What are your thoughts on pre-shows on rides?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Immersion is a big part of theme parks, particularly in the case of some of the bigger names like Disney and Universal, and one commonly used technique to immerse riders into the story of an attraction is the pre-show. Quite a few immersive attractions start by placing guests in front of a video (or similar) to explain the attraction's story, and sometimes, an attraction can even have multiple pre-shows. With this in mind, I'd be keen to know; what are your thoughts on pre-shows? Do you like them and think they add loads to an attraction? Or do you not like them and think they're a waste of time? Or do you think it depends on the context?

Personally, I think it depends on the context. Certain attractions really benefit from the additional plot exposition that pre-shows provide; as an example, I'd say that on Hex at Alton Towers, and many other similar madhouse rides, the pre-shows really enhance the experience. I'd also say the same for the Harry Potter rides at Universal; these pre-shows really enhance the experience and feel like a worthwhile addition.

However, I don't think pre-shows are necessarily needed in every context. For instance, I don't think big thrill coasters without much of an onus on story during the ride necessarily need pre-shows; don't get me wrong, I really like the pre-show on Wicker Man at Alton Towers, but I don't think it's necessarily needed in the context of what the ride is.

I also think that pre-shows can sometimes feel excessive or counterintuitive. Two key examples of where I'd say this was the case for me are Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Fast & Furious: Supercharged at Universal Studios Florida. Flight of Passage felt like it had a very long build-up to the actual ride, with the pre-show where the guests have to randomly wiggle about in particular feeling unnecessary, in my view, and Fast & Furious felt like it had a very long pre-ride build-up prior to the ride itself that didn't really add an awful lot for me.

But what are your thoughts on pre-shows? Do you like them, do you dislike them, or does your opinion on them depend on the context?

 

[pluk]

No one who rode the original incarnation of Zufari could ever vote for liking them regardless. I wouldn't say it depends on the context, it depends on the quality. If it entertains I'm all for it, regardless of its context or lack of necessity to further a narrative.

 

[rob666]

Scrap 'em.

 

[Zeock]

I think that it depends on how good the preshows are. I enjoy the preshows on both Hex and Wicker Man.

 

[Matt.GC]

An extra layer of entertainment can never be a bad thing for the experience can it? It depends if it's to enhance a theme or dictate some story to you. Dark rides should have stories, but I prefer coasters not to have them. But that doesn't mean a pre-show has to be spoon feeding a story to you.

 

[Funcone]

I’ve always thought that pre-shows are more satisfactory on a ride where the pre-show and the attraction have the same capacity. On a Mad House or 4D Cinema everyone moves from the pre-show into the attraction together, whereas on something like a coaster you end up having to have a second queue between the pre-show and the attraction, which never seems to work as well.

 

[imanautie]

I’ve always thought that pre-shows are more satisfactory on a ride where the pre-show and the attraction have the same capacity. On a Mad House or 4D Cinema everyone moves from the pre-show into the attraction together, whereas on something like a coaster you end up having to have a second queue between the pre-show and the attraction, which never seems to work as well.

Imo something like hex doesn't really have a preshow as such, it feels that immersive, where as wickerman it's quite clear this is something seperate from the ride experience itself.

 

[Poisson]

It depends. I was happy to jump on Katun with no preamble, but Fluch der Kassandra felt a bit lacking without any for example.

 

[John_P]

Mostly like them when they're pretty snappy (wicker man) or act as a nice way of batching people ready for the ride (baron 1898). Wheras Batman Gotham City Escape lasts well too long and leads to the main queue not moving at all for 5+ minutes. Plus on days were people can get re-rides you have the majority of people in the preshow all grouped round the secret passageway with barely anyone paying attention to the preshow.

 

[Benzin]

Context is key, like mentioned before pre-shows are often integral parts of dark rides but often feel bolted on for creds and the like.

Implementation is also a factor, either having it short but effective or multiple rooms like Tower of Terror to ensure throughput isn't effected too much. Otherwise you end up being stood around in the queue or the room bored. Villa Volta is an interesting example, though the language barrier is a major part of the "boredom" in the rooms, the first room has nothing to interest you, yet the second room has a rather fab animatronic.

+1 for the terrible Zufari "pre-show". What an absolute embarrassment that was and a perfect example of how not to do it.

 

[Llama]

I agree that roller coasters probably do not need serious preshows. I understand wanting to set the story up a bit, but most coasters don't actually have much of a story, so there is usually a bit of a disconnect between the preshow and the actual ride. This thread made me think of a ride I haven't considered in a while, Terminator Salvation: The Ride at Magic Mountain. I only went on it once, but it was a Terminator-themed wooden roller coaster. (Though, of all the materials you could use for a Terminator roller coaster, I'm not sure "wood" would be my first thought) The preshow was a really intense set of videos and a few animatronics setting up a storyline from the Terminator movies, and then if I remember right the ride itself had almost no theming other than a bit of fire and a few Terminator sound effects.

For dark rides I also agree that "it depends" but if the ride is mainly focused on the story then the preshow can add a little bit of context and be exciting in and of itself. In some cases, a preshow is more or less necessary to set up the backstory for the ride, like on Tower of Terror. Two good examples of dark rides that have good preshows recently are Rise of the Resistance (on a completely higher level when it comes to preshows, to be honest) and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.