Disney has started doing something truly exciting with their wait lines at WDW: they're slowly making them interactive! I have to cite Disney's first foray into an "interactive" line sometime in the mid - nineties with Test Track. Granted certain rides had things to read (the Great American Movie Ride) or images to look at (Space Mountain), but none of them really provided entertainment for your wait. This proved to be a problem for visitors, especially at popular attractions throughout the parks, as a running joke became “you go to Disney World to wait on line.” With Test Track, the Disney Imagineers created a semi-interactive line with exhibitions showing a number of various tests that the typical car goes through before leaving the factory. As an adult with a general interest in cars, I continue to find the line interesting; however, there is not much to keep the typical child occupied. And as anyone who has ever waited on a Disney line can tell you, a bored, whining child is the last thing you want to listen to on a 60+ minute wait.
When Disney brought Soarin' over to the east coast, they included an interactive, heat sensitive video game to occupy people on the stand-by queue. (Never having been to California Adventure, I do not know if this was part of the original queue.) The game pins four large sections of the crowd against each other and each team has to work together to successfully win the game. It's entertaining and people can get really into it; however, it only occupies part of the line. For the rest of the wait, I usually find myself making faces at my family/friends or joining the small children as they whine of boredom – trust me, if there’s anything else more obnoxious than a whining child, it’s a whining 23-year-old. Thankfully, Disney brought this idea of the interactive game to Space Mountain when they did some refurbishment back in the fall of 2010. Once again, the games only span a very small section of the line and they have a tendency to create a touch of a bottle neck as the line ahead moves, but the people at the games try to complete the round before moving on. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun game, but it doesn't keep the line moving or those at the front and back of the lines occupied. The interactive lines at Test Track, Soarin' and Space Mountain all have their problems, but hey, at least they are air conditioned!
Some of the worst lines to wait on in WDW are the lines in Fantasy Land at the Magic Kingdom. With the exception of Mickey's Philharmagic, all of the lines are open to the outside and while they're shaded and (for the most part) have ceiling fans, they do not alleviate the discomfort of the humid Floridian weather. Without fail, these lines are always the most crowded in the Magic Kingdom because they are the only rides that everyone in the family can go on regardless of age, size and physical condition. Makes sense, right? Well last fall, we were in WDW for the food and wine festival (yum!) and the queue for Winnie the Pooh was completely boarded up. This made the actual queue for the ride very short and slightly claustrophobic, but the prospect of what was going on behind those walls was incredibly exciting. I can truly say that the Disney Imagineers did not disappoint in the slightest! They gave the entire outside a whole new look. From a seemingly cookie cutter appearance (the line and building facade looked exactly like all the others of Fantasy Land), the Imagineers turned Winnie the Pooh into a wonderland right out of a story book!
Before you used to hop on line by a non-descript entrance under a green tent; now, you're greeted by Pooh's home! (This is perfect for a photo op with the little ones, or the big ones – you know, whatever makes you happy.)
When Disney brought Soarin' over to the east coast, they included an interactive, heat sensitive video game to occupy people on the stand-by queue. (Never having been to California Adventure, I do not know if this was part of the original queue.) The game pins four large sections of the crowd against each other and each team has to work together to successfully win the game. It's entertaining and people can get really into it; however, it only occupies part of the line. For the rest of the wait, I usually find myself making faces at my family/friends or joining the small children as they whine of boredom – trust me, if there’s anything else more obnoxious than a whining child, it’s a whining 23-year-old. Thankfully, Disney brought this idea of the interactive game to Space Mountain when they did some refurbishment back in the fall of 2010. Once again, the games only span a very small section of the line and they have a tendency to create a touch of a bottle neck as the line ahead moves, but the people at the games try to complete the round before moving on. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun game, but it doesn't keep the line moving or those at the front and back of the lines occupied. The interactive lines at Test Track, Soarin' and Space Mountain all have their problems, but hey, at least they are air conditioned!
