Little Mermaid soft openings?

Captain Neo

Captain Neo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Haven't followed WDW news in awhile and was just wondering if anything has been said about Little Mermaid soft openings. Planning a visit in May and was hoping to give it a spin.
 
WED Purist

WED Purist

Well-Known Member
You can't get there from here

Even if the ride is done and functional, you can't access it until all the rock work in front is finished, as well as the Castle Wall and surrounding area development.
 
jjharvpro

jjharvpro

Active Member
I would guess that they would begin soft opening in late September, at the earliest. You can really tell they're approaching the finish line though..
 
J03Y

J03Y

Well-Known Member
they'd only release TLM along with Beast's Castle and Belle's village, and i think that'd be finished around September to October. maybe a little earlier if they finish it ahead of schedule. doubt that, but still wishful thinking lol :D
 
Captain Neo

Captain Neo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
danlb_2000 said:
The only Finding Nemo rides I know of are the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Disneyland which is nothing like this ride, and the one at the Seas in Epcot which is only similar in that they are both Omni-movers.
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both omnimovers, both take you under the sea, and both based on an animated movie about sea life
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
StAug WDW fan said:
Is this ride just going to be another Finding Nemo type ride?
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WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Little Mermaid ride opened in May, 2011 at Disney California Adventure. The version opening this fall in WDW is an identical copy of from the loading belt to the unloading belt. Here's a good YouTube video of the ride taken last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKipgkOdYIc&feature=fvwrel

The DCA version is closing for refurbishment this spring. They are going to replace the Ariel animatronic that has a hairdo like Soft Serve ice cream in the Under The Sea room, and John Lasseter wants the computer animation in the ride replaced with hand-drawn animation, plus some other tweaks.

It's assumed that the new changes to the DCA version this spring will also show up in the WDW version that opens in the fall.
 
bgraham34

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Little Mermaid ride opened in May, 2011 at Disney California Adventure. The version opening this fall in WDW is an identical copy of from the loading belt to the unloading belt. Here's a good YouTube video of the ride taken last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKipgkOdYIc&feature=fvwrel

The DCA version is closing for refurbishment this spring. They are going to replace the Ariel animatronic that has a hairdo like Soft Serve ice cream in the Under The Sea room, and John Lasseter wants the computer animation in the ride replaced with hand-drawn animation, plus some other tweaks.

It's assumed that the new changes to the DCA version this spring will also show up in the WDW version that opens in the fall.
Click to expand...

Wow I had no idea that they were closing. I love that they are getting rid of the CGI. Smart move.
 
WED Purist

WED Purist

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Little Mermaid ride opened in May, 2011 at Disney California Adventure. The version opening this fall in WDW is an identical copy of from the loading belt to the unloading belt.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but our queue is so much cooler.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
bgraham34 said:
Wow I had no idea that they were closing. I love that they are getting rid of the CGI. Smart move.
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Al Lutz had another write-up about this in his latest column a few days ago. Here's the latest scoop on the rehab and changes coming to The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure next month...

There’s other good news arriving even earlier this spring, as the Little Mermaid ride is now scheduled to close for rehab for the first week of May. John Lasseter has bought off on the plans to rework some of the weak links in the ride (he doesn’t just care about Anaheim’s Pixar rides), and the updated attraction should open by Saturday, May 5th. New hand-drawn animation of Ariel is coming to the projection screens near the beginning and end of the ride, and the computer animation has now been scrapped for the Florida version as well. Additional projection bubble effects are being added in the descent and ascent tunnels, and reworked lighting and additional props are being added to the Under The Sea and Kiss The Girl scenes. And, most noticeably, a new animatronic hairdo will be installed on the swimming Ariel figure in the middle of the ride, erasing her similarity to a Soft-Serve ice cream cone.
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http://miceage.micechat.com/

Disney hasn't said a word about this, and the Mermaid rehab is still not listed on the Rehab Calendar at Disneyland.com. This information has only been discussed by Mr. Lutz in his Miceage columns, but if the Mermaid ride closes at DCA for a rehab in early May, we'll know why. The results of the rehab at DCA in May should be duplicated six months later when the ride finally opens at WDW.

And I'm sure YouTube videos of the revamped ride and new animatronic effects will be up within hours once it reopens. :lol:
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
WED Purist said:
Yeah, but our queue is so much cooler.
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The queue at WDW will be far more immersive and "interactive", mostly because the WDW version will have Fastpass and thus create a backed-up Standby line that needs to be entertained. There's also the "Next Gen" elements coming to the queue, for those same reasons. Anaheim hasn't had any Next Gen anything yet, and there's not a peep from anyone on when the Next Gen may show up in Anaheim, if ever. But I'm looking forward to seeing how the queue caverns turn out at WDW's Mermaid ride during a visit next winter!

The queue at DCA, on the other hand, is basically just a straight in shot to the loading belt from the Rotunda, with a rarely used switchback along the entrance portal.

IMG_1440.jpg


The DCA version hasn't been running a line more than 10 minutes even at Christmas, and most times I've seen it the past 9 months or so it's posted as a 5 Minute Wait and it actually takes just 2 or 3 minutes. It's basically a short shuffle in from the Rotunda and you are seated in a clamshell.

Al Lutz had a good explanation on this at Miceage a few days ago, as it's due to it's big hourly ridership capacity and the Omnimover clamshells.

Skeptical critics may not believe it, but the Little Mermaid continues to get rave reviews on the Guest Research feedback for DCA, especially from its target demographic of families with young children. With its 2,000 riders per hour Omnimover capacity, it continues to maintain short 5 to 10 minute waits and not only hosts twice as many riders per day as Toy Story Midway Mania, but it pulls in slightly more riders in a 10 hour operating day than Star Tours does next door with its longer 16 hour days. It was those huge ridership numbers that helped convince John Lasseter that spending money on purely cosmetic tweaks was the right thing to do for this newer attraction. The crowds descending on DCA this summer will appreciate the short waits for Mermaid, whether or not they understand the wonders of an Omnimover ride system and the cost of new animatronic hair.
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http://miceage.micechat.com/
 
Captain Neo

Captain Neo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Pretty funny that it took Disney close to THIRTY years to build an attraction for this movie. The movie that single handily saved animation in the 80s and led to a second golden age.
 

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