Mermaid Duplicate Animatronics Photo

[RSoxNo1]

Have you actually ridden Mermaid? I love Peter Pan, MK's Pooh, and Snow White (thank goodness its still in Disneyland), . . . I feel nothing for Mermaid. They built a couple high-tech animatronics, but there are a lot of unfinished scenes and cheap plastic fish, and the ride lacks that "magic" seen in so many other Disney rides. It just wasn't planned out very well, like others have said.

I went on Mermaid last summer and this summer. If you're criticizing the animatronics and Mermaid and then using the AA's in Pan, Pooh and Snow White as the basis of your comparison, I question whether you've been on any of the classic rides. Mermaid has it's shortcomings, just like most attractions, but it never professed to be an E-ticket. To me, Peter Pan's Flight has been surviving on the novelty of the "flying boats" (my nephew's term) for 20 years. The animatronics and set decoration for Peter Pan's Flight and Snow White's Scare Adventures was substantially worse than World of Motion. I feel that's relevant because when you watch a travel channel special or modern marvels about Disney World, the clips they use to showcase the primitive AAs that didn't have "compliance" built in are typically from World of Motion. The motion of the "cheap plastic fish" looks a lot better to me than the primitive AAs that are in the current Fantasyland dark rides.

I would argue that Mermaid will have the 15 best animatronics in any Fantasyland Dark ride when it opens:

• 2 Scuttle Animatronics
• 3 Sebastian Animatronics
• 1 Ursula Animatronic
• 2 Prince Eric Animatronics
• 1 Flotsam Animatronic, 1 Jetsam Animatronic
• 4 Ariel Animatronics
• 1 King Triton

 

[JustInTime]

I honestly noticed Mermaid's repeat figures, which are acting out a different scene INAPROPRIATELY in the finale, IMHO, the second time I rode. Splash doesn't duplicate scenes like that, and oh—Splash is a massive E-Ticket thrill ride, maybe I got water in my eyes, but at least it doesn't look cheap!

Mermaid doesn't have much in it, this is why the ride goes so slow, and why many scenes are "boring" because that's all it has, oh, and the final couple scenes are half-finished. Can't say this about Splash, a clear E-Ticket ride.

Where in my post did I say Mermaid was an e-ticket ride? I was merely pointing out that even beloved attractions like Splash Mountain have doubles. Nothing wrong with it. If you are so bothered about a freaking turtle or fish, just don't ride Mermaid. Nobody will notice.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Where in my post did I say Mermaid was an e-ticket ride? I was merely pointing out that even beloved attractions like Splash Mountain have doubles. Nothing wrong with it. If you are so bothered about a freaking turtle or fish, just don't ride Mermaid. Nobody will notice.

I was just pointing out that Splash Mountain is an E-Ticket, and that the duplicates there are used appropriately and don't stick out like sore thumb, which they do, IMHO, on Mermaid. Others have noted this as well.

For the second time, it isn't just the presence of duplicates, but the fact that a whole ton of duplicated lobsters, newts, turtles and motionless plastic fish are used again in the last scene and that they are doing the exact same silly dance as in a prior scene WHICH MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE when you really look at the scene, it is awkward and a cheap way to end a ride!

When Ariel got married in the film, the turtles, lobsters, newts and whatever else didn't jump out the water and start dancing just as in the Under the Sea scene, though to save the animators work I guess they could have done that!

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I went on Mermaid last summer and this summer. If you're criticizing the animatronics and Mermaid and then using the AA's in Pan, Pooh and Snow White as the basis of your comparison, I question whether you've been on any of the classic rides.

I wasn't comparing the dark rides based on their animatronics—I was pointing out that Mermaid's animatronics are what the focus of the ride is, while the theming and the rest of the whole attraction is sub-par, at least the version in DCA.

I think Peter Pan is a much better ride than Mermaid, even though the animatronics are much less complicated and have very limited motion, because you progress much more quickly through Peter Pan and having the latest and greatest animatronic wouldn't improve the show that much.

