Little Mermaid Ride Adjustments

[Disneyfanman]

Everything I have heard is that the rides will be exactly the same. And we really like it at DCA. I still believe that adding some scrims with projections and darkening the lighting would really improve the Under the Sea portion, but we like it all the same. Until I saw the thing about duplicates on-line, the only one I ever noticed was the turtle. It's a dark ride that vastly exceeds the scale and scope of anything else in Fantasyland. Is it a full blown E-Ticket? Nope. The problem continues to be that people EXPECT it to be. If Disney built a super duper E-ticket in Fantasyland then people wouldn't be even talking about this. But they didn't and we are.

 

[twinnstar]

These elements were nowhere near as glaringly bad as the high lighting levels and exposed ceiling structure of the entire warehouse. If they could just bring the lighting to the level used in Nemo at Epcot, and the techniques used to mask the ceiling fixtures, also seen in Nemo, it would make the attraction worlds better.

YES!!! THANK YOU. When we reached that part of the ride i was SO disappointed. Like - seriously? I know people roll their eyes when people mention Walt, but i think we can all 100% agree that he would have NEVER let that slide! So unbelievably disappointing. I really hope they fix that in the WDW version.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Everything Until I saw the thing about duplicates on-line, the only one I ever noticed was the turtle. It's a dark ride that vastly exceeds the scale and scope of anything else in Fantasyland. Is it a full blown E-Ticket? Nope. The problem continues to be that people EXPECT it to be. If Disney built a super duper E-ticket in Fantasyland then people wouldn't be even talking about this. But they didn't and we are.

Fantasyland in Disneyland has a lot of great dark rides all in one area, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Alice, Snow White, Pinocchio.

LM isn't a dark ride as it, for the most part, doesn't use UV light and special paint to achieve the dark ride effect. LM uses mostly "white light" which is used in rides like Small World. I think this is why a lot of people don't like the DCA version, it is a sort of musical review like Small World, without the intrigue of a dark ride.

The issue of the duplicates isn't so much that exact fishes, turtle and newts, were duplicated, it is that these figures have limited motion and are "acting out" their role in the Under the Sea scene, plus they don't fit in the finale at all. This is because the Imagineers got lazy, or were severely pressed for funds, and had to "make up" a finale by ordering duplicate figures and have them do the exact same thing they do earlier in the ride.

This is most likely why concept art was never shown for the finale, it wasn't done yet, and they didn't want people to look closely and realize what a cheap job they did.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

And we really like it at DCA.

LM at DCA pre-carsland was a walk-on, it even is now. I would guess that most people don't "love" the ride, it is better than a poke in the eye if it is a walk-on, but I would never wait more than ten minutes for it.

 

[PadThai]

Sorry if this have been post before..
Interesting info about WDW LM ride loading area.

This picture is from Mike Peraza's blog.

http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2011/11/mermaid-mural-for-disney-world.html

 

[threeyoda]

LM at DCA pre-carsland was a walk-on, it even is now. I would guess that most people don't "love" the ride, it is better than a poke in the eye if it is a walk-on, but I would never wait more than ten minutes for it.

Disneyland has a more local visitor base than Disney World, which is much more out-of-town and international. That's why, since Little Mermaid is a ride that feels cut short, the lines are never long at DL. Most people there have been there, done that, and the ride is not worth re-riding like the other dark rides over in Fantasyland. But with Disney World's out-of-town/international visitor base, Little Mermaid will probably always have a line since the movie is extremely popular and there is a high number of one-time visitors or visitors who rarely visit.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Disneyland has a more local visitor base than Disney World, which is much more out-of-town and international. That's why, since Little Mermaid is a ride that feels cut short, the lines are never long at DL. Most people there have been there, done that, and the ride is not worth re-riding like the other dark rides over in Fantasyland. But with Disney World's out-of-town/international visitor base, Little Mermaid will probably always have a line since the movie is extremely popular and there is a high number of one-time visitors or visitors who rarely visit.

I kind of doubt this logic as Disney is building a lot of DVC units for repeat business around the resort, and the next gen fast pass is more certainly not geared for first time visitors who have no idea what type of fast pass to get ahead of time.

