Part XII: Coast-to-Coast Disney Trip Report
Crowds were really low that evening in the Magic Kingdom, so we figured we’d get some of the longer line attractions out of the way. We had a FastPass for Peter Pan, but we figured we’d hit Winnie the Pooh on the way there, as it’s quickly becoming a favorite of Sarah’s. The line was supposedly only 10 minutes, but based upon the look of the queue, it appeared much longer. We quickly got out of line and headed for Pan.
Next up, it was time for the Haunted Mansion. Since this was our first time experiencing the attraction in earnest and really exploring the queue, I decided to save my thoughts of the new experience for here. The new queue…where to begin? This has become quite the divisive issue in the fan community, and frankly, I don’t quite see why. I will say that I’m not quite sure why Disney chooses the Haunted Mansion for these constant plussings. While I am a firm believer that things should constantly be updated, I am also a realist, and I think there are so many things in Walt Disney World that are more pressing. Since resources are finite, I would rather see other, more glaring, problems addressed first.
That said, I have no problem with these changes from the perspective that changes to the queue draw from funds that could be allocated towards additional attractions. To be sure, 8-10 of these “NextGen” queues might add up to the same cost as the construction of a new attraction (maybe, I’m just throwing that number out there). Like many others, I’d rather have a new attraction than 8-10 interactive queues. However, the construction of a new attraction is not the only cost of a new attraction, which is what others fail to consider when they make the argument that Disney should be building new attractions with the money.
This is because attractions also need Cast Members to operate, and the operational maintenance of an attraction is much higher than the maintenance of a queue. For example, even if 10 queues cost a total of $75 million to build, and a new attraction costs $75 million to build, the actual costs of the two aren’t the same. This is because a new attraction will also require Cast Members to operate. I don’t work in operations, but I’m guessing there are 20 or so Cast Members working each attraction at a given time. By contrast, at most, an interactive queue adds one Cast Member to the fray. This doesn’t even begin to consider maintenance costs. To be fair, attractions do increase the capacity of the parks, and thereby either decrease the amount of time people wait in line (allowing them to spend more in gift shops or at restaurants when they’re not in line) or increase the number of people at the parks (assuming the attraction pulls from other busy attractions or the park is approaching capacity). However, interactive queues also make the time in line more bearable, and thereby might increase guest satisfaction, which might increase their likelihood of returning.
The point being, as you can see with all of the different above factors and the rampant theorizing, is that this is not a cut and dry matter. It’s not as simple as saying, “spend the $X on new attractions instead of spending the $X on queues for better return on investment!” Things aren’t that simple. The (Disney) World’s problems can’t be solved with a little debate on an internet message board. We simply aren’t privy to all of the variables associated with making such a decision. I fear Disney is tailoring its research to validate conclusions it has already made prior to the research, as seems likely to be the case based on the past, but I hope the company is performing its due diligence and making the decisions based on actual cost/benefit research.
And that’s why the spending on the interactive queues doesn’t bother me. I simply don’t have the information necessary to make an informed decision as to whether they are a good investment. Anyway, now that we you’ve read “The Gospel of Interactive Queues According to Tom,” here’s my take on the substance of the queue itself.
The queue is a distraction while waiting for the main attraction. I am not so diluted (as some) to think it “kills the suspense” as some have claimed, as I really don’t think there’s much suspense to kill for most guests. If anything, for those guests who would feel suspense when in line, the new attraction adds a new layer of foreshadowing. I think most of the aspects of the queue are interesting and skillfully executed. In addition, I think they add nice interactivity to the experience. My only complaints would be that the headstone plots are too small for a body to be buried below, and that some of the queue is a bit cartoonish. Specifically, the busts at the beginning of the queue are a bit overly exaggerated, and just don’t seem to fit with the rest of the Haunted Mansion. Aside from these small quibbles, I think it’s extremely well done. The interactivity is short enough that it doesn’t impede the flow of the queue, and, like I said above, its elements are a nice distraction from waiting in line.
