The Hidden Horror of the Haunted Mansion Queue

[RSoxNo1]

A lot of this thread is unbearable to read. For God sakes people, Small World has a 40 minute wait a handful of days out of the year. By some of your logic, every attraction at WDW should have Fast Pass.

:brick:

Fast Pass needs to be eliminated completely.

Most rides could operate with Fastpass, but it is defintiely not necessary for every attraction on every day.

I've said earlier in this thread that I'd like to see Fastpass added seasonally for Pirates, it's a small world and Haunted Mansion. However, with the FLE additional Fastpass attractions (Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Snow White's Mine Car) are on the horizon. These will likely absorb some of the crowds elsewhere in the parks, and may drop down those attractions dubbed as potential seasonal Fastpass attractions to below the level that would necessitate adding Fastpass.

 

[disneyeater]

Im going to say this for the second time in this thread, it *IS* a rumor board. The OP is entitled to post a rumor....regardless, it has spurred on some interesting discussions regarding the HM queue, so even if the OP had no intention of wanting the thread to go in that direction, it's worthwhile, none-the-less.

Agree.

From the last time I waited in line for HM, and had sore elbows after blocking all the line cutters, all I can say is that the queue needs major work, and they are apparently doing that. If they add FP, it will be once the queue works is complete, and we don't know what the finished product is going to be yet. Given the recent queue work that has been done, and the fact the Disney is really making an effort to improve queue lines, I have confidence that the finished product will be an improvement on what is there today. FP or not.

Agree.

 

[JWG]

It seems we have chosen option A.

Kind of surprised we didn't do a little of both... A little "AB".

Isn't the Universl "paid perk" just a separate line all together? It isn't a specific return time but the opportunity to stand in a different line? I haven't been there since 2007 so I can't remember, but I thought that's what it was.

Funny, could add the option to my prepurchased admission for like $20 per person. At the park the day off it was almost $50. Nice.

 

[jakeman]

Kind of surprised we didn't do a little of both... A little "AB".

Isn't the Universl "paid perk" just a separate line all together? It isn't a specific return time but the opportunity to stand in a different line? I haven't been there since 2007 so I can't remember, but I thought that's what it was.

Funny, could add the option to my prepurchased admission for like $20 per person. At the park the day off it was almost $50. Nice.

It is a priority line, and it isn't unlimited. It's one admission into the "special" line per guest.

We added it to ours when we went in October. It was a risk and one we failed at. Everything that didn't involve a boy wizard was a walk on that day.

 

[ChrisFL]

It is a priority line, and it isn't unlimited. It's one admission into the "special" line per guest.

We added it to ours when we went in October. It was a risk and one we failed at. Everything that didn't involve a boy wizard was a walk on that day.

If you purchase the express pass without being a resort guest, it's one admission per guest. If you're a resort guest it's unlimited.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It is a priority line, and it isn't unlimited. It's one admission into the "special" line per guest.

We added it to ours when we went in October. It was a risk and one we failed at. Everything that didn't involve a boy wizard was a walk on that day.

We took the wrong risk--everyone had been saying the first week of January would be dead, and the Express Pass was only $20 online, so we figured it wasn't worth it. Got there and it was a mad house, so we had to buy passes, and they had jacked the price up to $40! They are as bad as the airlines!

 

[jakeman]

If you purchase the express pass without being a resort guest, it's one admission per guest. If you're a resort guest it's unlimited.

Thanks. I thought there was some additional caveat I was missing.

We took the wrong risk--everyone had been saying the first week of January would be dead, and the Express Pass was only $20 online, so we figured it wasn't worth it. Got there and it was a mad house, so we had to buy passes, and they had jacked the price up to $40! They are as bad as the airlines!

Yeah we were poor consumers that day. We bought them at the gate. Unfortunately, on vacation time is more valuable than money to me.

We would purchase them again, but advanced instead.

 

[FutureWorld1982]

If you're a resort guest it's unlimited.

Or if you are a Premium Passholder (I am, and I have unlimited express)

 

[ChrisFL]

Or if you are a Premium Passholder (I am, and I have unlimited express)

OOOhhh, didn't know that....

 

[flavious27]

I just finished talking with one of my Orlando friends who just hit me with a rumor I'll be fuming about for a good long while. It is the most unwelcomed change to the Haunted Mansion since Constance axed her way in. Apparently, the new interactive queue is to be a distraction for the latest (as well as missguided) attempts to make Fast Pass work at the Haunted Mansion.

