New meet n greet queue test

[DiPSU224]

I just love the word "corral" used in that article. It's like the guests are a bunch of animals, needing to be gouped up in a pen, which unfortunatley is sometimes true...

I was never one who enjoyed interaction with characters as a child; they always scared me. We have video of my first trip to the world in 1987 of Pooh in Fantasyland getting attacked by a bunch of kids. He starts to briskly walk away and starts running right towards my Dad. The tape then abruptly cuts off. It seriously causes me to cry from laughing at it so hard.

 

[magic2me]

Great Idea!

 

[drew81]

So... this is like random meet and greet with a line? I kinda like this, but I think there should be characters out roaming and interacting with guests, too. I hope this isn't eliminated. It's always those highly memorable moments that are created when a character spontaneously joins you on a ride or interacts with your child, ect.

WDW really doesn't have characters that roam anymore. Sometimes there are but not very often.

Autographs have ruined random guest interactions.

When we go to the zoo, which always has 5-7 bucket head characters, or go to sporting events which can have 3-5 mascots and corporate costumed folk, there is never these crazy lineups.

If Disney could force autographs to only character meals or only specific spots, guest interaction totals would double to triple. Heck, with mobile characters, they could increase ten fold.

More than inappropriate guest interactions though, the autographs really kill the mood of many character interactions.

The characters are treated like celebrities. Everybody thinks that the Celeb that will not sign an autograph is the biggest jerk ever. We have put even higher expectations on the characters at Disney, and I do not know if the pattern can be broken.

Disney autograph books are a HUGE money maker. They will not be going away anytime soon.

The problem are the self-centered, rude Guests who just run up to the characters for a hug/photo/autograph while blowing past everyone who's been patiently waiting in line (whether a formal line or an informal one)

-Rob

I agree. It's not fair to the guests who have behaved and waited their turn.

 

[Thurp]

I also greatly dislike how the whole picture + autograph sequence works now. It feels like an assembly line at the factory.

I miss the random encounters and interactions with the characters. I happened to run into Goofy just hanging out at Typhoon Lagoon a few weeks ago, since guests didn't have books or cameras with them, they just interacted and played with the characters. Those are the memories worth creating.

 

[dreamfinder]

Interesting, and about time. Never was a big fan of people running up from all around. And the poor characters can't tell who was next in some cases. I do agree it needs a touch more theming. Or at least less cheapness. The gig box can work for DHS, but blue fabric and red chains? Put some hidden mickeys in the chain, and at least theme the fabric to the current celebration, or the park, or something.

 

[EPCOTPluto]

I sure hope that the final product, (if there's going to be a final product), isn't as clunky as this shows.

I could easily see electrified barb wire if unintimidated guests try to jump over them, which can happen.... :lookaroun:zipit:

 

[nepalostparks]

Since this is just a 'test', I'll reserve any judgement on theming. They probably just grabbed what they had to see if the concept of a queue would work before spending the effort on being creative.

I do think this is a good idea though. I've noticed lately that all of the permanent meet and greets are receiving little upgrades (think Snow White in Germany over at Epcot). And check out Jack Spence's blog over at Allears.net today... it's about the new Meet and Greet in Dinoland in AK... it's got a queue built into it. (It also has a giant Dinoland 'postcard' as the backdrop, which makes it a great photo op even when no characters are around. Win for Disney Imagineers!)

As long as they work to theme in the queues to the particular meet and greet, I think it's a great idea to help with crowd control. Is it sad that they need it? Yes. But it will help those awkward situations when one parent allows their child to run up the the character while a line of people have patiently been waiting off to the side. Crowd control is a necessary evil.

With all of that, I do hope they keep doing some of the 'random' type of meet and greets too. But it is nice knowing you can see some of the more popular characters at a specific time in a specific area.

 

[Crush Dude!]

Sounds a good move, it's just a shame that character meet and greets have to become so "organised". It would be great to be able to have more random meets and more freedom for the characters. Unfortunately due to the way some "guests" behave, this isnt possible anymore.

DLP can be still like this at times and it can be a nightmare! Much prefer WDW

 

[Figment632]

Well it would save the threats of physical violence to the pushy parent brigade and their over indulged off spring

But where is the fun in that :shrug:

 

[domndebs]

It does look ugly, but I guess it might make things better. As long as they keep some of the randomness with the characters it's ok. It's good to be able to know you can get photos with certain characters but those unplanned times can be really special.