If true, then why did they take out Snow White due to alleged "unpopularity"? Supposedly a line of first time visitors would keep this attraction popular forever. The cars in the parking lots for the parks in WDW are from mostly neighboring states and, like any business, WDW can't afford to upset any of their customers, even if repeat business makes up only 40% of the business. Magic Kingdom's attendance has flatlined, if Europe goes down the tubes, they will lose more business, IMHO, and Universal is getting great business because of Potterland. Disney did FLE to compete, but they made the mistake of copying a cheap ride from DCA that never needs a Fast Pass.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Sorry if this have been post before..
Interesting info about WDW LM ride loading area.This picture is from Mike Peraza's blog.

http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2011/11/mermaid-mural-for-disney-world.html

Thanks for posting! The mural looks really, really good. For some reason, I never really notice DCA's LM mural, maybe they don't light it up as much. It seems like they used the same technology for the LM mural as the mural in the BOG restaurant, namely making some sort of "digital prints", and then adding a bit of paint on top of that. Looks good to me.

I don't understand what the "arch" is in the LM mural in DCA, anybody?

http://www.mouseexpedition.net
http://www.mouseexpedition.net/2011_04_01_archive.html

The painter of the more realistic "painter's approach" mural noted, in reference to the MK version,

"They explained that the installation in Walt Disney World was larger all around and they wanted to use a more realistic and painterly approach."

I guess he means that the loading area is longer/larger . . . be interesting to see the differences between the two versions when MK's LM opens . . .

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

YES!!! THANK YOU. When we reached that part of the ride i was SO disappointed. Like - seriously? I know people roll their eyes when people mention Walt, but i think we can all 100% agree that he would have NEVER let that slide! So unbelievably disappointing. I really hope they fix that in the WDW version.

Some of the stuff that is wrong with Mermaid is simple stuff, like the exposed lighting in the ceiling, and my personal favorite, the "fish mobile." How hard would it be to dangle light weight fish from the ceiling with thin wires? Even if they fell, (unlikely), the would just fall down on the show scene and wouldn't weight much.

The fish mobiles look bad as you'd expect fish to be swimming everywhere, not just in two "cyclone" patterns, though this is how Ariel got her "Dole Whip" hair-cut in the film, though the soft-serve hair-cut has been removed. You can see the bar in the picture below, but it is much, much more noticeable in the ride as the thing is moving and if you look at the fish you immediately get how they did it and it looks fake.

Geez, I just noticed they didn't even paint the black bar where it attaches to the back of the fish! That is just too cheap! How much would it cost to paint the bar to match the fish, making the bar a little less noticeable?

A thin wire suspending the fish would be much, much less noticeable, and it wouldn't require attaching a bar to the side of a fish! If they have to keep the bar, why not attach a piece of metal to the top of the fish?!?

 

[Magenta Panther]

Some of the stuff that is wrong with Mermaid is simple stuff, like the exposed lighting in the ceiling, and my personal favorite, the "fish mobile." How hard would it be to dangle light weight fish from the ceiling with thin wires? Even if they fell, (unlikely), the would just fall down on the show scene and wouldn't weight much.

The fish mobiles look bad as you'd expect fish to be swimming everywhere, not just in two "cyclone" patterns, though this is how Ariel got her "Dole Whip" hair-cut in the film, though the soft-serve hair-cut has been removed. You can see the bar in the picture below, but it is much, much more noticeable in the ride as the thing is moving and if you look at the fish you immediately get how they did it and it looks fake.

Geez, I just noticed they didn't even paint the black bar where it attaches to the back of the fish! That is just too cheap! How much would it cost to paint the bar to match the fish, making the bar a little less noticeable?

A thin wire suspending the fish would be much, much less noticeable, and it wouldn't require attaching a bar to the side of a fish! If they have to keep the bar, why not attach a piece of metal to the top of the fish?!?

Wow, that does look cheezy. Disappointing.

 

[Adam5897]

Yes, under the sea is a bit disappointing. But I think that we can all agree that poor unfortunate souls and kiss the girl are great

 

[Patricia Melton]

I think the ride is fun for what it is. The intent was to basically bring the highlights of the story to life in a ride, and it succeeds in that. It could have been more thrilling and innovative and could have had a lot bigger budget, but what couldn't?