Its not the technology I don't like about Mermaid, what they did with latex and stuff is pretty good, but it is how the story is poorly put together and how the scenes don't work and everything that was left unfinished.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I would argue that Mermaid will have the 15 best animatronics in any Fantasyland Dark ride when it opens:

• 2 Scuttle Animatronics
• 3 Sebastian Animatronics
• 1 Ursula Animatronic
• 2 Prince Eric Animatronics
• 1 Flotsam Animatronic, 1 Jetsam Animatronic
• 4 Ariel Animatronics
• 1 King Triton

Really, I think that Mermaid is like Country Bear Jamboree, you've got classic songs from the film, and the main characters, everything else is pretty tacky looking. I think they should have made Mermaid into a musical review and done a Beauty and the Beast E-Ticket dark ride if this was all they were going to do with Mermaid. As of yet, Fantasyland doesn't really have a big E-Ticket in terms of overall show.

Another problem with animatronics in Mermaid is that the guest is so close to the Omnimover that they look kind of plasticky and fake, you can see how the eyelids work and stuff like that. On Peter Pan, the animatronics may be less advanced, but at least they are tastefully put a couple more feet back so that everything doesn't look fake.

 

[unkadug]

Really, I think that Mermaid is like Country Bear Jamboree, you've got classic songs from the film, and the main characters, everything else is pretty tacky looking. I think they should have made Mermaid into a musical review and done a Beauty and the Beast E-Ticket dark ride if this was all they were going to do with Mermaid. As of yet, Fantasyland doesn't really have a big E-Ticket in terms of overall show.

Another problem with animatronics in Mermaid is that the guest is so close to the Omnimover that they look kind of plasticky and fake, you can see how the eyelids work and stuff like that. On Peter Pan, the animatronics may be less advanced, but at least they are tastefully put a couple more feet back so that everything doesn't look fake.

What? Did you even read what you just wrote?

 

[Patricia Melton]

Have you actually ridden Mermaid? I love Peter Pan, MK's Pooh, and Snow White (thank goodness its still in Disneyland), . . . I feel nothing for Mermaid. They built a couple high-tech animatronics, but there are a lot of unfinished scenes and cheap plastic fish, and the ride lacks that "magic" seen in so many other Disney rides. It just wasn't planned out very well, like others have said.

Little Mermaid is not really a "dark ride" like those others you cited. Maybe what you call "magic" is the experience you have in a dark ride. I find that magical too. I love dark rides. But Little Mermaid is not a dark ride and should be judged for what it is.

 

[Patricia Melton]

Really, I think that Mermaid is like Country Bear Jamboree, you've got classic songs from the film, and the main characters, everything else is pretty tacky looking. I think they should have made Mermaid into a musical review and done a Beauty and the Beast E-Ticket dark ride if this was all they were going to do with Mermaid. As of yet, Fantasyland doesn't really have a big E-Ticket in terms of overall show.

Another problem with animatronics in Mermaid is that the guest is so close to the Omnimover that they look kind of plasticky and fake, you can see how the eyelids work and stuff like that. On Peter Pan, the animatronics may be less advanced, but at least they are tastefully put a couple more feet back so that everything doesn't look fake.

But, everything is fake. It's a ride in a theme park. There's no way of shutting off the part of your brain that tells you "this is fake" on a theme park ride. You have to just enjoy it for what it is and not go through it saying "This looks fake!". Well, water is wet but you don't keep noting the obvious while drinking it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I wasn't comparing the dark rides based on their animatronics—I was pointing out that Mermaid's animatronics are what the focus of the ride is, while the theming and the rest of the whole attraction is sub-par, at least the version in DCA.

I think Peter Pan is a much better ride than Mermaid, even though the animatronics are much less complicated and have very limited motion, because you progress much more quickly through Peter Pan and having the latest and greatest animatronic wouldn't improve the show that much.

Its not the technology I don't like about Mermaid, what they did with latex and stuff is pretty good, but it is how the story is poorly put together and how the scenes don't work and everything that was left unfinished.

In Mermaid they summarize the plot a lot better than they do in Peter Pan's Flight. The sets are primitive and are in a state of disrepair in Peter Pan's Flight, while in Mermaid they're more modern. Yes there are more primitive background animatronics in Mermaid, but there's also detailed rockworks whereas the Peter Pan's Flight equivalent is a black curtain. We're not going to come to an agreement here, but in my opinion, Mermaid is a far superior ride.

