ExtinctJenn
Well-Known Member
I suppose though her "end" is a pleasant one.
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PHOTOS - First look inside 'Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid'
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
MickeyPeace
Well-Known Member
Remember folks, it's all about the queue.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
It is dishonest, for a blog, but these "sneak peaks" or "first photos", aren't meant for Disney fans, but more of an advertisement, saying, "Look what's going to opening, better hurry up and make those reservations."
It would be better if they just advertised Mermaid without making up this story about exclusive sneak peaks which, aren't really pictures from inside the ride. Ironically, a lot of the stuff has been photographed over the wall.
I bet if you call them on it, in a post, they'll delete the post or something.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Thanks, after looking at the photos, I'm more like 100% certain now, it is obviously the same room at different points in time. It will be interesting to see what the Disney Parks blog does.
It seems that the construction on MK's Mermaid is not completed yet, but they wanted to start the marketing, and they thought one way to do that would be to post "first look" photos from a theme park over 2,000 miles away! I guess I'm a little miffed, as I would be interested in seeing the real "first look" photos as some point.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
In the concept art, it is an old fashioned mermaid on the ship which is most clearly *NOT* Ariel, but whom has red hair and sort of sets the stage and draws the guest into the reality of the attraction.
The classic, iconic, pose is Ariel on the rock looking at the ship. This is ready on the mural, but they could have done it outside too, in a different way. Doesn't make sense at all that they nailed Ariel on the ship like that . . .
Earlier, I was going to complain that a shipwreck above the tide near Eric's Castle doesn't make sense. After all, they'd probably chop it for firewood or remove it or something . . . just looks off somehow.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Yes, someone did, but no response yet...
Tim on September 11th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
The Kiss the Girl image appears to be from California not Florida. Everything from lighting down to the length of the leaves appears to match California exactly.
ExtinctJenn
Well-Known Member
I'm sure no answer will come. It's just tacky. I don't know that I agree the blog isn't for "Disney Fans" though. I mean, to find it you have to look and/or know where it is or be on the mailing list. Most normal guests who don't want to constantly know what's going on aren't going to go to the blog I'd think. Maybe I'm wrong. I dunno. It just feels like they could've gotten so much more impact from REAL shots of the WDW attraction, even if they had construction workers and no lighting and generally looked like a work in progress. Icky.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Yup. The post is there!
I find what the moderator said about the ride to be interesting, "The interior is the same, but the exterior is completely different (and amazing)." and "I can’t stress enough how different the attraction is on the outside. It will be a favorite background for photos for sure!"
Before she said that there would be some slight differences on the interior, but didn't know what they would be. Now she is really trying to sell the outside of the attraction as amazing.
Mermaid in DCA is often a walk-on, figured they would re-work some of the scenes as it has disappointed some guests for sure. I guess they are trying to get the word out that the exterior is better than the inside . . .
Not sure how popular the exterior of Mermaid will be, (BoG and Seven Dwarfs coaster will probably be amazing), but does anybody want a photo of "crucified" Ariel nailed on the boat?!? Kinda creepy . . .
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Here's the stock answer I think the moderator will use, "Let me look into it."
Al Lutz had a theory that the official Disney Parks blog was to get some of the web traffic that sites like this one, and Miceage and others, get from Disney fans curious about the going-ons in the parks. Well, Disney has put up some short behind the scenes videos, and they have the advantage of, obviously, having access to their parks denied areas, but they also have a hidden agenda, to advertise and make themselves look good.
I agree that a real behind the scenes shot with construction workers and installation of animatronics would rock, but they feel they need to create the impression that the ride is pretty much finished as guests who are making travel arrangements now might wait if they think the ride isn't opened. They should have posted the pics as what the ride will, more or less, look like, rather than lie and say they are the "First Look" photos of the attraction.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
I'm quite certain the ride is completely installed at this point. It probably has been for months.
This re-use of a DCA publicity shot isn't because it's not finished... It's because the PR department is lazy. Why send someone to take pictures (which costs money and takes getting clearances and escorts, etc) when they can just use a shot already on file, especially since the two rides will be identical??
Surely no one will notice.
Except for maybe a few fanbois online.
Like was said earlier, this is aimed at the people that will see it and say "oh wow! There's going to be a LM ride at Disneyland in Florida? My daughter LOVES LM! I should see how much it costs to go there!"... Not the people that are busy discussing the ride system and lighting changes within scenes that aren't even open to the public yet.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
To me, whenever she says "Let me look into it" I read it as, "Let me find out if I am allowed to answer that".
