Early reviews for TLM ride?

[HMF]

The DCA ride building is certainly nice, but it cannot compete with

Obviously, the WDW version will have the better queue, but if you compare the FLE to DCA's expansion, it's obviously no contest. The difference is that the FLE is meant to spruce up and expand an already-fantastic and successful park. The DCA expansion is meant to reinvent a failure of a park.

You are comparing an existing building to concept art. It will be different not necessarily. It's like comparing the Haunted Mansion facades They are adjusted to fit the park and area they are in. The DCA Facade fits that park and the MK facade fit's MK. This isn't a contest. What is inside will be mostly the same anyway.

 

[aladdin2007]

If they stick with that concept art or at least something very close to it, its going to be beautiful. However the question is what will get cut/changed in the process.

 

[TP2000]

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/24/news/la-trb-little-mermaid-disney-03201117

Thank you for the link. But there's no quote from a Disney exec or spokesman stating that the ride had a 100 Million dollar budget in that article.

It's just Brady McDonald himself throwing the 100 Million dollar figure around that had been circulating on Disneyland fansites for the past two years. Brady is notorious as regurgitating the latest rumors and info from Al Lutz and a few other online sources into print for the dead-tree edition of the dying Los Angeles Times. (Brady's wife, the food reporter at the OC Register, is also a piece of work who was caught throwing a tantrum and crying at Disneyland's Guest Relations office when she didn't get her way over a free gift card she felt she deserved.)

I would love to see a quote from an Imagineer like Lisa Girolami, or a Burbank/Anaheim executive, or even an official Disney spokesman going on record that Mermaid was a 100 Million dollar attraction.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Don't forget that Disney also includes calculations for lost capacity due to an attraction closing in its "budgets" for new attractions. There very well could have been some screwy numbers that said having Golden Dreams closed was loosing Disney some money. The new restrooms across the path in the San Francisco buildings were probably also included. There is also the very likely possibility that a lot of money just got wasted by Walt Disney Imagineering, going into years of work on ride layout and models.

 

[NoChesterHester]

Thank you for the link. But there's no quote from a Disney exec or spokesman stating that the ride had a 100 Million dollar budget in that article.

It's just Brady McDonald himself throwing the 100 Million dollar figure around that had been circulating on Disneyland fansites for the past two years. Brady is notorious as regurgitating the latest rumors and info from Al Lutz and a few other online sources into print for the dead-tree edition of the dying Los Angeles Times. (Brady's wife, the food reporter at the OC Register, is also a piece of work who was caught throwing a tantrum and crying at Disneyland's Guest Relations office when she didn't get her way over a free gift card she felt she deserved.)

I would love to see a quote from an Imagineer like Lisa Girolami, or a Burbank/Anaheim executive, or even an official Disney spokesman going on record that Mermaid was a 100 Million dollar attraction.

Why would he put the 100 million figure in the article unless he was told that information? It doesn't matter if it was an attributed quote or not. Disney would have asked for a retraction to incorrect information.

Now, I really like the video. I am really excited for a new dark ride. But... I also see others point in the relative cost of the attraction in comparison to what we got. For 100 million we should be getting an E-ticket Expedition Everest scale of an attraction (with working Yeti).

 

[TP2000]

Why would he put the 100 million figure in the article unless he was told that information? It doesn't matter if it was an attributed quote or not. Disney would have asked for a retraction to incorrect information.

You should read some of the other stuff Brady puts in his blog just to keep some column inches going under his byline. He lifts and rephrases the latest scoop from Al Lutz constantly, with no retraction or comment from Disney whatsoever.

That Brady McDonald, of all people, lifted the 100 Million figure from fansite message boards is not at all surprising. :lol:

 

[Pete C]

removed

 

[lazyboy97o]

Why would he put the 100 million figure in the article unless he was told that information? It doesn't matter if it was an attributed quote or not. Disney would have asked for a retraction to incorrect information.

Disney usually makes no comment regarding coverage of their parks unless it is in response to something negative.

 

[guardboy21]

can't wait to ride it

 

[TP2000]

Disney usually makes no comment regarding coverage of their parks unless it is in response to something negative.

Yup, that's pretty much standard practice for Disney, and most other companies. If Brady McDonald want's to claim it's a 100 Million dollar ride after he read that on a fansite, when it actually only cost 60 Million, then so be it. For the record, I cancelled my subscription to the LA Times in 2009.

Meanwhile, back in Anaheim...

Some great pictures are coming in, thanks to Micechat's Dateline Disneyland photogs, now that Little Mermaid is doing at least a few hours per day of soft openings. I thought these might be interesting for folks, since the photos seem to do a better job of capturing the overall look of the ride (at least how I experienced it on Friday) than the amateur YouTube videos using iPhones and cheapy Best Buy videocams do.

The loading area - The mural and load belt left of the columns should be a direct copy at WDW, while the glassy atrium to the right of the columns is a DCA-only design.

Here's the girl who caused all this commotion to begin with...

The big Hollywood musical production number!

Anyone in the mood for a Strawberry Soft-Serve? :lol:

Kiss her already Eric, there's only 20 yards of track left in this ride!!

Triton has been doubling up on his Delts/Lats/Traps workouts over the winter. He's also the only animatronic that gets a real wig.

Thank you, and good night everybody! Exit to your left.

More of these pictures and some good video of the ride can be found at this week's Dateline Disneyland blog here... http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/da...ps-off-trader-sam-sets-up-shop-much-more.html


.

 

[stratman50th]

I thought this comment on the last video link was pretty funny, seemingly accurate also:
"Strange that King Triton got real hair while the rest received plastic helmets..."

Looks like fun and I know my family will enjoy it when it gets here. It seemed to move kind of fast though. I think they could slow it down a tad without compromising the ride.

 

[terp79]

First of all I'm not complaining on the way DCA's TLM attraction facade looks. I understand the vibe the Imagineers were going for but I would of taken inspiration for the other coast....











I would of course taken all the extra outside/night time illumination and added it to the building facade and lesson some of the use of the patina so that it didn't look too Jules Verne. The building just says ocean and water to me. With some clever redesigning of the details such as the face medallion window grate to fit more with the animation look of the story!

 

[DocMcHulk]

I thought this comment on the last video link was pretty funny, seemingly accurate also:
"Strange that King Triton got real hair while the rest received plastic helmets...

Ariel's hair is the way it is because she is "under water". Hair floats and waves differently. King Triton is above the water surface.

With that being said, couldn't they have just put "real" hair over top of the plastic?

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Ariel's hair is the way it is because she is "under water". Hair floats and waves differently. King Triton is above the water surface.

With that being said, couldn't they have just put "real" hair over top of the plastic?

True, but then why didn't Eric and Ariel get real hair in the Kiss the Girl and Finale scenes; those are both above water. Doesn't make sense, particularly Eric since he's human and you would think would have real hair. :shrug:

 

[stitch2008]

True, but then why didn't Eric and Ariel get real hair in the Kiss the Girl and Finale scenes; those are both above water. Doesn't make sense, particularly Eric since he's human and you would think would have real hair. :shrug:

Because I think it would look weird for Ariel to have plastic hair in two scenes and have real hair in the last two. I think your figures have to have the same features. In Ariel's case, you gotta have the same type of hair in every scene or else you'll have that one figure that looks out of place. Plus, Eric's hair doesnt move that much in the movie anyway. :shrug:

 

[terp79]

Oh and does anyone else see a slight AA resemblance to the figures from Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? That's all I see when I look at the AA in TLM.





I think it's the wide eyes and the shinny new material they use for the skin. I'm sorry but I will always think of flaming burning AAs when looking at Ariel.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Because I think it would look weird for Ariel to have plastic hair in two scenes and have real hair in the last two. I think your figures have to have the same features. In Ariel's case, you gotta have the same type of hair in every scene or else you'll have that one figure that looks out of place. Plus, Eric's hair doesnt move that much in the movie anyway. :shrug:

I suppose...its just strange to have Triton as the only figure with real hair, especially when Eric and Ariel are 10 feet away with plastic hair. :shrug:

 

[sshindel]

I suppose...its just strange to have Triton as the only figure with real hair, especially when Eric and Ariel are 10 feet away with plastic hair. :shrug:

My guess (and strictly a guess) would be around the fact that Triton has the full head of long hair along with the long beard / mustache. They probably started out thinking that Triton should have the same molded hair that everyone else did, but when they sculpted it, it looked wrong, so they changed it. I'm trying to imagine what that full set of white beard, mustache, and hair would look like in the sculpled plastic and tend to think it might have overwhelmed his face / body, where the "real" hair made it look a little more soft, fluid, and believable.

Just my guess though, no idea if that is even close to the truth.

Now why they didn't do the same with the Ice Cream hair, I don't know.

 

[TP2000]

I was thinking about the hair issue, and realized when I was on the ride that Ariel and Eric both have hairdo's that are influenced by the year The Little Mermaid came out in theaters: 1989.

Ariel has a very 1980's Mall Girl Cheerleader hairdo, with big teased bangs. And Eric has big fluffy 80's hair, with a borderline mullet in the back. They look like the kinds of hairdo's the popular kids in high school wore back in the late 1980's.

Eric and Ariel definitely look more 1980's American Teenager rather than 1800's Danish, where the story originated from. The hair was influenced by the era in which it was animated in, likely to appeal to contemporary audiences.

But then I'm crazy, and when I ride Tower of Terror I also notice that the guy escorting the Hollywood starlet into the elevator has a full-on circa 1993 Mullet that is barely contained by the brylcream the stylists put in his hair for the filming that day. :lol:

 

[SleepingMonk]

Some of the fish are also wearing Swatch watches and Member's Only jackets.