Voyage of the Little Mermaid is done, won't reopen with the parks.

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Regarding the kiss the girl scene - the plastic water coming out of the fish in that scene is my most hated moment of any theme park attraction I think... well until Pixar Pier was complete. They give it a run for the money.
If you think it's bad now, just remember that the original version was even worse. As the jets of water spun around and rose up and down, the whole effect was just a lot more...phallic. They added the splashes to the tops of the plastic water before the DCA attraction opened to the public, but after it had been ridden by tens of thousands of CMs and their invited guests.

Somehow, the stock photo that was taken during the original configuration still design makes its way into various publications. As good as Disney is at getting things scrubbed from the internet ("oddly waifish main of anemic personality"; "some nondescript named coaster somewhere that maybe is like, maybe is in India or whatever"; etc.), this has always managed to allude them
maxresdefault.jpg


This is yet another simple misstep that they should have caught during the design phase, but wasn't noticed until after being seen by the (semi-)public. Someone could write a book on all the elementary mistakes that were somehow built (twice!) with this allegedly-basic dark ride with a shockingly-high cost.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
If you think it's bad now, just remember that the original version was even worse. As the jets of water spun around and rose up and down, the whole effect was just a lot more...phallic. They added the splashes to the tops of the plastic water before the DCA attraction opened to the public, but after it had been ridden by tens of thousands of CMs and their invited guests.

Somehow, the stock photo that was taken during the original configuration still design makes its way into various publications. As good as Disney is at getting things scrubbed from the internet ("oddly waifish main of anemic personality"; "some nondescript named coaster somewhere that maybe is like, maybe is in India or whatever"; etc.), this has always managed to allude them
maxresdefault.jpg


This is yet another simple misstep that they should have caught during the design phase, but wasn't noticed until after being seen by the (semi-)public. Someone could write a book on all the elementary mistakes that were somehow built (twice!) with this allegedly-basic dark ride with a shockingly-high cost.

I’m glad they learned their lesson.

*looks at Pixar Pier logo*

Oh.... never mind.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I thought the original post was about Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Hollywood Studios?

What would you like to discuss about it?

- many thought it was outdated. (Not me).
- the show in Tokyo is better (no surprise there).
- it has equity performers and puppeteers so no surprise it’s on the chopping block
- it has really cool special effects like full color lasers (which were crazy expensive when the attraction opened).
- current rumor is the mermaid has sung her last song... the sea witch that is Ursula can be defeated, but Chapek / Iger cannot be! (I really don’t think either are villains but it seemed like a fun thing to say.).
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
The show is called "King Triton's Concert", here's some photos.
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DisneySea_MermaidLagoon_DisneySea-1024x681.jpg


latest


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Better video footage


It's one of those shows "that videos won't do justice and have to see in person".

Due to the show having a "No Filming/Recording policy", it's difficult to find footage of Ursula. But Ursula was featured on Garner Holt's Youtube Channel under "Large Projects". It's seen at the very end of the video.
 

MJL92

Member
I've enjoyed the show on each trip to the park, but at peace with it being replaced. Long overdue in my opinion. Of course, all depending on what takes its place, and afraid we won't find out for some time.

There were a few posts attacking the story consistency of the newer ride, but go ahead and watch a video of this show on youtube, it goes straight from poor unfortunate souls to the end of the movie.
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
It’s like your car. If you’re too cheap to change the oil eventually you’ll have to pay for more expensive repairs. That’s very much how Disney operates. They drag their feet until they’re forced to do something and it ends up costing more which is further compounded by rising costs, which encourages more feet dragging. The notion of “Look at all that they’re spending now” misses the larger narrative.


I don’t have those numbers handy but newer attractions are a bad comparison because costs have spiraled out of control since 2006 (meaning return on invest has become worse). The previous $100 million attraction was the Roller Coaster Themed to India or Whatever and more recently Pixar Pier cost more than that.


If I remember correctly, the changes were done over at least two closures. There was also the change to the animation of Ariel getting legs and small tweaks to the other animatronics.
That's true, I forgot to mention the change to the animation. I think the painting of King Triton's Castle in the tunnel before Under the Sea was a later add too.

Still, that price tag is WAY high for what they got out of it. I'm pretty sure the Winnie the Pooh ride cost less than the mods to Mermaid and is STILL more fun.
 

General Mayhem

Well-Known Member
Hearing this news I'm not completely surprised, however I am very heart broken to see this show go. It was the only attraction based off the movie in the US that really captured it's charm. It had a very long run of 28 years however which for a stage show at a theme park is crazy.
tenor.gif
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
If you think it's bad now, just remember that the original version was even worse. As the jets of water spun around and rose up and down, the whole effect was just a lot more...phallic. They added the splashes to the tops of the plastic water before the DCA attraction opened to the public, but after it had been ridden by tens of thousands of CMs and their invited guests.

