In the 1960s, the legendary Disney Imagineer dreamed of a ghost fish aquarium, where spooky skeletal fish would swim alongside living sea creatures. In 2024, Disney finally had the technology to bring this vision to life.
Entertainment companies like Disney are constantly looking for ways to make their experiences so immersive that it influences our spending/vacation decisions. One of these opportunities arose on board Disney's newest cruise shipon A Disney treasurewhere Imagineers designed the new Haunted Mansion Saloon, a setting that completely envelops guests in another realm—that of an eerie haunted ship, now part of the science of the beloved Disney attraction, the Haunted Mansion.
Disney didn't skimp on the details even though it's not a full ride: an eight-chapter saga plays out while you drink themed cocktails like the sparkly purple Ghoulish Delight and watch ghosts dance around you. It mimics the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney Resort Parks with scenes like Madame Leota's tarot reading, a ballroom filled with dancing ghosts, and a performance in the Minster's Graveyard by the Phantom Five.
But what sets it apart from a traditional haunted castle is that guests will be up close and personal with the apparitions, able to sit next to them, see some of them from 360-degree angles, and even touch them.
My colleague Bridget Carey experienced the Haunted Mansion Saloon on the cruise ship while docked in New York last month. “You have to pay attention to everything on the walls—the whole room transforms and tells a story,” Carey says of the space. “And you can get up close to study it all, which is so different from driving. It's best to try to discover the giant tank of ghost fish.'
Watch this: Inside the Haunted Mansion of Disney's Treasures
A few weeks later, I spoke with The visionary Daniel Joseph for its establishment. While he stuck close to the mantra “a magician never reveals his secrets,” he offered insight into the technology, science and engineering behind the creation of Disney's greatest illusions.
“My team will basically discover and sometimes invent new techniques and new technologies to create illusions for our theme parks around the world,” Joseph tells me. “This was like the ultimate call to action, like 'you guys find a way to do something that couldn't be done in the 1960s in a brand new place at the Haunted Mansion.'
The Haunted Mansion was one of the last rides that Walt Disney himself had a hand in designing, debuting in 1969 at Disneylandafter his death in 1966. It can also be found at Walt Disney World in OrlandoFlorida and at Tokyo Disneyland, and similar rides are at Disneyland Paris (Phantom Manor) and Hong Kong Disneyland (Mystic Manor). The ride is so popular that it appeared two movies in 2003 and 2023, as well as a Muppets Halloween Special in 2021.
On A Disney treasureThe next chapter in the haunted house saga, according to Disney.
Imagineers worked on the Haunted Mansion Saloon for five years and the Ghost Fish Aquarium, conceived by the original Imagineer Rollie Crumpalready made a big impression. It houses real fish as well as “ghost” fish that swim back and forth, with spectral sea creatures resisting scrutiny with their noses pressed against the aquarium glass.
This required knowledge of both science and new technology.
“We've been playing with some different materials—that's a real liquid that's there—and we've been playing with some things that work with the index of refraction and liquids and water, and how light bends and goes through liquids,” Joseph says.
A skeleton fish swims alongside real fish in the ghost aquarium.
Read more: Every Disneyland and Disney World ride and land planned for 2025 and beyond
Another notable scene in the salon is the portrait gallery, featuring art-style paintings by another original Imagineer, Mark Davis. The portraits seem to melt or drip away to reveal new eerie images. The first “changing portraits” debuted with the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, and were invented by another original Disney Imagineer. Yale Graciewho had a The character of the haunted castle named after him.
I asked Joseph if the melting “images” use technology similar to Samsung frame TVwhich has a matte, anti-reflective screen that you can use to display digital copies of images and photos. A framed TV looks like you have real artwork hanging on the wall when you're not using it as a regular TV. Joseph laughingly denied that it was the same concept, but wouldn't dwell on the fact that new advances in technology have allowed the portraits to come to life, saying that for all intents and purposes, they are real paintings.
“We wanted to make something that, because you can get up close to it, has the real feel and texture of an oil painting,” he said. “You can see the actual brushstrokes in this work, you can see different changes in the material, there are areas that are just canvas and there are other areas that still have the matte medium, the gesso and the texture of the oil paint and the actual paint on top her. And as you move left and right, you'll see them change, just like you would in a museum where there are overhead lights.”
Melting busts and changing portraits are part of the Haunted Mansion Parlor decor.
Tech and science create magic
While technology is probably the last thing on your mind when experiencing the magic of Disney, it's at the forefront of the Imagineers' minds. Joseph said he attends tech expos like CES to get ideas about what is being developed and how it can be “abused” by Disney.
“As an inventor and illusion developer here at Imagineering, I absolutely have my hand on the pulse of consumer technology as well as professional technology that is out there in the world because it's changing so quickly,” said Joseph.
But while most companies use CES to show off the latest advances in technology and electronics for its own sake, Joseph said he looks at it all “through the lens of 'how can I abuse this and make it do something that, A, the original the inventors of that technology may not have thought which would give him the Disney kind of has a new edge in this technology, but B, how can I do something with this technology that maybe wouldn't be done normally if other people were looking at it?'”
High-ISO, high-resolution footage of the actual audio-animatronics from the original Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland is displayed on the mirror behind the bar.
But it's not always about using the latest and greatest technology. Joseph said that for the scenes that play out in the mirror behind the lounge bar, Imagineers chose not to have “some super game engine, high-tech stuff with characters in there that are CGI that are made to look analog and original animatronic style .
Instead, they shot high-resolution, high-ISO footage of the original audio animatronics used in the Haunted Mansion rides throughout the Disney parks.
“There's an aesthetic from 1969 that we really wanted to keep in the showroom… (so) why not just shoot the actual figures that we have in our houses?” And to get them back there, I think it's really cool to see them have them and have that high quality, but also keep us kind of grounded in that original villa.”
And while Imagineers keep the pulse of technology going, one thing they don't touch is VI.
“We haven't used AI at all, really, in any of the things we do,” he said. “I don't know what the future holds for AI, but not yet.”