Really, I think that Mermaid is like Country Bear Jamboree, you've got classic songs from the film, and the main characters, everything else is pretty tacky looking. I think they should have made Mermaid into a musical review and done a Beauty and the Beast E-Ticket dark ride if this was all they were going to do with Mermaid. As of yet, Fantasyland doesn't really have a big E-Ticket in terms of overall show.

Another problem with animatronics in Mermaid is that the guest is so close to the Omnimover that they look kind of plasticky and fake, you can see how the eyelids work and stuff like that. On Peter Pan, the animatronics may be less advanced, but at least they are tastefully put a couple more feet back so that everything doesn't look fake.

Pretty tacky looking? Have you been on a Fantasyland dark ride before? They all look tacky. By comparison Mermaid is a huge step up from the funhouse style rides that have existed for 50+ years.

As for the proximity of the AA's, it's getting to the point now where people are complaining just for the sake of complaining. "The Peter Pan AA's may be less primitive, but at least they're further away so we can't tell..." Really, that's insane.

Edit: Quick follow up, because the "tastefully put a couple more feet back" comment is still blowing my mind. Why don't we have Disney do that on all of the broken effects. Rather than fix the Yeti, let's just "tastefully [move it] a couple more feet back"?

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

In Mermaid they summarize the plot a lot better than they do in Peter Pan's Flight.

Peter Pan's Flight works as it the ride is not just about summarizing the plot, they took the best parts which make for an adventurous dark ride. Yes, there are a lot of things painted "black", but it is a dark ride, and I'd take that any day over the exposed lighting and bars holding up swirling fish which stick out like a sore thumb because Mermaid uses white light instead of being lit up like a classical dark ride.

Mermaid slavishly tries to exactly replicate certain scenes, and adding in stuff that the average guest might not remember from the film, such as the losing her voice thing. A lot of fans are of the viewpoint of Tony Baxter who more than a "book report" Mermaid ride, wanted to more focus on the romance in the film, rather than trying to cram stuff in.

If you think that Mermaid's screens and cardboard cut outs are the latest and greatest in dark ride technology, I would say no. Mermaid doesn't even use much dark light, much of the ride is lit up like maybe when the turn on the work lights instead of the show lights in HM, . . .

Having a couple good animatronics doesn't make a ride, IMHO, and the animatronics are good, but they aren't utilized as well as they could have been. Country Bear in Disneyland had a lot of animatronics in it, some with a lot more motion than the turtles, lobsters, fish and newts in Mermaid . . . didn't save that attraction in terms of general guest interest.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

But, everything is fake. It's a ride in a theme park. There's no way of shutting off the part of your brain that tells you "this is fake" on a theme park ride. You have to just enjoy it for what it is and not go through it saying "This looks fake!". Well, water is wet but you don't keep noting the obvious while drinking it.

Intellectually, a lot of the stuff in theme parks are fake. The plants, buildings, castmembers are real, as are the horses that pull the horse drawn trolleys.

IMHO, the subconscious mind deals with reality differently than your conscious, and even though you know things are "fake" there are different degrees of believability that add to the ride's enjoyment. We don't think, on a purely objective level that the critters in Splash Mountain are "real", but Disney did a good job coming as close to real as they could at the time so that we can enjoy the scenes and subconsciously we buy that reality.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Why are you so obsessed with duplicate/number of repeating animatronics in The Little Mermaid? I'm honestly curious. Why does it matter? Take the ride for what it is. A cute and fun ride for kids. I'm sure you won't see little Johnny or Isabel riding TLM and going "Mommy, look! That same turtle and fish appears exactly six times".

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Why are you so obsessed with duplicate/number of repeating animatronics in The Little Mermaid? I'm honestly curious. Why does it matter? Take the ride for what it is. A cute and fun ride for kids. I'm sure you won't see little Johnny or Isabel riding TLM and going "Mommy, look! That same turtle and fish appears exactly six times".

Well, no, other guests who have ridden the ride have noticed the same thing, especially with the finale scene as the duplicates look out of place. This little point is kinda key to the conversation amigo. And the critics of this thread don't really acknowledge this point.

