Mermaid is not overrated, and is a great fit for Fantasyland... prove me wrong.

[BHF]

Maybe it's just me, but Mermaid seems to get some unnecessary, not really "hate" persay, but unenthused reactions from the fan community.
I agree, it is no HM or SSE when it comes to omnimover attractions, but is it really supposed to be? I think it fits in nicely when compared to other FL attractions like Pan, Pooh, and Philar. Not a mind-blowing E ticket, but a nice themed ride the goes with the land.

Somebody tell me if I'm over smoking the Pixie dust on this one, because I just don't see it as underwhelming for a Fantasyland dark ride.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I agree 100%.

 

[erasure fan1]

Part of the issue is that it has one of the greatest queues in all of Disney world. It is absolutely fantastic. Then when you actually ride the attraction, it's just a bit of a letdown. You can tell the budget went to the queue and to Ursula. The rest was just pencil whipped.

 

[Roy G. Dis]

1) It's really only suitable for a midday break to get out of the heat . You wouldn't rush to it in the morning nor would you end your day with it.
2) While it's not the worst ride, it's mediocre and it's nobody's favorite ride. It's a perfect 5.

You can either view these two points as a pro or a con and that probably informs your overall opinion on the ride.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You don’t spend an extra 50% repeatedly trying to fix a ride that is working.

It is a D Ticket with the scale, scope and cost of an E Ticket that is defended as a C Ticket. If it were supposed to be a small little ride it’d be fine, but it cost more tHan $100 million. Despite that money it has a disjointed story and all sorts of weird, cheap and sloppy staging.

 

[Archie123]

Worst ending to a ride.

 

[J4546]

i like the little mermaid in CA because its usually a short wait if not a walk on. But I wouldnt wanna wait 45 minutes for it.

 

[BHF]

it has a disjointed story and all sorts of weird, cheap and sloppy staging.

But in that regard, how is it any different than Pan or Pooh, as those also "book report" the story briefly, as you rush past standout scenes from their movies, not really telling the story but giving you a taste of the plot like Mermaid does?

 

[BHF]

Worst ending to a ride.

I would have to pick Frozen Ever After. Something about the summer ditty at the end just seems anticlimactic compared to all the other music options they could have used for the conclusion. Mermaid at least seemed more epic in music presentation, like a finale, but that's just me.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

But in that regard, how is it any different than Pan or Pooh, as those also "book report" the story briefly, as you rush past standout scenes from their movies, not really telling the story but giving you a taste of the plot like Mermaid does?

I'm not going to defend Pooh, but the focus of Peter Pan's Flight isn't trying to tell the story of Peter Pan, it's recreating the sensation of flying over London and Neverland.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But in that regard, how is it any different than Pan or Pooh, as those also "book report" the story briefly, as you rush past standout scenes from their movies, not really telling the story but giving you a taste of the plot like Mermaid does?

Peter Pan was just covered. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a package film, it doesn’t have a single narrative. It is a collection of shorts that aren’t much more than a humorous premise.

The Pooh ride was not designed as a white light ride that was then reworked to be a black light ride. It doesn’t do things like point your vehicle towards a hole in the shipwreck scenery that has a nice big air terminal right there for you to look at. It also cost a lot less.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

i like the little mermaid in CA because its usually a short wait if not a walk on. But I wouldnt wanna wait 45 minutes for it.

Little Mermaid at DCA is like what Dreamflight was at MK. A continuously loading ride with a short wait to give you an air conditioned break with something to look at. Its line was never long when I was there and it has a much more basic queue and load area compared to WDW.

WDW's ride was built on the site of a former E-ticket and was hyped along with the rest of New Fantasyland in 2012. That made its flaws all the more egregious, especially when FASTPASS would cause long standby waits.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It's one of my favorite attractions.
It's a simple dark ride and I love it.

 

[TotallyBiased]

The queue and loading sequence/submersion is great. Then you open up to small-town carnival-quality animatronics, or flat out inanimate. Ursula is the star. Everything else is beyond mediocre. I was totally bummed after riding it the first time.

 

[HauntedPirate]

It’s a C-ticket with capacity that is needed at MK. But for the money spent, it’s underwhelming. But I will give the queue my highest possible praise for the greatest hidden Mickey ever.

 

[BHF]

WDW's ride was built on the site of a former E-ticket

This I can understand any resentment considering what was lost.

 

[arich35]

My wife and I skipped it on our first trip, when we went with our 2 year old in May we rode it and she loved it. It is perfect for what it is

 

[jpinkc]

Its a good Kiddie dark ride my daughter at 10 or so loved it my son at 8, was bored to tears on it. LOL, but its a kid ride. Not saying its a bad ride but it is what is and thats all that it is. Hell my kids at 18 and 16 want to ride barnstormer and thats the kiddiest coaster on property. But it reminds them of when they rode it for the first time. Just because its aimed at kids doesnt mean its not a loved ride.

 

[Heppenheimer]

It's a fine ride for its intent, it fits in Fantasyland, and it's better than having the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea lagoon sit empty. Not everything at a Disney park needs to hit a homerun constantly.

To be fair, 20,000 Leagues wasn't the most amazing attraction of all time either, but given the choice, I would take it over the Little Mermaid, mainly because those Nautilus vehicles were some of the best design work every built by the Imagineers. Whale of a Tale vs. Under the Sea? Whale of a Tale, please.

 

[JohnD]

Maybe it's just me, but Mermaid seems to get some unnecessary, not really "hate" persay, but unenthused reactions from the fan community.
I agree, it is no HM or SSE when it comes to omnimover attractions, but is it really supposed to be? I think it fits in nicely when compared to other FL attractions like Pan, Pooh, and Philar. Not a mind-blowing E ticket, but a nice themed ride the goes with the land.

Somebody tell me if I'm over smoking the Pixie dust on this one, because I just don't see it as underwhelming for a Fantasyland dark ride.

It's alright but not a "must do". Great for getting out of the heat and killing time, though. As for the ride itself, it's a "book report" of the movie with the entire ending squeezed into one scene of an angry Ursula followed by Eric and Ariel married.