The Official "Pre-Show" Thread: Love it or Hate it?

[Parkscope Joe]

Then there's some scenarios where the pre shows are even better than the attraction. I'm looking at you, Jimmy Fallon!

I have a larger thoguht/blog post I'll just put here on pre-shows, their function, and necessity, but maaaan.... this preshow safety rap is really one of the bests.

 

[ladiesman217]

I recently went to EPCOT for a day solely with the intent of riding Cosmic Rewind all day. Ended up getting 8 rides on it and the pre-show truly ticked me off by the third time around. Its just so ridiculously long, the acting is horrible from everyone (except Bautista, he's actually doing a petty good job as Drax), and the guests in there are the absolute worst. Marathoning Cosmic Rewind and having to wait an hour long line every time really isn't too bad for me, its the pre-show that truly takes a toll on me every single time.

Compare this to the many times I've marathoned Mission: Breakout. I tend to usually get 20 rides on Mission: Breakout when I do full day marathons on it and out of the hundreds of times I've ridden it, I've never found the pre-show annoying. I actually enjoy watching it. Its quick, it's pretty cool thanks to the matched energy between the screen and the physical environment/Rocket animatronic, to the point, and the people are (usually) not mobbing the exit door like on Cosmic.

It honestly makes me wonder just how different that original pre-show on Cosmic Rewind would have been if they kept the Rocket and Groot animatronics and (physical?) Milano ship in the background.

 

[Jake S]

It's funny, because I was thinking about writing something about Poor Queue Management in Disney theme parks. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Cosmic Rewind and Rise of the Resistance all do the same thing. They structure the queue to, at some point, "no longer have a line." This is reinforced by frustrated employees. There's no line, they say! Fill all available space, they say!

If you comply, you'll soon find out that, whoops, there is still a line. And now the most sociopathic among us have been rewarded for barreling their way to the "front" of the previous room. It sucks! Just build a line and let me stand in the line, thank you! Stop trying to engineer your way around human behavior.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Some Preshows I think are good and set the tone and either don't waste too much time or are so cool you don't mind it being a little longer

1) Haunted Mansion (might be the best pre show of all time)
2) Star Wars ROTR (this one is longer for sure and two rooms but both make you feel like your in Star Wars and have not bugged me yet)
3) Mickey and Minnies, Its mostly a screen but the song is well done its short and they do the cool trick where you walkthrough the screen after
4) GOTG Mission break out is mixed The Rocket AA is pretty good and its not too long, I think the only reason I have issue with this is the 10+ min line after this point slowing the pace down
5) Dreamworks theater Kung Fi Panda. Not amazing but I will say compared to other screen pre shows this one does try some things like the Hammer moving...and it is fun seeing all the dreamworks characters talking to one another. Shout out to Shrek 4D for also being fun

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Cosmic Rewind's preshow is frustrating primarily due to guest behavior and not having the entertainment/added value to the story to warrant it. If the ride is running normally, being stuck at the back on the room adds 2-3 minutes max to the pre-load ramp. I've stopped attempting to be near the doors unless I luck out with positioning because the mad dash once those doors open has gotten more aggressive in the past year.

Compare that to Rise of the Resistance where nobody is rushing to get on board the transport ship due to CM control and most guests either not knowing the surprise capture or wanting to take a photo of the stormtroopers. Rise feels like a full experience with the pre-shows, and the presence of the first two was definitely missed when I went on Single Rider a few weeks ago.