... Sorry, I absolutely love The Little Mermaid and the ride is good but it's no E ticket, particularly if they don't fix the terribly flawed ending (I actually really like the CA ride until we reach the cardboard cut-out Ursula, cheesy and very cheap looking silhouette of Ariel/Eric and recycled/duplicated animatronics...all so noticeable and I wasn't even looking for flaws or things to criticize. It just stood out that much and made me wonder if they ran out of money towards the end? Am hopeful maybe just maybe the Imagineers at WDW fixed it though I doubt it).
I had the same impression concerning the ending scenes of DCA's Little Mermaid being unfinished. I remember riding the ride shortly after it opened, and while it had good Ariel & Ursula animatronics, the whole experience didn't gel. As you said, the beginning looks much better than the ending. Everything past the Ursula cut-out to the finale is stock full of duplicate animatronics and paper cut outs.
I don't like the "Kiss the Girl" scene as I was expecting a more "open" feel, with scenery that you could see from the side of the clamshell. The clamshells are packed so close together that it feels claustrophobic to me, a feeling I don't get on the Haunted mansion clamshells as I think maybe they have more space between them? Here's the gorgeous concept art:
Would have been cool to have real water, or an effect that looks like real water, and to have stuff on the side opposite the track. The real ride scene looks more like a museum display than something that should be on a dark ride, IMHO. It seems that they changed the lighting so it looks more like moonlight, instead of the spotlights they were putting on Eric and Ariel.
The real thing doesn't seem to have the trees (and maybe fireflies) and feel of real water that would make it more romantic
Which I think is improved the following with better lighting, but still missing the luxuriously expansive stuff in the concept art
Oh, and the Sebastian is a duplicate for this scene too!
Same animatronic with arms pointed down, maybe still conducting . . . though in one Sebastian is left handed, and right handed in the other . . . in the 'Kiss the Girl' scene it just looks like maybe his whole body is tilted down, same animatronic IMHO, with some minor adjustments. His mouth (Sebastian's) looks like it should move, but I don't think it does!!
I think they did this to save money as the concept art shows Sebastian in the boat, in the ride he does nothing but conduct music exactly the same way!
Some much earlier concept art shows more animals
