Originally Posted By tashajilek Thanks Ferret! I guess i wasnt looking lol. I should try and see if my mom has some of the decoder cards.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<I like the TOT queue, but I don't like waiting so long in the Boiler Room. For me, it would work much, much better if you went from the library w/ Rod Serling to the Boiler Room where you only had a 3 or 4 minute wait. It's usually more than that, and thus I always feel like it's a queue after the queue. There aren't enough interesting things to look at in the Boiler Room (it's not like the hallway in the HM, where you're also always moving), and you're very conscious that it's a queue. If they could make it flow better once you start the "show" (i.e. once you enter the hotel itself) I'd like it a lot better.>> Thank you for that!!! From my very first experience, I've been amazed and saddened that they imagineered this queue such that you go through the immersive, creepy, effective, mood-setting library scene only to be dumped straight into a gigantic room that seems designed to break the spell and remind you that you're a tourist waiting in line to go on a thrill ride. And it was so avoidable. If they wanted to create a large indoor holding tank, they could have had us enter through a side door to the Banquet Room of the hotel, where we would wait before even seeing the Front Lobby. Or route us through a long guest-room corridor (with switchbacks). Get the major waiting done first. Then let us spend a little time in the Lobby. Usher us into the Library, and don't give us a chance to catch our breath after that.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 I like the queue for California Screamin', because it just feels "right" for the attraction, and because the announcements amuse me.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Get the major waiting done first. Then let us spend a little time in the Lobby. Usher us into the Library, and don't give us a chance to catch our breath after that.<< That's just how the queue setup works, as-is. On all but the emptiest days (when there's no wait to speak of), the vast majority of the wait time is before the library. After the library, it's usually just a few moments before you're sent to the separate elevators, and you wait for your elevator to come. I don't think I've ever waited more than 2-3 minutes between the library and getting assigned an elevator. Once you're at the loading area, it does take a while for your turn to come, but there's really not much avoiding that. The timing of the queue is set up so that there will always be enough guests waiting in the boiler room to fill each elevator. Yes, that means that occasionally you'll wait a bit longer, but it is speeding up the overall line, as it helps the attraction run at full capacity. If they simply took you straight from the library into the elevators, there would be odd-numbered groups that would make for empty seats on the ride. Yes, the total wait in the boiler room is usually 5-10 minutes, but I don't see how they could realistically operate the attraction any other way, unless they moved the library so that it sent you directly into the elevator. As little sense as there is in having a secret back door from the library to the boiler room, there's even less sense in having the maintenance elevator stop in the library.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<After the library, it's usually just a few moments before you're sent to the separate elevators, and you wait for your elevator to come. I don't think I've ever waited more than 2-3 minutes between the library and getting assigned an elevator. Once you're at the loading area, it does take a while for your turn to come, but there's really not much avoiding that.>> <<Yes, the total wait in the boiler room is usually 5-10 minutes>> Granted, my experiences with TOT over the course of three years were all in July and all when the attraction was new, but the wait time was always a mood-killing 20-something minutes. And the queue was obviously designed to accomodate that. <<The timing of the queue is set up so that there will always be enough guests waiting in the boiler room to fill each elevator. Yes, that means that occasionally you'll wait a bit longer, but it is speeding up the overall line, as it helps the attraction run at full capacity. If they simply took you straight from the library into the elevators, there would be odd-numbered groups that would make for empty seats on the ride.>> I get that. And I'd be okay if I arrived at the service elevators and there was a nervous bunch of "hotel guests" waiting for an elevator ahead of me. They could totally optimize attraction capacity quotients while telling a much better story.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<California Screamin?? really?>> Yeah. Maybe it's because I grew up on Cedar Point, where there is zero theming for roller coaster waits. As regards Screamin', it just seems to me that this is what a queue would be like in a (nicer-than-most) California pier-side amusement park. And, yeah, I get that DCA was created on the cheap. And, yeah, I hate that about much of the original Park's design. But the cheapness of the California Screamin' queue works for me.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 "I don't think I've ever waited more than 2-3 minutes between the library and getting assigned an elevator." I sure have, every time I've ridden, in fact. Not quite as bad as Inspector's times, but I went on pretty light days. Minimal time to get to the library, yet 12-15 minutes in the boiler room. All elevators were up, too.
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin I've only been on ToT twice and my wait in the boiler room both times was definitely over 10 minutes. It did seem to stifle the atmosphere. My thoughts: Tiki – great space, JC – excellent, Indy – excellent, BTMR – practically perfect, POTC – just okay, HM – very good (just counting outside and outside the elevator), Splash – good, IASW – very good, Space – boring nowadays, and old Star Tours – very good.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "Space – boring nowadays" I know! they could do so much more with it.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo I think the new Star Tours queue in my new favorite. They've really done a great job with it (poor Rex).
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf There are a few attractions where the queue is, in my opinion, a better attraction than the ride itself. For example: Indy and Tiki Room have great queue areas but are so-so themselves. If it weren't for my family I would wait in the queue area for a while and then skip the attraction.
