Haunted Mansion merch--Memento Mori {Updated 10/12/14 with Pics and Video}

purplestarlisa wrote: I heard a rumor that HM was going to close for refurbishment 12/1. Have you heard anything about this?

The Magic Kingdom park has announced that the Haunted Mansion will be closed December 1 through 19, 2014.

We used to like Ichabods Landing , just before HM. I hope the new shop has a lot of that merch.

I hope the shop is open earlier than December! I was so excited to see it on our upcoming trip!

December 31 seems like a long time to redo the shop, but then again... :yeti:

Patricia, I think the shop is supposed to be done by the end of September. The ride is going down for refurb from Dec. 1-19th...

LandFan;2430642 wrote: Patricia, I think the shop is supposed to be done by the end of September. The ride is going down for refurb from Dec. 1-19th...

See Figment's post a few up.

Despite the internal announcement extending the refurbishment of the Yankee Trader store, the Magic Kingdom park has publicly maintained a "Fall" opening date for the new store:

Details Materialize About New Haunted Mansion-Themed Shop Coming to Magic Kingdom Park This Fall

September 2nd, 2014
by Steven Miller, Merchandise Communications Manager
The Official Disney Parks Blog

... As friendly spirits continue preparing the shop to open in the fall, I caught up with my Walt Disney Imagineering partners who shared some additional details about what guests can expect.

...the shop’s storyline:

“Rumors have been whispered for years about the little shop that once was the abode of Madame Leota. While she disappeared many years ago, it has been said her visage appears now and then and her voice, carried on the breeze, is sometimes heard, humming a mournful tune.”

When asked about the cast members who will work at this shop, I was told:

“The shop staff is a friendly, if somewhat quiet, group. They go about their duties with a calm and reverent manner but with a knowing glint to their eyes. They are well aware that the locals view the shop with a sense of mystery but come in anyway, hoping to find the perfect memento or to possibly learn about their future or past.”...

I hope it is open by October!

A fall opening makes more sense. It would be a shame not to have it opened before the Christmas crowds arrive.

All I can tell you is that I am in the parks right now & am getting highly annoyed!!! I wanted to get the HM beer stein that matches the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea one, the tumbler that matches the rest & the HM game if life & am being told that they have all been pulled to put in the new HM store! Way to make things exclusive! Pull them from other locations! The stranger thing is they are all available online...guess I'll be ordering when I get home

Ok, I'm about to say something unpopular (go figure). I love the Haunted Mansion and I have many HM themed items, but I feel that Disney has gone around the bend on merchandising it. It used to be HM items were special because there were relatively few of them. Now, good Lord! Leave it to Disney to ruin a good thing by trying to squeeze every penny out of it...

Stu29573;2434492 wrote: Leave it to Disney to ruin a good thing by trying to squeeze every penny out of it...

Look around. That is their primary business strategy. In some cases with the older properties, though, they slashed away a lot of great merchandise. Now that they realize people want it, they are going overboard in the other direction.

I'm getting a huge kick out of the new HM merch! I don't buy a lot of it, but I would rather have more choices than fewer.

Any word on the "fall" opening of the store?

Thanks!

**Update**

Memento Mori, the new retail location replacing Yankee Trader, began a Public Preview period today (10/2/14) at the Magic Kingdom.

The preview period is expected to run intermittently until a Grand Opening in Mid October.

Besides a large array of Haunted Mansion merchandise, the retail location offers Guests the option to make a "changing portrait" of themselves. The holographic image reportedly morphs from the Guest's "corruptible mortal state" to a more ghoulish demeanor.

The store appears to have undergone a small refurbishment on the interior adding themed details in some of the woodwork, wallpaper, and other fixtures. Cast have advised Guests to look for "spirits to materialize" in several portraits and mirrors displayed around the store.