Haunted house questions

[granball]

Can someone describe to me in detail what happens in the pre-show? How claustrophobic a situation is it? I am seeing vague references to an elevator, darkness and a stretching room on the web.

Also, is there any bumpiness on the ride car? Do the cars angle up and down for long periods? Sometimes that's tough on my neck to stay at a weird angle.

Thanks!

 

[SueOKW]

I am not claustrophobic, but I hear it is very claustrophobic to those that are. You enter into a round room and the door shuts - there is no visible exit. Everyone is told to stand as close to the middle of the room as possible. The room "stretches" and there's some thunder and lightening and then the door opens and you are moved towards the doom buggies.

The ride is very gentle. There are some slightly steep backward angles - they don't last very long.

You can go in the wheelchair entrance to skip the beginning room if you like.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Skip the stretching room. Go straight to the ride. It should be no problem.

 

[jbird327]

The room itself does not actually move - it is an illusion created by raising the ceiling (in California, the room is an elevator). The room part lasts maybe 2 or 3 minutes and at the end it goes to darkness for a brief instance but you are always at ground level.

 

[granball]

Thanks all! i think I can handle this one now that I know what to expect, and plan to do it.

 

[shades]

I am extremely claustrophobic and am able to handle the stretching room as long as there isn't a huge crowd. If the standby line is long, I know the stretching room will be packed. I use my GAC during these times and a CM still takes us through a stretching room, but - with a much smaller group of people (only the guests entering through the wheelchair entrance). Unfortunately, the stretching room still opens out to the massive crowd waiting to squeeze down to a single line to board the ride. The only way to avoid the crowds is to ask the CM to allow you to board through the exit and skip the stretching room all together.

You didn't ask, but, I'm gonna warn you anyway about the Soarin' ride line at Epcot. It's a HUGE massive crowd that is about 10 people or so wide that eventually will funnel to a single person line. You may want to avoid this altogether depending on how bad your claustrophobia is. Fastpass or GAC is the ONLY way I can handle waiting for Soarin'.

Another problem area for me is the snake/waiting line for the Great Movie Ride at MGM. It's one of those lines where one can get stuck in the middle of a crowd with no visable escape.

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

My wife is very claustrophobic and had no trouble on the Haunted Mansion but DID NOT like Mission Space, in fact she had to get off before the ride started.

Mike

 

[granball]

I just wanted to report back that I didn't do the pre-show. They said I would have to stand for it, so I opted to stay in my ECV and bypass it. Thanks for all the help though.

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear you did it. How did you like the rest of it?

 

[granball]

To be honest it wasn't that interesting to me. Much of it was pitch black, and except for a couple things like the ghosts in the parlor scene, the effects seemed dated. I did enjoy a lot of MGM and Epcot attractions though. I'd have to say Soarin is my absolute favorite! Thanks for asking!