Originally Posted By HMButler79 Someone resurrect Davis and Coates NOW. <a href="http://www.insidethemagic.net/2011/03/videophotos-inside-new-haunted-mansion-interactive-queue-at-walt-disney-worlds-magic-kingdom/" target="_blank">http://www.insidethemagic.net/...kingdom/</a>
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 Wow....it looks.... really cheesy. :/ Especially the organ and the captains tomb.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Yep... Lord knows you wouldn't want to try and keep guests entertained while standing in line. What the heck were they thinking??
Originally Posted By HMButler79 Star Tours, Indy, Roger, Tower is being entertained in line WITHOUT contracdicting and runing the mythos of the attraction. This is Mickey and Minnie's house/concepts decorated to fit the Mansion (badly). Its TACKY GIMMICKS that are disrespectful
Originally Posted By skinnerbox If they want to create an interactive queue for HM, then why not build a small mausoleum for the queue to wander through? Put the interactive stuff inside the mausoleum, theme it to the hilt, like Indy's queue at DL. Dropping the interactive elements willy nilly into the outdoor area looks out of place and tacky. If they're going to do this, they should at least keep the quality bar raised as high as the ride itself.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Remember before you enter this "Q" Daylight just might blind you Overkill describes this swill Roadkill is preferable to this pill.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Whatever happened to keeping the outside nicely kept, and only really seeing the ghosts on the inside? These new additions seem very out of place with the somber tone of the queue (they're even less somber than the actual attraction, which is very upbeat to begin with), and really do seem to be kind of annoying from the video. Yes, I understand what they were trying to do, and I think that they probably executed it well, but it's just a concept that doesn't seem to add any real value to the experience. It's over done and out of place. And what's up with all the water everywhere? The sidewalk looked like it had small puddles in a couple place, which is a bad omen if these effects are to continue (though it's probably a good omen for those that want them gone!). Between the Florida heat and humidity and the constant dousing from the 'fun' effects, that area will get gross pretty quickly, not to mention becoming a slipping hazard. I can't remember; did they change the HM foyer flooring to hardwood, like at DL? Water, crowds, and hardwood is a lethal combination for constant slipping. If it's still carpet (which I prefer), it will just get funky smelling, really quickly. Either way, it's not really a good thing.
Originally Posted By leobloom Water effects seem like a bad idea, but other than that it looks like a nice addition, but hardly a big deal. This is puny compared to Harry Potter. And, really, HM is fine already. Why continue to plus it while other attractions rot away?
Originally Posted By dshyates I'll go ahead and say it. I really, really don't like it. Ok, I haven't seen it in person, but I don't need to. After seeing ITM's photos and video and can easily say it is WAY over the top. It's a graveyard, it should have a somber tone. When the video showed the crypt with the touch activated instruments along with the disjointed racket it was creating I knew this was all wrong for the location here at the entrance to the haunted mansion. Then the book. The effect is sort of cool and all, but for some reason it looks sort of odd and cheesy. I also don't care for the library books popping out on the side. You know it is just gonna end up being Whack-a-Book with squealing 5 year olds. Also, having an organ out in the graveyard seems really odd. But when they got to the talking, moving, bubble blowing, geyser sneezing sea captain I was done. Disney sort of got "in theme", but TOTALLY blew it with "in character" of the attraction. This is an obnoxious Haunted Mansion Playground. And soooo, with the invention of the term Haunted Mansion Playground, I have lost all hope in WDW's creative abilities. Who is responsible for this? Was this TDO or was this WDI? WDW really is batting a thousand with a lot of their offering recently. Stitch's Superstinky Sale-abration was epic.....FAIL! The new PIXAR Paradette is just sad. It is sort of exhausting watching it. It's like they have convinced the performers that if they just try harder, give a little more it will be a good parade. And so these kids are trying SOOO hard to make it a good parade. Yet there is nothing that these poor kids can do to save it. It's just sad and exhausting.
