Matterhorn and Pinocchio getting refurbished starting July 30th, 2018

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Having the entire rooms flooded makes "it's a small world" 100x better than Disneyland's as far as ride experience goes
Disagree. It makes the WDW version look darker and less inviting. I think the flume style makes the experience lighter and more whimsical--More like traveling through a giant pop-up book. DL also has the outdoor clock, gardens and fresh air. And most people find the Disney characters in the show scenes a nice little plus. Add in the better, more creatively arranged music in California, and I think DL's iasw blows the WDW version out of the..."water." Plus...history! Walt! Mary Blair! Rolly Crump! World's Fair!
 
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Kram Sacul

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Disagree. It makes the WDW version look darker and less inviting. I think the flume style makes the experience lighter and more whimsical--More like traveling through a giant pop-up book. DL also has the outdoor clock, gardens and fresh air. And most people find the Disney characters in the show scenes a nice little plus. Add in the better, more creatively arranged music in California, and I think DL's It's a Small World blows the WDW out of the..."water." Plus...history! Walt! Mary Blair! Rolly Crump! World's Fair!

I think both experiences are great but there’s something really nice about the reflections of the sets on the water in the WDW version. Everything else is a downgrade though.
 
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mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Understated? You're literally herded like cattle in switchbacks for 3/4 of the queue. Which isn't bad when it's a 5-10 min wait, but on busy days with the sun beating down on you, it's pretty awful. For such a richly detailed attraction, I've always been underwhelmed by that part of it. Once you're behind the front lawn, all you can really look at is the side of the mansion or the crypt wall which, no offense to the great wall of crypts, gets old after standing next to it for a few minutes. I think there's way more that can be done with that space. Unfortunately, unless they start digging and go underground, there's not much room beyond those train tracks for anything else as it runs right into the show building.

View attachment 313258

Oh you mean like 99% of other attractions? Switchbacks and lines are a part of the theme park experience. That’s just Reality. Even Indiana Jones has switchbacks. And even when it’s a single file line, what should we repeat to ourselves to convince our brain that those aren’t other Disneyland guests in line with us?

The setting is still the setting. And it feels like your’re on the side of some Southern Mansion. You think some cheesy interactive Tomb will make it better?

Also, i wonder if the primary purpose of this rumored change is to make it interactive or to add capacity to the Q. I’m not understanding how they could increase capacity without taking up some of Magnolia park (hell no) the lawn (hell no) or going through the berm. Now that would be a real plussing. Leaving the classic areas alone and taking us somewhere new and hidden. Are you sure there is no room back there for a Small show building? All I see is the berm and trees in your picture.
 
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Rich T

Well-Known Member
Oh you mean like 99% of other attractions? Switchbacks and lines are a part of the theme park experience. That’s just Reality. Even Indiana Jones has switchbacks. And even when it’s a single file line, what should we repeat to ourselves to convince our brain that those aren’t other Disneyland guests in line with us?

The setting is still the setting. And it feels like your’re on the side of some Southern Mansion. You think some cheesy interactive Tomb will make it better?

Also, i wonder if the primary purpose of this rumored change is to make it interactive or to add capacity to the Q. I’m not understanding how they could increase capacity without taking up some of Magnolia park (hell no) the lawn (hell no) or going through the berm. Now that would be a real plussing. Leaving the classic areas alone and taking us somewhere new and hidden. Are you sure there is no room back there for a Small show building? All I see is the berm and trees in your picture.
The mansion didn't used to be all switchbacks over there. It used to be a lot nicer--more like actually touring the mansion's side yard (and graveyard). In those days, the line was more self-regulating and the waits were shorter; people would see the line reaching a few feet outside the front gate and decide to try again later... when in actuality it was only a 10-15 minute wait from the gate to the front door.
 
