The Walt Disney Company announced that a new hotel will be built just behind Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion ride. It will be themed directly to the iconic attraction and feature exclusive after-hours access.
“The hotel will be a first-of-its-kind resort that will be truly haunted from day one,” said Gloria Hopps, Project Lead on the yet-to-be-named resort. “Most hotels gain their ‘haunted’ status after years of in-room murders and suicides or unexplained fatal accidents with guests and employees. But this will be the first resort in the world where paranormal activity will be encouraged by spirits that are otherwise aimlessly roaming the Earth.”
Hopps spoke of a new recruiting initiative by the Walt Disney Company which will reach out to spirits from beyond and offer them cash in exchange for scaring resort guests.
“If a spirit is trapped between this world and the next and is a little short on cash, we encourage all of those entities to come down for a formal interview,” continued Hopps. “The more horrifying the circumstances [under which the spirit died], the better.”
The unpredictability of paranormal activity will allow guests to have a truly immersive experience. Much like the new Star Wars-themed hotel that was recently announced, this resort will feature full lock-down mode where guests are not allowed to leave at night unless they are checking out.
“Your experience is over when we say it’s over,” said Hopps.
Summoning and collecting these ghosts to come work at a haunted hotel inside Walt Disney World can be tricky and that’s why Disney spared no expense when they hired the best in the business to assist with such a task. Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III has been tapped to be Disney’s Paranormal Activity Recruitment Officer. With his 28 years in the business, it’s safe to say that he knows a thing or two about busting ghosts.
“People incorrectly assume I’m a ghostbuster,” said Geronimo. “I don’t bust anything. I’m more of a ‘ghost recruiter.’ If a spirit from beyond is looking for work, I help them find jobs.”
Geronimo’s method of collecting ghosts typically involves visiting cemeteries and leaving fliers on the gravestones of freshly buried individuals. He also visits places that are already haunted and does his best to recruit ghosts there.
“I visit these so-called ‘haunted’ locations all over the United States looking for new talent to join our team,” continued Geronimo. “It’s not very scientific. I enter a dark hallway banging pots and pans with wooden spoon and I yell out that they should follow me if they need money. It works like a charm.”
As for the resort itself, Hopps went on to tell us that guests can expect the typical things that go along with a haunted building such as unexplained footsteps from floors above, kids laughing on the “adults-only” floors, blood coming from the faucets, and of course spine-tingling screams coming from the room across the hall.
“We want this to be a truly immersive experience,” concluded Hopps. “We literally want to scare the shit out of guests. Literally. Nothing would please us more.”
The new resort is scheduled to begin construction at the end of 2018 and be open by 2020.
