeriness by her appearance that Constance could never match.
The Constance projection has never looked quite right at Disneyland (the effect looks better at WDW and I’ve never understood why they didn’t go back and tweak DL’s.) Beating heart bride was scarier. I do love Constance’s story and the additional effects and props added to the attic for her story. If they just fixed the effect for Constance, I think it would be perfect.
I actually really hate Constance, I love the mystery around the beating heart bride (Emily Gracey) there are a few stories about her that are just way better than some random lady killing her husbands
Also...Constance just doesn’t seem to make sense with the rest of the mansion cause she’s the only one with a story
I agree
Double agree...I can't stand Constance.
I'll be more specific: she's the only one with an *obvious, explicit, in-your-face* story. Every ghost in the Mansion presumably has a story, but with the others you're at liberty to imagine it for yourself. It makes each trip through the Mansion more personal, like you're piecing things together along *with* the ghosts. There's no room for creative interpretation with Constance--she's a gold-digger who offed five husbands for their money. Ho-hum.
Constance's story is so cliche and on the nose. When the rest of the ride has mystery to it why do we get a really bland thing with Constance? The Beating Heart Bride has room to form your own story and that's what I prefer.
I like the beating heart bride better because of the way the story was portrayed. She said nothing, which added to the mystery and spooky factor of who she was. You can also tell a story without saying a word. Constant would work in this way; her speeches feel like an exposition kick to the face. Of course, they probably assumed for children, once again assuming they can't figure anything out without beind told. Which isn't true, kids are much smarter then our society gives them credit for and we just dumb down our media... then end up with dumb kids. *ramble*
I found the beating heart bride much creepier. It's the subtle things that I find more effective. It allows the audience/ride goers to let their minds wander about her story, adding a bit of mystery. The unknown is truely terrifying.
I prefer the original bride. She was forlorn and eerie. The new Constance bride is too overtly menacing to be scary and doesn't suit the tone of the rest of the ride. Additionally, her projection effect is far too obvious because of the amount of movement they give her across a body that doesn't change. The illusion is not convincing at all.
You hit the nail right on the head.
Same. There's something tragic and unsettling about being in a dusty old attic and coming across what should be a woman on the best day of her life rotted by broken hopes and dreams, wondering what the hell happened. Constance is just a boring stereotype villain.
@@KittyCrystal That's a wonderful description.
She was also scarier with the glowing eyes and the dark face that you couldn't make out.
Here’s hoping that will get addressed in the refit.
I like the beating heart bride, because that's the one that was there, the first time I ever went through it. Growing up nearly 1,000 miles away from Disneyland, my mother regaled me of stories of the Magic Kingdom (I was born in So. Cal., but we moved when I was very young). I had the storybook version of the Haunted Mansion with the little 45 record (you know... "You'll know it is time to turn the page, when Tinkerbell rings her little bell like this.) Anyway, with my Haunted Mansion storybook and my mother's description of the ride, I had a decent idea of what to expect... or at least I thought I did. I surpassed my expectations, and one thing I remember clearly was that beating heart. Wish they would've left that in. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
In Sickness and in... *Wealth*
Till Death do we... *Part*
I Do! I *DID* !
They say "Till death do you part", and one day you realize you're actually setting a goal. 😀
ben trimble no it is Till death do us part
Here comes the *bride*
The beating heart bride is by far my favorite, but I prefer the Version of her waiting with a lit candle for her lost seaman love "till the last beat of her heart"
I like the beating heart bride the best.her glowing eyes reminds me of the 1st time I saw the jawas from the 77 star wars film.her eyes always make me think of jawas
I think Constance makes sense in relation to the macabre sense of humour the mansion has, but I admit to have a fondness for the innocence of original bride with her beating heart. The idea of a ghostly wedding party is rather charming and sort of puts forward an idea of "Hey! Life doesn't stop after death, folks! Have fun!".
The beating heart bride is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen at Disney. With that being said, I used to refuse to ride the haunted mansion as a child because it was too scary. I think Constance is a nice addition, and makes the ride a little more family friendly. While not being as “scary” as the beating heart bride, I think it better ties in with the aspects of the haunted mansion’s whimsical ghost theme instead of trying to actually scare people. For everyone saying Constance isn’t scary enough, what else in the mansion is scary enough? I think she’s about as scary as anything else in there.
