The queue snakes along the Louvre’s corridors, up the steps and escalators and outside to the famous glass pyramid. Most of those waiting have one ultimate aim: to see the Mona Lisa.

The usual complaints from visitors about Leonardo da Vinci’s celebrated oil-on-wood painting cover everything from the lengthy queues to its size – at just 77cm by 53cm, it is smaller than many expect.

But the Mona Lisa’s transfer from its usual gallery in the Salle des États, currently undergoing renovations, to the magnificent Galerie Médicis, lined with Rubens paintings, has created a whole new palette of gripes.

To control the estimated 30,000 visitors a day making a beeline to the masterpiece, the Louvre is advising that only those who pre-book visits will be guaranteed a glimpse.

Now visitors say museum staff are giving them barely a minute to take a selfie in front of the painting before ushering them along. They complain of “total disorganisation” and “Louvre chaos”.

People queue at the Louvre museum hoping to see the Mona Lisa. Photograph: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images

“Everything was perfect except the visit to the Mona Lisa,” complained Xavier on TripAdvisor. “Several floors of queues but arriving in the gallery we were frankly shocked. The staff treated visitors like cattle … Result: stress to see the painting behind glass from several metres. Scandalous!”

Another contributor to the site said: “The Mona Lisa has moved so you have to queue a second time to see it for 10 seconds. Queues were horrendous just to get in and another queue for the Mona Lisa and that was a letdown.”

Another visitor wrote: “Just skip it. 99% of the tourists come to the Louvre for the Mona Lisa. To see it (for 30 seconds), you have to stand in the line for one-two hours.” They said there were queues for security, to enter the museum, to get to each of the three stairways to the third floor and then to see the Mona Lisa – from a distance of three metres.

The Louvre is the world’s most visited museum, attracting 10.2 million people a year; about 80% are believed to come just to see the Mona Lisa. Last month, officials had to restrict access for three days because of the chaos caused by the queues.

The Louvre’s deputy managing director, Vincent Pomarède, said all visitors would need to reserve a timed slot for their visit from the autumn. “It’s the only way to guarantee entry,” Pomarède told AFP.

The Mona Lisa will be returned to her usual spot for a major exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, which opens in October.

A Louvre spokeswoman said: “We are well aware that people are attracted by the Mona Lisa and we are doing our best to make their visit more fluid so they don’t have to queue. It’s busy, very busy this time of the year, but if people could reserve their visit it would make things much easier. It’s about not having everyone there at the same time.”