Very scary que at Haunted Mansion

[annetter]

I was at MK yesterday and had a very bad and IMO, dangerous experience at HM. As you know, after you leave the stretch room, you are ushered into the final approach to getting on the ride. You head over to the left and form a single file line until you get assigned your DB. Yesterday, they just kept dumping more and more people out of the stretch rooms until we resembled a huge corral of people stuffed into a dark confined space. You could not tell where the line was...it was just a sea of people. At one point, I was in the middle of the throng and kept getting pushed more and more from behind. There was no place to go and i could barely breath. It took about 10 minutes until we finally worked our way over to the left and into the single file line. It was insane! What were the CMs thinking??

Any thoughts? Is this the norm?

[brivers222]

seems about right on from what it was like 2 weeks ago. Its a unique queue

[JerseyDad]

I was at MK yesterday and had a very bad and IMO, dangerous experience at HM. As you know, after you leave the stretch room, you are ushered into the final approach to getting on the ride. You head over to the left and form a single file line until you get assigned your DB. Yesterday, they just kept dumping more and more people out of the stretch rooms until we resembled a huge corral of people stuffed into a dark confined space. You could not tell where the line was...it was just a sea of people. At one point, I was in the middle of the throng and kept getting pushed more and more from behind. There was no place to go and i could barely breath. It took about 10 minutes until we finally worked our way over to the left and into the single file line. It was insane! What were the CMs thinking??

Any thoughts? Is this the norm?



....though the "crush" you described is not the norm...the means of exit from the "stretch room"...and then Keep To Your Left...as you head for the Doom Buggies is pretty much standard operating procedure.

....was it a particularly crowded day?

....sometimes the line to the Doom Buggies backs up because there is a disabled or elderly person walking .

[retiredfigment]

I love this ride, but like you hate the line. We were there two weeks ago and the line was not too long. I have learned to be the last out of the stretch room so that I can get to the single line easier.

[Daisy'sMom]

This is exactly why I ask for a GAC at MK. I walk with the assist of a cane and many times in the past I have been pushed to the point of falling if not for the steady arm of DH. I have actually written to Disney, I really feel this is a dangerous situation. :mickey:

[faline]

I've never had such an intense experience on this ride but it can certainly get quite crowded as folks continue to funnel into the final line for the ride. If things were getting too crowded, someone should have been monitoring it and slowing things down.

[Ian]

I've had that experience and agree it's not fun. I have to wonder if it's really that important to Disney to cram all those people in there like that. There's bound to be a fistfight at some point.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I've had that experience and agree it's not fun. I have to wonder if it's really that important to Disney to cram all those people in there like that. There's bound to be a fistfight at some point.

Yep, there will be a fistfight and both parties will sue Disney...

[Ian]

Yep, there will be a fistfight and both parties will sue Disney...In this particular case they might be correct to do so.

If you've ever been in this particular crush, any reasonable human being could forsee a possible physical altercation breaking out ... or worse, someone being knocked over and trampled.

[BriarRose0708]

I too have had that experience and it is not fun. It was due to a couple things, including some ride malfunctions which slowed up the omnimover and going during spring break, which is more crowded than usual. We actually never got on, they evacuated the ride and gave us fastpasses for splash/BTMRR.

I know that Disney has overall improved accommodations for those guests with physical needs, like the GACs and separate wheel chair and DCV entrances, but you need to remember that when WDW and Disneyland were built in the 50's and 60's, it was pre-ADA. There are still many attractions that some guests can't experience because of long queues or a requirement to stand for long periods of time and navigate tight quarters.

[annetter]

Yes... The park WAS very crowded and I understand this is an older ride, etc. However, all they had to do was STOP loading the stretch rooms! A bad situation was made worse by the CMs continuing to off-load more and more people. I am amazed to read here that this is a common situation. Isn't the first of the four Disney "keys" SAFETY?