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mickEblu

Well-Known Member
The mansion didn't use to be all switchbacks over there. It used to be a lot nicer--more like actually touring the mansion's side yard (and graveyard). In those days, the line was more self-regulating and the waits were shorter; people would see the line reaching a few feet outside the front gate and decide to try again later... when in actuality it was only a 10-15 minute wait from the gate to the front door.

That sounds really cool. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of what that area looked like back then.

EDIT: when did it change? Now that I think about it, I don’t remember the switchbacks being so tight in the late 80s/ early 90s
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
That sounds really cool. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of what that area looked like back then.

EDIT: when did it change? Now that I think about it, I don’t remember the switchbacks being so tight in the late 80s/ early 90s

Do yourself a favor. Read the Long Forgotten blog. Really changes how you look at the ride.

They even have a post on all the queue changes with before and after photos.

Even their posts on stuff everyone knows (like the hatbox ghost) have insight not seen elsewhere.
 

dweezil78

Well-Known Member
Oh you mean like 99% of other attractions? Switchbacks and lines are a part of the theme park experience. That’s just Reality. Even Indiana Jones has switchbacks. And even when it’s a single file line, what should we repeat to ourselves to convince our brain that those aren’t other Disneyland guests in line with us?

The setting is still the setting. And it feels like your’re on the side of some Southern Mansion. You think some cheesy interactive Tomb will make it better?

Also, i wonder if the primary purpose of this rumored change is to make it interactive or to add capacity to the Q. I’m not understanding how they could increase capacity without taking up some of Magnolia park (hell no) the lawn (hell no) or going through the berm. Now that would be a real plussing. Leaving the classic areas alone and taking us somewhere new and hidden. Are you sure there is no room back there for a Small show building? All I see is the berm and trees in your picture.

Dude that's such a cop-out. Switchbacks (en masse like the spot we are talking about here) are an awful relic before the days of atmospheric queues - and that spot was even more interesting back in the day. Just because they exist doesn't mean they should be the norm and that they can't be improved upon. The Indy switchbacks, like the ones next to Star Tours and other rides, are just there for spillover when the line gets really long. People don't look at that part of the queue and give it props.

And sorry, no one who's zigzagging in that maze of steel walks around thinking they're on the side of a Southern Mansion without having first pounding back a few stiff cocktails and having blurred vision. And who said anything about this being interactive? They did it in FL to mixed reviews, hopefully they'd be looking more towards great environment here and less touchy feely kids garbage.
Even putting just a nicely detailed shaded structure over it like they have for Phantom Manor would be an improvement and add some needed atmosphere and lighting to it.

manor.png



And nope, no room... it's train tunnel and show building without any other room to play with sadly.

mansion2.png
 
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The_Mesh_Hatter

Well-Known Member
One hopes they will make use of the fastpaas area for any additional Haunted Mansion queue. As more ride reservations move to the app, fewer traditional fastpaas kiosks are needed. Perhaps within a year Disneyland will be down to just a couple universal fastpaas stations. That will open a lot of prime square footage nearby the entrance to the park’s E Tickets
 

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
I'm all for getting rid of paper fast passes and having maxpass only at a much higher price. Lengthen the queue and put more people in standby. If you really need to line jump then pay the mouse thru the nose.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Dude that's such a cop-out. Switchbacks (en masse like the spot we are talking about here) are an awful relic before the days of atmospheric queues - and that spot was even more interesting back in the day. Just because they exist doesn't mean they should be the norm and that they can't be improved upon. The Indy switchbacks, like the ones next to Star Tours and other rides, are just there for spillover when the line gets really long. People don't look at that part of the queue and give it props.

And sorry, no one who's zigzagging in that maze of steel walks around thinking they're on the side of a Southern Mansion without having first pounding back a few stiff cocktails and having blurred vision. And who said anything about this being interactive? They did it in FL to mixed reviews, hopefully they'd be looking more towards great environment here and less touchy feely kids garbage.
Even putting just a nicely detailed shaded structure over it like they have for Phantom Manor would be an improvement and add some needed atmosphere and lighting to it.

