Little Mermaid Ride at DCA had some major changes installed

[ZodIsGr8]

I was just watching a video on another Disney site and it showed some major changes to the Little Mermaid Ride at DCA. They added a few extra characters that do not move at all, but the major change occurs as you enter the scenes where you "go under water". Instead of being lit it is now all done in a black light environment like the classic Disney Dark Rides. This new effect does a great job of hiding the mechanics and light fixtures that were always visible, plus it just adds a great element to the ride. I am not sure of the policy of posting other websites videos here so I will post the YouTube clip instead. I really enjoyed the new ride video and I hope that they bring this to WDW soon. From reading the article it only took them a couple of weeks to update the ride at DCA, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for this one as it will improve the show quality greatly in my opinion.

 

[danlb_2000]

I was just watching a video on another Disney site and it showed some major changes to the Little Mermaid Ride at DCA. They added a few extra characters that do not move at all, but the major change occurs as you enter the scenes where you "go under water". Instead of being lit it is now all done in a black light environment like the classic Disney Dark Rides. This new effect does a great job of hiding the mechanics and light fixtures that were always visible, plus it just adds a great element to the ride. I am not sure of the policy of posting other websites videos here so I will post the YouTube clip instead. I really enjoyed the new ride video and I hope that they bring this to WDW soon. From reading the article it only took them a couple of weeks to update the ride at DCA, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for this one as it will improve the show quality greatly in my opinion.

Being discussed here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/little-mermaid-to-receive-updates.876730/page-15

 

[ZodIsGr8]

Being discussed here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/little-mermaid-to-receive-updates.876730/page-15

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I am not sure how I missed that before.

 

[TP2000]

From reading the article it only took them a couple of weeks to update the ride at DCA, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for this one as it will improve the show quality greatly in my opinion.

This latest refurbishment for the DCA version of the Mermaid ride was almost 8 weeks long. It was closed from March 19th until May 9th. This was the second refurbishment the ride has received since it opened at DCA in May, 2011.

It's unclear whether or not TDO would allow the Magic Kingdom version of the ride to be closed repeatedly for up to 8 weeks at a time to receive the same updates and planned updates as the DCA version.

Extended refurbishments are treated very differently in Anaheim compared to Orlando; see this spring's Pirates refurbishments that are 4 days long in Magic Kingdom Park and 4 weeks long at Disneyland.

 

[JediMasterMatt]

Extended refurbishments are treated very differently in Anaheim compared to Orlando; see this spring's Pirates refurbishments that are 4 days long in Magic Kingdom Park and 4 weeks long at Disneyland.

You ain't kidding. One location places show quality as important as keeping the infrastructure operational.

<insert Martin's video of the broken Mermaid omnimover car in Orlando>

Maybe the issue is that TDO can't block out the FF+ system for a full refurbishment because they've already got 3 other reservations? Oh, who am I fooling? There's no way they'd have 3 attractions being refurbished at the same time.

 

[TP2000]

Maybe the issue is that TDO can't block out the FF+ system for a full refurbishment because they've already got 3 other reservations? Oh, who am I fooling? There's no way they'd have 3 attractions being refurbished at the same time.

The glaring differences in show quality between the coasts aside, you bring up an interesting point with FP+.

TDO will now be booking Fastpasses months in advance at almost all rides. They'll need to plan refurbishments even more carefully (stingy?) now considering that. Disneyland doesn't have FP+, and shows no signs of making any preparations to receive it. And DCA's Mermaid doesn't even have basic Fastpass, so it was easy to just close the ride and say "Sorry folks, the moose out front should have told you we were closed!"

FP+ will complicate refurbishment schedules further for TDO.

 

[ZodIsGr8]

This latest refurbishment for the DCA version of the Mermaid ride was almost 8 weeks long. It was closed from March 19th until May 9th. This was the second refurbishment the ride has received since it opened at DCA in May, 2011.

It's unclear whether or not TDO would allow the Magic Kingdom version of the ride to be closed repeatedly for up to 8 weeks at a time to receive the same updates and planned updates as the DCA version.

Extended refurbishments are treated very differently in Anaheim compared to Orlando; see this spring's Pirates refurbishments that are 4 days long in Magic Kingdom Park and 4 weeks long at Disneyland.

Thanks for that information. I am always surprised at all of the knowledgable people that you meet on this board. Have a great rest of the day and thanks again!

 

[JediMasterMatt]

FP+ will complicate refurbishment schedules further for TDO.

Why do I think it will be used as another excuse for TDO? "We can't perform scheuled refurbs because there are people with reservations already. We will be able to fix the Yeti/Davey Jones/cloud projections/Brer Rabbit on a stick/falling tree branch from the Tree of Life - the next time nobody has reservations for these attractions".