What seasoned Disneyland or Walt Disney World Guest doesn’t recognize those recognizable first three words heard when first entering the ever popular Haunted Mansion attraction just off Liberty Square?
Since this is October, Halloween month, it seems only fitting to pay a visit to the site dedicated to this attraction. The site is Doombuggies.com and if you have never perused the site you have no idea what you’re missing.
In this session we’ll take a look at how Doombuggies got started, what it holds for its guests, and what’s in store down the road.
In the Beginning
The owner and webmaster of Doombuggies is Jeff Baham. Right off the bat (no pun intended) you would have to think that Jeff knew what he was doing when he launched this site on Halloween night in 1997. The site was actually launched on Baham’s free Web space that came with his AOL account. Back then he called it “Chef Mayhem’s Tribute to Disney’s Haunted Mansion” because as Baham said, it was a “…quick turn on my actual name, since it rhymes.”
The doombuggies.com domain name was registered in early 1998. In 1999 the alternative domain “HauntedMansion.com” was donated to the site by author Cory Doctorow. Doctorow, a fan of the site, didn’t have a plan for the domain at the time. Baham speculates, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the seeds for his novel “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom” might have already been germinating, and the Haunted Mansion plays a big role in that book.”
So what spurred Baham to create this site? Interestingly enough, it was a need for him to learn Web design.
As Baham notes, “I’m a graphic designer, but when I was attending San Jose State University’s school of Art and Design, there weren’t very many computer courses offered. I’ve always been a bit of a computer nerd, so it wasn’t too difficult to teach myself the ins and outs of basic Web site design, once I had found a compelling subject.”
Living on the West Coast Baham, was an obvious fan of Disneyland and recalls how his affection for the Haunted Mansion was started during his early years. “Disneyland has a special place in my childhood,” he said, “because my sister and I had a couple of friends down in Lakewood, and back in the late ’70s and early ’80s the four of us would go to Disneyland often as kids.”
Baham’s favorite attractions were Adventure Thru Inner Space, Pirates of the Caribbean, and obviously the Haunted Mansion. To this day Baham admits he maintains the same level of love for the park as he did as a child.
The Lure of Haunted Mansion
So what lured Baham to this attraction? “I just tended towards this genre.” Baham said. He always “loved spooky things,” and beginning way back in elementary school.
Baham recalls, “I was helping my church host ‘haunted houses’ for the neighborhood—something I continued all the way through college—and as a budding childhood ‘artist,’ I used to trace the bones and skeletons in my parents’ Time Life books. I also wore my way through at least three copies of that Ron Howard Haunted Mansion storybook album—I’d also trace the pictures in that, and end up cracking the vinyl!”
This genre had cast its spell on Baham and it seemed he welcomed it. Eventually the obsession got to the point where the site became the thing to do.
Gathering Ghoulish Info
When putting together a site such as Doombuggies that is dedicated to a popular Disney park attraction visited by essentially millions of guests, one has to be pretty thorough in collecting and providing information to site visitors. This was no simple task.
“Gathering the media and information archived on Doombuggies has been a mixture of dedication, luck, and influence,” Baham said. “At first, as I was a Disney fan to start out with, I had a number of Haunted Mansion articles, collectibles, and photos that I’d gathered throughout my life.” He knew however that more was needed.
He said, “My first big boost, however, was when someone affiliated with Imagineering sent me a Zip disk full of isolated sound files from the Phantom Manor version of the Haunted Mansion. It enabled me to set up a Phantom Manor section of the site, which prodded me toward wanting to really be able to provide a valuable archive of information.”
He wanted more and was determined to gather more information on the attraction. This is where the Internet became a very handy tool.
“I started emailing people involved in the lesser-known details of the attraction—folks that had worked with MAPO [Disney’s Manufacturing and Production Organization derived from MAry POppins] back in the 1960s or cast members who had spent lots of time observing the public’s reaction to the ride.” The research also continued. Baham recalls, “I also started scouring eBay for books or magazines that might have useful information.”
Eventually the site became so popular that Baham began finding information coming to him. He said, “These days, I’ll often get submissions of information, since Doombuggies is better known than it was in the early days. Some of our my best material has simply been given to me—like the only known photo of the Hatbox Ghost actually installed in Disneyland’s attic scene, or the catalog of Victorian art that contained the true inspiration for Disneyland’s Mansion facade.”
The Best of Doombuggies
What is the best that Doombuggies has to offer? Baham said, “I think the best features (on Doombuggies) are the exclusives—things that you won’t find anywhere else. There are largely viewpoints and secrets long tucked-away by uber-fans who stumble across the Web site and recognize that they have something to offer, and send it in.”
He goes on to say, “I also think that a visit to Doombuggies can help Disney park fans better appreciate their trip, because it can put perspective around their experience. Just realizing all of the thought and heartache put into a single attraction out of the dozens they’ll find at a Disney park can make the whole trip feel different—more important, in a sense. I often receive feedback that echoes that idea.”
“The media archives are probably another fan favorite—people love to be able to go back and relive the experience by hearing the sounds again, or watching the singing busts sing.”
The Doombuggies Decade
So what’s in store for Doombuggies? Baham said, “Next Halloween (2007) will be the tenth anniversary of Doombuggies, so this year should be an exciting time, as we gear up for a celebration of some sort. I’ve got a group of fantastic dedicated volunteers that help with the message board community and event planning, and we’ve been kicking some ideas around. We’re not totally sure how that will pan out quite yet, but there should be something pretty cool to look forward to next fall!”
Reflecting back on how Doombuggies has evolved and what it is today, Baham said, “I think Doombuggies will continue to be a great place for like-minded fans to, well, come out and socialize. The message board community is staffed by great people, and the folks that use the boards these days are a lot of fun. We have Disney fans, Halloween/horror fans, goths, fan boys and fan girls, artists, and all sorts of people collected together, and it’s great to see how a single subject can bring together such diverse groups of people.”
“Even in a tiny way, it’s refreshing in these days of worldwide strife to see people coming together rather than splintering apart—especially people of radically different personalities and backgrounds, in some cases.”
You might say he is “dead on” with that thought. Sorry…could not help it.
If you visit Doombuggies and find it to your liking you should also visit TellNoTales.com, Baham’s other site, which as you can imagine, focuses on this year’s most popular attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean. Both sites will help you either recall your visit to the particular attraction and will go a long way towards helping you…
…remember the magic!
Next Time
It seemed like the first Mousefest occurred only yesterday. Yet we are closing in on the Mousefest 2006, the fourth anniversary of this annual gathering of Disney fans.
After having experienced each and every Mousefest I feel more than qualified to provide everyone with a Mousefest Training Guide and will do so next time, along with a preview of this year’s event.
Class dismissed.
