Traditionally, queues have simply provided a place to wait while the crowd ahead of you files onto a ride. Now and then, Disney or Universal would try to make the wait a bit more interesting, with the immersive themed decor of the Magic Kingdom Pirates of the Caribbean or the old Islands of Adventure Dueling Dragons queues.
Universal reestablished the standard for immersive queues with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which offers a walk-through tour of Hogwarts Castle, a queue that's so popular some visitors wait in an exterior queue to walk through the castle portion even though they don't want to go on the ride itself.
Disney's responded with some queue innovations of its own. It's been adding "interactive" elements to the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion, where you can not only get up close and touch props from the Mansion's graveyard, but also make some of them respond - mostly with sound or water effects.
Disney's done this sort of thing before, notably in Disneyland's Indiana Jones queue, but now Disney seems to be making this a "thing" - we've been promised interactive elements in the queue for the upcoming Little Mermaid ride in Fantasyland, for example.
So here's my question for you: Does it matter? Would you rather stop and play some of the interactive games in the Space Mountain queue, or hurry your way onto the ride? At Haunted Mansion, the choice is explicit - you can choose to queue on the side with the interactive elements, or move directly into the foyer. Which side do you select?
Please tell us in the comments what you think of interactive queue elements, and what - if anything - you'd like to see theme parks do better with their queues. As always, thank you for reading Theme Park Insider!
Until the small child undoubtedly waiting behind me begins crying because the "mean bald man" won't let him have a turn, at least.
Does the interactive element mean I end up waiting longer in line for an attraction? If so then I'd probably rather just keep on trucking toward the boarding station. Unless of course it's low season and the wait is minimal anyway, in which case an extra few minutes playing with interactive elements is a fun addition to the whole experience. But when it comes down to it, isn't it really a question of 'is it worth waiting for an additional 10 minutes in line for Haunted Mansion in order to be able to make a few musical sounds by touching gravestones?' If I'm 5 years old, then maybe... But seeing as I'm 50 I think I'll just keep on moving along, thanks all the same...
(By the way, don't assume that my apparent grumpiness means I don't think interactive next gen technology is anything other than a great addition to the parks. It's Disney being Disney and adding extra value and extra magic to their parks and I'm all in favour of that. So long as it remains optional....)
Also, I wouldn't call Ravenscroft "the voice of the Haunted Mansion". He is *A* voice but surely *THE* voice is Paul Frees.
I do wish they'd focus more on keeping the ride maintenance up to date and improving that part of it instead of add interactive elements that a lot of visitors skip.
If there's a coaster at the end, that's the only interactivity I need.
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