Some of the worst lines to wait on in WDW are the lines in Fantasy Land at the Magic Kingdom. With the exception of Mickey's Philharmagic, all of the lines are open to the outside and while they're shaded and (for the most part) have ceiling fans, they do not alleviate the discomfort of the humid Floridian weather. Without fail, these lines are always the most crowded in the Magic Kingdom because they are the only rides that everyone in the family can go on regardless of age, size and physical condition. Makes sense, right? Well last fall, we were in WDW for the food and wine festival (yum!) and the queue for Winnie the Pooh was completely boarded up. This made the actual queue for the ride very short and slightly claustrophobic, but the prospect of what was going on behind those walls was incredibly exciting. I can truly say that the Disney Imagineers did not disappoint in the slightest! They gave the entire outside a whole new look. From a seemingly cookie cutter appearance (the line and building facade looked exactly like all the others of Fantasy Land), the Imagineers turned Winnie the Pooh into a wonderland right out of a story book!
Before you used to hop on line by a non-descript entrance under a green tent; now, you're greeted by Pooh's home! (This is perfect for a photo op with the little ones, or the big ones – you know, whatever makes you happy.)
Following in the previous design for the line, there are larger than life story book pages greeting you throughout; however, these are interactive! When you touch the door in the picture below, it sounded like someone knocking to come in. This little girl in the photo could not get enough of it! And I’m not going to lie: I wanted to spend a good 10 minutes knocking on that door too! It’s the simple things in life.
Eeyore's house is just across the aisle.
And then, suddenly, you're in Rabbit's garden! This section is great. It encourages children and adults alike to step out of the line and play all sorts of games including trying to keep a group of gophers from uprooting the vegetables AND trying to get Gopher to come out of his hole. The large fruits and vegetables that Rabbit is so skilled at growing become drums, and his flowers are bells - the fine beginnings of a band.
When you move away from Rabbit's garden, you are greeted with a fun maze of bumble bees and hives. A take off of the childhood games where you move the colored balls along one end of a twisted metal bar to the other, this game kept me occupied for a good ten minutes. As simple as it is, it challenges your dexterity and your problem solving skills to some extent. Oh, and there's an adorable buzzing soundtrack that accompanies this part of the line.
The final and, in my opinion, best part of this line are the new touch screens. Appearing towards the end of the line, there are 4 or 5 of these touch screens that project an image that looks like oozing honey. When you touch the screen, the honey takes the imprint of your hand. Move your hand over the screen, and you can move the honey out of the way. Try clearing the screen of honey and you may just find the image of a beloved Disney character hiding behind it.
Winnie the Pooh is one of the most popular rides in Fantasy land and the stand by line used to be unbearable - we would get fast passes every time! Now that it is interactive, I greatly appreciate not having to use a fast pass on this ride. Don't get me wrong, the wait times are still going to be long, especially during the heights of the tourist seasons; however, this alteration really shows that the Imagineers are taking every aspect of the experience into consideration and improving where they can! Thank you, Imagineers.
They recently updated the Haunted Mansion line in Liberty Square, as well! This line is especially cool! The Haunted Mansion does not normally get up to the astronomical wait times that we can see in Fantasy Land; however, it's not uncommon to find the wait time over 30 minutes. Once again, this line was shaded in the past by a funeral home style awning and the end of the outside line featured a graveyard with funny tombstones and creepy noises - once again, the rest of the line was bare and you were left to your own entertaining devices. In the past year, the Disney Imagineers have changed that! Guests have two options: 1- take the shorter, but non-interactive line to the right, OR 2- take the longer, incredibly interactive and entertaining line to the left. They have included things from a riddling murder mystery that needs solving, to a mausoleum with a cryptic code to be solved, to a "ghost writer" who asks the guests for help with her latest poem. We do not have any pictures of this particular queue, but if you click on the video below to watch a youtube video that documents the entire line. The video includes some pop up information to let you know what everything does. And since you're already on youtube, why not take a video ride through of the Haunted Mansion itself? Unless, of course, you're planning your first Disney vacation and you want to be surprised.
In the past, it always felt like Disney World was taking their guests into account when they made small changes to menus to include healthier foods, or they ran special promotions, or you just happened to run into a stand-out friendly cast member who made your day that much brighter. However, these new interactive lines really raise the bar. Whether they're making these changes because they're trying to compete with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or they're making these changes because they are truly focused on improving your overall experience, the Imagineers are really outdoing themselves and showing how much they are focused on the visitors. So I say a big warm "THANK YOU!" to the Imagineers for taking the time to think about how much a stimulating line can do to improve a guest's mood and thus their experience.
Check back soon for another post about the Fantasy Land expansion. We have pictures that we're eager to share with everyone!
See you real soon!
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