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New Interactive Features coming to Haunted Mansion Queue

Walls have recently gone up around the queue of The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Workers have begun the installation process for some new interactive elements that will be added to the queue. WDWMagic has some images from a test that was done back in April of an interactive game in the queue. It sounds like the current installation will involve something similar.

They also mention something about this being part of the Next-Gen project. I haven’t heard that, but I do know that Disney is concerned with improving guest satisfaction in the parks. The number one complaint is having to wait in queue for attractions.

Fastpass is one attempt to solve that (and generate incremental retail and food sales). Alas, the benefits from fastpass was not as great as Disney thought and it continues to rank up there in complaints from those who either arrive to late in the day to use it or don’t understand it. Plus, there are fewer attractions where Fastpass is actually useful without effectively reducing attraction capacity and increasing labor costs.

While the Tiki Room has one of the original interactive queues, the modern implementation of interactive queues can be traced back to the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. Rather than long switchbacks, guests were wound through rooms where various interactive show elements could be engaged. The recent queue enhancements at Orlando’s Space Mountain is another example. A similar idea at EPCOT’s Soarin’ hasn’t been quite as successful.

The Haunted Mansion is just one attraction getting these elements. Winnie the Pooh at the Magic Kingdom, Rock’n’Roller Coaster at DHS, and Dumbo in the new Fantasyland expansion have all been ‘announced’ as candidates for new-style queues. Obviously, there are plenty of other candidates. Are there any you’d like to see Disney tackle next?

Is this part of the secretive Next-Gen project or just another attempt to drive up guest satisfaction scores? I can’t wait to find out.

16 thoughts on “New Interactive Features coming to Haunted Mansion Queue”

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  2. I love this idea. I wish more and even every ride attraction had interactive features to its queue. I remember years ago, when I last visited Disneyland, how fun it was to actually wait in line for a the Indiana Jones ride. I was always looking forward to what was coming around the corner. Not only is it fun, but it helps the time move by a little faster, which we all know can be hours depending on the time of day and popularity. I’ve noticed Universal Studios has done very well in this department. Anything to immerse the fans into the story and ride is definitely needed to keep up with the next-gen of ride attractions.

    – Ryan
    @Rychoy

  3. The Haunted Mansion line? Really? One of the fastest moving lines in the park? How interactive can you be while breezing past everything?

  4. At WDW definitely Peter Pan and Buzz Lightyear Space ranger Spin. We won’t even ride either anymore when the lines are long unless we can get a fastpass. Keeping a 2 year old kid with special needs occupied in those two lines is nearly impossible.

  5. Not sure why WDW MK Haunted Mansion is getting this — I’ve rarely had to deal with very long lines there. California would make more sense, but it being outside might restrict what they can do.

    There’s also “interactive queues” and “interactive queues.” Enveloping someone in the story (like at Indiana Jones) is great. Stuff for people to watch and enjoy (like at the original (and only) Tiki Room, or at Buzz Lightyear (WDW) can help, but only so much if the line’s moving too slowly (also Buzz Lightyear (WDW)).

    The interactive games at WDW Space Mountain were great, the few times we got to play them, largely because they were short enough to deal with the line speed. I wanted to play them even when the lines were short. Unfortunately, you then end up in the loading area, where there’s basically nothing. Those sorts of games might work on some rides (Anaheim Buzz Lightyear desperately needs something, Orlando Big Thunder, perhaps, too), but don’t help outside (the Splash Mountains and Anaheim Big Thunder).

    The biggest problems are on ride queues that are basically just outside (or barely covered) lines, cheek-and-jowl with people walking by. Orlando Peter Pan is an obvious problem here; Anaheim Matterhorn is another. Without significant reconstruction, it’s not clear how you could fix these lengthy queues by any of these means, and they’re the least pleasant ones to be standing in already.

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  8. I don’t ever remember waiting in a line for the Haunted Mansion. In fact any of the lines I have waited in usually move pretty fast. I used to visit Disney during the winter months and there was never really a wait on anything. 2 years ago my wife and I went to Disney for our honeymoon in the middle of June and I thought the lines would be outrageous, but everything moved fast. In my opinion Disney does a great job of keeping the lines moving especially at busy attractions.

  9. That’s stupid. The longest line I’ve ever waited for HM is… well, I went on that ride three times during our trip three weeks ago and we never waited longer than maybe two minutes. Why don’t they concentrate on giving the features to queues with truly long lines. I mean, the Space Mountain games were pretty cool, but Haunted Mansion? Really? I think that kind of thing would ruin the mood. You’re at this spooky, old-looking building, and then you turn and play an interactive game? It makes sense for rides that don’t have a certain tone set to them (I see SM as futuristic and the interactive games kind of fit. And as for Soarin’, well, I didn’t care what was in there to entertain me, it was a really long wait.) But just the sight of HM scared me when I was little. I’m taking my friends next year, and I want them to feel the same way I felt on my first ride. A game doesn’t fit the mood. And WHY on the fastest line in the whole park? I’ve never waited a real line for HM. Maybe a small group of people were standing and waiting and we stood there too, but we’ve never actually had a wait over three minutes. Why would we stop to play a game when we can just wait two minutes? And I hope that the Leota tombstone isn’t messed with. I was looking forward to showing my friends that (they’ve never been to Disney in their lives and I wanted to show them). And it’s one of my favorite things in the mansion because it SETS THE TONE. It just shows you, this ride is full of unnatural things. I’m just feeling nervous about this because I LOVE the HM queue just the way it is.

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  12. I am sick of these interactive queues, first and foremost. It just calls for the small attention span of people and how they don’t appreciate the finer details of a queue. With that said, adding interactive crap to the queue of the HAUNTED MANSION is utterly ridiculous. The original queue is fine the way it is, and the only interactive part I want to see if the Madame Leota tomb. It adds a mystique and eerieness to the mansion. Now with these new games and interactive tombs… is this Peewee’s Playhouse or something? Good lord.

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