Family-friendly? A Black Widow with an axe (or in this case, a hatchet) to grind is more family-friendly than a melancholy, forlorn Bride whose tale encompasses love lost?
i have a huge obsession with the history of the haunted mansion bride for some reason. you’re really speaking to my extremely specific interests
The beating heart bride, I think she is the spookiest bride of Disney. Like what is more terryfing than being hauted by a lonely bride with a heart beat.
Imagine:
You are all allone and you are apart from the group. The hallways are dark only a little bit of candle light guides you in The Haunted Mansion. There is creeking doors and floors so your mind can tricks you with sounds. Some time later you thought you heard a heart beat. You are afraid and thought you saw two twinkeling yellow eyes luring at you from the staircase to the attic. You watch to the staircase but nothing to see... you go upstairs to the attic where you hear the sound of a beating heart again. Your candle goes out and you can't see a hand for your eyes. The heart beating comes more near to the location you stand. You see a red kind of light thats "pumping" to the sound of the heart. You are creeping out and search for a way back. Only what you can see is the window, you run to the window and you felt a some kind of push and for you knew you are falling down from the third floor. But you survive the fall if an another kind of energy saved you from the dead... two yellow, glowing eyes where still lurking at you behind the gaping hole from the broken windows.
Ok wow the grammar could've been leagues better but that's a good atmosphere you built.
@@gamernation1829 thanks!
Oh wow. Nice work!
"Like what is more terryfing than being hauted by a lonely bride with a heart beat." Having your family killed right in front of you, being the last living person on earth, the black death, I could go on.
@@RossPitSharkHunter I was not exacally pointing at family but more like friend, you do not know if these friends are killed or just missing....
Constance is my favorite version of the bride. I love her audio clips and the axe she holds! I love her so much I am actually dressing up as her for Halloween!
A few years ago, I was The Hatbox Ghost for Halloween
that sounds like a good costume i wish i thought of that
Beating heart is definitely scarier
Interesting how The Hatbox Ghost fits in more with the new Attic storyline than the original that he was made for.
Not really. Connie already offed her 5 beaus before karma finally got to her, meanwhile surrounding Hattie are several hatboxes & considering his own hat trick with his decapitated head, we can deduce what is in the others (namely, the severed heads of each of Constance's 5 hubbies). So, unless Hattie is Constance's accomplice in each murder, he has no tangible link to Constance's story.
I always referred the beating hearts bride as Emily. I miss her so much, I much preferred her to Constance because there was still some mystery behind her. Who was she? Why is she there? That kind of stuff.
I prefer the darker, more mysterious bride. Constance Hatchaway is a little too visible and her story is a bit too obvious.
Agree
Beating heart bride was much more mysterious and that made her scarier. Miss her!
The old Bride was scary af.
When I was younger, growing up in the late 70's and 80's, I always found the Beating Heart Bride to be one of the scariest scenes at the Haunted Mansion. For me, Disneyland is very nostalgic, with wonderful memories around every corner... so even though Constance Hatchaway may fit into the overall story better, I still prefer the beating heart bride from my childhood.
I would have liked to have to have seen the original scene, with the Bride and Hatbox ghost(working). Since it was originally supposed to be one of Marc Davis's jokes. Hatty was supposed to loose his head with each beat of his bride's heart.
Definitely the Beating Heart Bride wearing the Cloak
I honestly don't like the newest bride. The story's great, but she's just not scary.
I agree. Seeing so much of her, and making her so directly menacing, isn't nearly as effective in my opinion.
I also don't think the current effect looks very convincing, which really hurts the scene.
yeah, it ruins the atmosphere
I see it more as if Disney was trying so hard to be creepy and tech oriented that they totally failed at both. Like Joseph said, the present bride is neither frightening or convincing.
