When did Haunted Mansion shut down for Halloween Refurbishment?

[Frozen2014]

Haunted Mansion is my daughter and my favorite attraction. I know they shut down it down to get it ready for the Halloween version, so does anyone remember what weeks they did this? If we were to come to Disneyland in the future, labor day week/end is a likely time before our kids go back to school (we're from Canada so later than the US)...and we would be upset if we couldn't go on it.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

It shuts down before Labor Day weekend. I think it was August 24 this year.

 

[Frozen2014]

Labor day weekend was Sept 5th/6th this year.

For how long is it typically closed?

 

[Watchtower]

It's usually down to install all of Jack Skellingtons touches for about three weeks. Depending on when Halloweentime officially starts every year, it's usually closed for the last week in August and the first two weeks in September. It seems like they usually aim for the second Friday in September to start the Halloween festivities.

 

[Imdboss]

Yes it was 8/24 this year, our first day in the park was 8/23 and I made it a point for us to ride it. I believe it reopened on 9/11.

 

[Frozen2014]

Yes it was 8/24 this year, our first day in the park was 8/23 and I made it a point for us to ride it. I believe it reopened on 9/11.

Thanks for the dates. Yikes...so it was shut down for 3 weeks.

Definitely a big con for coming to Disneyland our last week of the summer then. Too bad as I think the weather is better in Anaheim end of August than Orlando.

 

[taniahappy]

I think any month weather is better in Anaheim vs Orlando, LOL ... Yes, it did shut down for a few weeks to get ready for the season.

 

[Frozen2014]

I think any month weather is better in Anaheim vs Orlando, LOL ... Yes, it did shut down for a few weeks to get ready for the season.

We went to Disney World last October and weather was perfect. But having said that, our son is getting older and so we probably won't want to take him out of school next Disney trip. So that leaves either March break (crazy crowds), Christmas break (probably crazier crowds) or summer including labor day weekend as we're from Canada (good for crowds...I think...but hot weather). But my 6 daughter loves loves loves Haunted Mansion so that would be very dissapointing if we came to Disneyland that week and it was closed.

 

[figment_jii]

We went to Disney World last October and weather was perfect. But having said that, our son is getting older and so we probably won't want to take him out of school next Disney trip. So that leaves either March break (crazy crowds), Christmas break (probably crazier crowds) or summer including labor day weekend as we're from Canada (good for crowds...I think...but hot weather). But my 6 daughter loves loves loves Haunted Mansion so that would be very dissapointing if we came to Disneyland that week and it was closed.

If HM is one of the top priorities for your family, it's probably best to avoid the Labor Day weekend because HM has been closed over the Labor Day weekend since 2010. It takes 18-days to install the HMH overlay, so the only way it would be open during Labor Day weekend is if DLR moves the start of HalloweenTime to before Labor Day or closer to the end of the month. It's also worth pointing out that the Disneyland Half Marathon is slated for September 1-4, 2016, which is part of Labor Day weekend, so crowds won't be terribly low then either.

When is your March break? While the majority of the Springs Break seem to fall within the week before and after Easter (March 27, 2016), not all school districts take the same time off. SO in that way, Spring Break crowds are a little more distributed than Christmas crowds. You can get a sense of the schools that have breaks in the 2016 Calendar of Events and School Breaks & DLR thread.

 

[Imdboss]

You might also consider the last two weeks of Aug. A lot of area schools are back in session then, we are from WA and don't start until after Labor Day so it worked for us. We used to go in Oct and it's become so busy that we tried Aug 23-28 this year and it was wonderful. The only downside was the incredible heat and humidity.

 

[OneThree]

You might also consider the last two weeks of Aug. A lot of area schools are back in session then, we are from WA and don't start until after Labor Day so it worked for us. We used to go in Oct and it's become so busy that we tried Aug 23-28 this year and it was wonderful. The only downside was the incredible heat and humidity.

Thanks for sharing. We are going similar time frame next summer and for the same reason since school starts later for us.

It would be a bummer though if the Haunted Mansion is shutdown. I think the last three times the wife and I went to DL it was at some point during the holidays so the mansion was in the overlay. I can barely remember what it looks like without it.

 

[carrierael77]

Try spring. We went April 18th thru april 25th (our spring break) and the crowds were quite low. I am really hoping similar when we go in 2 weeks, but probably not because it was perfect. Like a Friday we did 4 rides in fantasyland plus met 3 characters in under an hour.

 

[Imdboss]

Thanks for sharing. We are going similar time frame next summer and for the same reason since school starts later for us.

It would be a bummer though if the Haunted Mansion is shutdown. I think the last three times the wife and I went to DL it was at some point during the holidays so the mansion was in the overlay. I can barely remember what it looks like without it.

Same for us, last time we saw HM without the overlay was in 2009 so it was like a whole new ride to us!

 

[SteamboatVinny]

Do they leave the nightmare before Christmas overlay up all through the Christmas season?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Do they leave the nightmare before Christmas overlay up all through the Christmas season?

Yes. They will remove it in January once the holiday season is over.