The Little Mermaid: The Ride that almost was

[iheartdisney91]

i really think that they should take out the poohs playful spot and put in the little mermaid ride i mean yes the playground is fun and cute but not many people going to disney are saying "we must go to the playful spot" ya know? people however would say "oh yeah i hope the new mermaid ride is open when we get there" just my two cents.:wave:

 

[dox]

As much as I enjoyed seeing the Ride on the DVD, I fear we will definitely never see that ride. If they ever had the intention of building that ride, the minute they put the entire ride on this DVD that idea was gone forever. Could we see some version with scenes from this attraction or somehow inspired by this ..possible. But we'll never see this version of the ride. So sad. Would have been great to have a new dark ride in Fantasyland. Pooh doesn't cut it for me.

 

[bassman]

i think it could work and be really popular,my only intrest is how the heck they are going to create those scenes where you drop below the surface and return back up to the surface,other than using the old go through-doors-and -your-underwater trick.id like to see something new and revolutionary.
im all for it.

 

[PSU_Princess]

i think it could work and be really popular,my only intrest is how the heck they are going to create those scenes where you drop below the surface and return back up to the surface,other than using the old go through-doors-and -your-underwater trick.id like to see something new and revolutionary.
im all for it.

On the DVD the attraction is built on multiple levels....so when you go under the sea or come back up you do actually change levels.

 

[vonpluto]

So sad... less than a week old and already pirated on YouTube.

At least when Google take over it`ll be regulated.

Incidentally, this attraction was also to have gone into WDWs Magic Kingdom between Starland and 20k.

Well, that's somewhat of a relief. Since the LM ride uses the same overhead system as Peter Pan, I kept thinking about what could have happened if it was a hit at EURO Disney.
The Eis: "We've got to get this up and running, fast track it! Tear out Peter Pan's Flight!!"

Shudder.

 

[kcnole]

you really need to see it through with the imagineers discussing their ideas behind it to truly understand it. It would have been wonderful to have seen done.

 

[metscool]

That would have been cool to see them do that. I like going from the Sea level to bellow the sea.

 

[hcswingfield]

All the extras on the new DVD set were great. I would love to ride this ride!!!! I also enjoyed watching the commentaries on how the movie came about.

 

[Teenchy]

Do you think this was just used as filler material to add to the special DVD or could it be a way to float a trial balloon out there to see how people react to the idea?

 

[katie1335]

wat

:veryconfu wat ride you ppl talking about i seen the movie but not ride but if there is cool

 

[TestTrack]

:veryconfu wat ride you ppl talking about i seen the movie but not ride but if there is cool

Click

 

[marni1971]

Do you think this was just used as filler material to add to the special DVD or could it be a way to float a trial balloon out there to see how people react to the idea?

It`s certainly an interesting inclusion. Why didn`t B&TB Platinum have the same, or Mission to Mars on DVD feature Journeys in Space?

The Company seems to have mellowed in the past decade or so when talking about rides never built... but never to this extent. Lets not read too much into it, but it does break from the norm.

 

[Herk]

So sad... less than a week old and already pirated on YouTube.

At least when Google take over it`ll be regulated.

Incidentally, this attraction was also to have gone into WDWs Magic Kingdom between Starland and 20k.

I don't undestand google will never completely take over youtube and I wouln't buy the dvd so someone has showed me something new

 

[Austin1]

awesome dark ride

I think this would ahve been one of the best fantasyland dark rides ever. (Possibly the best in fantasyland) Too bad it never happend. I'm sure it would have had budget cuts.

 

[AEfx]

The order of the story being different actually makes it a more interesting attraction. It was an adventure in and of itself. Watching the "making of" with the Imagineers talking about it explained it beautifully - it's just a different take on the story. We are meant to assume that the final segment with Ariel and Eric happens somewhat later - one assumes that he "kissed the girl" many times after the first.

It would have been a beautiful ride, but I think I agree with the pessimistic view that if they had any intention of actually building it, it wouldn't have been on the DVD. But one never knows; maybe it's inclusion on the DVD will get millions of letters written to Disney asking why it doesn't exist.

I can dream, can't I?

AEfx

 

[Wilt Dasney]

We are meant to assume that the final segment with Ariel and Eric happens somewhat later - one assumes that he "kissed the girl" many times after the first.

AEfx

Do you think they were serenaded by birds and sea creatures every time? :lookaroun

 

[CThaddeus]

What the heck? Since when did imagineers decide it was ok to just mix the order up of all the scenes?

We went from the ship being in a storm and destroyed to ariel watching eric on the ship. Then at the end we saw huge Ursela and then we went to "kiss the girl"

If this was gonna be the finalized version I am glad it was scrapped.

It's not the first time. Disneyland's Snow White's Scary Adventures starts off with Snow White celebrating in the dwarves home, then goes to the Queen watching them outside their window, then to her changing herself into an old hag, then through her dungeon, then to her making the poison apple and sailing in the boat, then we go through the forest Snow White ran through when she ran from the Huntsman, then the hag offers us the apple, and finally we see the queen die. I suppose you could say you're seeing the forest from the Queen's point of view, but why would it be scary to her?
The attraction was also slated for Disneyland at once point very early in the 90s. There was a TV special hosted by Harry Anderson ("Night Court") called "The Disneyland Story" which showed it as one of the attractions coming in the next few years. Those years seem to be passing very slowly.
I hope they do the attraction, though I was very surprised to see that a design I came up with in '94 for a Little Mermaid attraction almost matched their version beat for beat (I even used the Peter Pan monorail idea!). I didn't use the same "Kiss the Girl" order, nor the shell vehicles (mine looked like Flounder), the queue went through the middle part of Eric's ship (above and below decks), and mine actually went below water (Mini-subs! Much less practical), but on the whole I liked what I saw.

 

[MeTa]

That looked like it would have been a pretty sweet ride. Too bad they never made it, but that virtual ride through looked so real I feel like I have been on it before. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Since1976]

I loved the ridethrough, but I'm a bit saddened that the Imagineers don't talk about the ride as if it is something that may be built in the future.

There's absoutely nothing standing in the way of creating this ride, so why spoil the possibilities of one by putting it on the DVD?

Is it possible that royalty issues and red tape have gotten in the way of actually building it?

 

[marni1971]

I don't undestand google will never completely take over youtube and I wouln't buy the dvd so someone has showed me something new

Today Google announced they have bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. YouTube will retain it`s name, but will be run under the same copyright guidelines as it`s parent.

Back to the OP; I`d imagine budget is the main consideration the ride hasn`t been built. R&D and planning have obviously been done, and a lot of the development for the ride system was used in TDS` 20k attraction. The plots in both parks are still available (even more so now in the MK) and could we be seeing a reknewed interest in The Little Mermiad? The Gemini overlay for Futureworld planned TLM going into The Living Seas, but now Nemo has moved in perhaps a TLM orientated attraction will refocus on the MK. Maybe.