Why such a large queue for little mermaid?

[lazyboy97o]

Well known to whom? So you think Disney decided one day to find a way to make locals stand in line longer and authorized spending money on that objective? Why? That is ludicrous!

Getting people in lines reduces crowding of walkways and will encourage the purchase of a FastPass Plus. Disney knows this and that'll impact the number of attractions a guest can experience in a day. That is why the interactive queues are being built even on currently quick moving lines. The hope is that people will be less angered because they were entertained.

Longer lines will also discourage FastPass holders from experiencing attractions while holding a FastPass. Return times are now enforced, and people will not want to waste a FastPass for a chance at another attraction. It is hoped this will do as FastPass was intended, encourage people to eat and shop while waiting to use a FastPass.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Why not wait and see the implementation before deciding you have all the answers and they don't? How in the world does reserving a fastpass cheapen an attraction?

And, yes, everyone knows you're still upset about the return times for fastpasses. We get it. Move on.

I'm basing this off information from the original proposal and the recent tests. Additional information has come out since the post you quoted including tirian saying that they are re-assessing things.

I'm not so delusional to think that Disney frequents our website or listens to our podcast, but I don't doubt for a second that they have people monitoring the feedback/dialogue that's going on here. I have an agenda... I want to keep giving Disney money and I want to make sure they know my concerns.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Getting people in lines reduces crowding of walkways and will encourage the purchase of a FastPass Plus. Disney knows this and that'll impact the number of attractions a guest can experience in a day. That is why the interactive queues are being built even on currently quick moving lines. The hope is that people will be less angered because they were entertained.

Longer lines will also discourage FastPass holders from experiencing attractions while holding a FastPass. Return times are now enforced, and people will not want to waste a FastPass for a chance at another attraction. It is hoped this will do as FastPass was intended, encourage people to eat and shop while waiting to use a FastPass.

A guest paying for FastPass would get to see more attractions, but less overall for the guests waiting in line. In the end FastPass doesn't increase the capacity of a given ride, in fact, it might decrease it slightly as they CMs have to switch back and forth between stand-by and FastPass.

The idea for interactive queues has been around a while, but not implemented, the big reason is that even before FastPass the number one "dislike" of Disney was having to wait in lines. Irregardless of FastPass, there will always be lines.

Also, FastPass wasn't invented so that guests could eat and shop, but rather some guests left Disneyland upset they couldn't ride Indy as they only had a day in the park, FastPass made it possible for them to at least get to ride what they wanted to. Also, FastPass shifts around crowd levels to avoid the super-duper long lines at peak times.

I'm not saying the factors you cite weren't perhaps discussed by somebody, but they aren't the main reasons behind FastPass.

 

[Magenta Panther]

When it comes to waiting in lines at WDW...well, yes, in some instances, it can be tiring. Like the line queue at Peter Pan's Flight. It's just a queue, nothing more. It could definitely be improved upon (as could the entire ride, for that matter). But the first time I waited in line for the Tower of Terror...man, that was totally different. I was immersed in the eerie world of faded, haunted glamour the moment I walked through the Tower's gate. The closer I got to the Tower, the more the anticipation grew. I will really really CRY if anything interactive is EVER built there. It would ruin the atmosphere completely.

Haunted Mansion was like that once...*sigh* Oh, the new queue doesn't ruin the experience, completely, I guess. After seeing pics of the additions online, I was eager to give it a chance. But...it really adds nothing to the experience in my view. The "Graveyard" section doesn't even really look like a graveyard. It looks like a bunch of odd ideas jumbled together into an anything-but-coherent whole. There are things like those odd busts of family members that don't even make sense. When I last visited, I observed that there were some things, like the Poetess' Tomb, that guests didn't even understand. So perhaps it's all been for nothing. That nice open queue has been narrowed and chopped up, and for what? A wrong-headed attempt to distract kids from texting? For my part, I never got bored waiting in line at the Mansion. One heard the cawing of crows and the howling of the family dog. One read the tombstones. You really felt like the Mansion is really someone's estate, not a theme park ride. The new queue destroys some of that illusion, unfortunately. I can't help but wish that someday it will be removed. But that's just my take.

 

[Oddysey]

Well known to whom? So you think Disney decided one day to find a way to make locals stand in line longer and authorized spending money on that objective? Why? That is ludicrous!