[SpecJoe Magic]

I think part of the problem is that the Haunted Mansion doesn't have a ton of queue area outside. They can make people wind back and forth outside somewhat, but they don't want the line to back up into the main path between Liberty Square and Fantasyland, which does happen sometimes when there is a run on the attraction. That said, in order to avoid that situation, I believe they are overzealous sometimes in their haste to pack both stretch rooms as full and as quickly as possible, which creates the bottleneck that you described. I don't think doing it that way speeds up the process all that much. After a certain point, I think they would be just as well off if they were to hold people in the foyer for a little longer each time before letting them into the stretch room.

[KylesMom]

We typically go in the summertime, and this situation has always been the "norm". It really depends on the rate that the guests exit the stretching room, if one side is operating at a quicker pace, if they are stopping the ride to load disabled/wheelchair bound folks, if there are unruly guests who are causing problems on the ride to cause stops, etcetera. Quite honestly, I don't know when I haven't seen the ride stacked in a similar manner - at least during our travel time. It should be up to the CMs at the entrance to control the situation. When DS was younger and a bit timid, we would always just hang out at the back of the queue to the right-hand side until the crowds lessened. Sooner or later, they would halt entrance to the stretching rooms until the crowds would dissipate before they loaded others on. I'm sorry you were caught in a bad situation!

[Cinderelley]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.

[Stu29573]

Actually, in all the times I've been on the HM, this only happened on our last trip. I chalked it up as the CMs needing better communication between the stretch room loaders and the Doom Buggy loaders. There is really no excuse for it, since they completely control the amount of people who get to be in the space between stretch rooms and the Doom Buggies. If running the stretch rooms slower improves the line, then so be it. Somebody might have to wait a little longer outside, but everyone says the line moves fast anyway. It really wrecked the experience last time...

[bdm@pga]

Happens every time I have been on the ride...making it worse is trying to keep track of smaller children. If you try to hold them..I'm talking a 7 year old...then you run the risk of falling. If you try to hold their hand..things get even worse. I think they could make it better by having 3 or more single file cues right outside the stretch room...then everyone would come right out and get in a line...or a cattle shoot ;)...like a roller coaster line or something, Instead of everyone cramming forward in an awkward mass and trying to find your way.

[Melanie]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.

I definitely think Disney can do something in this instance to ease traffic in that area to avoid such occurances. It is an odd/non-typical queue from start to finish, and it seems folks don't seem to know how to act when crammed and merging like that.

An organized queue right out of the stretch rooms would definitely take away from the atmosphere, but if painted black and since it's dimly lit in there, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

[DizneyRox]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.
But the ride is differnent/better the faster you get on!

Not good enough?

Well, I spent (insert any dollar figure here) and I deserve it!

Still not good?

But... I have children?

To be truthful, Disney DOES like to cram as many people as they can. Somewhere some bean counter figured out that guests slow up the works, costing Disney money. You see, if there's a break between people, they aren't loading the attraction as past as they can. ride throughput can drop from 3000 people per hour to 2998 and that is just unacceptable!

Me, I like my personal space, so I pretty much ignore the CM directions for packing together like sardines. I also don't intend on suing Disney if someone steps on my foot. I'll just return the favor and give them a "flat tire" a few feet up the queue... I'm not so worried about a fight, being 6'+ has it's advantages...

[WDWCrazyKaren]

My advice when something like this is going on? Wait. Just wait it out. Be the last person out the door. A lot of "rude" folks out there forget to pack their patience in their brand new Bagallini's and shoulder bags. We hover to the back of most groups and lines, and frankly, usually end up pretty happy with the way things go.

The rude people will never go away. Those of us here are not generally in that group, I'm happy to say!

[Joannelet]

I always remember the cast members saying NO PUSHING...when exiting the rooms. I know it doesn't usually help but in order to avoid any trampling etc. stay back and be the last to exit. (especially if you have small children)

[Cinderelley]

I always remember the cast members saying NO PUSHING...when exiting the rooms. I know it doesn't usually help but in order to avoid any trampling etc. stay back and be the last to exit. (especially if you have small children)

Or use the 6' + of DizneyRox to act as a body shield. :laughing:

But seriously, we Americans like our space. There are a lot of cultures where pushing and shoving is the norm instead of lines. There are those of us who are more comfortable with closed in spaces, and others who are more claustrophobic. Sometimes people just don't realize they are making you uncomfortable. I am lucky in that my whole family is trained in martial arts, and we know how to hold our space if it is needed. I usually find a request to back off works well though, no matter if it's in the Haunted Mansion queue or the line at the movie theaters. The only time it didn't was with a quite intoxicated person.

[Frog]

We love hanging in the back and just being in the stretch room... No problems here!!!

[ToraTory]

I've never exited the stretch room without the cattle-call of people (and yes, I've moo'ed before). Believe it or not, in the 50+ times I've done this attraction, I never thought to wait and exit last, I like that idea. I'll give it a try in 36 days :mickey:

-- tory

[Sylvia]

I always hang back to be the last out of the stretch room. I'm another of those people who learned a long time ago that rushing doesn't enhance the fun for me. I'm usually the last one to my doom buggy and happily enjoy myself.

[MarkC]

Not sure whether or not you received a survey about your trip, but regardless I would contact Disney and share your experience. Even direct them to the comments on this board. It does appear you were not alone in your concern. At least they would be more aware of the situation. It can't hurt.

[Aurora]

It seems that being the last out of your stretch room would only help for the few moments before the next stretch room lets out and the push-bots get going.

The mass of people doesn't bother me -- it's the difficulty of keeping your party together. We're always hanging on to one another in the last few feet before making it into the actual queue to the Doom Buggies.

[Stu29573]

Again, what bothers me is that this should be an easily controlled situation. All you have to do to completely negate the "crush" is to run the stretching rooms slightly slower. There should be a set point in the Doom Buggy section that dictates when the next room can load. Its simple. That way, even slow loading guests, etc, would have no effect on the amount of people in line in that section. Personally, I think its much better show to wait a little longer outside than to make it a circus on the inside. Are there no SOP's anymore???

[darthmacho]

I agree with the concerns stated here. In past trips, it wasn't much of a problem, but this summer I had a very difficult time keeping my kids from getting lost in the crush as the crowd jammed into what is basically a funnel. I didn't care if people pushed me, but people were pushing my kids around, and I didn't like it. Now that's a cause for a fist fight.

[DisneyDudet]

I have experienced this many times on recent trips, and at all times of year. I agree, its dangerous, especially for small kids. Some may not be able to see them (as it is rather dark) and run them over. Kids can get separated and such. I dislike it.

Waiting til last here can work out, depending on how fast they are running you into the stretch rooms. The best part about being last out of the stretch room? You get to hear the fun things the 'ghost host' says!

[ANG]

I've ridden HM many times. In fact it's my favorite at WDW. And I have never been stuck in that situation. But it does worry as when we go this fall I'll be 5 months pregnant. Looks like I'll be holding on tight to DH.

[wdwfansince75]

Like ANG, in spite of many trips to WDW, I do not recall ever having the problem to the extent described repeatedly in this thread. Since it is a family favorite, most of my rides have been with family members, from toddlers, through teens, to TOTASY (too old to act so young). Perhaps a couple of short term jams, easy to laugh off, but never the pushing, shoving, nasty mass of people that some have apparently experienced. In fact, on our last two trips, post refurb and update, we did not experience the almost every ride stoppages we had come to expect. And although we visited in June and July , the queue was minimal on our last few trips. Guess I have always just been lucky!

[steamboat52]

We had this experience also, and I was with a person with a balance impairment. Where would we have been waiting if he had a GAC? We were without one this trip, but I suspect we will need one next time.

[Frog]

ok, i give, what is GAC??

[brivers222]

ok, i give, what is GAC??

i am thinking its like one of the electric wheel chairs... or as disney CMs call them... Automatic Limos. Push wheelchairs are Manual Limos.

[11290]

Guest Assistance Card (GAC)

[diz_girl]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.

I think that attacking Disney on this one is completely justified. Although they can't control the people, they definitely control the crowd level. This queue really is a lawsuit waiting to happen, as people can easily get squished due to packed queues and poor visibility. As there are more international visitors from places where pushing and shoving is common, you're going to see people getting stepped on and trampled in this queue. It's just a matter of time. I'd expect to see a lawsuit announcement in the News, Rumors and Imagineering forum within the next couple of years if WDW doesn't resolve the squishing issue.

[LVT]

Sorry about the bad experience there. You are correct. I am short and have trouble in the dark unguided mess. I like the ride though. I will try to hang back next time as well.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We had this experience also, and I was with a person with a balance impairment. Where would we have been waiting if he had a GAC? We were without one this trip, but I suspect we will need one next time.

I believe with a GAC there are two entrance options. The first (that we've used a couple of times) is to go in the exit, leave your wheelchair or EVC and enter through a back hall. You still go through the stretching room though.

But, I understand that there is a way for the CM to take you directly onto the ride, for those who can't stand in the stretching room. They will ask when you use the alternative entrance, and I'm sure they will sort you out.

I agree, this is a horrible queue. I love the ride, so I just grin and bear it, but no matter how hard we try and get out of the way of the crowd rushing to the doom buggies, it never seems to work as well as we hope. Geesh, we're all going to get on the ride, we don't need to rush!

[Stu29573]

I agree, this is a horrible queue. I love the ride, so I just grin and bear it, but no matter how hard we try and get out of the way of the crowd rushing to the doom buggies, it never seems to work as well as we hope. Geesh, we're all going to get on the ride, we don't need to rush!

My point is that it's NOT a "horrible queue." It's actually one of the most imaginative queues out there. The "horrible" part is simply the way it is being mismanaged. It would be SO EASY to fix this problem with proper operating procedures!!!

[Frog]

Stu-
I love the que too... and if you stop and think about it, it's almost comical that people are in such a hurry to get into a "haunted house"...
I remember as very little kid crying at Disneyland b/c the stretch room scarred the dickens out of me :D! No way was I wanting to "push" to go to the next room!
TIP: Enter the stretch room way right, and you won't get pushed...

[Stu29573]

Stu-
I love the que too... and if you stop and think about it, it's almost comical that people are in such a hurry to get into a "haunted house"...
I remember as very little kid crying at Disneyland b/c the stretch room scarred the dickens out of me :D! No way was I wanting to "push" to go to the next room!
TIP: Enter the stretch room way right, and you won't get pushed...

Great tip Frog! Thanks!

[MaxPower]

Since a lot of responses to this post indicate that "waiting to be last out of the stretch room" is becoming a new plan to handle this problem, please keep in mind the following:

As the original post said, the chaos is actually once you leave the stretch room. Hanging back would be a great plan if it weren't for two things:

1) There will not be enough time to hang out and let the crowd in front of you clear because the other stretch room will be unloading just a couple of minutes after yours does. And the cycle repeats over and over. The two stretch rooms continually feed people into the small corridor and this is what creates the problem. When you try to hang back, it's like trying to merge into non-stop, never-ending traffic -and that's why people tend to force their way forward.

and

2) The cast member who is in the stretch room with you will "politely" be pushing you out of the stretch room because it's needed for the next group. You really won't be allowed to hang back for enough time needed to avoid the crowd ahead.

So--clearly, cast members to slow down the loading of this attraction. Many times, the stretch room door open and you immediately see the backs of hundreds of people in front of you.The problem described in the original post is consistent, and not just uncomfortable, but potentially unsafe for small children and older people.

[Mousemates]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation.

So far, I've seen little that rises to the level of an attack...just a bit of constructive and very healthy criticism. Furthermore, this site is pretty much comprised of a whole lot of folks who love (and I don't use the term loosely) WDW...the people here do not want to injure WDW (the intended outcome of an attack) but rather want to see a bad situation improve (the hoped outcome of criticism).

I greatly enjoy WDW/DL and most things Disney (with the exception of some of the mind-numbing shows on the Disney channel)...but WDW "ain't perfect" and there is nothing wrong with bringing those things to light.

[Disney Hungarian]

I believe with a GAC there are two entrance options. The first (that we've used a couple of times) is to go in the exit, leave your wheelchair or EVC and enter through a back hall. You still go through the stretching room though.

But, I understand that there is a way for the CM to take you directly onto the ride, for those who can't stand in the stretching room. They will ask when you use the alternative entrance, and I'm sure they will sort you out.

You are quite right. My mother had a GAC with the alternative entrance stamp. We were shown to the exit. Had to wait at a handicapable marked rope. A CM would then guide us to a location near the crypts at the side of the exit. They would then come out and ask anyone there if they could stand and walk for about 10 minutes. I told them mom couldn't. They informed me that the special doom-buggy with the cut-out side was a few minutes away and that when it arrived I would be asked to wheel her to the doom-buggy and she could board then without having to walk. It was awesome the way CMs tried to make sure mom was safe although they could not help me get her into the doom-buggy. I felt sure they would help if things started to go wrong.:mickey:

I would never take mom through the stretch room. And I am grateful she was able to ride one of her favorite rides safely. Sorry the ride had to stop for her to load, but I am sure that anyone on that ride that knew her would not have minded the pause in the ride.

[CaptSmee]

I was at MK yesterday and had a very bad and IMO, dangerous experience at HM. As you know, after you leave the stretch room, you are ushered into the final approach to getting on the ride. You head over to the left and form a single file line until you get assigned your DB. Yesterday, they just kept dumping more and more people out of the stretch rooms until we resembled a huge corral of people stuffed into a dark confined space. You could not tell where the line was...it was just a sea of people. At one point, I was in the middle of the throng and kept getting pushed more and more from behind. There was no place to go and i could barely breath. It took about 10 minutes until we finally worked our way over to the left and into the single file line. It was insane! What were the CMs thinking??

Any thoughts? Is this the norm?

I've seen this happen before too. The queue just got backed up, that's all. It happens on occasion for many different reasons. We had to stand through 2 cycles of the stretch room one time because the room that leads to the single file line was so filled up. Could have been a mechanical malfunction, handicapped riders, ect...

[Cinderelley]

So far, I've seen little that rises to the level of an attack...just a bit of constructive and very healthy criticism. Furthermore, this site is pretty much comprised of a whole lot of folks who love (and I don't use the term loosely) WDW...the people here do not want to injure WDW (the intended outcome of an attack) but rather want to see a bad situation improve (the hoped outcome of criticism).

I greatly enjoy WDW/DL and most things Disney (with the exception of some of the mind-numbing shows on the Disney channel)...but WDW "ain't perfect" and there is nothing wrong with bringing those things to light.

But people will push and shove the people in front of them as long as there are people in front of them. It doesn't matter if they only unload one stretching room or two. Even if Disney slowed down the stretching rooms, the mass of peole which comes out of each one will create this situation.

[dnickels]

It's kind of a difficult situation for the CMs as well. Remember that the CMs in the stretch room don't always know exactly when a slower loading group may be entering through the back entrance. If that happens and takes even two minutes you've suddenly got an additional two minutes worth of people jammed into the loading area. People would probably complain if the stretch room portion of the show finished and they just had to stand in the room for awhile. Slower moving line = :mad: guests.

I like the cattle chutes idea, have four or five of those and a cast member at the funnel portion to make sure it doesn't get pushy.

[IloveDisney71]

I've had this experience (of the original poster). I've noticed over the past few years that this has been becoming a problem - people pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line. We've tried the idea of being the last ones out of the room and it does NOT work because you immediately get the rush of "pushers" exiting from the other stretch room so it's like you are in the front of the line leaving your stretch room.
I've been nearly run over several times. Even when you say things to people who are pushing like, "the ride is not going anywhere - we'll all get a turn" or something more aggressive when they can't take a hint, they'll still try to run you over. I would hate to think that it will take someone being hurt before Disney takes a look at this problem. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out a solution.

