Mermaid Ride Time?

[aladdin2007]

According to miceage today and you know who, DCA's mermaid is going to be the scope of the Haunted Mansion with a ride time of 7 min in length, because managers and Lasseter decided they want guests to enjoy and take all the artistry in.

Yet here, ours is going to move at a faster speed so it as many people as possible are constantly cycled through. Which of course Al outright bashes, as usual.

So since theirs is going to draw out to a 7min ride, does anyone know what length ours is scheduled to be? Maybe they will change their minds and let us enjoy it at a slower pace?

 

[misterID]

He wasn't bashing, he was calling out TDO.

(Wouldn't it be great if the Florida guys just ONCE looked at things in this way?)

That's truth, isn't it?

 

[TP2000]

No offense aladdin2007, but I had to go back and re-read that part of Al Lutz's update to find the "bashing". It's really just about the Disneyland version, and nothing is set in stone and it's not 7 minutes flat, Al Lutz never said that exactly. He said they were slowing the ride down a bit so that it is now nearing 7 minutes.

Oh heck, maybe it would be easier for folks to read exactly what was printed, and make up your own minds? From Al Lutz on Miceage today...

"As they begin to fine tune the effects with the passing vehicles, the ride time of this (soon-to-be-classic?) Disney attraction is now nearing 7 minutes in length. John Lasseter is spending as much time in Anaheim as his schedule allows, while keeping constant tabs electronically on his favorite theme park property. And it seems that Lasseter was so impressed with the watery visuals and animatronic displays in the big Mermaid ride that he asked the Imagineers to slow the Omnimover system just a bit to give folks a better chance to take it all in.

While the Little Mermaid ride system and vehicles are nearly identical in size and mechanics to the Haunted Mansion, the Little Mermaid system will now carry about 400 fewer riders per hour than Mansion does thanks to the slightly slower speed Lasseter and the Imagineers have planned for the Anaheim version. There’s still the possibility that the Orlando version will maintain the original faster speed, and thus provide the higher hourly ridership that their park managers crave, but for now Anaheim executives have deferred to the artistic request to slow DCA’s ride slightly to provide for a better and longer show at the expense of several hundred riders per hour. (Wouldn't it be great if the Florida guys just ONCE looked at things in this way?)" -Al Lutz

All that said, the ride time question is an interesting one. I remember here on these boards there were quite a few folks, and some insiders, who said the ride would be barely 5 minutes long. Some folks were claiming it couldn't be any longer than 4 and a half minutes. Now we're past the 6 minute mark and climbing.

In about 6 weeks the Cast Member previews and soft openings begin for the Disneyland version of the Little Mermaid ride. We'll know it all then. But for now, this ride is longer than the pros originally thought it would be!

 

[jt04]

No offense aladdin2007, but I had to go back and re-read that part of Al Lutz's update to find the "bashing". It's really just about the Disneyland version, and nothing is set in stone and it's not 7 minutes flat, Al Lutz never said that exactly. He said they were slowing the ride down a bit so that it is now nearing 7 minutes.

Oh heck, maybe it would be easier for folks to read exactly what was printed, and make up your own minds? From Al Lutz on Miceage today...

"As they begin to fine tune the effects with the passing vehicles, the ride time of this (soon-to-be-classic?) Disney attraction is now nearing 7 minutes in length. John Lasseter is spending as much time in Anaheim as his schedule allows, while keeping constant tabs electronically on his favorite theme park property. And it seems that Lasseter was so impressed with the watery visuals and animatronic displays in the big Mermaid ride that he asked the Imagineers to slow the Omnimover system just a bit to give folks a better chance to take it all in.

While the Little Mermaid ride system and vehicles are nearly identical in size and mechanics to the Haunted Mansion, the Little Mermaid system will now carry about 400 fewer riders per hour than Mansion does thanks to the slightly slower speed Lasseter and the Imagineers have planned for the Anaheim version. There’s still the possibility that the Orlando version will maintain the original faster speed, and thus provide the higher hourly ridership that their park managers crave, but for now Anaheim executives have deferred to the artistic request to slow DCA’s ride slightly to provide for a better and longer show at the expense of several hundred riders per hour. (Wouldn't it be great if the Florida guys just ONCE looked at things in this way?)" -Al Lutz

All that said, the ride time question is an interesting one. I remember here on these boards there were quite a few folks, and some insiders, who said the ride would be barely 5 minutes long. Some folks were claiming it couldn't be any longer than 4 and a half minutes. Now we're past the 6 minute mark and climbing.

