Has anyone ridden the Mermaid ride lately?

[Magenta Panther]

I'm asking because I'm horrified about the condition of the Ariel animatronic in the beginning of the ride - the one who sings "Part of Your World". Apparently, it started malfunctioning some time ago and has never been fully repaired. In the video below, you can see how bad the figure was behaving a year ago (the Ariel figure appears in the video first):



When I saw that, I searched for a more recent video of the Mermaid ride. This is from 7 days ago:



In the first video, we see the Ariel figure rock jerkily back and forth with her unmoving mouth wide open. In the second, she's moving a lot better - but her mouth is still messed up. It's stiff, still gaping, and barely moves. It looks awful. Just awful.

This is appalling. I had no idea things had gotten so bad. Good grief, Imagineers! What the hell is wrong with you guys? There is no excuse for this. None whatsoever!

 

[fradz]

Imagineers have not much to do with that, it mostly comes down to maintenance.

 

[cjkeating]

I thought the long term 'fix' was her mouth was just turned off.

 

[peter11435]

Imagineers have not much to do with that, it mostly comes down to maintenance.

Correct. Once imagineering turns a new attraction over to engineering/operation they are not responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.

 

[JoeCamel]

My theory is that a lot of the institutional knowledge along with many experienced warm bodies were tossed during Covid and will not/did not return. Anybody want to be a ride tech?

 

[WondersOfLife]

My theory is that a lot of the institutional knowledge along with many experienced warm bodies were tossed during Covid and will not/did not return. Anybody want to be a ride tech?

Agreed... Probably got a lot of people who don't know what they're doing now... Probably put "maintenance" on their resume for McDonalds and they barely know how to fix the ice cream machine.

 

[Brer Panther]

The Ariel animatronic has always looked pretty bad, honestly.

 

[JoeCamel]

The Ariel animatronic has always looked pretty bad, honestly.

Value engineered in the time of Bob

 

[Comped]

Agreed... Probably got a lot of people who don't know what they're doing now... Probably put "maintenance" on their resume for McDonalds and they barely know how to fix the ice cream machine.

Big problem across all 3 chains at the moment, and not just in maintenance...

 

[MaximumEd]

Agreed... Probably got a lot of people who don't know what they're doing now... Probably put "maintenance" on their resume for McDonalds and they barely know how to fix the ice cream machine.

No one knows how to fix the ice cream machine.

 

[mf1972]

it looked like that when we were there 10/23-11/2. the lips never moved but the eyes would blink.

 

[EagleScout610]

From four days ago. Still having a mild stroke

 

[Magenta Panther]

So it's poor maintenance, then? Good grief, do the suits in charge of WDW really believe that guests can't tell that Ariel's mouth isn't working, and how bad that looks?

It's been a while...but didn't Iger once brag on a corporate phone call that he'd cut the maintenance budget for the parks?

Well, if he did, it certainly shows. Iger should be fired for this alone, for his shoddy treatment of the parks and park guests. It's this kind of "oh, it's good enough for the rubes we're shaking down for big bucks. Those idiots will never know the difference" attitude that's also been the reason the Yeti in EE has never been fixed. Maybe, just like they did with the Yeti, "maintenance" will someday point a strobe light on Ariel's mouth or something. This is appalling. Appalling beyond words.

 

[Andrew25]

So it's poor maintenance, then? Good grief, do the suits in charge of WDW really believe that guests can't tell that Ariel's mouth isn't working, and how bad that looks?

Unfortunately yes. Only us dedicated fans, a very small majority, notice these things.

 

[celluloid]

Unfortunately yes. Only us dedicated fans, a very small majority, notice these things.

So Vocal?

Yes.

Notices the quality reduction? A lot of people do.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Unfortunately yes. Only us dedicated fans, a very small majority, notice these things.

I think the average guest is a bit more savvy that you give them credit for. People notice things. Maybe not everyone, because so many these days have the attention span of a gnat (and the intellect to go along with it), but I’d guess more than a small minority can tell when things seem off. And it certainly could be that I’m wrong.

 

[Andrew25]

I think the average guest is a bit more savvy that you give them credit for. People notice things. Maybe not everyone, because so many these days have the attention span of a gnat (and the intellect to go along with it), but I’d guess more than a small minority can tell when things seem off. And it certainly could be that I’m wrong.

I'm not trying to say that guests are idiots or don't notice a lack of quality/maintenance on some things, but most people won't be able to tell if an effect/figure is working properly as intended, and that unfortunately gives Disney an excuse.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I'm not trying to say that guests are idiots or don't notice a lack of quality/maintenance on some things, but most people won't be able to tell if an effect/figure is working properly as intended, and that unfortunately gives Disney an excuse.

Fair point. And sadly, that last part is so very true.

Here's looking at you, Rise of the Resistance. Luckiest damn ride in the history of the parks when it comes to first-time riders not knowing what's supposed to work.

 

[GhostHost1000]

So it's poor maintenance, then? Good grief, do the suits in charge of WDW really believe that guests can't tell that Ariel's mouth isn't working, and how bad that looks?

It's been a while...but didn't Iger once brag on a corporate phone call that he'd cut the maintenance budget for the parks?

Well, if he did, it certainly shows. Iger should be fired for this alone, for his shoddy treatment of the parks and park guests. It's this kind of "oh, it's good enough for the rubes we're shaking down for big bucks. Those idiots will never know the difference" attitude that's also been the reason the Yeti in EE has never been fixed. Maybe, just like they did with the Yeti, "maintenance" will someday point a strobe light on Ariel's mouth or something. This is appalling. Appalling beyond words.

That is the problem with current management….their thinking is if it’s good enough, why bother to do anything

People are noticing

 

[ToTBellHop]

Nurse, I’d like to order an MRI and iron-level check on the fish girl.