Went to Magic Kingdom on Saturday 7th and Thursday 19th respectively, and overall was very pleased with both Mansion visits.
Was very busy both days with long queues for HM during the day up to 30-40 mins (though it never took more than 10-15).
Both visits were pretty much the same, the only difference being the wolf howl was very quiet on the Friday but nice and loud by the Thursday. It seems now though you can only hear it properly when you get through the turnstile, whereas before you could hear it everywhere. You also hear it well from Tom Sawyer Island!
Love the Leota stone - didn't expect the eyes to look that real - creepy!
Foyer wasn't as bad as I expected. Of the four times I rode, I got all or most of the portrait bar once. Twice I was within 10 feet of the door so didn't bother waiting to let people pass, and saw it from the early part of the second stage. On one occasion I was the VERY last in and didn't stand a chance, and the last time I was first, and saw it all - it didn't even start changing for about 7-8 seconds. The opening spiel timing is pretty good, I'd say no different from before (about 15-20 secs after arriving in foyer), so if the portrait was re-adjusted to the spiel it would be fine. Time has been left to see it all, but guests are naturally very slow entering which probably isn't accounted for. The 2nd stage also isn't too different from the first, and as it is much darker than how we see in jpegs and gifs etc., you can hardly tell the difference.
Considering how busy the park was, I though all CMs got the doors open in very good time, and consistently, so I was impressed. On one occasion I got who is referred to as the 'Hot Little Maid', and I got one good dark haired guy with slightly buck teeth who gave a good show by saying 'follow me' and actually walking us into the foyer.
Love the stretch room effects - but one thing, didn't the organ music used to play in there too until the doors closed? It was completely silent every time for me… Got to see the body, even though it was very brief. If you know what you're looking for it's fine, but it's become more of a hidden surprise now. Good also that the 'I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely' has been moved to inside the stretch room.
Nice to see most of the Sinister 11 up, but they could use some lighting desperately. Safety bar spiel seems to be going off earlier than before - I remember you used to be seated for quite a few seconds before it kicked in, but on 2 occasions it went off as I was getting on. I like the 'whoosh' effect before the Ghost Host speaks every time now too.
Liked the new portrait hall, though timing can mean seeing nothing. First time I passed through nothing happened for me as I caught it between flashes, but it's a great effect. New staircases with footsteps are great - really add some depth and size to the mansion!
Ballroom all working fine - gunshots could use some turning up, but satisfactory overall. New attic is great - pictures all worked fine for me as did bride. It has added a more sinister element to the ride though - can't really call that a happy haunt!
Everything else ran like clockwork, though there is still an intermittent problem with the 'they have selected you…' spiel - like back in 2001, it seems to cut off halfway through with certain buggies.
What I was also impressed with is that when the buggies stop the spiels now continue to the end of that section, whereas before as soon as it slowed down or stopped you used to lose that part of the narration completely. Is this a technical improvement or an adjustment?
Also, was it me of did HM used to have Fast Pass? I know DLs has or did, but when did WDW's go?
Overall I think the HM has been improved much better than POTC. I was quite disheartened with that. No problems with additions, but why oh why have the Barker Parrot, the Talking Skull and the shadows sword fighting gone? Nothing has replaced them, so they have been removed unnecessarily to me! Some classic elements lost there!