Two years ago at DLP, when our daughter was just 1 (her first Disney trip - now she's hooked like us!:sohappy we were walking down main street when seemingly out of nowhere Pluto appeared in front of us and knelt down to interact with our daughter who was sat in her pushchair. She loved it (Pluto is still here favorite because of it) and it was a couple of minutes before anyone else realized he was there, it was fantastic and very special and we will always remember that moment. Of course, it was only a couple of minutes before we were swamped by people!!

 

[Azerin]

We go to WDW, DL, and DLP. Out of the three of them the one with the most structured character interactions by far is WDW. We love meeting characters and meet them often and I have to say people just running up to characters and jumping ahead of the line has never been a problem. I am sure it occurs occasionally but I can't imagine it happens enough to warrant this additional measure.

If anywhere needs this, it is DLP... there, character meets are nothing but masses of people trying to push ahead of each other... it is horrid. There something like this would be great to prevent the mass chaos of meeting characters; however, that just isn't the case at WDW.

 

[OklaHoops]

Queue lines

After my trip in August, I am convinced they need lines to keep guests in check. However, the blue triangles are ugly.:hurl:

 

[prbiker15]

I think this is a good way to control the behavior of park guests but only TEMPORARILY. I like this (very little) and I don't like it (most of my vote goes there).

 

[DisneyBunny]

Autographs have ruined random guest interactions.

When we go to the zoo, which always has 5-7 bucket head characters, or go to sporting events which can have 3-5 mascots and corporate costumed folk, there is never these crazy lineups.

If Disney could force autographs to only character meals or only specific spots, guest interaction totals would double to triple. Heck, with mobile characters, they could increase ten fold.

More than inappropriate guest interactions though, the autographs really kill the mood of many character interactions.

The characters are treated like celebrities. Everybody thinks that the Celeb that will not sign an autograph is the biggest jerk ever. We have put even higher expectations on the characters at Disney, and I do not know if the pattern can be broken.

Heck yes. We had waited almost an hour to see Tink the other day and it was my 2-year-old's turn next to see her beloved character when a Mom shoved her way in front of us saying that she had to come back and get Tink to sign her kids' books. She had forgotten. So, my not-so-patient toddler had to wait even longer just so she could get them signed. And all my girl wanted was a hug from Tink...:brick:

I'm wistful for the days gone by when you could just interact with the characters, but with attendance and demand being what it is, this is the way of the future. Because we've all dealt with pushy parents and unrestrained kids before who rush to the head of a "line"...Here's hoping for something less... "cattle pasture" though...

 

[happykid25]

Queues for M&G are now a necessary evil unfortunately - and it's not going to change anytime soon. Like everyone else, I think the current set up is ugly. They should use a red velvet rope type setup with gold posts; it would be much classier. If the the characters are going to be treated like VIPs by the guests, they should be full out VIPS and get a red carpet to stand on too. And, it is Disney's Hollywood Studios.

 

[RAXIP]

Queues for M&G are now a necessary evil unfortunately - and it's not going to change anytime soon. Like everyone else, I think the current set up is ugly. They should use a red velvet rope type setup with gold posts; it would be much classier. If the the characters are going to be treated like VIPs by the guests, they should be full out VIPS and get a red carpet to stand on too. And, it is Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I really like this idea. The blue tripods and red plastic chains look cheap.

 

[TinkSassy]

I'm sure it will help. We've had people walk up behind us in a photo and stand and wait on the wrong side to be next. Held up the line as the Photopass person had to clear them out for the photo.

I do dislike the length of time it takes to do autographs - I personally could care less. Only time we have done it was for a birthday celebration and that was a character meal, so we really didn't hold anyone up. Wish there could be 2 lines - one for and one without.

 

[talfonso]

Great Idea

That sounds excellent - no Brazilian tour group mobbing a character, no crashing into Jafar - excellent!

 

[RAXIP]

So it's been awhile, but we started testing redesigned queue boxes today at the Sorcerer Hat area. The boxes are smaller and the fugly blue tripods and red chains have been replaced with more traditional black, retractable-belt stanchions.

 

[RAXIP]

Photos courtesy of StudiosCentral

Current Prototype (December 2010)

First Prototype, no longer in use (October 2009)