Why is Mermaid so bad? Found this beauty.

[MaryJaneP]

Problem is NO STORY. Interesting to guess what riders, who may have never seen the movie, end up taking away from basically a brief dark ride to catchy tunes? Cheap, lazy, and not up to Disney Imagineering. Total fail. DHS mermaid at least tells the important parts of the story.

 

[MrConbon]

Problem is NO STORY. Interesting to guess what riders, who may have never seen the movie, end up taking away from basically a brief dark ride to catchy tunes? Cheap, lazy, and not up to Disney Imagineering. Total fail. DHS mermaid at least tells the important parts of the story.

Peter Pan’s Flight similarly has no story. I’d argue Mermaid does a better job than Peter Pan in a plot synopsis.

 

[General Mayhem]

Oi... didn't we just have a thread about this like 5 days ago...?

 

[ELG13]

Mansion’s biggest strength is the immersion and tone. Which is a a large part of storytelling. You can have a good story with an omnimover system. Thinking you can’t is absurd. Out of all the complaints people have for Mermaid, an omnimover system is not one of them.

Forbidden Journey opened in 2010 and is widely regarded as one of the most innovative rides around. It’s an omnimover style system. You can do great things with it if the ride is good enough to support it. Making it trackless suddenly won’t make the ride good.

I agree about HM. This ride immerses you int he mansion. You feel like you are a guest there, making your way through the halls, trying not to end up as #1000. Mermaid is more of a drive through story. You go to watch it, not BE in it. The under the sea Bart is by far the worst. You don't feel "under the sea" at all. Heck, just change the lighting and throw some bubble projections and that would help to start. That part reminds me of what it would feel like to ride space mountain with the lights on (not nearly as fun though). When you can see how it all works, what makes the fish on a stick spin, when you see the ceiling of the building....it takes away from the magic.
I do like the ride and we will always ride it. But they missed an opportunity.

 

[MrConbon]

I agree about HM. This ride immerses you int he mansion. You feel like you are a guest there, making your way through the halls, trying not to end up as #1000. Mermaid is more of a drive through story. You go to watch it, not BE in it. The under the sea Bart is by far the worst. You don't feel "under the sea" at all. Heck, just change the lighting and throw some bubble projections and that would help to start. That part reminds me of what it would feel like to ride space mountain with the lights on (not nearly as fun though). When you can see how it all works, what makes the fish on a stick spin, when you see the ceiling of the building....it takes away from the magic.
I do like the ride and we will always ride it. But they missed an opportunity.

And none of that has to do with the omnimover ride system being the issue

 

[HongKongFooy]

Peter Pan’s Flight similarly has no story. I’d argue Mermaid does a better job than Peter Pan in a plot synopsis.

Best to stop with the Pan equivalency.......Pan is effectively a redo of 1955 DL offering but say 15+ years later. It gets a pass.

In 2012 I expect a centerpiece attraction to an overhauled land to come out better than Ariols Undersea. It was hyped, early on, as a bona-fide headlining attraction with independently dispatched conveyances. But instead we get a relatively short, disjunct continuous loader with Small World level AA's

 

[MrConbon]

Best to stop with the Pan equivalency.......Pan is effectively a redo of 1955 DL offering but say 15+ years later. It gets a pass.

In 2012 I expect a centerpiece attraction to an overhauled land to come out better than Ariols Undersea. It was hyped, early on, as a bona-fide headlining attraction with independently dispatched conveyances. But instead we get a relatively short, disjunct continuous loader with Small World level AA's

Best to stop with the falsified “facts”. Mermaid was never billed as a headliner attraction. That was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Mermaid is the Smuggler’s Run to Rise of the Resistance. The ride isn’t even original to Disney World. We got a replica of a ride that already existed at Disneyland. It was never pitched more than an omnimover so I’m not sure how “independently dispatched conveyances” was ever something you thought the ride would have.

 

[HongKongFooy]

At face value, disregarding all expectation and marketing hype, missed opportunity .....

Undersea Adventure is quite good actually, my 7th favorite ride at MK.

But everytime I ride I can't help but think what should have been.

 

[HongKongFooy]

. Mermaid was never billed as a headliner attraction.

You are mistaken.

 

[MrConbon]

You are mistaken.

Find me one source from Disney that billed Mermaid as the headlining attraction for New Fantasyland.

 

[ELG13]

Peter Pan’s Flight similarly has no story. I’d argue Mermaid does a better job than Peter Pan in a plot synopsis.

