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Thread: Indy Queue, BTMR and other questions/comments

  1. #1

    Indy Queue, BTMR and other questions/comments

    I am not the die hard fan most here are. I took my son to DL for his fifth birthday in 1999 and fell in love with the place. I loved seeing my son excited by it and it made me feel like a kid again because it was still so much like it was when I went as a kid. We then started going almost every year and one year went three times. But then I burned out on it and haven't been much in the past several years. This was actually our first visit in three years and it was two or more years before that. So, I am not up on the latest and have forgotten other things. This is why I have some dumb questions:

    First, when did they stop using the queue for Indy? I do remember going through it quickly, but just because the crowds aren't what they were long ago. I remember zooming through it until maybe the box where you pull the rope and then being in line from there. I also remember the fast pass line merging with the stand by line somewhere close to where they show the film. Last week the queue snaked through ropes and merged with the fastpass line right at the entrance to the old queue and we then just raced through to the ride. We just quickly zoomed by all the interesting bits that were added to make the wait in line more interesting, all after standing in an uninteresting line.

    Second, were is the Eeyore sign? I have looked for years and can not find it. There is a scaffolding in the very back of the room with a lantern on top and a bit further up there is another with the projector on it. Which one has it? Not that knowing will help, I still can't find it.

    Third, on Big Thunder Mountain when did they change the moving rocks to a dynamite effect? I rode it a few times at night and loved it. Then I rode it during the day and was a bit underwhelmed by it. It certainly works better at night. Still even during the day it is better than it was.

    Finally, there was scaffolding on the building that has Buzz Light Year's Astro Blasters. There was one spot where the scaffolding went well above the building. Was there some decoration there that was removed or are they installing something? I couldn't figure out why this tower of scaffolding jutted out above the building.

    I also have a couple comments:

    I have always been a supporter of the fastpass system. I know some here don't like it, but I have always felt it gives fans who understand it a little bonus at only a tiny cost to those who don't understand it. I am now rethinking this. Two times I went on an attraction when there wasn't a fastpass line and was shocked at how much faster the line moved without the fastpass people being inserted into it. The first time was late at night on Radiator Springs Racers. The line was moving very slowly. You would stand still for a while then move forward a few feet and stand still for a while... Then, once the fastpass line was gone the line started moving at almost a normal walking pace. I am still in shock at how much it slowed the line down.

    I also thought that the parks need a hands on leader who is fanatical about detail like Walt was. There were little things I kept seeing that I don't believe Walt would have tolerated. Just small things like on the Submarine ride there were exposed air hoses running along the bottom which just needed some sand or something covering them. Cast members didn't all have crisp uniforms... ok I'm being overly polite, some seemed somehow slovenly. There were some that also just didn't have the Disney attitude. They were surly and didn't seem to want to be there. There were great ones too, but it just seemed they needed someone with a strong hand snapping the place and the cast into shape.


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  3. #2

    Big Thunder Mountain was closed for about a year and reopened last year with a brand new track (same layout), new paint, and that new end scene. There were also some other cosmetic enhancements.


  4. #3

    The Indy queue length is hit and miss lately. Often it's a walk right up to the theater room, but other times I've seen the line outside and down below (near the exit and the Jungle Cruise).

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  5. #4

    Eeyore sign: I've seen it with the help of a CM with a flashlight. But can't find it otherwise. I think you have to be all the way up to the front of the projector room to get a view of it.


  6. #5

    Regarding the Eeyore sign: My friend is the CM who saved the sign and got it placed there. We knew about it when they were building the ride. She showed it to us when she was with us at the opening. Everytime i see it I think of her and smile.

