I hate to say it but that looks pretty crappy. Not what I was expecting at all! It looks like the little play area at my local Westfield Mall. Hopefully there is more to it than what they are showing cause that looks like there is nothing for "kids of all ages" to do in there besides sit and listen to a 100 screaming kids run around.
I completely agree. The rest of the circus was pretty impressive, but the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the pictures was, "That's incredibly crappy looking." I'm really, really surprised.
Good grief! It's DUMBO! It's not the Tower of Terror. It's a B attraction (or whatever) and it literally geared for children and families with toddlers. This ride is the essence of what Walt wanted in his parks - something everyone COULD ride, but wasn't necessarily geared toward adults.
So, now that they've built out a completely queueless queue, and filled it with props that are indestructible and that are familiar to children - not to mention bright and colorful and animation-like - it's "cheap" and "crappy"?
I will refrain from saying anything because someone might lash out at me. I will ask if Dumbo is stationary though because the except from the blog says that he's "flying high above" or something like that...but he looks like he might just be stationary...
I think the blog writer was referring to the real Dumbo attraction flying around outside the tent. Creative license.
So how long will ride operators wait for people to dig their kids out of the play area and report to the ride? Seems like this could really slow down things unless they call riders back to queue 1-2 'spins' before their actual turn. I also wonder if they are only going to allow entry to those with buzzers. Otherwise I could see it getting very crowded with people just wanting to get out the sun or parents who want to let their kid play while they take a break.This is why I don't really like all these "interactive" queues. Disrupts the regular queue flow by people who want to stop and play.
You will now queue in stages. They'll have the final queue outside, which are the people who are 100% ready and next to board. Then they'll have the holding pen just inside, where they'll be assembling a group. This group will have the entire time it takes for a complete Dumbo ride cycle, plus part of the load/unload time of the group in front of them.
They may even take it a third step and have a pre-holding pen, which is where they REALLY try to round everyone up. So, the holding pen would be set to move outside as soon as the live queue (Group A) starts loading the ride. Everyone from Group A is in their Dumbo's, gate closes, they open the doors and send Group B from the holding pen. Then, since they've been gradually collecting people from Group C, they'll let Group C into the holding pen and lock them up until Group B starts boarding.
AND, they'll be doing this constantly, and likely in alternating fashion, for both spinners. It will LITERALLY cut the original wait time in half, and will be like Haunted Mansion when both stretch rooms are running. You'll never stand still for more than the duration of one ride cycle.
And no, they should not let people into the building unless they have a pager and are going to ride UNLESS they're part of a "group with needs" or a "baby swap". This should in no way become a place to chill.
And if you miss your turn, they can reset the pager and put you in the next available group with space. Piece of cake.
I don't know, with 2 small children, my first reaction was that this is the greatest thing I've ever seen! I think it looks much more fun and well done than a local mall play area by miles, the lights, the burning building, etc. I guess I'll be in the minority, but this looks miles above what I was expecting. I guess I was expecting a few touch screens in a wide open room.
I daresay, I like it. It's simple and small-scale, and I believe my kids (aged 3 and 5) would go nuts for it, at least for 15 minutes or so -- just enough time to make the queue a breeze instead of a hassle. Given the amount of space and the fact that this area is geared toward toddlers, I wasn't really expecting anything more elaborate than what I see in the pictures.
These two posts are probably the only two in this thread, so far, that actually matter. These are parents of children who are interested in riding Dumbo as a family. Literally speaking, the opinions of THIS demographic are the ONLY ones that matter. Nobody else's opinion in this thread (including mine, but I'm not posting an opinion) matters, because Dumbo is not designed for teens or young adults or seniors. It's designed for young kids and their families. If this new system make it so that those families are less stressed and enjoy their time in the parks more.....SUCCESS! Period.