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
Not a good sign when you're hyping the exterior facade over the actual substance of the ride. They could have built a plywood mural for a couple hundred bucks if they wanted to give us a nice picture backdrop.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
The primary reason for the short line is the fact that it's an omnimover... Omnimovers eat people, and quick... TLM has extremely high hourly ridership in DCA. It's very popular. Same reason why the HM at WDW has some of the highest numbers each day, but the line doesn't often go above 30 minutes. It's the ride system, not the ride's popularity (or lack thereof).
Until, of course, they stick the horrible FP+ on both the HM AND TLM... Which will create the ultimate Theme Park oxymoron: Omnimover attractions with standby lines that don't move.
<insert facepalm picture here>
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
I'm quite certain the ride is completely installed at this point. It probably has been for months.
This re-use of a DCA publicity shot isn't because it's not finished... It's because the PR department is lazy. Why send someone to take pictures (which costs money and takes getting clearances and escorts, etc) when they can just use a shot already on file, especially since the two rides will be identical??
Surely no one will notice.
Except for maybe a few fanbois online.
Like was said earlier, this is aimed at the people that will see it and say "oh wow! There's going to be a LM ride at Disneyland in Florida? My daughter LOVES LM! I should see how much it costs to go there!"... Not the people that are busy discussing the ride system and lighting changes within scenes that aren't even open to the public yet.
They've still got September, all of October, and three weeks of November to finish the ride. I'm not 100% sure everything is done yet, but I do think the reason for this photo was because DCA's version previously had a lot (too much) light which was toned down, and using this old photo was easier than lugging photography equipment to Magic Kingdom. Maybe Mermaid won't open at the end of November . . . they'll probably be happy to take folks money even if Mermaid's opening is delayed.
Anyway, visitors of the official Disney blog are all kinda suckers if they thought they saw the "first" inside photos of the ride as the article was plainly titled, "All in the Details: The First Photos from Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid at Magic Kingdom Park."
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-of-the-little-mermaid-at-magic-kingdom-park/
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
That isn't exactly true, Mermaid moves about 2,000 per hour, Pirates about 3,000+, yet Pirates has 30-45 minute lines in Disneyland during the summer. HM's line is around 30+ minutes in Disneyland during the busy times, and HMH, a lot longer. Mermaid has 5-0 minute waits AND often clam shells go by empty . . . folks could ride it twice but they don't.
I know, I just rode Mermaid about two weeks ago . . . plenty of empty clam shells in the middle of the day! The thing probably operates at only 50% capacity. Next time I go to DCA I'm going to video-tape the clam shells for a bit to prove to everybody that the ride is not super popular with most guests at DLR. After RSR opened, they gave these "free' fast passes to Mermaid just to try to get people to go there. Mermaid in DCA has no fast pass.
A well-known blogger (Al Lutz) has stated that Mermaid is super popular and a much needed "people eater", but I think he needs to think of all rides added to DCA 2.0 as being a big success as the APers complained to get them, in a way. Actually, Mermaid has disappointed, they had to make changes to the ride, and it still doesn't get the lines they thought it would. The second half of Mermaid in DCA is almost "unfinished" with poorly done scenes, I won't bring up the duplicate animatronics and plastic fish, and fish mobiles with plainly visible bars, but Lasseter *really* had to argue for more funds for Carsland after they built Mermaid, the company still wants to get by with doing stuff cheaply.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
The comment got through...
I didn't accuse them of shenanigans, but still kind of surprised they posted it.
We've gotten into this debate before - I like the California attraction and think it will be a stronger ride than any other Fantasyland dark ride. However, the added capacity will keep lines low after the initial rush wears off.
I really like the exterior of the MK version and I'm really looking forward to bringing my camera around New Fantasyland. I think the visuals are more enticing than the attractions themselves.
bdearl41
Well-Known Member
it doesnt make sense to me why, with all the opportunity for this ride, they didn't come up sith something better than models rotating around a base to music. I think the ride will be nice, but there was definately potential for more. You would think based on the exterior of the ride that it would be and E ticket, but instead at best its a C ticket, and that is generous.
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
Thanks for bringing it to their attention with the post. I think they probably crossed a line with this.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
On most days, Mermaid hits into that perfect sweetspot where demand and capacity pretty much fall in line. There's no pre-show like Mansion that results in large groups of people (and bottlenecks). It's demand isn't Pirates at Disneyland, but it's still solid enough. The parks need rides like this with large capacities that have a "decent" payoff. That's what Mermaid is. Most of Epcot is full of these types of rides, and before 1996, everything except Body Wars fit into this category. These aren't bad attractions to have in a park, they can please more than 50% of the guests that enter a park on any given day by virtue of being an elaborate ride with a short wait.
LithiumBill
Well-Known Member
That's what I thought... I knew I read that somewhere!Yes. It used to look like this, but was modified before the attraction officially opened.