Emily, the Beating Heart Bride, was always my favorite-
As a kid growing up in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s, nothing in the haunted mansion scared me more than the beating heart bride. The grave statue that blinks every 15 minutes, the donald duck chair, the hallway of paintings, the self playing piano, all of these things gave me chills, but that attic man...the long build up, with the clutter all around you and the heart beating before you could even see where it was coming from was unnerving. You knew something was there, but you didn’t know what right away. And when I finally saw her for the first time, I shit bricks. Just something about her, wearing her white robes, the red glowing heart, and whatever was in her hand...and, the way she *moved*. The beating heart bride from the early 2000’s looked more like a human sized, possessed living doll to me, and it was bigger than me at the time too. You could tell it was mechanical, but it was rather silent in terms of machinery and the pop up screaming head made it really erie. The image of that bride was burned into the back of my retinas. It scared the crap out of me, and for some reason, I loved it. I was fascinated by her. I’ve always been fascinated by what scares people, including what scares myself. The newer bride isn’t as scary to me, because the movements sort of reflect that of an actual ghost, although I do like her. The haunted mansion has always been one of my favorite rides.
U know the hatbox ghost gets a raw deal
The bride gets the entire attic to put all her stuff and the hatbox ghost gets shoved in the corner near the hole to the graveyard
Blasphemy
True
Technically he's out on the porch
the beating heart bride seems scarier in my opinion as she has way more shadows and not as bright like the new bride who is all white thus you can see all her features while the beating heart bride is darker hiding her in the shadows thus giving her a creeper appearance although the new bride's voice saying "I do" does still give me chills did the bride always talk or did that come later?
I can see where they're trying to add a story to the haunted mansion, but personally for me the old bride will always be spookier, hoovering there with glowing eyes that are not blinking and a beating heart... YUP that part of the ride always used to scare me. Now with Contstance, it's just the Pirates ride but with ghosts. If we could have the old bride and the hat box ghost that would be grand... I mean creepy...
Beating heart bride was creepy and scarier, which is what you're going for in a Haunted Mansion ride
I think I like Constance more, because it seems she gave us foolish mortals, a new vision on the background story of the attraction.
I like your videos so much!
ooof... can i say both? both are very good. I feel like Connie's story makes the whole attic scene more cohesive (a bride who takes heads and a ghost with a disapearing head has a good amount of pizazz, yanno?) but the effect for the beating heart bride is very haunting and beautiful. I'm in love with both of them tbh.
beating heart bride was the best one, it was creepy, had no context, just stared at you with the menacing heartbeat. The fact she had no story and just was there, said nothing, just added this scary atmosphere. There was some versions where she had a jet black face so you couldn't see any features except her piercing yellow eyes which in my opinion was the best one compared to the blue smiley face one.
She had a story. Countless retellings of them in fact. Most of them involving tragedy, loss & heartbreak, of course. This made her a melancholy character whom you actually felt bad for & even pitied, despite her creepy atmosphere.
Constance kind of looks like a derpy blue Balloney from Phones and Ferb.
#clearawayconstance
Oh wow, you're totally right! "BALLOOOONY!"
Beating Heart Bride with the prospective suitors each popping up with a loud double-hiss.
I prefer Constance.
Although I think Melanie Ravenswood is the best bride. But that's a totally different mansion all together. XD
Beating heart bride left a more lasting impression IMHO. I just hate the effect on Constance’s face!
Beating Heart. The sound of the heart going into the attic was always terrifying to me as a child. This new bride looks ridiculous. Bring back the Beating Heart Bride. And while you are at it.....we wants the original redhead. :)
Redd & The Redhead are one and the same. Disney just made her a female pirate like her Marc Davis Venus-inspired portrait (the one with her mostly naked except for select pirate garb in appropriate places) at the beginning in the cave with the pirate booty/loot/treasure & skeletal pirates, her depiction in "Curse of the Black Pearl" under the pseudonym of Scarlet & via influential historical lore ala women swashbucklers like Anne Bonnie.
My favorite attic bride in the Haunted Mansion is absolutely the one with the glowing heart and white cloak.
I agree. Constance Hatchaway, and her background story, had to be placed on the left hand side to make room for the Hat Box Ghost. My favorite ghost of all time.
