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.

 

[TheGentTrent]

For motion simulators, there's really no getting around the benefit of pre-shows. You have to wait for each ride cycle to complete, so might as well have something to watch during it.

Where it can get frustrating is on constantly cycling attractions like ET, Dinosaur, or Tower of Terror where you want to marathon some rides while wait times are short and there isn't a single-rider line available to bypass the pre-shows. That's when I mentally check-out of the experience and want to just get on the ride.

 

[Clive]

You know what, here's a quick breakdown of my opinions for Universal Orlando's compulsory preshows:

Great

• Monsters Unchained. Stunning animated figures, strong writing, propulsive pacing.
• Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. The rap is fantastic, and the 30 Rock holding areas with seating, games, strong AC, and entertainment are novel. The one real successful execution of a "queueless" experience in a domestic theme park.

Good

• E.T. Adventure. It's extremely quick, features a warm performance by Steven Spielberg, and does its job of both establishing the stakes and the need for the interplanetary passport in the next room.
• Cirque Arcanus. I love just about everything about the Cirque preshow except for the audience flow and sight lines. If you don't know where to position yourself, there's a good chance you will miss some of the best illusions and visuals this attraction has to offer. The writing here is overall very good, and aside from some awkward and unconvincing business involving house elves, the show elements are all well-executed. If the audience area featured tiered viewing platforms, similar to the second and third rooms in the defunct Poseidon's Fury, this would shift into the "great" category for me.
• Men in Black. Both the "Universe and You" and elevator bits are brief and necessary to the storytelling. The budget clearly went elsewhere, though, as there's nothing compelling to look at during either. The effectiveness of the Universe and You bit is also dependent on the team member's delivery.
• The Simpsons Ride. I know we're all sick of the ride at this point, and I haven't personally been on it in literally years. Still, I don't think you can deny that the preshows are consistently funny and packed to the gills with quality gags.

Fine

• Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. If the ride still had 3D and included the original first preshow, I would've bumped this up to "good." You move through two highly themed and memorable settings with very different vibes and storytelling delivery mechanisms. The writing is also excellent. The loss of the original first preshow knocks it down a notch, as the replacement bit simply isn't as funny or relevant. What was once a pretty essential, satirical beat of the experience now feels like another holding room, albeit a detailed one.
• Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. The reality that this preshow is regularly turned off and skipped speaks to its lack of substance. The plot setup is appreciated, and the performances are fine, but we've seen the musion illusion done better elsewhere. None of it's very convincing, and the lack of physical, animated effects to accompany the pixies is a disappointing omission. It's inoffensive but also inessential.
• Fast and Furious Supercharged. I know people ironically like these, and I respect Universal for letting the team members ham it up, but the best you're going to get is "best of a bad situation," which is still bad. Wildly unclear why there are two of these, followed what's essentially two more on-ride preshows once you've boarded the bus. The only reason this isn't in the lowest category is that it's frequently more entertaining than the ride itself.

Actively Bad and Detrimental to the Experience

• Escape from Gringotts. Copying and pasting from my post in the prior thread here: I think the first preshow has really underrated writing, and in isolation it isn't an issue... but there are actually three preshows you have to get through, plus an additional wait, to actually get on the ride. (Bill's Office > Antechamber Before Elevators > Elevator.) Only one of those, the elevator, is especially exciting to experience. Even cutting out the antechamber spiel would help, but the flow unfortunately wasn't designed for that, and it's where Universal sticks the requisite warnings about the true nature of the ride.
• Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. I see what they're going for here, but the non-verbal delivery simply doesn't work. People don't have the attention spans or the critical thinking to follow what the vague cues are telling you to do, and they forget all the instructions by the time they actually get on a vehicle. Many probably don't even understand that the ride is essentially an interactive shooting gallery with more steps until the ride has already started. They already bothered to allow Toad and Toadette to speak elsewhere, so they should've bitten the bullet (bill) and let Lakitu deliver actual dialogue to explain what's going on. Furthermore, there should only be one preshow room. I have no idea why there are two. I actually enjoy the ride quite a lot, more than many here, but the interminable length of these preshows are a big reason why I don't do it all that much out here in Hollywood.
• The Bourne Stuntacular. The preshow here is the #1 reason I do not see Bourne more than once per trip despite really enjoying the show. It is is punishingly long, repetitive, confusing, and further held back by a shockingly disengaged, mediocre performance by Julia Stiles. Terminator 2: 3D used the same space far more effectively through tighter, better-executed media elements and the amusing, memorable crowd work of the Kimberly performers.