Little Mermaid to receive Updates?

ExtinctJenn

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
I would've thought that when they built the twin at WDW they would've brought with it the fixes. Luckily when we rode it everything was in perfect working order and there wasn't a single problem but I've read the threads about little things here and there. Still it seems the majority of them probably aren't noticeable to Joe Q. Guest and are really stand out items to those who ride it frequently. Here's hoping when we jump back on in a few weeks it's still how we remember it from March! :D
 
BrittanyRose428

BrittanyRose428

Well-Known Member
When I last rode it everything was working properly but there was an extreme amount of flash photo taking. From what I remember there wasn't any announcement being made about it, so that might be something to add to the refurb. People will still do it, but it would be better than nothing. I remember some of the people taking flash pictures were taking selfies, and not even pictures of the ride. :banghead:
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
ExtinctJenn said:
I would've thought that when they built the twin at WDW they would've brought with it the fixes. Luckily when we rode it everything was in perfect working order and there wasn't a single problem but I've read the threads about little things here and there. Still it seems the majority of them probably aren't noticeable to Joe Q. Guest and are really stand out items to those who ride it frequently. Here's hoping when we jump back on in a few weeks it's still how we remember it from March! :D
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There were changes to the DCA one after it opened and these were brought to WDW when it opened there.
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
the whole ride suffers from a lack of space for staging...things are just too close to the track, lights are way too bright allowing you to see unfinished things...if they wanted to tell the whole story of the Little Mermaid in the ride they should have told the whole tale...seems like 2/3 of the story and a jump to the happy ending... the animatronics are nice though and the Queue is amazing... hopefully they will address our lighting issues as well.
 
Mista C

Mista C

Well-Known Member
Last year before my daughter owned the Little Mermaid movie DVD we rented it from our local library and it was a really old version of the DVD, possibly from the late 90's, before either ride was built. One of the extras on the DVD was a very in-depth ride simulator of the originally designed prospective Little Mermaid ride. It was from the perspective that you were actually riding the ride and there was also an overhead view of the entire ride building with the track and scenes. The overhead view would show you where you were in the first person portion of the "ride". It was absolutely amazing and would have been incredible had it been built. Sadly, when my daughter got her own copy of the DVD earlier this year, that extra was gone. Has anyone else seen this?
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Mista C said:
Last year before my daughter owned the Little Mermaid movie DVD we rented it from our local library and it was a really old version of the DVD, possibly from the late 90's, before either ride was built. One of the extras on the DVD was a very in-depth ride simulator of the originally designed prospective Little Mermaid ride. It was from the perspective that you were actually riding the ride and there was also an overhead view of the entire ride building with the track and scenes. The overhead view would show you where you were in the first person portion of the "ride". It was absolutely amazing and would have been incredible had it been built. Sadly, when my daughter got her own copy of the DVD earlier this year, that extra was gone. Has anyone else seen this?
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I believe that was from the Platinum dvd edition, which was the last one prior to the current diamond edition.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Mista C said:
Last year before my daughter owned the Little Mermaid movie DVD we rented it from our local library and it was a really old version of the DVD, possibly from the late 90's, before either ride was built. One of the extras on the DVD was a very in-depth ride simulator of the originally designed prospective Little Mermaid ride. It was from the perspective that you were actually riding the ride and there was also an overhead view of the entire ride building with the track and scenes. The overhead view would show you where you were in the first person portion of the "ride". It was absolutely amazing and would have been incredible had it been built. Sadly, when my daughter got her own copy of the DVD earlier this year, that extra was gone. Has anyone else seen this?
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Yeah, it would have been cool to get this version. But even at this point they seemed to struggle with the ending since it's out of sequence, they have Kiss the Girl is after Ursula is defeated.

 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't expect much if I were you. Maybe lighting adjustments when (or a better word would be IF) it ever goes down for refurb. WDW's got lucky because the changes to DCA's came before WDW's was completed so were easy to slip in. But once WDW gets a ride completed, it sadly tends to remain in that condition forever. Just look at the state of our Peter Pan, unchanged since opening I believe. And according to the Micechat article, DL's Peter Pan is getting a ride upgrade (i'm willing to bet part of that will be adding the Paris version's better fiber optic pixie dust and such).
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
This one will be interesting to watch.

At Disneyland Resort, the Mermaid ride sits smack dab in the middle of DCA and it doesn't have Fastpass. It's just a ride that always has a very short line, or no line at all; you walk in the front doors, you shuffle right onto the loading belt, you ride, and you walk out. No Fastpass line, no MagicBand, no Standby line, no interactive queue. It's just the ride, plain and simple.