View attachment 313562


And nope, no room... it's train tunnel and show building without any other room to play with sadly.

View attachment 313561

So then where do you think the switchbacks are going? How can they add capacity to the Q by ELIMINATING the switchbacks without creating more space by either destroying the lawn or Cutting into Magnolia Park? Both of which would also probably have switchbacks? Would that work better for you? You can’t gain Q capacity by eliminating switchbacks unless you create a lot more space.

You can’t take everything so literally. Do any of us think we are really in Neverland or in Space or on the Matterhorn in Switzerland? It’s a figure of speech. As someone who spends a lot of time on a theme park forum, I would think you understand this concept.
 
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mickEblu

Well-Known Member
One hopes they will make use of the fastpaas area for any additional Haunted Mansion queue. As more ride reservations move to the app, fewer traditional fastpaas kiosks are needed. Perhaps within a year Disneyland will be down to just a couple universal fastpaas stations. That will open a lot of prime square footage nearby the entrance to the park’s E Tickets

As charming as I think the HM FP area is I would prefer this to destroying the front lawn or Magnolia Park. They could make HM MaxPass only. I didn’t even consider using this space however because it’s not a whole lot of room. Not sure if it would even be worth the trouble unless it also included a chunk of Magnolia Park.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Dude that's such a cop-out. Switchbacks (en masse like the spot we are talking about here) are an awful relic before the days of atmospheric queues - and that spot was even more interesting back in the day. Just because they exist doesn't mean they should be the norm and that they can't be improved upon. The Indy switchbacks, like the ones next to Star Tours and other rides, are just there for spillover when the line gets really long. People don't look at that part of the queue and give it props.

And sorry, no one who's zigzagging in that maze of steel walks around thinking they're on the side of a Southern Mansion without having first pounding back a few stiff cocktails and having blurred vision. And who said anything about this being interactive? They did it in FL to mixed reviews, hopefully they'd be looking more towards great environment here and less touchy feely kids garbage.
Even putting just a nicely detailed shaded structure over it like they have for Phantom Manor would be an improvement and add some needed atmosphere and lighting to it.

View attachment 313562


And nope, no room... it's train tunnel and show building without any other room to play with sadly.

View attachment 313561
So then where do you think the switchbacks are going? How can they add capacity to the Q by ELIMINATING the switchbacks without creating more space by either destroying the lawn or Cutting into Magnolia Park? Both of which would also probably have switchbacks? Would that work better for you? You can’t gain Q capacity by eliminating switchbacks unless you create a lot more space.

You can’t take everything so literally. Do any of us think we are really in Neverland or in Space or on the Matterhorn in Switzerland? It’s a figure of speech. As someone who spends a lot of time on a theme park forum, I would think you understand this concept.

To be honest I think both of you are reading too much into this rumor. It sounds to me like they will be adding just the Play Disney app to the HM. So just like Peter or Space, it'll be some games and maybe an interactive element like maybe a tombstone that moves or something. Its not likely going to be some big thing.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
To be honest I think both of you are reading too much into this rumor. It sounds to me like they will be adding just the Play Disney app to the HM. So just like Peter or Space, it'll be some games and maybe an interactive element like maybe a tombstone that moves or something. Its not likely going to be some big thing.

Possibly. I have to go back and see the original post. I think their was a trigger word in there somewhere.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Possibly. I have to go back and see the original post. I think their was a trigger word in there somewhere.

It wasn't detailed at all:

Hearing that Haunted Mansion will not return after HMH. We'll be getting a new queue experience in time for the ride's 50th and Galaxy's Edge (supposedly).

Everyone keyed into the words "new queue experience" and then became conspiracy theorists that that meant ripping out things like the lawn. When really its likely nothing more than just adding Play Disney with some games and a single interactive element.
 

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