Normally, I wouldn't notice such things, or even think it was bad. HM re-uses some faces for the popping up ghosts in the graveyard scene, the HM dueling ghosts are (I believe) re-used faces from Pirates. The bewildered caretake in Haunted Mansion is the bottom guy on the pole in the Rhino scene on Jungle Cruise. 99.9% of guests don't notice this.

No big deal, but with Mermaid this little thing pops out because the ride goes so slow, and you have plenty of time to look at everything several times, I have heard folks remark that they "brought back" the dancing/singing stuff from the Under the Sea scene, and that it looks very much out of place.

Of course, this being a Disney message board, I have no need to validate my interest in a new attraction under construction, this post is apropos to that theme, I might better ask you why you don't seem to care and why others attack those of us who do care about the details?

 

[ChrisM]

Why are you so obsessed with duplicate/number of repeating animatronics in The Little Mermaid? I'm honestly curious. Why does it matter?

Because the resulting product doesn't appear to be of the quality expected based on the alleged cost of the ride.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Well, no, other guests who have ridden the ride have noticed the same thing, especially with the finale scene as the duplicates look out of place. This little point is kinda key to the conversation amigo.

Normally, I wouldn't notice such things, or even think it was bad. HM re-uses some faces for the popping up ghosts in the graveyard scene, the HM dueling ghosts are (I believe) re-used faces from Pirates. The bewildered caretake in Haunted Mansion is the bottom guy on the pole in the Rhino scene on Jungle Cruise. 99.9% of guests don't notice this.

No big deal, but with Mermaid this little thing pops out because the ride goes so slow, and you have plenty of time to look at stuff, I have heard folks remark that they "brought back" the dancing/singing stuff from the Under the Sea scene, and that it looks very much out of place.

Of course, this being a Disney message board, I have no need to validate my interest in a new attraction under construction, this post is apropos to that theme, I might better ask you why you don't seem to care and why others attack those of us who do care about the details?

I could see if you brought it up maybe once or twice or whatever. But this is all you seem to talk about. "The Little Mermaid this, The Little Mermaid that, duplicate animatronics here, duplicate animatronics there". I was just wondering why you're so focused on this subject, that's all. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't care anymore so just ignore this post.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Peter Pan's Flight works as it the ride is not just about summarizing the plot, they took the best parts which make for an adventurous dark ride. Yes, there are a lot of things painted "black", but it is a dark ride, and I'd take that any day over the exposed lighting and bars holding up swirling fish which stick out like a sore thumb because Mermaid uses white light instead of being lit up like a classical dark ride.

Mermaid slavishly tries to exactly replicate certain scenes, and adding in stuff that the average guest might not remember from the film, such as the losing her voice thing. A lot of fans are of the viewpoint of Tony Baxter who more than a "book report" Mermaid ride, wanted to more focus on the romance in the film, rather than trying to cram stuff in.

If you think that Mermaid's screens and cardboard cut outs are the latest and greatest in dark ride technology, I would say no. Mermaid doesn't even use much dark light, much of the ride is lit up like maybe when the turn on the work lights instead of the show lights in HM, . . .

Having a couple good animatronics doesn't make a ride, IMHO, and the animatronics are good, but they aren't utilized as well as they could have been. Country Bear in Disneyland had a lot of animatronics in it, some with a lot more motion than the turtles, lobsters, fish and newts in Mermaid . . . didn't save that attraction in terms of general guest interest.

Screens and cardboard cutouts are used along with modern animatronics. Mermaid simply doesn't look as dated as Peter Pan's Flight. By all means, continue to wait in the 60 minute Standby lines for Peter Pan's Flight, I'll gladly wait 5 minutes for what I view as a superior attraction.

 

[Patricia Melton]

You know what? I like each ride in the Disney parks in its own way. The older ones have creaky doors that make thuds when they open and close. I clearly know that things are painted in glow in the dark paint in some of them, and that this paint was revolutionary and magical back when it was first made decades ago...but we're used to it now. One of the things that takes me out of almost every ride is the fact that at twists and turns you can see other ride vehicles in front of or behind you...but that's just part of the ride. Depending on who else is riding they could be shrieking or hollering or chanting in Portuguese. But that's kind of the atmosphere of a theme park and not a private VIP after hours excursion through a ride all by myself.

