Queue entertainment keeps guests busy before the main attraction

This seems like such a huge "no duh" that I really can't figure out why more parks don't adopt it.

I was going to reply with, "This seems like such a huge no duh that I really can't figure out why more parks don't adopt it" but, well...

Disney has always been the industry trend leader. Stuff begins there and trickles down. Maybe we will see the big regionals doing a 'lite' version of this sort of thing in the future?

I was actually thinking along those lines for Banshee. Call me crazy, but I like the theme and I think a spooky-themed queue line would be pretty awesome. Better than a sea of switchbacks with multi-colored fabric triangles over certain sections.

^^^

My guess as to the reason: it costs money

My guess takes more of an anthroplogical approach.

Long, long ago, we humans used to do a lot of waiting, standing/sitting quietly, not doing much until a prey species came along that we could hunt, kill, and eat. Making noise, running around like an 8-year-old, that kind of stuff scares off dinner.

Progress forward a couple thousand years, and we have the attention-span necessary to handle a CNN screen chock FULL of news crawlers, talking heads, stock prices, and a million other tibdits flying by at break-neck speed. Not really conducive to the "sit and wait for something to happen" mentality....

We're evolving?

My attention span has absolutely zero room for a CNN screen.

I've done the Dumbo queue, because I was there on a weekend in July with my 3-year-old. No way around it. As it turns out, he was too scared to ride, but he did enjoy the "tent" until some big kid who had no business being in there knocked him over. I hate other peoples' kids.

"I hate other peoples' kids." You need to immediately file for a Trademark on that.

^ Too late.

I have always liked how Universal themed there queues. Until they removed the theming from the Dragons' castle. It's not the same anymore.

Obviously not now that its Harry potter ;-).

Well, I think what CoffinBoy is saying (at least it's what I've been saying, LOL) is that they really didn't re-theme the ride to HP other than the station. The enormous queue has really been "unthemed" more than rethemed.

Remember Paramount's attempts at queue entertainment in the 1990s? "Hey, here's a two minute clip of Mad About You!*" Jesus, that was abysmal.

*Or equally milquetoast sitcom; I can't remember anymore.

Remember "QTV" featuring music videos in the 80's?

To this day, I can't hear Sineaid O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You" without flashing to Geauga Lake, ca. 1988.

I never understood why Universal built a mile-long elaborately themed queue for a ride that could move more than 3,600 PPH. The first ride built with higher capacity than Gemini and they gave it a huge queue.

To put that into perspective, a single lane turnstile has a capacity of about 2,400 PPH. Dragons' queue should have consisted of a double-wide ramp from the midway to the station.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^The park hadn't opened yet, they couldn't gauge accurately how many guests they'd get? That's my guess for some of the long queues there.

Dave's point is that, when DD runs at capacity, people can't enter the queue fast enough to actually form a line. It can remove people from the queue faster than they can enter.

ApolloAndy said:

It can remove people from the queue faster than they can enter.

And my point was that Universal must have predicted that dozens of people would be entering the line every minute. lol.