Sounds like a bug... first the stupid questions.
Are you close enough? Yes, I know... it sounds stupid. Still, this has been a problem before in other areas, especially one troublesome door in the Haunted Mansion. Try moving around to look at it from different angles, as much as you can-- crouch, jump, whatnot. MAYBE you'll get that "e" option eventually.
Secondly-- have you reloaded? That conversation isn't too long, I would just reload and redo that. You DO save every 5 minutes, right? I'm not the only one?