Honestly, I was in a poor mood when I made that I post, and I am in no way certain that anticipated longer lines is the reason for a larger more whismical queue. I just kind of blurted out (or wrote quickly) what came to my mind first. However, as an almost 9 year local AP holder I am nervous that the my famlies experience at WDW will be altered considerably by the new fastpass inituative. Based on what we have been told about the ride reservation system it is reasonable to believe that the stand by line will be negatively affected. Just as it has been affected by the current fastpass system.

The key difference for an AP holder when comparing the current fastpass system to the proposed system is that my family may no longer have an equal shot at getting a fastpass. We have no need to stay on property since we only live 30 minutes away, and therefore may not have the opportunity to reserve rides. Consequently, if we cant reserve a ride than we are in the longer standby line. I fear it will be similar to how ADR's have insured that my family can no longer spontaniously eat at most of the resturants we love on property. The new system has not been rolled out yet so I will reserve complete judgement, but I feel my fears are reasonable. That being said, I figured someone would protest my original post because it was pretty silly, and that is how I intended it while being in a less than whismical mood yesterday.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

The "Graveyard" section doesn't even really look like a graveyard. It looks like a bunch of odd ideas jumbled together into an anything-but-coherent whole. There are things like those odd busts of family members that don't even make sense. When I last visited, I observed that there were some things, like the Poetess' Tomb, that guests didn't even understand. So perhaps it's all been for nothing. That nice open queue has been narrowed and chopped up, and for what? A wrong-headed attempt to distract kids from texting? For my part, I never got bored waiting in line at the Mansion. One heard the cawing of crows and the howling of the family dog. One read the tombstones. You really felt like the Mansion is really someone's estate, not a theme park ride. The new queue destroys some of that illusion, unfortunately. I can't help but wish that someday it will be removed. But that's just my take.

I agree. I should say I haven't seen the new queue at MK's HM yet, but I've poured over all the photos, and thought that the new interactive queue diminishes the "serious", or I guess somber, tone of the old queue. The graveyard isn't really a graveyard, but more like a display. Though I do appreciate that it gives kids something to do, it kinda looks temporary, though I think most guests get the character references.

I think they should have built an interactive queue with a "dirt path" through a garden/graveyard area, so that you feel you are seeing a different part of the estate, and made interactive games that sort of fit the the theme better, like maybe you pull on "shovels" in piles of dirt and something happens, or perhaps have the presence of a haunted caretaker implied, as in stuff mysterious moving around.

Of course, if they expand Frontierland and add a path around the river in front of the mansion, the whole interactive queue may be moved, or some parts sent to storage.

 

[Rasvar]

I expect Mermaid in FL will have longer waits since it is in an area of a lot of slow loading lines with Fastpass. Get Fastpass in one and then get in Mermaid line. Plus, it is hard to compare lines in DCA vs MK. Just look at how much worse the line for Toy Story Mania is in DHS vs DCA.

 

[raven]

By the way, there is a Nautilis hidden in the queue wall as a nod to the old 20K attraction.

 

[Tip Top Club]

It is well known that the NextGen inituative is to increase a typical and local guests time in line. Hence, a longer and nicer queue for WDW.

Uhm...Locals will probably understand how to use the system more and take more advantage of it then once in the lifetime visitors who don't want to be bothered educating themselves on some of it's more complicated aspects.....

Why not wait and see the implementation before deciding you have all the answers and they don't? How in the world does reserving a fastpass cheapen an attraction?

And, yes, everyone knows you're still upset about the return times for fastpasses. We get it. Move on.

^ - THIS!

 

[Tip Top Club]

I agree. I should say I haven't seen the new queue at MK's HM yet, but I've poured over all the photos, and thought that the new interactive queue diminishes the "serious", or I guess somber, tone of the old queue. The graveyard isn't really a graveyard, but more like a display. Though I do appreciate that it gives kids something to do, it kinda looks temporary, though I think most guests get the character references.

I think they should have built an interactive queue with a "dirt path" through a garden/graveyard area, so that you feel you are seeing a different part of the estate, and made interactive games that sort of fit the the theme better, like maybe you pull on "shovels" in piles of dirt and something happens, or perhaps have the presence of a haunted caretaker implied, as in stuff mysterious moving around.

You're exactly Right. I'm a fan of the idea, but I'm not a fan of the placement. I actually really enjoy the Mansion interactive queue, but I'm the first to admit that it's also a little awkward. (I'm sure it'll be appreciated more once Fastpass+ is in full swing) It seems like it was probably a snap judgement to place it where it is, or it may have been cheaper then ripping out other things that were already there to attempt to re-route the queue entirely.

