Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid closing for month long refurbishment Feb 2-Mar 6

[Sped2424]

The ride is definitly better off getting this refurb with the new ending attached or not. You don't need to be looking hard to see everything in the under the sea scene. Especially with fish spinning on mobiles that draw your attention up. The entire scene is framed to bring your attention all over the place.

 

[CJR]

I have to agree with mostly everyone in that a refurb is much appreciated. While I will also agree that there are attractions that could use it more, it’s better than nothing at all. This is going to be a relatively cheap, but effective upgrade.

I am curious if they will be able to get it all done in a month though, or if they’ll do most of the more demanding stuff in a month and then finish up sporadically during off hours, kind of like they did to SSE. It would be really nice if we get lucky and get some enhancements that are going to be a part of California’s next refurb.

I already like the ride so this will all only make it better, IMO. I look forward to riding it in March.

 

[Matt_Black]

Regarding the temperature, I just tell myself Ariel's Grotto is located near an undersea volcanic vent, leading to higher temperatures.

 

[draybook]

Are you opposed to a refurbishment?!

I am in this case because there's a handful of other attractions that need it more. I'm looking at you, Buzz Lightyear!

 

[dreynolds1982]

A lot of people seem to cite the ending as rushed and awkward. But does Pooh or Peter Pan really tell a more cohesive story? I agree that the cardboard cut out of Ursula (my favorite character) could have been executed better, but, I think it tells the main parts of the story while focusing on the classic songs. Maybe if you saw Eric's ship heading towards Ursula? I can't see them adding in the back story with Ursula, the wedding, or the oh-so-excited Priest (it was his knee, sure...). =) With the little space they have, I'm not sure how you change the ending now.

I definitely don't think you need all the backstory, but it just feels like one scene is missing. It has felt that way to me from the first time I rode it in DL and going forward every other time I've ridden it at WDW. I think just one scene, as someone else mentioned similar to the original finale scene seen in the POV from the movie bluray, showing Ursula's demise would have rounded it off. I know they have a small cut out of her in the background, but this is such as huge, climatic scene from the movie, the ride feels strange without it. I mean at least with PPF the fight on the ship and hook getting attacked by the croc get their own full scenes.

I see that the ending is rumored to be getting "plussed" at DL soon. I think they could simply repurpose the room with the cutouts to up the impact. Right now, that room seems kind of "last minute" anyways as every other room is full of amazing 3-D figures/animatronics and that room is just projections and 2D figures.

 

[flyerjab]

I definitely don't think you need all the backstory, but it just feels like one scene is missing. It has felt that way to me from the first time I rode it in DL and going forward every other time I've ridden it at WDW. I think just one scene, as someone else mentioned similar to the original finale scene seen in the POV from the movie bluray, showing Ursula's demise would have rounded it off. I know they have a small cut out of her in the background, but this is such as huge, climatic scene from the movie, the ride feels strange without it. I mean at least with PPF the fight on the ship and hook getting attacked by the croc get their own full scenes.

I see that the ending is rumored to be getting "plussed" at DL soon. I think they could simply repurpose the room with the cutouts to up the impact. Right now, that room seems kind of "last minute" anyways as every other room is full of amazing 3-D figures/animatronics and that room is just projections and 2D figures.

This is the one ride in NFL that I always felt falls short of what it could have been. The enhancements that are supposedly happening with this refurb will be welcome, but I agree that there is at least one scene missing - the fight and ultimate demise of Ursula. This should have had a showroom scene on the scale of the Under the Sea section. If they had incorporated this into the ride that alone would have improved it so much more. Instead, it feels like it goes from her transformation right to the kiss and then the end scene. It ends way too fast for me without that part of the story. I just wonder if there would be any way to incorporate that.

The other thing that bugs me is the lack of actual water in that scene with the fish spouting water into the air. Considering that the story is based around water that they could have actually used some in that scene.

 

[hth1917]

I haven't seen the DCA version, but the improvements would need to be close to earth-shattering to make me like this ride. It's just dreck, pure and simple.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Then look harder...

They've added filler elements in the scenes leading up to the under the sea scene.. mostly additional fish, etc.
They've gone to a reactive paint on most of the figures to glow/pop like you normally see in a dark ride
They've redone all the lighting in under the sea which significantly reduces how much the overhead is distracting.