Hmmm...first impression isn't all that great. As already stated, looks like nothing more than your typical mall playground. Apart from the waiting benches, I didn't see anything in those pics that would appeal to anyone over the age of five. And I hope there is some sound absorbing material in the ceiling or that tent, when filled with screaming children, is going to make Pooh's queue seem downright serene.
Regarding the bold part...who cares???? Do you have children age 5 and under? If not, your vote really doesn't count. Honestly. You are not the target demographic for this ride and/or queue system.
My worry is the tent area looks pretty small and cramped. When this concept was first unveiled, it was misleading the way they said "and guess what? No queue!". Seems to me you'll probably be waiting more time to enter the tent then you'll spend in the tent before your ride. At least it would appear to have to be this way to avoid overwhelming congestion inside. I already have a headache thinking about how this will look and sound when it's full of children:zipit:
Have you ever stood in the HM queue when both stretch rooms were operating? If so, you have first hand experience that this system works ideally. The Stretch Rooms would represent the Dumbo Spinners. The entry foyer and end of the queue represent the time spent in the tent.
The comparison I'm making is that with two rooms/spinners running on a calculated cycle, the ride is virtually never at a point where it's not loading or advancing guests. Dumbo is going to chew through crowds. And the tent is sized such that it will hold a few hundred people, easily. Sure, if it gets REALLY crowded, there will be a queue to get into the tent, based purely on Building Code Occupancy Limits (look for a sign posted somewhere inside the tent indicating the max # of people permitted).
As for the noise and awfulness of happy children, don't go if you don't like it. I don't like that environment, so I don't go to Chuck-e-Cheese. If I had kids, or was wanting to go with friends or family who had kids, I'd go as a courtesy, and know in advance that it's going to be nutso in there. Deal with it for a half hour while all those parents have an opportunity to relax in a queueless queue for a few minutes.
I am usually pretty tolerant on the rampant negativity on these boards, but this is just ridiculous. I can't believe people are condemning this after seeing just two pictures. As to the size of the queue, I have to think it's bigger then it appears in these pictures.
You really can't believe people are condemning this already? C'mon, you've been here long enough.
I guess they could have gone with the alternative and allowed you to stand outside in the heat while you go back and forth on concrete switchbacks. This is something that they didn't need to do and in my mind blows away waiting outside for an hour (especially if you have little kids). Ask parents with kids that are the target for this ride and I bet that 9/10 or more will be thrilled that this is now available.
Exactly. The target demographic's voice is the ONLY one that matters in this case. Disney did not build this ride or come up with this type of queue for all of us, just some of us. And the ones outside that target audience need to think about why they're riding Dumbo. Is it to make someone else (i.e. a kid) happy? If so, that should be priority #1.
Its stuff like this that makes me go to Disneyland Resort now instead of WDW. :wave:
As always, thanks for the high quality contribution.
Definitely. But even Rasulo was hyping this as some revolutionary breakthrough back in '09 when it was announced.
If you think about it...this IS revolutionary. I mean, the coolness has worn off since 2009 since we saw it being tested at RnRC and have been hypothesizing about it for 3 years, but it's still novel.
The entire concept is that you forget you're WAITING. For nearly every human, if you're entertained or distracted, you lose track of time. This is a major step toward easing tension - especially for those families with little ones who are typically just stuck standing in a 95-degree queue for 45 minutes. Now, if they want, they can just park their butts on the floor in an air conditioned building, OR let the kids bang around and play with semi-interactive, yet highly entertaining to a 5-year-old, games.
Not exactly what I was expecting. I was thinking more along the lines of Innoventions or the SSE post show with a circus theme, not a playground.
Not for something like Dumbo. The ultimate goal, with Dumbo 2.0, is that your wait will SIGNIFICANTLY decrease compared to Dumbo 1.0. And since it's their first opportunity to try the queueless queue, why throw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of high-tech toys into a room filled with kids and families? This is exactly what it needs to be...a room filled with distractions that require no long-term commitment and are indestructible. Success.
