Joe's Thesis on Preshows and Queue Design
Hello! This post is a breakdown of preshow theory I've been developing for a few years now, based on talking to friends in queues, disassociating in the queues when my social battery is low, and my background in industrial engineering education.
What is a preshow?
(Voyage of the Little Mermaid show holding area. A voice-over and Cast Member preshow spiel occurs here.)
A preshow is a theatrical moment that occurs before the main attraction. Preshows range from the simple to the complex, from an employee-delivered narration before theater doors open to a multimedia extravaganza using actors and prerecorded moments. They can be whole other attractions or films worthy of awards, to a safety briefing. They can be instrumental for understanding the attraction or completely unrelated. Preshows have existed in some form in parks since Disneyland's opening, but in my eyes, the first true preshow started with the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. I will use that preshow (Ghost Host opening and the stretching room) as a case study throughout my post.
Elaborate, walkthrough queues might have preshow elements, but they are not themselves preshows. Instead, these are just elaborate queues or standalone walkthrough attractions. Examples of this include Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Battle at the Ministry.
The Types of Preshows
When forming a taxonomy of preshows, I feel the deliniation starts in the designated function of the preshow:
Functional
Functional preshows are preshows that exist due to a need in attraction design. The first examples of this were theater productions where guests would need to wait outside the theater for their performance. A simple narration, music, or film is performed before the theater doors open. This is what I'll call a cycle load preshow. Another example of a cycle load preshow is Star Tours at DL and DHS. On ST, guests are assigned a departure bay to wait as the guests on the ride go through their experience. As the ride cycles, a preshow of entertaining vignettes of droids working plays before an entertaining safety spiel occurs. The preshow lasts from the bay doors closing to the bay doors opening.
While cycle preshows are the most common type of functional preshow, function also applies to other technical aspects of the attraction experience. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland has a major elevation change in the queue in order to transport guests under the DL train tracks. To facilitate this, Disney added two massive, themed elevators disguised as parlors. The functional preshow here is to disguise a transition with the elevator. This was such a successful preshow and iconic moment that purely aesthetic versions of this preshow were replicated for HM's around the world.
Largely, I find functional preshows are non-offensive and don't waste my time - they want us in the theater as quickly as we do!
Other examples include:
- The Tiki Room
- Mission: Space
- Soarin'
- Smuggler's Run
- Flight of Passage
Aesthetic
Aesthetic preshows are ones that are added to an attraction queue independently of attraction design. The first pure aesthetic preshow in the modern context, IMHO, is the Living Seas at Epcot. Disney had a continuously loading ride vehicle that was placed between two preshows that held guests back for purely informational and aesthetic reasons. Guests could, in theory, walk from the main entrance, through the theater presentation, and right through the fake hydrolators, and onto the ride. In fact, that happened in the past and is how the Living Seas with Nemo ride operates now, no movie, no fake elevator. The attraction that popularized the concept, though, would be the Tower of Terror at DHS, more on that later.
This Queue-Preshow-Queue-Load design quickly spread through the themed design industry and continues to be used to this day. When it works, it works, setting up a fun transition from a general theme park space to a more specific environment. But when it doesn't, these preshows feel like static waiting to prevent us from riding the attraction. Because the aesthetic preshow does not hinge on a function of the attraction, it says more about the designer's philosophy and tastes than almost any other design choice. Let's go over some examples of good and bad aesthetic preshows: