Why Does Mermaid Use Screens?

[cookiee_munster]

ive just watched a POV of the ride at california that was filmed a month ago with the new changes. the change to the ice cream hair is a lot LOT better. as a fan of the film i got it, but it just looked a bit... odd without all the fish flowing up it and pulling it into place (an effect pretty difficult to pull of)

Screenwise, i have no qualms really. screens are a lot easier to fix when they're down as opposed to animatronic's that always have some kind of downtime. in fact, the end scene where arial and eric wave you off from the boat, id rather settle for a static model of them both kissing rather than a waving animatronic? *shrugs*

The Ursula cut out actually bothers me more than the soft serve dole whip hair.

this part does seem a little rushed and kind of pushed in haphazardly. someone suggested in the youtube comments to put some kind of lightening effect into the scene to make it more pronounced and also give a little bit more meaning that ursula has been defeated.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

ive just watched a POV of the ride at california that was filmed a month ago with the new changes. the change to the ice cream hair is a lot LOT better. as a fan of the film i got it, but it just looked a bit... odd without all the fish flowing up it and pulling it into place (an effect pretty difficult to pull of)

Screenwise, i have no qualms really. screens are a lot easier to fix when they're down as opposed to animatronic's that always have some kind of downtime. in fact, the end scene where arial and eric wave you off from the boat, id rather settle for a static model of them both kissing rather than a waving animatronic? *shrugs*

this part does seem a little rushed and kind of pushed in haphazardly. someone suggested in the youtube comments to put some kind of lightening effect into the scene to make it more pronounced and also give a little bit more meaning that ursula has been defeated.

Everybody's definitely got their opinion, though I would agree in that I'm not a big fan of the wedding scene.

Not even sure if they need an Ursula's been defeated scene, though Peter Pan has more of a full-sized "Hook's been defeated" scene, which really helps the ride tell a meaningful story.

Ursula was killed when the ship impaled her, obviously not appropriate for very little kids, IMHO. Since they changed how Ariel got her voice back, they could have Triton just "zap" Ursula, or maybe just have an Ursula who is "emotional defeated", seeing Ariel and Eric get married on the ship.

 

[J03Y]

why are you complaining about their use of screens? that's a pointless argument to make, when there are plenty of other rides not just in Disney World or Disneyland that use this technology, and simply put it's because it's a much more interesting kind of technology for rides. Especially the 360 screens. Just because there aren't many animatronics in the ride doesn't bring down the value and interest, if you want proof then just go ride the Spiderman ride and view the massive queue spilling out of the building.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

why are you complaining about their use of screens? that's a pointless argument to make, when there are plenty of other rides not just in Disney World or Disneyland that use this technology, and simply put it's because it's a much more interesting kind of technology for rides. Especially the 360 screens. Just because there aren't many animatronics in the ride doesn't bring down the value and interest, if you want proof then just go ride the Spiderman ride and view the massive queue spilling out of the building.

When used correctly, screen technology can be amazing (like you reference the Spider-man attraction)...but when used incorrectly, it really takes you out of the experience.

For instance...Gran Fiesta. I understand that the original used screens but the screens actually "fit" with the look of the rest of the attraction. The new HD video with animations on it really stand-out and feel like video screens whereas the originals tried to use the backgrounds of the videos to fit with the foregrounds of the actual sets. In a situation like this, Animatronics would've worked A LOT better. (Animatronics of "human" divers or people selling you stuff wouldn't have worked as well as the screens...but Donald and the gang would've been better as AAs).

 

[LithiumBill]

My beef was not using the original art style of cell animation, over the 3d animation that was used. I understand the reasoning behind it, but it took away from the classic feel of LM... I think they made the right call with the switch over.

