Haunted Mansion and Fastpass+

[nytimez]

Ding, ding, ding.

You'll have people like myself who stand up to people who we believe are "cutting", and this will create unnecessary headaches.

People need to rethink what a line is in these situations. IMO if you stop to play, let people pass. Some may be going right for the front of the line (or to see how far they can get). Others may go to play with the next item, and you'll pass them later. Either way, you're playing with something. Relax, enjoy it, move when you're ready to move.

 

[djlaosc]

The inconsistencies are truly staggering. After all the complaints about Disney losing the "magic" and "Disney difference," they implement a program like interactive queues and everyone throws a fit that they'd rather have boring, "nothing to see here" queues.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, Everest, Tower of Terror queue = Good
Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh or Soarin' queue = Bad


For example, for Soarin', would it be better to...

• Walk through an empty queue with a couple of screens where you can wave your arms and try not to hit other people in the queue.
• Walk through a queue like Everest's where you walk through an area/museum dedicated to the history of air travel.
• Have the queue set at an airport. They could give you pagers like Dumbo's queue to "call your party" when it's your turn (and have lots of shops where you can walk around "duty free" - actually, why haven't Disney tried this? )

 

[lazyboy97o]

The inconsistencies are truly staggering. After all the complaints about Disney losing the "magic" and "Disney difference," they implement a program like interactive queues and everyone throws a fit that they'd rather have boring, "nothing to see here" queues.

The "Disney difference" wasn't just about throwing a ton of stuff out there and seeing what happens. The interactive queue at The Haunted Mansion undermines the experience that was intentionally created and what follows. It is a big spoiler.

 

[nytimez]

The "Disney difference" wasn't just about throwing a ton of stuff out there and seeing what happens. The interactive queue at The Haunted Mansion undermines the experience that was intentionally created and what follows. It is a big spoiler.

I think the one at HM is either something you enjoy or something you don't - but I don't think it undermines the experience nor do I believe it's a spoiler. Also, there are a lot of nice nods to great Imagineers in there and even to the origins of the HM itself.

 

[djlaosc]

I think the one at HM is either something you enjoy or something you don't - but I don't think it undermines the experience nor do I believe it's a spoiler. Also, there are a lot of nice nods to great Imagineers in there and even to the origins of the HM itself.

The issues that people have with it seem to be the noise, queue etiquette, and the fact that it gives away that the ghosts are "alive".

If you had exactly the same queue as now, but more realistic (like TOT), no sounds (apart from BGM) and no interactivity, then people would complain less.

 

[Tim_4]

It is a big spoiler.

You mean like calling it "The Haunted Mansion"?

 

[nytimez]

The issues that people have with it seem to be the noise, queue etiquette, and the fact that it gives away that the ghosts are "alive".

If you had exactly the same queue as now, but more realistic (like TOT), no sounds (apart from BGM) and no interactivity, then people would complain less.

I agree on the noise. The queue etiquette, as I mentioned already, is definitely a problem and is a behavior that I'm not sure can be re-learned by many people (just look at rides with preshows - when they say "step all the way in," people who don't move still get angry if you pass them by stepping all the way in).

But as far as the ghosts being "alive," I think the name - Haunted Mansion - is a spoiler in that regard, no?


Edit to add: I see @Tim_4 beat me to it.

 

[djlaosc]

You mean like calling it "The Haunted Mansion"?

"The Haunted Mansion" could have easily been a nickname that the residents of Liberty Square gave the place, it doesn't necessarily mean that the mansion is actually haunted by ghosts.

Haunted can also mean...
• preoccupied, as with an emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed
• disturbed; distressed; worried

Distressed, in terms of property, can mean...
• damaged, out-of-date, or used.
• foreclosed and offered for sale.

So, even the Magic Kingdom map description of "Take a spine-tingling tour of this dark, haunted estate" does not necessarily mean that they are actually ghosts there.

 

[nytimez]

"The Haunted Mansion" could have easily been a nickname that the residents of Liberty Square gave the place, it doesn't necessarily mean that the mansion is actually haunted by ghosts.

Haunted can also mean...
• preoccupied, as with an emotion, memory, or idea; obsessed
• disturbed; distressed; worried

Distressed, in terms of property, can mean...
• damaged, out-of-date, or used.
• foreclosed and offered for sale.

So, even the Magic Kingdom map description of "Take a spine-tingling tour of this dark, haunted estate" does not necessarily mean that they are actually ghosts there.

LOL

 

[djlaosc]

LOL

You know how Disney loves their backstories...

The name "Haunted Mansion" implies that there are ghosts there, but it doesn't necessarily mean it, and the description doesn't say "take a spine-tingling tour of this dark, haunted estate filled with grim grinning ghosts wanting to socialise". It could easily mean "take a spine-tingling tour of this dark, abandoned estate".

Lots of neighbourhoods will have houses that people say are "haunted", but it doesn't mean that there are actually any ghosts there.

Having ghosts talking to you in the queue on the other hand...

 

[Captain Chaos]

You mean like calling it "The Haunted Mansion"?

You mean like ruining the "aura of foreboding"? The "Haunted" Mansion is meant to have this creepy, sinister feel until you get in the ride and realize the haunts are happy haunts, there is nothing frightening about the Haunted Mansion at all... Well, the queue is actually a spoiler... it removes the foreboding before you step foot in the ride... it removes the "creepy".. You know from the start that the mansion is not haunted by creepy scary spooky ghosts, but by happy haunts who mean no harm... So, yes, that does spoil what HM has been all these years...