I think the ride queue of Peter pan helps a little with story building but truth be told the only time we ride it now is with a fast pass. We haven't waited in the regular line for a while. If mermaid had the wait times of pan, we wouldn't ride it. I don't find it to be worth the wait really...aside from it just being a classic and it doesn't feel like a Disney trip if we don't go on in.

 

[UNCgolf]

When you see the kind of quality going into the BATB ride, those animatronics!!!! It really shows how unimpressive this ride is. I feel like it could have easily had at least one really amazing scene. Like the Ursula one in the original ride concept video.

I'd never seen that before. It's almost unbelievable how much better that looks than what was actually built.

 

[A Noble Fish]

Peter Pan’s Flight similarly has no story. I’d argue Mermaid does a better job than Peter Pan in a plot synopsis.

I think the ride queue of Peter pan helps a little with story building but truth be told the only time we ride it now is with a fast pass. We haven't waited in the regular line for a while. If mermaid had the wait times of pan, we wouldn't ride it. I don't find it to be worth the wait really...aside from it just being a classic and it doesn't feel like a Disney trip if we don't go on in.

Peter Pan is about wonder, it only glances over the story, but it's about the amazement of flying. The Mermaid ride is a tonally and aesthetically disjointed mess that tries its shot at storytelling but fails spectacularly. It doesn't know what it is. It has terrible pacing as well because of the 'musical numbers' being poorly connected partly due to the omnimover, but mostly due to the way it is laid out. The ride was also originally the only ride for the entire New Fantasyland "Potter Swatter."

The only good scene in the entire ride is Ursula, but then there is no payoff. They could have and have done so much more with the budget. What we ended up with is a poorly made C-ticket (it's really not a D because of how flawed its large-scale is). Compare that to Alice in Wonderland or even Toad, and they are just so well executed and more enjoyable because they are better made. The budget wasn't the problem, this was on Imagineers not being able to compromise with a slightly better ride capacity. It should have been a well-made D like Mine Train, but we got a poorly made ride that while still enjoyable for myself and others, is not worth anything over a walk on.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Find me one source from Disney that billed Mermaid as the headlining attraction for New Fantasyland.

It was the only new ride when the Fantasyland project was announced. Do you think coloring with Aurora was the headlining attraction? It was a $100 million ride. It was also a major part of the Disney’s California Adventure announcement. For its size, cost (especially after another $50 million was spent trying to fix it) and marketing it shouldn’t be excused as something small and extra.

 

[A Noble Fish]

It was the only new ride when the Fantasyland project was announced. Do you thinking coloring with Aurora was the headlining attraction? It was a $100 million ride. It was also a major part of the Disney’s California Adventure announcement. For its size, cost (especially after another $50 million was spent trying to fix it) and marketing it shouldn’t be excused as something small and extra.

And botched at that.

 

[Walt_Disney]

Why is Mermaid so Bad? - Theme Park Concepts

An analysis of what went wrong in the design process of Under the Sea and potentially how to fix it.

www.themeparkconcepts.com

I will say that I enjoy the ride when it has short waits. It's not all bad, but it is poorly executed (especially in Orlando). New Fantasyland's Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, on the other hand, may be short, but it kills the execution.

Anyway, I just thought it was an outstanding read for understanding what goes into theme park design. The technical side, if you will in the vein same that shows good writing, pacing, or art direction in cinema. Maybe it might change your entire understanding of the parks we all love!

Theme park fans, enjoy! Thankfully, the rides since seemed to have learned their lesson. Flight of Passage, for instance, has a queue properly set for its scale, exceptional pacing, and gorgeous designs that are consistent.

Here's also a wonderful video of what could have been. Capacity could have been increased slightly too if they had quick dispatch with multiple vehicles:

Wow that video is amazing. That’s totally how the ride should be. What is this video from?

 

[Brer Panther]

Is everyone forgetting the Ariel hair issue? Any side by side pictures?

Even after they fixed the hair, the Ariel animatronic in the "Under the Sea" room still looks awkward... I'm guessing that she's supposed to be dancing, but she's just weirdly bobbing up and down.

 

[SourcererMark79]

Is everyone forgetting the Ariel hair issue? Any side by side pictures?

 

[disney4life2008]

View attachment 454583View attachment 454584

Omg please tell me the first picture is a joke?

 

[Brer Panther]

Did somebody tell Ariel that the "Dole Whip" look was IN this season or whatever?