The ride is 'fuller' and the dark ride lighting takes away the distracting ceiling elements in the main under the sea sequence.

Whatever you say.. I still think it's basically just the same thing. o-o

 

[Mike S]

This is the one ride in NFL that I always felt falls short of what it could have been. The enhancements that are supposedly happening with this refurb will be welcome, but I agree that there is at least one scene missing - the fight and ultimate demise of Ursula. This should have had a showroom scene on the scale of the Under the Sea section. If they had incorporated this into the ride that alone would have improved it so much more. Instead, it feels like it goes from her transformation right to the kiss and then the end scene. It ends way to fast for me without that part of the story. I just wonder if there would be any way to incorporate that.

The other thing that bugs me is the lack of actual water in that scene with the fish spouting water into the air. Considering that the story is based around water that they could have actually used some in that scene.

For the bolded:

I feel the exact same way. It would've been so much better if they used real water in the Kiss the Girl scene.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

@danlb_2000 , have there been any permits for this?

 

[danlb_2000]

@danlb_2000 , have there been any permits for this?

No, far to early for permits.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

No, far to early for permits.

Gotcha, just curious. Thanks!

 

[Tom Morrow]

This is the one ride in NFL that I always felt falls short of what it could have been.

The one ride out of two rides?

 

[Rescue Ranger]

They really should add real water elements similar to areas of Plash Mountain, that would make the whole attraction so much more immersive.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

They really should add real water elements similar to areas of Plash Mountain, that would make the whole attraction so much more immersive.

This is sadly even less likely to occur than it was, given that TDO is now cranking the air conditioning down on this ride (proper climate control is an important element to control mold growth and other water based degradation).

 

[Next Big Thing]

Oh wow, haven't seen this guy in a while, not since he tried to claim the Mine Train would have immensely shorter waits than Peter Pan. I'm a bit surprised he's still here.

The lighting on WDW's version of Mermaid is awful. Amateurish and half-a$$ed are good words to describe the work that went into a lot of it. Particularly poor is the Under the Sea scene where you can see all the exposed structures in the ceiling and everything holding the figures. I finally got a chance to ride it earlier this month for the first time and what a mess they have to clean up. I've not ridden the California version, but black lighting is unquestionably needed and you can tell even from video ridethroughs that it's an immense improvement compared to before (though the ride still needs a lot of work still). Ursula's scene was a scene that had black lighting from the start and is also the best scene in the ride. Not just because the animatronic is good, but because of the lighting.

Even my mother commented on how ugly and distracting it was being able to clearly see all the mechanical structures holding stuff together, and how everything looked like overly shiny plastic toys. And she doesn't even read online comments about the ride nor was she aware it was a common complaint with it, those were just initial impressions and she was actually looking forward to the ride (and she even noticed the lack of proper air conditioning in the building). The sooner WDW's gets the alterations from DCA the better, though they're far from the only thing it needs...

Yeah that room definitely is the major weak spot of the ride. Some of my friends and my parents, who do go to theme parks a lot, but don't criticize the small things as much, made comments from the first ride through about how the "figures on a stick" bothered them.

 

[matt9112]

I am in this case because there's a handful of other attractions that need it more. I'm looking at you, Buzz Lightyear!

Buzz lightyear needs to be in HWS......

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The problem with this lazy ride is it's literally just a bunch of abbreviated song numbers as you omnimove through the scenes. So lame. But it's for little baby girls, I guess. And maybe hentai pervs, judging from the half-naked mermaid girl's off-model anime face?

 

[aladdin2007]

The problem with this lazy ride is it's literally just a bunch of abbreviated song numbers as you omnimove through the scenes. So lame. But it's for little baby girls, I guess. And maybe hentai pervs, judging from the half-naked mermaid girl's off-model anime face?

this is what worries me about frozen in norway, hopefully its better than that......mermaid though was their chance to do something on a haunted mansion calibur, and instead went walmartish, except for the queue. hopefully the lighting package will at least address the current bad show lighting issue and hide infrastructure, like Disney use to excel at and no longer seems to know how. If a lighting package is what they are doing.

 

[ParksAndPixels]

Ride shortly after the attraction opened and was excited for NFL. I was so disappointed looking around in the under the sea room expecting to be wowed, and instead seeing infrastructure, cabling, & hardware in what should have been a very controlled environment. I'm looking forward to see the changes.