The Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom recently closed for refurbishment, which instantly sparked rumors that Disney was finally adding the long-awaited Hatbox Ghost character to the ride. Unfortunately, this did not happen. While that may be a little disappointing for those hoping to see this character in time for the kickoff to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, some other changes were made to this attraction during this refurbishment that guests might notice on their next ride-through, which include some technical upgrades as well as the return of another character, who had previously disappeared from the ride's graveyard scene. 

Better lighting effects in the stretching room and the seance area

When guests first enter the attraction's iconic stretching room, they will be greeted with much brighter lights throughout the scene, making all of the spooky details in this area much clearer, especially during guests' final moments in this room following the blackout moment.

In addition, guests will also find better lighting in the seance room, with Madame Leota appearing much brighter and clearer in the center of the room. Guests may also notice that Madam Leota is sporting a little bit of an updated look herself, with her blue curls spiraling all around her crystal ball now. 

The tea-sipping mummy is back in the graveyard

While he's not exactly a fan-favorite character, the ride's tea-sipping mummy disappeared for a little while from this attraction. However, this refurbishment finally brought this wrapped-up character back to the Haunted Mansion graveyard scene. Guests can see him once again in the middle section of the graveyard area, near a sarcophagus. 

No other changes were made to this area of the attraction, so guests will need to keep an extra eye out to catch this returning member of the graveyard crew lineup. 

When will the Hatbox Ghost finally materialize?

Though curtains appeared at the installation location for the Hatbox Ghost several weeks ago near the endless hallway section of the ride, the character has not made its official debut just yet. Disney has said that work is ongoing when it comes to adding the character, but has not provided any kind of timeline for this change. We'd like to think that this could mean an October debut might be in the cards for this character, but unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed, so it looks like Hatbox Ghost fans will just have to be patient for the time being while work continues behind the scenes to get this character ready for his big Walt Disney World entrance. 

While there are no additional refurbishment dates currently listed for the Haunted Mansion, it seems likely that there will be another brief closure for this attraction sometime before the end of the year while final touches are added on the Hatbox Ghost. Then again, Disney could also finish up work on this new character after guest hours and surprise guests one day by dropping the curtains in front of the endless hallway. Either way, hopefully we'll learn more soon.