 

[nytimez]

You mean like ruining the "aura of foreboding"? The "Haunted" Mansion is meant to have this creepy, sinister feel until you get in the ride and realize the haunts are happy haunts, there is nothing frightening about the Haunted Mansion at all... Well, the queue is actually a spoiler... it removes the foreboding before you step foot in the ride... it removes the "creepy".. You know from the start that the mansion is not haunted by creepy scary spooky ghosts, but by happy haunts who mean no harm... So, yes, that does spoil what HM has been all these years...

I disagree. I think the poet is happy. Maybe the bubbling guy. Most of the rest is fairly sinister, like the collection of musical instruments that would kill you if you played them... and the busts of the family that murdered one another (even the children), etc. Nothing happy about those. No lack of harm there, either.

 

[bubbles1812]

The inconsistencies are truly staggering. After all the complaints about Disney losing the "magic" and "Disney difference," they implement a program like interactive queues and everyone throws a fit that they'd rather have boring, "nothing to see here" queues.

I don't think that's what the majority of people are saying at all. I don't mind interactive queues in and of themselves even if I don't use them (Sorry but you couldn't make me touch the dripping honey screens at Pooh's, and I'm no germaphobe). But the reasoning behind the addition of the queues is were people are bothered. In the case of the HM, it's to prepare guests for longer lines because of the addition of FP... And on an attraction that has literally no need for it.

I don't mind the cemetery. I think there are clever touches in there. And I don't mind having two ways to approach a ride, even if it confuses some people.

It does however lead to different people reacting differently to social etiquette situations they've never encountered before. Can you pass someone who stopped to play? If you've stopped to play, should you attempt to prevent people from passing you?

Answers, in order, should be YES and NO. But, there does not seem to be widespread agreement on this, based on what I've observed in the HM queue.

You make a good point about the etiquette. I usually give people a minute or so, and then I go around them. If people want to stay to play, that's fine. But my wait time shouldnt be extended a good amount because jr wants to play for many minutes with the bookcases. If someone has an issue, I gladly let them keep their place in front of me as long as they choose to move along. This especially goes for the faster moving attractions like HM or Pirates.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I disagree. I think the poet is happy. Maybe the bubbling guy. Most of the rest is fairly sinister, like the collection of musical instruments that would kill you if you played them... and the busts of the family that murdered one another (even the children), etc. Nothing happy about those. No lack of harm there, either.

Funny, I didn't get that at all... I got the whole "these haunts are happy and not sinister, so much for that foreboding feeling you are supposed to get" feeling...

Needed to add in here... the queue is cartoony... how anyone can get creepy feelings, get the sense of foreboding from a cartoony queue is beyond me... Maybe they are trying to hard to like it... I don't know..

 

[unkadug]

It just doesn't make sense to say many online disney fans are idiots so generically like that. So we aren't Disney's favorite customers. You don't have to say we are idiots. It's mean.

Wow, you still don't understand what he said. That's not at all what he said.

 

[HMF]

I think the one at HM is either something you enjoy or something you don't - but I don't think it undermines the experience nor do I believe it's a spoiler.

It gives away the fact that the ghosts are (mostly) friendly before that is supposed to be revealed and the literal depiction of the organ banshees is a major violation of the show logic.
for more on this see here.
http://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2011/05/decadence.html

 

[Captain Chaos]

Wow, you still don't understand what he said. That's not at all what he said.

Thank you unk... I think Esmeralda proved my point.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Hold on, let me get you a tissue... Truth hurts. I know.

[video]

 

[Goofyernmost]

Ding, ding, ding.

So what IS the answer?

I can see this question getting polar opposite answers and everything in between. I wouldn't be surprised if this led to a few fights and some people getting booted from the park.

Here is some of what I can see. You'll have individuals who will stop and play and they'll lose their spot in line and be told to deal with it. You'll have families/groups of people who will have one person that will hold in line, get to the front of the line and call a member and a ton of people will be pushing up through the queue saying, my family is waiting at the front or the rest of my group is at the front, and they'll be allowed to go up.

OR

You'll have people like myself who stand up to people who we believe are "cutting", and this will create unnecessary headaches.

So what's the solution? CMs can't be everywhere watching everyone and policing the queues.

That's simple...if you have stopped and the line is moving...you have relinquished your place in line. There is no regulation that says you have to stop and "play" with the stuff. In the meantime, why would anyone think that they can hold up a group of people simply because they want to do some extracurricular, unnecessary stuff. And you could be a vocal as you want about "cutting". It stopped being cutting when you decided to play instead of move. It's on you, not everyone else.

All that said, I have given this entire situation some thought as to how it affects me personally. I'm not talking strictly about HM, but FP+ in general. I still feel that none of us really know what is going to happen or how it is going to affect us. I will have to experience it to find out, I would never take someone else's word for it because there are to many variables to consider and I wouldn't know specifically what theirs were.

In the long haul, all our pre- about stuff that we are all just speculating on, is going to be ignored by Disney for many reasons, the largest of which is that they will look at it as if we don't know what we are talking about...and we don't.

All I, or they, need to know is if my enjoyment of the parks is lessened and I feel that because I don't stay onsite or pay the ridiculous rates to sleep overnight and eat while I'm there, I am relegated to an unequal position enjoy by others. Or if I feel that I am now a second class citizen in the eyes of Disney then I will find some other thing to amuse me. If my 30 years of loyalty, doesn't mean anything to The Disney Co., then they don't mean anything to me. My number of visits over the years will stop at 42. Disney is nice, but it certainly is something I can do without. There are other places to see and other things to do. Contrary to their belief, they need me far more then I need them especially since they started to make my trip more complicated and less enjoyable and, frankly at this point, frustrating and boring.

 

[tracyandalex]

DD4 loves the HM interactive queue. That being said we still go through it in about 5 mins; I can't imagine being stuck in that queue for 20 mins or longer! Our days visiting HM might be numbered as we don't want to waste a FP on HM; there are way too many other rides in MK to FP.