PP71091    DLR - Walt Disney - Hitchhiking Ghost - Annual Passholder

Created for Annual Passholders, this Limited Release pin features Gus, the Hitchhiking Ghost, from the Haunted Mansion, with a photograph of Walt Disney in front of a model for New Orleans Square in Disneyland.

The photo of Walt has an old washed out color look to it, and is framed by a design resembling a tombstone. The photo is mounted behind the frame giving it a slight 3D effect. At the bottom of this grey stone frame is engraved the words: "Disneyland RESORT (c)" The top of the tombstone frame is a graphic design below which at the words: "Annual Passholder 2009." Gus the ghost is hanging out inside the frame peeking around the right side of it with his right thumb extended toward Walt in a hitchhiking motion. Gus is an iridescent blue color giving him a ghostly look.

The pin is mounted on 4X6 Postcard in a plastic envelope. The front of the card is a black and white picture of Walt walking through the front gate of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Below right is the Disneyland Resort logo in red. Above left it says "Annual Passholder 2009" in red script, and right below it also says "Heritage Collection" in light blue gothic letters. The pin is mounted through the card in the lower left corner and just below the pin in light blue letters it says: "Limited Release."

The back of the card commemorates the Haunted Mansion and related the fact that it debuted at Disneyland on August 9, 1969 in New Orleans Square after many long awaited years from its initial announcement. When the designers wanted the mansion facade to look more ominous and scary, in a state of disrepair, Walt Disney said he would keep up the outside and let the ghosts take care of the interior. Claimed to be the home of 999 happy haunts with "always room for one more," the Mansion was originally planned to be a walk-through attraction taking guests on a tour through a number of spooky rooms and special effects that defy explanation. To avoid problems with traffic flow, Imagineers decided to change this into a ride with the advent of the omnimover.