As for the other changes to Haunted Mansion, well, I don’t know how anyone could disparage those. These upgrades, which are to the AA hitchhiking ghosts and the ghost “following you home” projections immediately after, are wonderfully executed, and give the attraction a real cutting edge feel. The AA ghosts are brighter, more acentuated, and their surrounding area has more details. The big upgrade, however, is to the ghosts that follow you home. No longer do they just haphazardly float in the car over one of the passengers, they now actually interact with the passengers in a realistic way. The manner of interaction varies, and is really cool. Definitely a great upgrade!
Next up was the Magic, Memories, and You Castle show. I was shocked at how many people were staked out for the show. Since Wishes! starting shortly after, I figured a lot (most) were just getting spots a little early for that.
The Magic, Memories, and You is definitely a lot better on Cinderella Castle than it is on it’s a small world, and I enjoyed it pretty well on it’s a small world. It really doesn’t bother me that it’s displayed on the Castle, since it’s only like 10 minutes long. Plus, I actually liked the Castle Cake, and that was on the Castle for a full uninterrupted year. As long as there are permanent changes to the Castle that cartoonize it, I don’t really mind.
The scale of Cinderella Castle makes the show much better. The show is very well done, from the projections that are crisp and vibrant, to the transitions between the scenes in the displays. I only thing I don’t really care for about the show is the vacation photos of other guests that aren’t really that discernible, anyway. I know this is sort of the crux of the show, but I still don’t like it. I really hope they use the technology for the show in some capacity for future fireworks and/or Castle shows.
I was shocked when, after the Magic, Memories, and You show, guests began leaving en masse. My best guess is that they thought the couple of fireworks bursts at the end of the show were the fireworks for the night? I’ll bet those people think the fireworks show is really lame!
Wishes was…Wishes. After Remember…Dreams Come True, no Magic Kingdom fireworks show can compare. Wishes was enjoyable, but with Remember so fresh in my memory, Wishes was a bit of a disappointment.
Still, it was nice to see the fireworks show in our “home” part in front of Cinderella Castle. It could be the lamest fireworks show in the world, but by virtue of being set in front of that Castle, it’d be special.
After Wishes, we dredged through the crowds and (slowly) made our way back to Big Thunder Mountain. The crowds at Walt Disney World always baffle and aggravate me. I don’t know how many people could walk around with their heads up their…well, this is a family topic, so I won’t use that language. It just is annoying that so many people don’t know where they’re going, stand in the middle of walk-ways, walk as slow as humanly possible with their entire party in taking up an entire pathway as they walk in a line of slow-ness, and so on. Half of this is my own fauly because I like to walk at a very brisk pace, but I swear, some people need to learn how to walk around in a heavily trafficked public place!
After Big Thunder Mountain, it was on to Splash Mountain. Splash was closed at Disneyland, and we had only done it one time in December at WDW due to the weather (and that one time we got stuck on the ride for 45 minutes because someone got off the ride), so we were really excited to ride again. After all, it is one of our top attractions in WDW. (Probably #2 for me after Tower of Terror!) The attraction was nothing short of excellent, as usual. This is one attraction that I really wish I could have that “first time” experience on again. Luckily, the attraction is so different at Disneyland, and I was so pre-occupied with staying dry the one time we rode it, that it’s basically new for us out there. I cannot wait to ride it again out there!
From here, we began taking pictures in Frontierland and Adventureland. In WDW, Tomorrowland is our usual photo location of choice at night, so it was nice to change things up a little. I had never used my 8-16mm lens at WDW at night, so this was a great opportunity. After a couple of shots in Frontierland of Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, we headed to Adventureland to the new Tortuga Tavern. Two places you don’t normally see photographed, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. While photographing Tortuga Tavern, Sarah remarked on the excellent Pirates of the Caribbean background music. We had noticed the music in the past in passing, but we were here for a little longer this time, so we heard more of the loop. It was good stuff.
These Adventureland photos of Sarah and I aren't the best, but I think they're too funny to not post!
After exiting Adventureland, we found ourselves on a barren Main Street, USA. We spent some time here, taking a few more photos as we shuffled up Main Street.
It was still relatively early (I loath pre-midnight park closings), but we were exhausted, so we meandered on out slowly, soaking in the atmosphere of Main Street. With all of its lights, and music that is finally audible at night, Main Street is a great place to be when the park clears out. If you exclude Cinderella Castle, which I don’t really think qualifies as being in any land, even Fantasyland, it’s my third favorite land at night, significantly far behind Tomorrowland and in close third to Frontierland.