Somehow, the stock photo that was taken during the original configuration still design makes its way into various publications. As good as Disney is at getting things scrubbed from the internet ("oddly waifish main of anemic personality"; "some nondescript named coaster somewhere that maybe is like, maybe is in India or whatever"; etc.), this has always managed to allude them
maxresdefault.jpg


This is yet another simple misstep that they should have caught during the design phase, but wasn't noticed until after being seen by the (semi-)public. Someone could write a book on all the elementary mistakes that were somehow built (twice!) with this allegedly-basic dark ride with a shockingly-high cost.

This is just remaining true to the artistic integrity of TLM as seen on the movie's theatrical posters.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
My view of the show is totally negative, I'm afraid. We only saw the stage show once, but thanks to being first into the theater, ended up at the extreme end of the of the row (totally unnecessary as the theater and row were both only half full, but CMs literally screamed at us when we tried to leave the bad seats at the end vacant). We could only see the right 2/3 of the stage (so all scenes and songs on the rock outcropping at the left side of the stage were not visible), and what little we did see was at an awkward angle, with a distracting view of actors breaking character in the stage left wings. It was such a frustrating waste of time, and the use of movie clips seemed such a cheap cop-out (the fact that we'd seen the infinitely superior Nemo show at AK the day before really distorted our expectations), we never went again and were surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'm glad others were able to enjoy it and sorry for their sake that it's going away, but Disney can do better, and I hope it does.
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
My view of the show is totally negative, I'm afraid. We only saw the stage show once, but thanks to being first into the theater, ended up at the extreme end of the of the row (totally unnecessary as the theater and row were both only half full, but CMs literally screamed at us when we tried to leave the bad seats at the end vacant). We could only see the right 2/3 of the stage (so all scenes and songs on the rock outcropping at the left side of the stage were not visible), and what little we did see was at an awkward angle, with a distracting view of actors breaking character in the stage left wings. It was such a frustrating waste of time, and the use of movie clips seemed such a cheap cop-out (the fact that we'd seen the infinitely superior Nemo show at AK the day before really distorted our expectations), we never went again and were surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'm glad others were able to enjoy it and sorry for their sake that it's going away, but Disney can do better, and I hope it does.
I'm generally in favor of following CM directions, but there are times, like when the theater is only half full and you're stuck in crappy seats, that a little judicious ignoring of screaming CMs is in order.

And, generally, the CMs I've seen in the theaters have been pretty chill about people estimating crowd sizes and stopping short of the end of the row. It's not like it's a mystery as to how many people are waiting to come into the venue...
 

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Mickey and the Magical Map is a terrific show that would fit very nicely in DHS. But I’m guessing it’s expensive to run given the number of equity performers in the show.

I'd prefer something similar to Mickey and The Magician from Paris. But Magical Map is cute and fun. I'd take something similar to either. You could 'nod' the past shows from the park with popular songs in a new show. Seems like a no brainer.
 

Kman101

Well-Known Member
My view of the show is totally negative, I'm afraid. We only saw the stage show once, but thanks to being first into the theater, ended up at the extreme end of the of the row (totally unnecessary as the theater and row were both only half full, but CMs literally screamed at us when we tried to leave the bad seats at the end vacant). We could only see the right 2/3 of the stage (so all scenes and songs on the rock outcropping at the left side of the stage were not visible), and what little we did see was at an awkward angle, with a distracting view of actors breaking character in the stage left wings. It was such a frustrating waste of time, and the use of movie clips seemed such a cheap cop-out (the fact that we'd seen the infinitely superior Nemo show at AK the day before really distorted our expectations), we never went again and were surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'm glad others were able to enjoy it and sorry for their sake that it's going away, but Disney can do better, and I hope it does.

In it's prime, the show was something special. It suffers from lack of investment. It's also been shortened over time I believe, but I'm not 100% sure of it. I remember as a kid just loving the interior of the theater, Ursula, it was really cool then. Now? Not so much, unfortunately. I have to imagine guest feedback has waned over time for it too. B&TB still gets pretty high marks I believe even though that could be better as well.

It's time for Voyage of The Little Mermaid to go. I just hope the building doesn't sit empty for the next 5-10 years, lol. While the show needs like one less stage show, I think it's time for a total refresh. I always thought they should have put Frozen in there, not in the Hyperion, which deserves a longer, better production (I like the Frozen sing-along but I just feel the centerpiece stage show theater of the park deserves something a little better)
 

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