Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts

They Have Selected You…

These three Hitchhiking Ghosts, formerly found in the Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, have found their way to Graceland in Memphis, where they are part of the “Inside the Walt Disney Archives” exhibit.

This past weekend, we headed over to see the Disney Archives exhibit at Graceland in Memphis. Yes, that Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. But actually, the exhibit is not in the Graceland mansion itself, but rather it is in the exhibit hall across the street, part of the overall Graceland complex.

These ghosts were part of the illusion at the end of the ride where it appeared that a ghost was in your Doom Buggy with you. Slight spoiler: Although there were only three ghosts, there were more than three figures. But all of those figures in the Walt Disney World version have now been replaced with fancy digital projection effects, so these poor guys were evicted from the Haunted Mansion. Fortunately, they found their way to the Disney Archives, which sent them out on tour, along with several other artifacts.

Tombstones and Ghosts

Also included in the display were some of the tombstones from the graveyard at Walt Disney World. The tombstones have been replaced with newer, less-weathered versions. It was pretty cool to see these items somewhere else than their usual setting. Behind the Hitchhiking Ghosts were reproductions of the stretching room portraits, along with some glare from the lights up above. Sorry about the glare. Even though the spirits are frightfully sensitive to bright lights, it was good to see these guys well-lit.

I liked that I could get photos of these Hitchhiking Ghosts from a few different angles. That is different from the ride, where it was difficult to get a photo of them at all. Plus, in this last photo, a rather familiar space pilot is looking on from the side. But more about him later on. This post is just to give the ghosts their moment in the spotlight, so to speak.

The exhibit “Inside the Disney Archives” will be at Graceland through January 2, if you get a chance to go. And no, they did not pay me to say that. We spent our own money to go, just to be clear.

Fun Times

We had been needing to do something just for us for a while. We have been going nonstop, or so it seems, and we needed a break. This exhibit was a good getaway because it was something different from what we have been doing. And it is something we are interested in, too. Combine it with a shopping trip afterward at a nearby outlet mall, and it was just about perfect!

When life gets busy, don’t forget about the fun times. Those times help to recharge your batteries. We looked at fun stuff, took some silly photos, enjoyed some “retail therapy”, and then went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. It might not have been the most productive day in terms of getting things done, but it was very productive in terms of the two of us spending time together.

Spend some fun time together - it is good for your relationship.

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. - Proverbs 13:4

About the Photos

Fortunately, there were no restrictions for photography in the exhibit, except that you could not use a flash. And no videos, either. Neither of those was a problem for me. Another fortunate thing is that the exhibit was rather well lit. It was slightly dim, but I was able to compensate for that with my camera.

However, by the end of it all, I had switched to manual focus and manual settings on my camera. That way, I could make sure that the camera was focused on what I wanted. And I could also make sure that the shutter speed was not so low that I could not hold the camera still. It took a little more time to take photos that way, especially with having to focus manually on everything, but it was worth it in the end.

Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Luminar AI. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens
Date: November 13, 2021
Location: Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee