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.

[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)