February 8, 2025, 5:36 PM ·
It’s Super Bowl weekend, so I would like to start my theme park commentary today with a story about my least favorite memory from this past NFL football season.It was December 15, and my Indianapolis Colts were fighting my wife’s Denver Broncos for a spot in the playoffs. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor had broken free, running 41 yards to the end zone for a two-touchdown lead. Legendary coach Bear Bryant once admonished players that they should “act like they’ve been there before” when reaching the end zone, and Taylor demonstrated that confident attitude by dropping the ball nonchalantly.Except that he did not wait until he had crossed the goal line to do it. He dropped the ball at the one-yard line.The ball rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. No points for Indy, and Denver got the ball. The Broncos went on to score 24 unanswered points, winning the game and sticking a fork in the Colts’ season.Why I am bringing this up now, beyond roasting myself for being a Colts fan? Because Disney just did something much like this with one of its recent projects at Disneyland. Running in for a well-earned touchdown, they dropped the ball at the one.I am talking about Madame Leota’s Somewhere Beyond, the new Haunted Mansion gift shop at Disneyland. Many fans have been ripping Disney’s work on this merchandise location, including on this website. [See Something’s off at Walt Disney Imagineering.] But is all this criticism deserved? Last week, I spent about an hour in the park just looking at the store, sitting across from it and walking around and through the shop. (Coincidentally, during that time, I also ran into and chatted with new Disneyland Resort President Thomas Mazloum, who was being shown around the park by Disneyland VP Kris Theiler.) I wanted to “read what was on the page,” if you will, by ignoring what others have said and trying to understand and appreciate this structure for what it is within the environment of New Orleans Square at Disneyland.In that context, Madame Leota’s Somewhere Beyond works well as a transitional structure between the Mansion and its surroundings. Built on the site of the former Splash Mountain’s Fastpass distribution machines, the shape of the Leota building now provides a coherent visual transition between the architecture of the Haunted Mansion and both Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and the Harbour Galley.
Harbour Galley, left, Haunted Mansion, Madame Leota’s Somewhere Beyond, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, right.The multi-angled gable roof of Leota’s calls to the roof of the Galley as well as the shed over the lift on Tiana’s. The decoration atop Leota’s roof calls to the decorations lining the Mansion’s flat roof, as well as the crown on Tiana’s water tower. The slat walls on the shop are complementary with both the Mansion and the Galley, as are the colors. My only issue with the architecture here is the scale of Leota’s, which seems just a touch large to me for the space around it. But inside, the shop feels quite small and cramped. I cannot imagine that the space would have functioned effectively as a shop for a franchise as popular as the Mansion had it been any smaller.
Inside Madame Leota’s Somewhere Beyond. You have to use fish-eye to get it in one photo, but at least Disney got the finish and aging right inside the shop.Perhaps WDI could have done something to hide some of the building’s exterior with landscaping or other visual tricks on the Tiana’s side. But that’s not a big deal for me. What is – and what I think is the underlying issue that has triggered so many fans – is the store’s finish.Yes, I shot that exterior photo above looking into the winter sun. But under no weather conditions should this store’s building be picking up a glare like that seen here on its roof. To provide a complete visual transition, the Leota building should match – or at least complement – the finish and texture of its neighbors.But instead of getting well-weathered shingles on this building, we see shiny new roofing that looks like it was installed just weeks ago – and not something that has existed here organically for years. I doubt that Imagineers’ vision was for the Leota building to represent modern exurban development standing between New Orleans’ French Quarter and the Louisiana bayou. But that’s the only rationale I can imagine that would explain the current finish of the building.
Sloppy trim detail on the Leota buildingOn the far side of the Mansion, Disney has installed a new extended queue that looks like it has been there as long as the Mansion has. It offers plenty of references to the dark ride while maintaining a coherent visual theme with the Mansion building. Only at the ride’s exit did Disney fumble the ball. Success was right there. Yet the construction wall for street drainage repairs installed at the front of the shop not long after its opening betrays the failure to account for every last detail before Disneyland opened this location to guests. In business management, there is a cliché that every project has three possible outcomes – high quality, fast development, and low cost – and that managers never can pick more than two of the three. My advice to theme park managers? Always skip “fast” if you can’t afford an unlimited budget. Yes, fans will roast a park for slow development and missed deadlines. But when an excellent project opens, everyone will forget that it was late. Want an example? Try the Haunted Mansion itself. Disney completed its façade six years before the dark ride inside opened to guests. The status of the Mansion building became a bit of a joke among fans in the 1960s. But now, no one cares. We all just love the attraction that has entertained millions of fans over 55 years.If Disney fixes the drainage issue at the store’s entrance then throws some money into a proper finish for the building, all will be forgiven and forgotten with the Madame Leota’s building, too. Just change the shingles and the siding to make this building look as if it has been standing with the Mansion throughout its history. Then let WDI use this as a lesson for the Burbank bean counters. Disney fans’ obsession is the company’s greatest asset. It never is a liability. Fans will notice when a project does not get the details right, so Disney management better approve budgets and timelines that ensure that no one drops the ball at any point in the game.Great teams recover after a fumble. Again, all Disney needs to do here is invest the time and money to give the exterior of Madame Leota’s Somewhere Beyond the finish that it deserves, and I think that Disneyland will have an easier time quieting its critics than my Colts will have getting back to the Super Bowl.Keep in touch and support the siteTo keep up to date with more theme park news and analysis, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter. To save money on tickets – including admission for as little as $64 a day for Southern Californians – shop our partner’s Disneyland tickets page.And for assistance in planning a Disney vacation, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote. Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent media while getting a great deal at the same time.
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