Walt Disney World (FL)

Haunted Mansion New Queue Review

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We Walt Disney World fans tend to treat the attractions in the parks like they are part of our families.  Love them or hate them, in the end, try as we might, we always go back to them as they pull us back in.  Their tricks and turns always cause us to marvel with awe and wonder even though we have them all memorized and are long past surprises.  But Disney’s goal is always to enhance and plus our experiences, letting them grow.

Not too long ago Disney Imagineers decided to take one of the most boring parts of theme parks, lines (a.k.a. queues), and slowly being to change them pushing them towards interaction.  We’d seen this previously with video games in the queues for attractions like Soarin’ and Space Mountain.  And other attractions such as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror have always had pre-shows and highly stylized theming to hold our interest.  Now Disney has started to take that to the next level with queues designed to keep you occupied without resorting to video games.

The most recent attraction queue to get this makeover is The Haunted Mansion.  Of course, when any sort of construction wall goes up at an opening-day attraction speculation, worry, and fear ensue (FUD).  The graveyard and the view toward Tom Sawyer Island had been all walled up for a bit under 6 months.  The payoff is interesting, and certainly not what everyone had expected.  For example, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh turned out to be far more interactive after its makeover.

The thing I find most interesting is that not everyone who’s heading into The Haunted Mansion will be participating in the new queue experience.  It seems odd to me, but the queue is now actually split.  You go through the old “back and forth” part of the queue only to arrive at a castmember who sometimes tells you that you can go left to experience the new interactive queue or right and skip it.  The choice is yours.  In effect, the attraction ends up with a “fast lane” in place of a FASTPASS.

Upon entering the new queue you’re greeted by busts of the members of the Dread Family.  These busts are very nicely crafted, and up close (yes you can walk up and touch them) they have the look and feel of smoothed sandstone.  The busts themselves don’t move or make any sort of noise, but they do contain a puzzle.  A murder mystery is to be solved as indicated on the pedestal for Uncle Jacob, “now try to discover who killed who”.  Poems on the pedestals and certain markings on the busts are the key.

Some of the gravestones have been moved into the queue itself, most notably the one belonging to Master Gracey himself.  From the size and shape, either he was cremated, very short, or killed by the Rocketeer villain Lothar.  Also seen are the ones for Grandpa Marc (a tribute to Marc Davis) and Francis Xavier (a tribute to X Atencio) as well as a brand new tribute obelisk maker to Imagineer Collin Campbell.  Sadly Campbell passed away shortly after its debut.

In addition, the gravestones that start at the front door with the seemingly “alive” one for Madame Leota (a tribute to Leota Toombs) climb up the hillside and then wrap back down around the queue toward Tom Sawyer Island. But what I find very interesting is a highly stylized emergency/evacuation exit.  Instead of just being your typical door backstage, it’s a staircase themed along with the rest of the queue.  And right next to it is a set of crypts for more Imagineers: Mister Frees (Paul Frees), Ken (Ken Anderson), Brother Roland (Roland Crump), and Uncle Blaine (Blaine Gibson).

A “musical mausoleum” has been dedicated to voice actor and singer Thurl Ravenscroft.  There are three interactive sides to try out here, all of them are based on musical instruments.  On the first side you are presented with a plaque number of standard musical instruments.  Touching each will produce music as played by that instrument, and the more instruments that are touched the more melodic it becomes.  Next you’re presented with an organ emblazoned with the name “Ravenscroft”.  Pressing the keys plays music, but watch out as you’ll also end up getting sprayed with a water mist the more you play.  Then you’re presented with another plaque containing more musical instruments only these are part animal, part bone, or all cat.  A one-eyed black cat that is – both a tribute to the Edgar Allan Poe story, and part of the original mansion concepts and story.

Next up is the crypt for Captain Culpepper Clyne, “allergic to dirt so he’s pickled in brine”.  He’s considered to be one of the Mansion’s Sinister Eleven.  The first thing you’ll notice is that he’s singing various sea shanties.  Occasionally, he’ll gurgle the water a bit and then bubbles will start spewing from his crypt.  The entire time water will leak from the crypt through holes and cracks that are all over.  You can actually spend time trying to use your fingers to plug up these holes.  When you do, the water start leaking from a different point.  The far side of crypt contains two portholes, but they don’t seem to do anything.

The final interactive element in the new queue is the mausoleum of Prudence Pock.  The first side contains a memorial plaque declaring Prudence as a poetess who died of writer’s block.  Two of the sides are what appear to be carvings of library stacks, however the books in these carvings keep popping in and out of their positions.  Guests can try to push the books back in faster than they pop out.  The books remind me of the Library scene inside the Mansion where the books move about.  Finally, you’ll find that Prudence is still hard at work trying to overcome that writer’s block.  She’ll write out the first part of a poem in a book inside her mausoleum, and you’ll help her finish it.  Trust me, she’s listening.