I think some of the super fans cross a line into becoming hyperbolic critics of the rides...to the point where something they loved turns into something they start to hate after a while. When this happens, I think some people need to step back a little and maybe broaden their interests a tad. These are rides meant for fun and built long before anyone dreamed there'd be a thing like the internet where people could pick everything apart all day and post videos and endless opinions on these rides.

Nothing made before the Internet can really stand up to the withering criticism of the Internet.

 

[unkadug]

Well, no, other guests who have ridden the ride have noticed the same thing, especially with the finale scene as the duplicates look out of place. This little point is kinda key to the conversation amigo. And the critics of this thread don't really acknowledge this point.

Funny, I haven't heard any bemoaning except from you...

Normally, I wouldn't notice such things, or even think it was bad. HM re-uses some faces for the popping up ghosts in the graveyard scene, the HM dueling ghosts are (I believe) re-used faces from Pirates. The bewildered caretake in Haunted Mansion is the bottom guy on the pole in the Rhino scene on Jungle Cruise. 99.9% of guests don't notice this.

No big deal, but with Mermaid this little thing pops out because the ride goes so slow, and you have plenty of time to look at everything several times, I have heard folks remark that they "brought back" the dancing/singing stuff from the Under the Sea scene, and that it looks very much out of place.

Of course, this being a Disney message board, I have no need to validate my interest in a new attraction under construction, this post is apropos to that theme, I might better ask you why you don't seem to care and why others attack those of us who do care about the details?

Because it's nitpicking and repetitive.

 

[KingMickey]

Peter Pan's Flight works as it the ride is not just about summarizing the plot, they took the best parts which make for an adventurous dark ride. Yes, there are a lot of things painted "black", but it is a dark ride, and I'd take that any day over the exposed lighting and bars holding up swirling fish which stick out like a sore thumb because Mermaid uses white light instead of being lit up like a classical dark ride.

Mermaid slavishly tries to exactly replicate certain scenes, and adding in stuff that the average guest might not remember from the film, such as the losing her voice thing. A lot of fans are of the viewpoint of Tony Baxter who more than a "book report" Mermaid ride, wanted to more focus on the romance in the film, rather than trying to cram stuff in.

If you think that Mermaid's screens and cardboard cut outs are the latest and greatest in dark ride technology, I would say no. Mermaid doesn't even use much dark light, much of the ride is lit up like maybe when the turn on the work lights instead of the show lights in HM, . . .

Having a couple good animatronics doesn't make a ride, IMHO, and the animatronics are good, but they aren't utilized as well as they could have been. Country Bear in Disneyland had a lot of animatronics in it, some with a lot more motion than the turtles, lobsters, fish and newts in Mermaid . . . didn't save that attraction in terms of general guest interest.

I have a question, you talk about Mermaid not being a "dark ride" because they use white fluorescent lighting in some of the scenes, but how would painting everything in black light paint an lighting it up in black light make it look better? Instead, wouldn't the entire Under the Sea scene look like an under sea Heffalumps and Woozles, which is clearly NOT how the scene ever appears in the movie? The scene is supposed to be bright and colorful, black light casts a hazy and gloomy glow. Just look at all the scenes in Snow White and Peter Pan, which were solely lit in black light...and the entire ride is dark. I'm just saying, that will make it look even worse than some people already think it does. Pooh is also another ride that uses exposed white lighting in a few of their scenes, but there hasn't been a complaint about that.

Also, on the topic of "real" and "fake", Mermaid isn't another Mansion or Pirates, where you are supposed to feel like you're going through an old mansion or at a nearby sea port, it's not like 20,000 Leagues where you are actually seeing a real-life undersea environment, it's an animated movie, it's supposed to look fake and plastic. It's like the same could be said for multiple dark rides inspired off of animated films, but it's not like anyone is like "Oh crap" when they see fluorescent lighting shine off of Pooh's stomach.

Unfortunately, it is what it is, there is little that could be done to make something made of material suddenly gain real-life qualities, but still remain a cartoon.

 

[RSoxNo1]

You know what? I like each ride in the Disney parks in its own way. The older ones have creaky doors that make thuds when they open and close.

That's The Haunted Mansion... it's supposed to be that way.