Originally Posted By TP2000 So I am always cautious of judging the world via YouTube videos, but from what I've seen here I'm a tad confused. What's the point exactly? Some of the effects were cleverly done, but still rather pointless. The moving books? The musical touch instruments? The poetess asking people to rhyme words for her? Why? Is the goal here to simply entertain people for 7 minutes of their 45 minute wait and keep them from staring at their iPhones for a bit? What is the purpose here exactly? It doesn't seem to set up any of the story for the attraction, not that there is one at Haunted Mansion, but this outside Tombstoneland Fun Zone doesn't have anything to do with the suddenly dark and creepy pre-show of the Foyer and Stretching Rooms. I don't get it. It just seems to serve no purpose or thematic interest, other than to keep people slapping and punching at props to get a physical response of some sort for a few minutes. This area also seems to not quite be fleshed out. There seems to be an opportunity to add more plants, more details, more goo-gaws or ornaments or hanging moss or.... something. It's not looking quite ready for prime time here. And that odd water effect? By the 4th of July that will be a giant pit of toxic mold and smelly mildew. And knowing how WDW maintains and refurbs stuff, or a complete lack thereof, I can see most of thise stuff being broken by the July 4th weekend as well. I'm just confused on why this even exists. It doesn't do anything for the story. It does nothing to strengthen the mood or environment. It seems to only exist to keep people focused on things other than the wait and those around them. Did they really just spend all that money to do only that? How odd. This is their first attempt at this type of queue, so we can't be too hard on them. I guess I just don't understand the need to be constantly-constantly-constantly entertained and kept slapping at things for fear of standing still quietly for a few moments. Or am I just getting to be an old fogey stuck in the 20th century?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt No offense TP, but I think you just may be an old fogey stuck in the 20th century. Judging by guest reactions in the video this seems to be a fairly big hit with visitors. The complaining here is so predictable. When Fastpass was being installed throughout the parks it was seen as the death of the detailed queue in future attractions, and now that a legendary old E ticket has had its queue Indy-fied people are unhappy. There are plenty of things about this I don't really care for, but in the scheme of things I would say that this is an improvement over mile long series of boring switchbacks.
Originally Posted By TP2000 "No offense TP, but I think you just may be an old fogey stuck in the 20th century." It wouldn't be the first time Hans, and it seems to be getting worse. HA! "There are plenty of things about this I don't really care for, but in the scheme of things I would say that this is an improvement over mile long series of boring switchbacks." Agreed. Let's hope as they do more of these queues they tie it in a bit better with the overall mood and story of the attraction. This first attempt seems to be more of a "Look what we can do!" project than an honest attempt to improve the story and beef up the themed vibe.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "This first attempt seems to be more of a "Look what we can do!" project than an honest attempt to improve the story and beef up the themed vibe." Yep, I get that impression too.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Those who don't like it have the option of choosing the "unimproved" queue.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hmmm, I feared the worst reading these comments, then when I looked, I quite liked what I saw. The only concern is the amount of water and the organ seems a little OTT. But overall, this looked well done IMHO. I love playing in Boot Hill at DLP (which includes a tomb with a beating heart). This seems to plus the idea further.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Unlike WDW's other "classic attractions" (Pirates, the Mountains, Jungle Cruise), the Haunted Mansion had a really boring queue. I certainly don't mind that they've plussed it for those who want something more. For those who prefer the "classic", the old queue where you go straight to the attraction is still available and will probably involve a shorter wait. I frankly don't see anything to complain about.
Originally Posted By TP2000 That's the part I find the most confusing; this new area of the queue is optional. Surely it won't stay that way for long. Once all the superfans do their full photo-documentation of this area for their wesbsites, who else would get near the front of the line and decide to spend a few minutes checking out this interactive stuff instead of going on in to the ride? I have to think this optional concept is just part of the soft-opening before they route the entire queue through there. I wonder where they'll put this stuff in the Disneyland version?
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle I found this kind of funny - the linked article says "no one can argue against creating additional entertainment in a previously... dead space". Don't underestimate LP! Anyway, it's hard for me to say because my computer's playing up a bit so I haven't watched the video, but it doesn't look too bad to me. I do agree it's a little cartoony and could be a bit more sombre, but I'm not going to get up in arms about something like Disney making a queue more interesting. I will say I don't like the "sneezing", though!