Overall, I really enjoy these changes.  I think it’s a smart move on Disney’s part to try to bring their guests into the attraction earlier, before they even get inside, and this is a great way to do just that.  If you’re with children I would always choose the interactive side of the queue, there’s just a lot of things to keep them occupied while waiting.  Heck, there’s a lot to keep me occupied.  My only concern is that some of the new interactive queue is not covered by the canopy.  That can be an issue for those trying to stay out of the sun or avoid the heat.

What about you? What do you think of the new Haunted Mansion queue?  Like it?  Love it? Give you more of it?  Or are you just dying to see it? <insert evil laugh here>

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Todd Perlmutter

Todd is a Central Florida local who just so happens to be a mega geeky Disney, tech, and gaming nerd. Lives or dies by his iPhone - it spending a significant amount of time in his hand while he's at Walt Disney World. In addition to being blogger here at TouringPlans.com he is also a developer working on the Touring Plans Engine, the Chief Technical Officer for The Disney Driven Life, and co-host of the Disney Film Project Podcast. Loves his wife (@cherylp3) and pup (@DisneyDoggie). You can reach Todd via Twitter (@tperlmutter) or Facebook (tperlmutter).

21 thoughts on “Haunted Mansion New Queue Review

  • I simply could not go away your site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info an individual supply for your guests? Is going to be back incessantly to investigate cross-check new posts

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  • The Haunted Mansion was one of the rides that we wished had a LONGER line so we could play with the interactive stuff without getting rushed along by the people behind us!

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  • I’m excited to see this queue. Haunted Mansion has always been my favorite. I love the silly/scary. I’m sure we’ll take the interactive route as least once no matter what. I don’t have too long to wait as we leave TODAY for the World!

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    • Thanks for those links. Learned a couple of things that I missed. My general feeling from reading those is precisely the point I was trying to get across in my opener: things change and people fear change. But not every cup of tea is for every person just the same.

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  • While I too cannot wait to see the new queue, I wish that they funneled everyone the same way. This seems unfair that people who line up behind you will get on the ride before you if they are told to go in the ‘fast lane’. Even though I would enjoy the queue, this work definitely irk me, especially if a CM is determining which side you go in. If everyone got to make their own choice (ala POTC), I’d be okay with it. Great article!

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  • Can’t wait to see the new changes. It opened just after we came back from WDW. Going again on July. I will always think that the best part of WDW is that they engulf you in the story throughout the entire wait and ride, not like some other parks I know. A roller coaster is not just a coaster, it’s a whole storyline. For this reason I will always be a Disney Freak. Thank You WDW.

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  • One of the things we liked best about the queue is that it is now accessible to wheelchairs. In the past, wheelchair users had to bypass the queue and the stretching room, now both are accessible,plus most of the new elements are at a useable height. Once you enter the ride, the cast member will tell you to stay to one side in the stretching room, then afterwards if you can walk a few feet you will join the rest of the line to board the doom buggies. If you need to pull your chair right up next to the doom buggy, then after the stretching room they will take you over to the exit and stop the walkway to allow you to transfer.

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  • Oh they’ve been refreshed all right! I’ve seen little snippets online of the final scene, but they interact too! That’s all I’ll say. 😉

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  • i’ll be there in…26 days.

    i thought i had read something about them refreshing the “hitch hiking” ghosts scene as well? anyone know?

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  • I quite liked the new interactive queue, although not as much as the Winne the Pooh one. We found that it seemed to hold up the queue more than Pooh too – one kid gets five minutes playing on one musical wall until they move to the next and all the kids in the queue immediately behind him end up waiting in the spaces between. Perhaps because it moves in ‘batches’ of people rather than a couple at a time. We also weren’t given the option between the two sides. The people in front were the last down the ‘quick’ side and we were sent to the interactive route. While we were queuing there, we could see others further behind us then being allowed down the quick route again (I assume once the first batch had been allowed in)and consequently they got on the ride while we were still queuing. The interactive part isn’t huge so it probably wasn’t much difference, but it still felt annoying when we were trying to accomplish as much as possible.

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    • I agree, I think that “Winnie the Queue” handles the flow of people a bit better – allows people who want to play to stay off to the side and do so. There’s not as much space to do that in the HM queue. The times I’ve been through I’ve always had a choice, might be a capacity issue.

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  • Great blog post, Todd!

    The queue line is amazing! i really enjoyed it and thankfully went on late magic hours and was able to play at my heart’s content!

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