Based on what we have been told about the ride reservation system it is reasonable to believe that the stand by line will be negatively affected. Just as it has been affected by the current fastpass system.

The key difference for an AP holder when comparing the current fastpass system to the proposed system is that my family may no longer have an equal shot at getting a fastpass. We have no need to stay on property since we only live 30 minutes away, and therefore may not have the opportunity to reserve rides. Consequently, if we cant reserve a ride than we are in the longer standby line. I fear it will be similar to how ADR's have insured that my family can no longer spontaniously eat at most of the resturants we love on property.

Obviously full details have not come to light yet, but one of the goals of the tests that have been happening is to prevent this. More fastpasses have been allocated where necessary so that when some of them get booked in advance, or through smartphones, they are still accessible to guests who haven't used those services.

 

[optjay]

I'm not so delusional to think that Disney frequents our website or listens to our podcast, but I don't doubt for a second that they have people monitoring the feedback/dialogue that's going on here. I have an agenda... I want to keep giving Disney money and I want to make sure they know my concerns.

Well said !

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I'm not so delusional to think that Disney frequents our website or listens to our podcast, but I don't doubt for a second that they have people monitoring the feedback/dialogue that's going on here. I have an agenda... I want to keep giving Disney money and I want to make sure they know my concerns.

I doubt that Disney has the time to "monitor" the large number of internet forums that discuss the parks, in part because its probably just a relative small number of folks who come back to reading this stuff, though I think that a lot of the comments posted here are representative of how frequent guests view the resort.

I would agree that a lot of the fans here spend thousands of dollars a year on Disney products, and vacations. People will spend $1,200 on a new computer, researching everything, but then gladly give Disney many times more during a trip to WDW without researching the trends in level of quality of entertainment at WDW.

It used to be, decades ago, that Disney just made sure everything they did was high quality, and criticism of the parks was non-existent. DCA changed that big time, even the Simpsons made fun of DCA, and it tarnished Disney's image, at least in the eyes of many on the west coast, where the expectation was now an inferior product.

Now with each new attraction, at least at DLR, Disney has made a concerted effort to produce a lot of propaganda for the attractions, as if the general public isn't smart enough to know what a great attraction is. For Mermaid they had a lot of behind the scenes videos and Imagineers that were clearly only putting a ludicrous amount of enthusiasm, for the ride. I was disappointed when I rode it, and also felt that the hype for Monsters Inc., just didn't meet reality.

So, I've given Disney the benefit of the doubt, but was really disappointed. Now when I see the advertising/propaganda for FLE, I look closely at the pictures and similar past attractions to figure out if the advertising is just an inflated estimate of the attraction meant to forestall criticism. I think it is actually a big "red flag" if you get a behind the scene video hyping the ride, didn't get a behind the scenes view of RSR showing the dark ride portions being built, and it turned out great, but oddly got a ton of Mermaid videos with Imagineers yelling at the camera, saying how great the ride is, when I think the public should be the judge of that.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

So, I've given Disney the benefit of the doubt, but was really disappointed. Now when I see the advertising/propaganda for FLE, I look closely at the pictures and similar past attractions to figure out if the advertising is just an inflated estimate of the attraction meant to forestall criticism. I think it is actually a big "red flag" if you get a behind the scene video hyping the ride, didn't get a behind the scenes view of RSR showing the dark ride portions being built, and it turned out great, but oddly got a ton of Mermaid videos with Imagineers yelling at the camera, saying how great the ride is, when I think the public should be the judge of that.

I love a good conspiracy theory, but I think the Mermaid hype was because it was the only new thing at DCA last summer. Contrast that with Carsland, where you had the entire land to preview (without even mentioning Buena Vista St). I just don't think it was necessary to focus as much on the ride itself. I really don't remember much of anything behind the scenes about the dark ride part of Racers, though, and it does seem a little strange. We know how much Lasseter took the reins for Carsland, even threatening to leave the company to preserve the budget... maybe he brought over some of that Pixar secrecy to his pet project in the parks and didn't care/wasn't involved as much with Mermaid.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I love a good conspiracy theory, but I think the Mermaid hype was because it was the only new thing at DCA last summer. Contrast that with Carsland, where you had the entire land to preview (without even mentioning Buena Vista St). I just don't think it was necessary to focus as much on the ride itself. I really don't remember much of anything behind the scenes about the dark ride part of Racers, though, and it does seem a little strange. We know how much Lasseter took the reins for Carsland, even threatening to leave the company to preserve the budget... maybe he brought over some of that Pixar secrecy to his pet project in the parks and didn't care/wasn't involved as much with Mermaid.