Tom, this may be a really dumb question but how do you get so many pictures at night in the parks? How late do you have to stay after closing to get those shots (without people in them)? Do the cast members mind if you stay that late? Is there some point when they ask you to leave? For some reason, it has never occurred to me that I could stay past closing, I always thought I would be kicked out (and mainly I am exhausted). Next trip I will definitely try to stay that late in many of the parks to get some pictures, I would love to see the parks like that.
PS: I love all of your trip reports and your website!!!
Tom and Sarah, I love your website and pictures. My husband and I are huge Disney fans as well. He proposed to me during Wishes and we even got married in WDW at the Wedding Pavilion, and honeymooned at the parks and on the Disney Cruise. My husband and I have often joked with each other saying that the amount of times we have visited WDW and DLR we could publish books sharing our knowledge and excitement for the parks, etc. We totally understand your love for Disney but I have to ask, now that you have put yourselves out there for our enjoyment, does it make it difficult for you when you get recognized during your trips? Has your work on various websites only added to your love of Disney or do you sometimes feel pressured to get that perfect photo or think of something clever to post? I am just curious, and I do want to thank you for this website and for putting yourselves out there. My family and friends think that we are strange for wanting to visit the Disney resorts (at least) once every year and it’s nice to know that there are a lot of us out there. It also helps with park withdrawal between visits! Sorry for the long first post, but I wanted to thank you both for basically sharing a bit of your lives with all of us Disney fans.
Thanks!
OK, now that my hate of slow people has receded a bit, I’d like to comment on the interactive queue and why HM was selected. I can’t say for sure, but I’m in project management and can take a guess.
To build the interactive (if you can call it that) queue for HM, it didn’t take much. They didn’t have to really demolish anything or build anything large bc there was land there. They just cleared the land a bit and plopped down some items. Then they just put up a little railing around it. Easy.
Now, imagine if they had to build an interactive queue for, say, Peter Pan. They would have to demolish the bathrooms and move them to where the skyway used to be, or by small world (so, demolish one set of bathrooms and build a new one somewhere else). Then they’d have to physically build a new queue line (PP doesn’t really have one). Then install whatever interactivities they wanted, probably along the wall like Winnie the Pooh or Soarin’ (and rumor is this is happening eventually). This would cost mucho $$$.
So, my guess is they did HM first because it was easy and cheap. It lets them get guests reaction to the idea without spending a boatload of cash.
Well done as usual. Love the picture of the stretching portrait – that room is one of my favorite things in all of WDW (I’m still trying to talk my wife into hanging the four portraits in our living room).
Your point about interactive queues is interesting. I have no clue what an attraction truly costs either, but redoing the queues seems unnecessary to me. In fact, I honestly can’t think of what other queues need enhancing. Maybe I am too much of a traditionalist or don’t mind standing in line or would rather see another top attraction or two in HS or AK, but it seems to me that adding an interactive piece of the queue might actually make the wait longer as kids linger (especially at Space Mountain).
Anyway, great shots and keep the reports coming. It helps bridge the gap until our next trip!
Redoing queues seems unnecessary to me, too, but I think that’s what attention spans in America have come to. Disney is a business, and can’t really fight that or declare that people should just be “entertained by the great details of the queues.”
My general point is that although I might prefer a new attraction, it’s really difficult to say, “a new attraction would only cost $X and these queues also cost $X, so build the new attraction instead!” No one in the fan community is privy to the actual long term costs OR the benefits of either, so it’s really not our place to make bold assertions about one versus the other. We certainly are free to speculate and say which we’d prefer, but I see plenty online declaring that the new queues are “stupid” or “bad investments.” We simply cannot contend things like that with the information available to us.
You said it. I couldn’t agree more with your take on the attention spans. It seems that our society has to be constantly engaged or boredom takes over. As it is, many of the queues help set Disney attractions apart from other theme parks (Six Flags, Universal, etc.). The newly enhanced queues will only widen that gap and more and more guests will not even remember the lines were long because they were entertained constantly.
Anyway, it is all about the experience and I am sure Disney is making good decisions with the resources available. Plus, it is not like Disney isn’t doing enough work at MK right now anyway. I think an entire land expansion is plenty.
