Bad Experience in HM...

[mamatedd]

I think it is the door under the girl with the umbrella portrait....

It is. We were with our V.I.P. tour guide when this "incident" occurred. She instructed us to stand right under the portrait of the girl with the umbrella. Unfortunately, like other posters have mentioned, we were forced into an area where the group before us had far from boarded the ride. I wish they could implement better timing and queue organization. It is one of my favorite rides, save getting on it.

[Melanie]

I think the door that opens depends on the stretching room. Aren't there 3?

[BriarRose0708]

I think the door that opens depends on the stretching room. Aren't there 3?

There are 2 stretching rooms, as far as I know. In both rooms the door to the loading area is under the portrait of the girl with the parasol.

Your experience sounds terrible, I am so sorry other people were so rude. The only time I've had a problem here was during a spring break week visit and the ride had stopped. We exited the stretching room and were waiting behind a large group. No one was moving forward but more and more groups were coming out of both packed stretching rooms and finally it was so crowded the concept of 'personal space' was a distant memory. Ultimately the ride was evacuated and we never made past the first set of ropes before leaving.

[cer]

We exited the stretching room and were waiting behind a large group. No one was moving forward but more and more groups were coming out of both packed stretching rooms and finally it was so crowded the concept of 'personal space' was a distant memory. Ultimately the ride was evacuated and we never made past the first set of ropes before leaving.

That's just awful.

[mamatedd]

There are 2 stretching rooms, as far as I know. In both rooms the door to the loading area is under the portrait of the girl with the parasol.

Your experience sounds terrible, I am so sorry other people were so rude. The only time I've had a problem here was during a spring break week visit and the ride had stopped. We exited the stretching room and were waiting behind a large group. No one was moving forward but more and more groups were coming out of both packed stretching rooms and finally it was so crowded the concept of 'personal space' was a distant memory. Ultimately the ride was evacuated and we never made past the first set of ropes before leaving.

Thank you. And your experience sounds nightmarish. I have to remind myself that is not the norm. As another Intercotee posted, the mob situation is compounded by the dark/ dimness.

[Melanie]

There are 2 stretching rooms, as far as I know. In both rooms the door to the loading area is under the portrait of the girl with the parasol.

Awesome! Learned something new! I'll keep,that in mind at WDW, and remember to see if it's the same at DL.

[kakn7294]

Our strategy for HM is to wait until the last family out of the stretching room then stay together 2-by-2 (we're a family of 4) along the far left-hand wall. When the next group emerges, we just try to inch our way forward with the pressing masses until we reach the roped section where we body block for our family to get in this part of the line together. I really hate it as well.

As far as chaperoning, we allow our kids (8th to 12th grade marching band) to go do their own thing as long as they at least stay in pairs - there are serious repercussions if they are caught alone. They have designated check-in times but we don't force them to go together as a huge group as that's far too obnoxious for everyone, including the people around them. I would never treat anyone the way those women treated you. Sorry you experienced that!

[faline]

Apparently these folks were chosen as chaperones because they are such wonderful role models for the children.

I wouldn't worry about it. Most people would have understood you were simply trying to reconnect with your family from whom you had inadvertently been separated.

[yankeesfan123]

Awesome! Learned something new! I'll keep,that in mind at WDW, and remember to see if it's the same at DL.

I always just looked for the red light on the wall!

[Main Street Jim]

Best thing to do...let your family know *before* you exit the stretch room that everyone will gather on the *far right-hand side* (away from the wall) after exiting. Just *wait* for everyone to get together....everyon'es getting into a DoomBuggy anyways, so no need to *rush* and *trample*. The stretch rooms are *usually* timed so that both rooms don't exit at the same time.

[indytraveler]

I always just looked for the red light on the wall!

When you enter the aging portrait room with the fireplace you either go left or right into the stretching room. If you go to the right of the aging portrait, you are entering the right side stretching room. The portrait of the girl with the parasol will be on your left. You will see the very small red light in the corner of where the door will slide open.

The stretching room on the left is just the opposite. The girl with the parasol will be on your right.

Knowing this you can either sit back and let your group move past you or be ready to move so you won't get run over when the lights are turned back on.