The Imagineers had a tough job with Mermaid as obviously the budget wasn't Carsland, AND the exterior of Mermaid is a Barnes N' Nobles type building.

I remember the commercials for Carsland, no video from inside the ride, just kids driving cars over to Radiator Springs and the Cadillac Mountain range in the background. Pretty awesome when you build something so good that all you need to do is use footage of the exteriors.

Mermaid's exterior doesn't communicate that it is a ride, could be a restaurant, video arcade, or gift shop. Maybe they felt the need to show off the fancy animatronics to get folks inside.

Anyway, here's something interesting, the "descending under the sea" scene was supposed to have "twisty" ocean plants accomplished by slowly twirling bent plastic pipes. Looks really cool, wonder if it didn't make it in the ride for safety reasons.

Start watching at 1:52

 

[Cosmic Commando]

The Imagineers had a tough job with Mermaid as obviously the budget wasn't Carsland, AND the exterior of Mermaid is a Barnes N' Nobles type building.

I remember the commercials for Carsland, no video from inside the ride, just kids driving cars over to Radiator Springs and the Cadillac Mountain range in the background. Pretty awesome when you build something so good that all you need to do is use footage of the exteriors.

Mermaid's exterior doesn't communicate that it is a ride, could be a restaurant, video arcade, or gift shop. Maybe they felt the need to show off the fancy animatronics to get folks inside.

Anyway, here's something interesting, the "descending under the sea" scene was supposed to have "twisty" ocean plants accomplished by slowly twirling bent plastic pipes. Looks really cool, wonder if it didn't make it in the ride for safety reasons.

Start watching at 1:52

Plus people were already used to walking past that area when it was Golden Dreams.

 

[BryceM]

Well... Magic Kingdom is the most visited theme park in the world and it's a new ride in a new land...

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Well... Magic Kingdom is the most visited theme park in the world and it's a new ride in a new land...

I assume that Mermaid in MK will get more foot traffic than DCA's version. However, Mermaid might have a Country Bear type problem (Disneyland version) as the only reason to walk around FLE to do something is if you're going to BoG, to ride Mermaid, or to go to the Mermaid M&G, otherwise you can just walk on by . . . Some guests with boys might be shy given that the Mermaid M&G might be more prominent than the entrance for the ride.

It also looks like 7DMT will have its exit and entrance opposite Pooh, meaning you could experience this ride when it opens, and bypass Mermaid from a safe distance.

I do believe that the "Gaston's Square" is a setup for a Belle ride as right north of this is a huge grassy lawn/area, inside of the train tracks even, seems like building a Beauty and the Beast dark ride here will hopefully happen at some point.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Also in the video it describes an "approach to Ursula's lair", something I think the rides needs as the transition from "Under the Sea" to Ursula's scene is so sudden it sort of spoils the moment, IMHO.

 

[danlb_2000]

The Imagineers had a tough job with Mermaid as obviously the budget wasn't Carsland, AND the exterior of Mermaid is a Barnes N' Nobles type building.

I remember the commercials for Carsland, no video from inside the ride, just kids driving cars over to Radiator Springs and the Cadillac Mountain range in the background. Pretty awesome when you build something so good that all you need to do is use footage of the exteriors.

Mermaid's exterior doesn't communicate that it is a ride, could be a restaurant, video arcade, or gift shop. Maybe they felt the need to show off the fancy animatronics to get folks inside.

Anyway, here's something interesting, the "descending under the sea" scene was supposed to have "twisty" ocean plants accomplished by slowly twirling bent plastic pipes. Looks really cool, wonder if it didn't make it in the ride for safety reasons.

Start watching at 1:52

I like the exterior of Mermaid at DCA, I think it is a beautiful building. Remeber that it's in the Paradise Pier section of DCA which is themed to look like a Victorian-era California boardwalk. The Mermaid building is a perfect fit for that area.

Here is an example of what they seemed to be going for:

 

[Goofyernmost]

It's hard to say why it wasn't a smash in California. If I had to guess it was overshadowed by Carsland. It's not unusual to be at opposite ends between the west and east coasts. I remember attending 'Soarin' in California with a walk up, no stop, queue. The same thing didn't happen in Florida at all. I predict large crowds at MK when it opens.