I like the theory that the Hatbox ghost is trying to reveal the proof of Constance's crimes, the hatboxes containing the heads of her husbands
Update Constance to look less silly. Not project onto a flat surface. Also. Though her name is Hatchaway, an axe would not have clean cuts as in the pics. Make the guys disappear altogether and her having a “memento” instead. The beating heart version added a level of creepiness that made the graveyard scene more fun
I only grew up with the 90's version of the bride, which was updated from the previous bride models before her.
I didn't know she had been replaced. That was literally the only thing that gave me a fright when I was a kid riding the Haunted Mansion.
I prefer the beating heart bride and since I grew up at WDW I’ll never get the whole Hat Box Ghost facilitation.
This is my favorite series you have ever done
I liked this attraction since the first time I enjoyed it, way back in I think like 1982? Maybe earlier, but it ended in 1989. Those were trips with my "birth family". When my family(married and having kids), we started going in 2006. So while I remember a lot of the mansion of old(er), most of my memories are of the current configuration, so the Black Widow Bride is my favorite.
I remember one time when I was at Disney World, I was in one man’s dream explaining the theory of Phantom Manor and talking some about Treasure Island, and I noticed people slowly walking up to me and listening to me like a tour guide- it was weird...
Believe me! Constance Hatchaway is my favorite! She has a axe to grind!
My favorite is probably 1:25. It's really eerie and mysterious, and I'm a sucker for the concept art of Claude Coats, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson.
I prefer the original attic Bride and her backstory. It was on her wedding night that she played a game of hide and seek with her groom and hid inside an old sea trunk in the attic, as she hid inside the lid of trunk closed by itself and she suffocated.
Oddly enough, the one time I rode the Haunted Mansion back in 2005, I don't remember seeing the Bride. I remember Little Leota, Leota herself, the Ballroom, and the Graveyard, but that's it.
I personally love Constance. She is the closest thing the ride has to an "antagonist" which will benefit greatly for the new HM movie. A film exploring the relationship between Constance and The Hatbox Ghost is what I'm hoping for! The old bride is fine, but I like that in the attic we expand the story of the former owners of the mansion before it became a retirement home for ghosts.
The ride does not need an antagonist. It's a haunted house whose undead citizens want you to join them in the hereafter. That alone is antagonistic enough without an axe murdering bitch whom the Ghost Host and/or Master Gracey should've done in the moment she murdered her first husband. I want Beating Heart back. Her story of tragic love actually fits the Haunted Mansion more than schizoid Connie ever did.
I say the faceless bride is the winner in this case, the reason is and I'm pretty sure everyone can relate to me on this is because she just looks more terrifying.
I like the mysterious, undefined Beating Heart Bride all the way! I even made a replica Ghost Bride for my own Halloween home haunt.
I think the beating heart bride was definitely spookier, but I love Constance’s story. I can’t pick.
You know who the real bride is?
JEAN LAFFITE!!!!!
Lol nope.
I find the Beating Heart Bride to be creepier and more ominous than the Black Widow Bride.
I always thought it was strange that Constance is the most overtly evil ghost in the Mansion. I also think that projection effect they use on her looks terrible and it kinda creeped me out when I was younger, bit uncanny valley to me.
The story is great with Constance. But that beating heart bride is my favorite. She use to scare the heck out of me as a kid!
Beating Heart Bride, hands down. I love Constance as a character concept, but having just seeing her for the first time last year in WDW and the BHB when I was a kid at WDW, I just felt BHB was more spooky.
Beating heart bride is by far the better one. Much more spooky. They should've just moved her over to the left to make room for the hatbox ghost.
I actually kind of miss the ghosts and ghouls popping out at you during the attic scene in Florida's Haunted Mansion. And also the beating heart bride. I don't ike the projection on Constance.
♩ She, Hatchaway about her
I don’t know what it is
But I know that I can't die without her
She, Hatchaway a’breezin’
I don’t know why it is
And there doesn’t have to be a reason…
Slash away ♫ ~Billy Ghoul
That first concept art is hella spooky
My favorite bride is the one with the glowing heart beat.