[Gator]

It's a rare occurance when it's not crowded in that room. I really hate it for my kids cus they can't see anything in that dark room, plus they get run over squeezing into the line.

[Stu29573]

It's kind of a difficult situation for the CMs as well. Remember that the CMs in the stretch room don't always know exactly when a slower loading group may be entering through the back entrance. If that happens and takes even two minutes you've suddenly got an additional two minutes worth of people jammed into the loading area. People would probably complain if the stretch room portion of the show finished and they just had to stand in the room for awhile. Slower moving line = :mad: guests.

I like the cattle chutes idea, have four or five of those and a cast member at the funnel portion to make sure it doesn't get pushy.

But they should know. There needs to be good communication between the initial door CM, the stretch room CM and the Doom Buggy line CM so that when things slow up in the Doom Buggy line, everyone can be alerted. I really don't think that people will get angry having to wait a few more minutes. Just think about how long they wait for other attractions! HM is known as a very low wait attraction. A few more minutes isn't going to kill anyone...

[Tekneek]

I've never experienced a "single file line" going from the stretching room to the doom buggies. It has always just been people wandering down the hallway to the next part of the attraction when I've been there.

Just the same, I've not been pushed or crowded in there before. Guess they got the timing wrong while trying to run at full capacity.

[EPCOT84]

But they should know. There needs to be good communication between the initial door CM, the stretch room CM and the Doom Buggy line CM so that when things slow up in the Doom Buggy line, everyone can be alerted. I really don't think that people will get angry having to wait a few more minutes. Just think about how long they wait for other attractions! HM is known as a very low wait attraction. A few more minutes isn't going to kill anyone...

I was there in '07 the day HM just re-opened after a refurbish. After exiting the stretch room, there was some breakdown on the Doom Buggys or an accident with someone boarding. CMs were running past us to the boarding area. In the meantime 3 or 4 more stretch room groups piled in behind us. It was very miserable as they packed in behind us and we are forcing two-three stretch room groups ahead of us. I kept saying "doesn't one CM area communicate back to the front CM area?". Sounds like three years later things are still the same. :shake:

[frozman]

When I was at Disneyland 2 weeks ago when the doors to the stretch room opened, only about 1/3 could get out, the line was so backed up, and then the other stretch room (elevator), would open and attempt to merge into the standing room only hallway before the 1st one even cleared out. I had a similar experience on Tower of Terror in WDW a few years back. Haunted Mansion (at both DL and WDW), Test Track, and Tower of Terror (DCA/WDW) tend to be the rides I hate waiting in line for the most simply because of the way they take several people and put them in random order, everyone always pushes and shoves to be the first out of the preshow rooms.

[DisneyFr33k]

First of all, :welcome: to Intercot!

Yes, this has been our experience every time but our last visit to MK. Last week, Tuesday October 26th, we had a rare visit to MK. The crowds were extraordinarily low that day. We went to HM at around 11am - normally when it would be very crowded. We were the only family plus one woman waiting at the doors to go in the stretching room. When we left the stretching room to the area where we normally are crowded into a herd to form a line, no one was there! We were amazed at just walking quickly through the lines and into our DB! By 4pm it was a bit more normal for crowds, but we really enjoyed the day before that!

[crltkcagle]

My thoughts exactly. Why push? The rides not going anywhere! Some of us have young children that we do not like to get seperated from and when you push us it makes us lose our kids! Just slow down and everyone will be happy and not crushed.

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

I find it rather odd that everyone jumps to attack Disney about this situation. People don't HAVE to push forward when they get out. Maybe something should be said to those who are doing the pushing. I've never had a problem saying something.

Thank you!! I was thinking that myself.

I've never been forced to "push" into a crowd ~ most tourists do that on their own. And they are getting very pushy, indeed. If you step away from getting shoved in the back, then they step around you. . . . :mad:

Let's take some responsibility here, partially CMs fault for not slowing up a bit and partially guests fault for being pushy. If y'all just stand there and wait your turn ~ not much others can do.