In about 6 weeks the Cast Member previews and soft openings begin for the Disneyland version of the Little Mermaid ride. We'll know it all then. But for now, this ride is longer than the pros originally thought it would be!

Huh, more like the HM than traditional MK FL dark rides. Who would have guessed? Oh yeah.....ME! :wave:

If I don't say it who will? :shrug:

 

[misterID]

No offense aladdin2007, but I had to go back and re-read that part of Al Lutz's update to find the "bashing". It's really just about the Disneyland version, and nothing is set in stone and it's not 7 minutes flat, Al Lutz never said that exactly. He said they were slowing the ride down a bit so that it is now nearing 7 minutes.

Oh heck, maybe it would be easier for folks to read exactly what was printed, and make up your own minds? From Al Lutz on Miceage today...

"As they begin to fine tune the effects with the passing vehicles, the ride time of this (soon-to-be-classic?) Disney attraction is now nearing 7 minutes in length. John Lasseter is spending as much time in Anaheim as his schedule allows, while keeping constant tabs electronically on his favorite theme park property. And it seems that Lasseter was so impressed with the watery visuals and animatronic displays in the big Mermaid ride that he asked the Imagineers to slow the Omnimover system just a bit to give folks a better chance to take it all in.

While the Little Mermaid ride system and vehicles are nearly identical in size and mechanics to the Haunted Mansion, the Little Mermaid system will now carry about 400 fewer riders per hour than Mansion does thanks to the slightly slower speed Lasseter and the Imagineers have planned for the Anaheim version. There’s still the possibility that the Orlando version will maintain the original faster speed, and thus provide the higher hourly ridership that their park managers crave, but for now Anaheim executives have deferred to the artistic request to slow DCA’s ride slightly to provide for a better and longer show at the expense of several hundred riders per hour. (Wouldn't it be great if the Florida guys just ONCE looked at things in this way?)" -Al Lutz

All that said, the ride time question is an interesting one. I remember here on these boards there were quite a few folks, and some insiders, who said the ride would be barely 5 minutes long. Some folks were claiming it couldn't be any longer than 4 and a half minutes. Now we're past the 6 minute mark and climbing.

In about 6 weeks the Cast Member previews and soft openings begin for the Disneyland version of the Little Mermaid ride. We'll know it all then. But for now, this ride is longer than the pros originally thought it would be!

I do remember there was one guy here, I forget who it was, who was doing the calculations using HM's ride system and was certain it would be over 7 minutes long. While I was thinking it would be around 4 minutes. Whoever you are, man, you were right.

 

[TP2000]

I do remember there was one guy here, I forget who it was, who was doing the calculations using HM's ride system and was certain it would be over 7 minutes long. While I was thinking it would be around 4 minutes. Whoever you are, man, you were right.

Um, that was.... ME! :wave:

 

[misterID]

Um, that was.... ME! :wave:

DOH!

Well, you were right, dude! Good calculating.

 

[TP2000]

DOH!

Well, you were right, dude! Good calculating.

Thanks. To be fair, without digging up those old posts, I think I was calculating something around 6:30 minutes for DCA's Mermaid system with 108 vehicles, all based on the speed and vehicle count of Haunted Mansion.

If they have indeed slowed the Omnimover system a bit per Lasseter's request, as Al Lutz is now reporting, then that would get you to 7 minutes obviously. My original calculations were less than 7 minutes, but I never considered a purposeful slowing of the Omnimover system during those calculations.

 

[MAF]

Huh, more like the HM than traditional MK FL dark rides. Who would have guessed? Oh yeah.....ME! :wave:

If I don't say it who will? :shrug:

Like I said numerous times before, you always turn every thread into a flame war where you magically become center of attention. Its like a drug for you isn't it?

 

[skimbob]

I am glad to hear they are slowing the ride down so guests can enjoy the ride. Hopefully the powers that be at MK will do the same. I am excited to see the ride when I am back at DCA in October.

 

[AEfx]

I am glad to hear they are slowing the ride down so guests can enjoy the ride. Hopefully the powers that be at MK will do the same. I am excited to see the ride when I am back at DCA in October.

I was actually planning a trip to Disneyland to see both Mermaid and Star Tours, but they moved the opening of Mermaid to early June and I just can't stand the heat out there that time of the year. I was pushing it going in May - and I can't justify going out there hoping for a soft-open even though inevitably there will be one. So instead I am just going to hop down to WDW on the 20th for Star Tours.

It's likely then that the first Mermaid attraction will be ours, and while it's unquestionably (in my eyes) going to have the better exterior of the two, I hope they make sure the interior is the same quality as DCA's - and if they get to settle in and enjoy the scenery, I hope we can too!