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  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveMartin View Post
    The Indy queue length is hit and miss lately. Often it's a walk right up to the theater room, but other times I've seen the line outside and down below (near the exit and the Jungle Cruise).
    I have been on it with no line too and we just walk all the way through to the theater room. But this time there was a longish line (40 minutes). None of that line happened in the underground queue area. The line snaked around the Mercedes truck and that generator and all outside before entering the underground area. When we finally hit the underground area, we merged with the fastpass folks and there was no line at all from there to loading the ride vehicles. I thought that was odd to have us stand in the hot sun with uninteresting surroundings as opposed to underground with the fun stuff that is part of the story and atmosphere of the ride.

  8. #7
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    I have the feeling they are holding lines outside (Indy and Space specifically) for evacuation purposes. I remember the whole Space mountain line being filled up to the merge point at the doorway, but now we walk all the way down to the loading room before stopping. Indy is the same way, merge at the door and walk all the way to the well room before stopping.

    Eeyore sign requires a flashlight to see.


  9. #8

    I always have a flashlight in my pocket, but didn't want to turn it on to look.


  10. #9
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bolivar View Post
    I always have a flashlight in my pocket, but didn't want to turn it on to look.
    If they aren't busy, the CMs are quite happy to show you.

  11. #10

    No cast members to be seen. Like I said, the line is all outside and once you enter the cave/tunnel, you just walk through without stopping until on the stairs leading down to the ride vehicles and there weren't any cast members anywhere along that walk. There is a very short line that starts on those stairs right before they ask how many in your party and tell you what number to go to for loading the vehicle.

    Space makes me sick so I didn't ride it and see that they were doing the same thing there. I wonder what happened to change the rules/policy regarding evacuation, if that is the reason.


  12. #11
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
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    Can you imagine... all that effort to create an immersive queue (and supposedly more coming due to success in WDW) but to be undone with California safety regulations for evacuation and guest control. Mind you - this is TOTALLY speculative since its based on what I am reading above - but it would create a significant dilemma for WDI and Disney in general.

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  13. #12
    Proud Disney Family dlfansx4's Avatar
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    I always assumed with both Indy and Space was that they had to hold the line outside or there would be no benefit to the FP. I'm not sure what alternate lines/areas could be used to get the FP people closer to the loading area before merging them with the standby line. With Indy I guess you could make three lines until you get further up (one standby, one FP and one exit) but I don't think there is room for two lines (Standby and FP) in the inside SM queue.

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  14. #13

    Indy definitely has room for a FP line throughout most of the queue, and the FP guests could be routed through a way that avoids some of the narrower ways (at RSR you miss the queues theming if you're in FP). Space, they'd probably have to do an alternate entrance, which could mess up their delicate time balance. It is too bad though that people have to wait outside in the weather instead of the nice queues. It could very well be a CAL OSHA thing. Look at the newer queues at DCA. They really don't spend much time inside. Just a short inside wait at Soarin' and the 3D movies have waiting rooms. The other queues are mostly outside. Even Mermaid, which has a small indoor queue, has a much longer queue space outside, TOT also.

    In our experience at Indy, with FP, the line usually backs up to around the well? (area where you pull the rope and guy is down inside) once we catch up. Then it's a short wait until you get to the movie viewing area, where we usually have to wait at least 5 minutes. We've never just walked to the stairs and gotten on the ride.


  15. #14
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Our first several trips, they filled Space all the way to the doorway, and put FP in the line at that point. Indy as well. At least, to the straight hallway.


  16. #15
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    They used to merge Indy in the projector room, or just after - but the way they were doing it FP people didn't necessarily watch the whole safety portions, so they changed it. (Or that's what I heard at the time.) They don't want all the waiting to be after the FP merge (otherwise, why have FP) so that's why they hold you back so much before the merge point.

    I do personally think, though, that enforcing the end time of the FP has made the standby better, especially in the evening. What you may have seen at RSR was the result of the attraction being down earlier in the day, and so people that had FP for that time aren't restricted to their one-hour window.

    Cathy

  17. #16

    I found this picture online. There is not this much light in the room when you are there but if you look for it you will be able to make out eeyore's outline.
    image.jpg


  18. #17

    Thanks for posting that. Now I know where it is!


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