Btw for those who said that Constance brings more plot than the bhb the beating heart bride does indeed have somewhat of a backstory that explains a bit about her, here's her backstory: th-cam.com/video/Bu0-bElhDY8/w-d-xo.html
I loved this ❤️
I love this Series
Love the attic scene, brings a sense of darkness to the Haunted Mansion.
Y'know, I've been thinking about how imagineers could bring back the old bride, without changing Constance's story. They could make an animatronic that resembles Constance, give her a bouquet of flowers on one hand, and instead of a candle, a Hatchet on the other, and of course, a glowing beating heart.
And in a way, the glowing heart would make her more twisted, as it'd mean that to some degree, she loved her husbands in her own sick twisted way. and instead of just talking, it'd make her silent again, which would also make her more of a psycho.
Why? Psychotic bitches who marry only for wealth & status DON'T love their husbands. That's why the heartbeat still being on the soundtrack doesn't make sense, because it only works if the Attic Bride is forlorn & melancholy, NOT a schizoid axe murdering sociopath.
The original bride (and her 2 reworks) were always the best and spookiest. The backstory helped a lot with that. Constance is too much of a "Disney Villain" in my opinion, and the history created from Disney, cast members and fans of the Haunted Mansion is more tragic dealing more with loss.
Besides, Constance is too bright, too 2 dimensional, and looks like a display from in front of a mall electronics store. In my opinion, of course.
I love the OG beating heart bride! I still hope they bring her back!👻
The faceless bride was my favorite. It was mysterious, creepy, and needed no explanation. Constance seems out of place and a bit cheesy IMO.
Its so interesting how a wedding was always associated with the haunted house idea. I wonder why...
The beating heart bride scared the F outta me....
I prefer Constance because she gives the mansion a story. I like knowing things better than not knowing them.
But I still like the beating heart bride too. It would be nice if they put her back in, like next to the hatbox ghost or something.
I like the Beating Heart Bride more than Constance. I always found BHB to be far more creepy and intimidating. Constance I find to be too goofy to take her seriously. It's all of the mugging and overexaggerated way the woman playing Constance is doing that just kinda kills any tension that has been built up in that scene, while BHB has subtlety thanks to the eerie design of the character, her menacing glowing eyes and never-ending beating heart that add to an unnerving character.
I really liked this video, I had no idea about the backstory of the attic bride
The beating heart bride was always my favorite and always will be, my favorite version of it is the very first corpse like one
You know who the real bride is?
JEAN LAFITTE!
I’m a guy.
That won’t stop me from marrying you
Lol
I saw this from a mile away and still laughed. Well done
Jean Lafitte r/beetlejuicing
I miss the beating heart bride, it was more spooky and Constance’s effect seems wonky...
The beating heart bride is definitely creepier!
I prefer the beating heart bride but Constance is a really good effect
Beating heart bride seems much scarier in appearance. Although I've never seen her myself, only constance.
I'd have to go with the black widow bride because you can do a whole lot with her back story to make her a more 3 dimensional character. Like hear would be a full back story: Constance Hatchaway didn't start out being a black widow bride. Her first marriage at age 17 was actually for love. She married a promising young commodity broker in Philadelphia where she was originally from. However the marriage didn't turn out as she had planned. Her husband was an alcoholic,a womanizer, and an abusive lout. After three years she killed him by cutting his head off while he was passed out in a drunken stupor. She told the police that she had gone for a walk and when she returned, she found her husband decapitated and suggested that an intruder broke in while she was out and killed her husband. The police believed her and she collected his fortune and insurance policy. After that Constance changed. She now saw men as nothing more than walking bags of money. She soon began her Black Widow career. Moving around the country taking on various aliases. She would marry wealthy young men and stay married to them for a while instead of killing them on her wedding day (she knew better than that) then after a few years she would behead her husband, play the grieving widow for the police, collect the inheritance, than move on to another city under a new name and begin the process over again. That his until she got to the haunted Mansion in New Orleans. while preparing for her 7th wedding she was in the attic, trying on her wedding dress when she was bitten by a rattle snake that had made its nest there and she died. Her groom to be, not knowing of his would be bride's past was so heartbroken, he committed suicide, thus allowing for the ghost host.
I now just click these instantly