Thanks for the reply!
Tom, all of your photos are FANTASTIC!
The Tiki shot is my favorite and the Adventurland in the evening photos are stellar.
Thanks for sharing these with us!
Glad you enjoyed them! Adventureland at night is gorgeous!
It’s not just that these irritants are moving slowly, but all that this implies about the state of humanity. Many times have I experienced such situations, not just in Disney parks but in virtually any public setting where crowds gather. I do not mind slow moving folk per se. An elderly person shuffling along with a cane would cause me no irritation, nor would a person moving slowly because he or she wishes to deliberately enjoy the surroundings at such a pace, (so long as he or she does not block me). The problem that you articulate and that many of us have experienced to our exasperation is, however, a completely different matter. These pests annoy us because they are (1) inconsiderate and (2) disorganized. Their meandering is without purpose or necessity, and their attitude seems to be that they (or their group) are alone present. When a group stops in some inconvenient place, such as the middle of a path or the entrance to an attraction, I refer to it as a “committee meeting” and always make some (hopefully) audible and snide remark, such as “What a great place to hold your committee meeting!” When all is said and done, the Disney parks are relatively familiar landscapes and, even if not so for everyone, they are not that hard to navigate. How can people be so disorganized! How hard can it be to decide to ride Pirates of the Caribbean! When all is said and done, what really bothers us (I now speak for all righteous people in the world) about these irksome folk is that we must assume that they are not very intelligent, and this is a thought that mars our experience of a place that strives to create a perfect environment. These people intrude upon the fantasy. They are clearly, when not clogging the path at a Disney park, the same unhelpful people who work in sluggish DMV offices or who man the phones in Orwellian corporate call centers. Whatever life or intelligence that might have once had, has drained away, leaving a mass of unappealing flesh that is now blocking our way into It’s a Small World. And, far and away, the worst of it for me is resisting the temptation to give them a good shove. H.G. Wells once said that he dared not drive a car in Paris because the temptation to run over a priest was too great. My own challenge is similar: avoiding the temptation to shove bovine creatures plodding along in the happiest place on earth!
This is one of the best posts I’ve ever read, anywhere. I sums up so many of my views on life and traveling in general.
I understand people may be lost, confused, have small kids, etc. But for God’s sake, move to the side and let other people pass you! If I am ever in the parks (or anywhere) and decide to slow down and make a decision I slowly veer off to the side and collect my thoughts.
I also hate people that walk at a moderate pace and then just STOP DEAD in their tracks. HELLO! There are people behind you!
I walk like a man on a mission (I am). Slower people don’t bother me so long as they leave room for others. Like you, that’s my biggest problem: they don’t realize they are blocking others and are just inconsiderate. Then, when you try to speed walk past them, they look at you like YOU’RE rude. PLEASE!
On a totally unrelated topic, I love Tom’s pic of Splash Mt (and I don’t even like this attraction) and Crystal Palace. Beautiful.
You guys are hilarious. Glad I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Love the shot of the Leaky Tiki’s. Tiki’s really pop off the picture with the motion blur of the palms in the back. Good stuff, looking forward to the next!
I always forget those guys are called the Leaky Tikis. I am partial to that shot, too.
I love the shots of empty Adventureland at night! Very cool! The Main St & Castle shots are beautiful as well.
Also I totally agree about the annoyance of the slow walkers. I don’t even know how it’s physically possible for some people to move that slowly. I couldn’t do it if I tried! It also never ceases to amaze me the way a party will block the entrance to an attraction, hemming and hawing over whether they should go in or not, while holding up the line for everyone else. Move it along people, it’s not that complicated!
Just thinking about slow people makes my blood boil. Being slow and making a concerted effort to constantly be in everyone’s way are inextricably interwoven, I think. The slow-movers walk 10-wide, block entrances, and are just in the way in general. Slow movers wouldn’t bother me if they stayed out of the way, but they rarely do.
It’s even worse when those slow walkers have strollers. Then they think they rule the walkways.
“It’s just is annoying that so many people don’t know where they’re going, stand in the middle of walk-ways, walk as slow as humanly possible with their entire party in taking up an entire pathway as they walk in a line of slow-ness, and so on.”
This is a metaphor for life!