Good luck

Oh by the way, you were the one that wasn't been rude. You just hooked up with your family.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

You've gotten great advise from everyone so far! Yes, folks can get quite obnoxious in lines.

We tend to stay single file with hands on shoulders of person in front and not rush. If we become separated from others on our party, whoever is in front draws off to the side, let others pass until the rest catch up. Not had problems when doing this at all.

And to keep others from getting 'overly enthusiastic' with their shoving, we just keep our arms bent so our elbows are protecting us. No one will get hit with them unless they try to shove.

What boggles my mind is how many parents will shove their children into other people! Do they really not like their own offspring?? The poor kids are dodging while dad or mom use them like a personal battering ram. Parent, child behind held by hand, parent behind that - no one gets hurt or lost. You don't need to walk side by side 5 deep. Really.

[CaptSmee]

You did the correct thing. I hate that chokepoint The dim lights contribute to it. A lot of people do not know what is happening. If anything, you are too civilized. NO SHAME

I agree 100%, but being a self proclaimed HM "expert" my future advice to you is either gather your riders together under the gal on the tightrope over the crocodile or opposite that painting. If your under it make a quick exit as soon as the door opens to avoid the bottleneck. If your facing it, just wait patiently until the mass in front of you goes through it

[texas211]

I hate all the areas like that. The Laugh Factory and American Experience are others. In the AE, you best be quick to and off the escalators. I had some JA's try to want to walk up the escalators.

I've resigned myself to one day I'll get a lifetime ban for starting a melee in one of the lines.

[Stu29573]

Actually the shame is that the CM's could (and should) control this situation. There are three "control points" in the line. The first is at the door. The second is at the stretching room(s). The third is at the vehicle load platform. Crowds can be controlled by at any of the points, although it becomes more difficult the further in guests get. For example, to control overcrowding, the first line of defense is to simply not let as many people into the house at one time. This allows the stretching rooms to not be stuffed and the overflow to be less. However, say the "butler" lets in too many. That is when control 2 takes over and the stretching rooms divide the crowd into small chunks. If they are not run too quickly, or over filled, then the line after the rooms will not back up. However, if controls 1 and 2 are blown, then there is relatively little the loading CM can do to put people on the attraction more quickly. The ride runs at a set speed and the doombuggies hold a pretty much set number of folks. Now the downside to using control 1 and 2 is that people get stuck out in the heat longer, but wasn't that what those wizz-bang interactive elements supposed to help with? Just saying...

[Bay Lake]

We had a situation in the HM back in March, when a family of 4 all large people, riding 4 EVCs through the que. Now those turns in the interactive area are quite tight and they kept having to back up the convoy and readjust their position. Well wouldn't you know when we get to the door, I thought we had good space between us and them, we enter the stretch room and whipping around the corner are 4 EVCs and the room was pretty full. Well they didnt fit and would not listen to the CM asking them to back out and wait for the next room to open. So the door would not close exposing the effect of the stretching room walls. And if that wasn't bad enough, they all had to ride in their own car, which meant 4 stops of the ride to let them on.

[TheVBs]

So sorry about your experience. You absolutely were not in the wrong, and the woman who yelled at you should have been bounced. This is probably a person who's miserable and mean all the time.

I wish they'd do a better job with this queue as well. Even in the slower seasons there can be a serious crunch there. We (family of 4) hold hands single file and don't worry about people getting in front of us or falling behind us.

[DKA041177]

I agree with what everyone has said...and I am so sorry for your experience. My wife has almost refused to ride HM again because of the "funnel". I wish they would figure out an alternative way to move guests after the stretching room.

[kakn7294]

I agree with what everyone has said...and I am so sorry for your experience. My wife has almost refused to ride HM again because of the "funnel". I wish they would figure out an alternative way to move guests after the stretching room.

They could redesign the internal queue area so that guests are forced into a line as they come out of the stretching rooms and well before they reach the current "funnel". There is plenty of room there and it works in rides like Dinosaur and Rock 'n Roller Coaster.

[MissMaryPoppins]

That's awful! I totally agree with you, the Haunted Mansion line is badly set up. I was just there about a month ago with my cousin, and it was total chaos. We had trouble staying together and everyone seemed to just push. That line has always been a mess but it seems to have gotten worse. The only thing worse than that is the jam after the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.