I'm just happy it exists at all because for years we had no Little Mermaid anything in the parks. This is a ride that makes my niece and nephew happy, so I'm glad it's there.

 

[ellie-badge]

If true, then why did they take out Snow White due to alleged "unpopularity"? Supposedly a line of first time visitors would keep this attraction popular forever. The cars in the parking lots for the parks in WDW are from mostly neighboring states and, like any business, WDW can't afford to upset any of their customers, even if repeat business makes up only 40% of the business. Magic Kingdom's attendance has flatlined, if Europe goes down the tubes, they will lose more business, IMHO, and Universal is getting great business because of Potterland. Disney did FLE to compete, but they made the mistake of copying a cheap ride from DCA that never needs a Fast Pass.

I don't know about you, but whenever I visited Walt Disney World, Snow White's Scary Adventures always had a very short standby line, even during peak seasons such as in the middle of the summer or around the holidays. While I always rode and enjoyed it, I could understand why it always had such a short wait. I'd go as far to say that I've waited longer to ride the carousel than for Snow White, but hey, that's just what I've seen and experienced.

This is just pure speculation on my part, but maybe "Scary Adventures" being in the title of the ride may have had something to do with its meager wait times. I don't imagine many parents want to take their children on something that may potentially be scary or frightening for them, regardless if it's a classic or not. At least with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, first-time visitors didn't initially know how intense it was compared to the other attractions in Fantasyland, much less the fact that it sent you to hell in the end.

As for New Fantasyland competing with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, not even close. Many people that are in the know on these forums have already stated before that FLE was NOT meant to compete with TWWoHP. Will it renew a bit of interest for potential customers to come and visit? Yeah, probably, but not near enough as what an entire new, unheard of area would. If anything, I think Pandora will be Disney's answer to TWWoHP, but that's just my two cents.

 

[Patricia Melton]

If anything, I think Pandora will be Disney's answer to TWWoHP, but that's just my two cents.

I agree with you, with a caveat. I think that Disney buying the rights to have Avatar in the parks was TDO's knee jerk response to Universal getting Potter in their parks. I don't however think that "Pandora - the World of Avatar" will be designed to compete with Potterland. I kind of think TDO just bought Avatar to keep Universal from buying it and then had to find something to do with it, and that something became a new "land" at DAK replacing what was supposed to be the Beastly Kingdom on the CMM pad.

What will Disney's answer to Potterland be?

I think it's going to be a complete reshaping of DHS in the future. I bet if Potterland stays a champ for Universal in the years ahead (talking 5-10 years here) that Disney will take the opportunity to complete redo DHS and make it more epic than Potterland. I bet there could be a Wizard of Oz land there (not in MK, but in DHS)...a Star Wars land...and Indiana Jones land...all kinds of Pixar attractions...you name it. Everything but Marvel, basically, because Disney can't have Marvel attractions in Florida.

I think Disney plays chess while Universal is playing checkers. Disney's counter-moves take longer to play out. I think the culture at TDO is so against spending any money that things take longer to happen...and that Universal basically decided to just throw a huge sum of money into its parks in the 2010-2015 window to get an edge on Disney for a few years while TDO dragged its heels and resisted similar spending to regain the top crown.

Disney will eventually come up with things that are better than Potterland when it becomes obvious that Potterland is not a flash in the pan and will not stop being popular. And when Disney responds 5-10 years down the road, they will spend whatever it takes to eclipse Universal again.

I just hope I am still around to see it!

 

[Southernsoftbawler]

Those rocks are not entirely on top of the show building. They're next to it. It's sort of a rock tunnel, hiding a road that is next to the building, between Mermaid and Circus.


And am I the only one who doesn't see much of a difference in the animation? o_0 It still looks cg to me. Not saying Disney is lying or anything, but man, they shaded the crap outta that, and it looks pretty stiff. But hey, I'm going by a video, not real life.

Yeah I watched a video too cause the last time I went I think it was the old version . It seems like the same animation but if u look closely (at least to me ) she looks taller and thinner than the old version . I will update this in about a week because we will be at Disney world then

 

[mouse_luv]

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