 

[Tim Lohr]

The sitting on the rock "Part of Your World" scene is included the mural for the queue

(photo from Da Mouse)

 

[doctornick]

Having finally been able to ride the attraction this past week in Anaheim, I must say that I don't get the complaints about it at all. It's a great ride and a lot of fun. I think being in Fantasyland, it will draw significant crowds in MK because the people who are most drawn to that ride are going to be hanging out in Fantasyland already (much moreso than being in Paradise Pier at DCA).

It should be longer and they could have better/longer/additional scenes after the Kiss the Girl scenes. I hope that this will happen in MK where they have potentially more space because the ride can be improved upon. But the ride is so much better than your "typical" Disney dark ride based on their movies; if people are saying that SWSA or Peter Pan or Pinocchio, etc. are better rides than I don't know what to say -- I've got to think it is largely nostalgia and sentiment driving that feeling unless they have a very specific preference for a certain ride presentation. LM is long, has great AA and songs, is visually stunning and follows the movie story quite well (even with the hasty ending). Could it be better? Of course, any ride could be. Is it bad? That seems like a very odd conclusion to me. Toss in a plussed queue with Scuttle's scavenger hunt and I think this is going to be extremely popular at MK.

PS: the mural from the post right above mine looks impressive

 

[The Empress Lilly]

The sitting on the rock "Part of Your World" scene is included the mural for the queue

(photo from Da Mouse)

Wow, that looks awesome! Thanks!

Now if they play Little Mermaid music here I'll be in heaven. I might not even ride the ride at all and just hang out in the queue all day long!


I took an instant liking to this ride. I think the ending is slightly off, and perhaps the entire ride is somewhat underwhelming. Not quite a true classic. But I do have an instinctive appreciation of it all.

 

[juan]

I was very impressed by the DCA version last year, looking forward to this one opening.

 

[Mickey_777]

The sitting on the rock "Part of Your World" scene is included the mural for the queue

(photo from Da Mouse)

I like this mural more than what they have at DCA. We rode the CGI screen animated/ice cream cone hair version and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great little ride. Looking forward to seeing this "plussed" version.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Having finally been able to ride the attraction this past week in Anaheim, I must say that I don't get the complaints about it at all. It's a great ride and a lot of fun. I think being in Fantasyland, it will draw significant crowds in MK because the people who are most drawn to that ride are going to be hanging out in Fantasyland already (much moreso than being in Paradise Pier at DCA).

It should be longer and they could have better/longer/additional scenes after the Kiss the Girl scenes. I hope that this will happen in MK where they have potentially more space because the ride can be improved upon. But the ride is so much better than your "typical" Disney dark ride based on their movies; if people are saying that SWSA or Peter Pan or Pinocchio, etc. are better rides than I don't know what to say -- I've got to think it is largely nostalgia and sentiment driving that feeling unless they have a very specific preference for a certain ride presentation. LM is long, has great AA and songs, is visually stunning and follows the movie story quite well (even with the hasty ending). Could it be better? Of course, any ride could be. Is it bad? That seems like a very odd conclusion to me. Toss in a plussed queue with Scuttle's scavenger hunt and I think this is going to be extremely popular at MK.

PS: the mural from the post right above mine looks impressive

The ride actually does differ from the film. In the film, Ariel gets her voice back when the "locket" holding her voice is accidentally dropped, and she doesn't kiss Eric in time for her to get out of Ursula's contract, Eric kills Ursula by ramming her with the boat and Triton uses his trident to turn her into a human.

The ride implies that Eric kisses Ariel and she gets her voice back all at the same time.

Of course, folks with have wildly different opinions of rides, as such taste is subjective.

I would agree that Mermaid should have been "longer" in the sense that more scenes, or more detailed scenes are needed. The ride was slowed down too much, IMHO, as you have time to notice how scenes are put together, though this is part due to the lighting used which is much different from other classic dark rides.

I like Fantasyland dark rides over Mermaid as you really whiz around Alice, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, and there is just so much detail to take in, but in Mermaid the ride goes much slower and they didn't add enough details in terms of underwater plants and stuff, and many of the animatronics are duplicates, IMHO.