Little Mermaid Ride, Disney California Adventure - Come on in, no waiting!
20111120_8472.jpg


But it's this big Omnimover thing with very high capacity, so tens of thousands of DCA visitors per day can ride it without a wait. But it's artistically underwhelming in spots. So they want to fix it, because it's a waste of ride capacity if it's not wowing audiences in an otherwise very busy theme park.

But at WDW, it's different. Mermaid has Fastpass, and is hooked into the MagicBands, and has a Standby line with an elaborate interactive queue. And it's in a theme park that quite frankly doesn't have enough rides (Magic Kingdom is missing a dozen rides that Disneyland Park has, with MK getting an additional 1 million visitors per year over Disneyland Park). So do they really need to plus it up and tweak it more at MK?

It makes sense at DCA. But does it really pencil out for the version at Magic Kingdom? It will be interesting to see what TDO decides. Or maybe WDI sold the idea to Burbank based on both coasts getting the same upgrades?
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
danlb_2000 said:
Yeah, it would have been cool to get this version. But even at this point they seemed to struggle with the ending since it's out of sequence, they have Kiss the Girl is after Ursula is defeated.

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There was no struggle, it was on purpose, Tony baxter himself said he didn't want the ride to be a retelling or a book report he wanted the guests to be immersed in the world of the little mermaid not so much the actual story beat by beat. It makes sense, he took the environments that were most compelling and made it into a ride, even though it isn't in sequence like the film it works quite well. The above render is what his version of the attraction would have looked like had it gone to Disneyland Paris. That attraction is far superior to what we got, ours can be considered a watered down version that goes against what Baxter intended for it when he made it up. But the under the sea scene, the kiss the girl scene all look torn out and watered down from the following video. Shame isn't it?
 
ExtinctJenn

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
Magenta Panther said:
When you ride Mermaid, it's painfully obvious that the budget for it was cut. Cheap plastic everywhere, fish glued to walls and mobiles, no attempt to hide things like that big black pole in Ariel's back...honestly...does TDO have a low opinion of guests' intelligence or something? So sad...
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Jeeze. I must be absolutely blinded by the high I get off that pixie dust. Myself, DS and DH were all blown away by this attraction and loved every minute of it. I think the key is I was paying attention to the story and the experience of the ride itself and letting myself be immersed in it all. I am sure if I was looking around at the walls, ceiling, etc. I'd have noticed. I guess it's kind of like going to watch someone like David Copperfield... if I spent all my time looking for the signs of how he did his tricks I'd miss out on the show.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
ExtinctJenn said:
Jeeze. I must be absolutely blinded by the high I get off that pixie dust. Myself, DS and DH were all blown away by this attraction and loved every minute of it. I think the key is I was paying attention to the story and the experience of the ride itself and letting myself be immersed in it all. I am sure if I was looking around at the walls, ceiling, etc. I'd have noticed. I guess it's kind of like going to watch someone like David Copperfield... if I spent all my time looking for the signs of how he did his tricks I'd miss out on the show.
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I don't think anyone purposely looks for problems. I know I look all around and I just happen to spot things. Has nothing to do with pixie snorting.

I'll admit I am definitely not blown away with Mermaid. The main reason I think the ride is just okay is because I feel like I'm just going through the story, from beginning to end, like a book report, or movie report. One of the aspects of the Fantasyland dark rides that makes them so great is the different way of storytelling. They are not movie reports, but they still tell the same story, except Toad, really. Still, Mermaid is not a terrible ride. I'm always willing to wait five minutes for it.;)
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
raven24 said:
I don't think anyone purposely looks for problems. I know I look all around and I just happen to spot things. Has nothing to do with pixie snorting.

I'll admit I am definitely not blown away with Mermaid. The main reason I think the ride is just okay is because I feel like I'm just going through the story, from beginning to end, like a book report, or movie report. One of the aspects of the Fantasyland dark rides that makes them so great is the different way of storytelling. They are not movie reports, but they still tell the same story, except Toad, really. Still, Mermaid is not a terrible ride. I'm always willing to wait five minutes for it.;)
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You my friend have stated exactly what Tony baxter didn't wanna do with this ride! http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/05/disneyland-paris-little-mermaid.html
Give this article a read, gives some insight on the proposed attraction.
 
ExtinctJenn

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
I don't think anyone purposely looks for problems. I know I look all around and I just happen to spot things. Has nothing to do with pixie snorting.
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Oh see I'm fully admitting to the snorting and wondering if that's why I don't notice that stuff. I will however say that I am noticing stuff like that all the time on Imagination so it was probably more the result of being fascinated with our first experience on the ride that caused us to not notice it on Mermaid. Of course now I'll probably be looking for it in December and paying more attention to what's intruding on the story. Thanks everyone. :arghh: LOL!
 

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