For those who remember, Fast Pass was already tried there once, and it failed miserably. From the story I was told, from the day it arrived at the Mansion, guests from both Fast Pass and Standby were nastier (sometime to the point of violent) to the Mansion Cast Members than at any other Fast Pass location. That Christmas Eve, the General Manager of the Magic Kingdom was attempting to help controll the Fast Pass line, but the guests refused to listen. Only after the General Manager annonced that they would close the Mansion for the rest of the day if the crowd didn't behave, did anyone pay attention. At that point the General Manager told the Mansion staff that the next day Fast Pass would be gone forever! And so it was. The General Manager's final act at the Magic Kingdom before moving to another job was having the Fast Pass machines at the Haunted Mansion removed.

Why can't Disney ever learn from the past? The Mansion queue is already hecktic enough with the wheelchair entrance halfway through the regular queue. Now they want to reintroduce this headache into the mix? All this will accomplish is artificially increase the wait time and put the Cast Members back into that state of jeopardy! Here is a simple adage Team Disney Orlando, "If it's not broken, DON'T BREAK IT!"

I don't know why FP would fail or mess anything up, it has worked at the rides in the park. As for people coming to near blows in the park around christmas time, it is there busiest time and people fail to realize that. When they are closed to day trippers and guests not staying at a seven seas resort, it is going to be busy and crowded.

But the interactive queues are a distraction from guests realizing how long they have been waiting for, that is the part in good theming for the queues.

 

[askmike1]

A lot of this thread is unbearable to read. For God sakes people, Small World has a 40 minute wait a handful of days out of the year. By some of your logic, every attraction at WDW should have Fast Pass.

:brick:

Fast Pass needs to be eliminated completely.

Can I just say that I love when people make arguments essentially saying "what you are saying is too extreme.... now let me give the exact opposite extreme" :lol:

 

[T-1MILLION]

Can I just say that I love when people make arguments essentially saying "what you are saying is too extreme.... now let me give the exact opposite extreme" :lol:

I love it when people comment with nothing to add but nearly just to mock what they think of other people's opinions! Look, doing it now. Man it is a lot of fun!

Since "choice A" already has come into play.

Think about it. With Fastpas, most people go in wait in another line just making another line longer. (a lot of the time)Fastpass is a redundant system that helps people feel like they are getting shorter waits.

Get rid of Fastpass for something like Pan and the line would flow better. You never have to stop standby for fastpass guests to enter.

 

[askmike1]

Get rid of Fastpass for something like Pan and the line would flow better. You never have to stop standby for fastpass guests to enter.

Okay, where has this rumor started, because I can assure you, Peter Pan has always had an insane wait (akin to Dumbo and Astro Orbiter).

 

[T-1MILLION]

Okay, where has this rumor started, because I can assure you, Peter Pan has always had an insane wait (akin to Dumbo and Astro Orbiter).

Its a fact. Yeah, Peter Pan has always had a long wait to not having the best of capacity systems, but the waits become worse and rides become less efficient with an abundance of fastpass.


If three families/parties show up with similar fastpass windows all at once...they are gonna hold back the standby line for that much longer.

 

[unkadug]

Okay, where has this rumor started, because I can assure you, Peter Pan has always had an insane wait (akin to Dumbo and Astro Orbiter).

True...but never as insane as it is now. Fastpass causes the line to be three times as long as it should be.

 

[inluvwithbeast]

This whole FP argument never make sense to me. If those people were not in the FP line, they would be in the stand-by line. The lines are no longer than they would be before. The only added time is the time for the CM to close the gate and open the gate. Theres only an appearance of longer wait in that the line isn't constantly moving as if there was only one line. Am I misunderstanding something?

 

[unkadug]

This whole FP argument never make sense to me. If those people were not in the FP line, they would be in the stand-by line. The lines are no longer than they would be before. The only added time is the time for the CM to close the gate and open the gate. Theres only an appearance of longer wait in that the line isn't constantly moving as if there was only one line. Am I misunderstanding something?

Yes

 

[inluvwithbeast]

Yes

I was hoping for maybe some clarity? I was being sincere.

 

[unkadug]

Fastpass allows people to be in two places at once. While it was designed to allow guests to shop and eat while simultaneously standing in line, in reality it allows them to be standing in two lines at the same time. Thereby artificially increasing the wait time at all attractions.

There is a lot more to this, but it always ends up getting threads closed, so I won't get into it.

 

[inluvwithbeast]

Fastpass allows people to be in two places at once. While it was designed to allow guests to shop and eat while simultaneously standing in line, in reality it allows them to be standing in two lines at the same time. Thereby artificially increasing the wait time at all attractions.

There is a lot more to this, but it always ends up getting threads closed, so I won't get into it.

Hmm. I understand how they are supposed to work, and I see now how it might increase waits... I would like to talk about it, but I've seen threads go haywire with FP breakdown. So, thanks for what you gave me, at least.