Will the Little Mermaid ride be changed?

[FettFan]

I'm not sure how valid this site is, but according to Disney Dining, there is some speculation that the Little Mermaid ride at the Magic Kingdom could be altered to be more like the live-action movie: https://www.disneydining.com/this-beloved-magic-kingdom-ride-could-change-entirely-ir1/.

According to the article in question, guests have been complaining about how the animatronics have been looking worse for wear, and the ride often stops due to technical difficulties. The article speculates that, while it's not on the cards right now, if the new movie does well enough, Disney could potentially overhaul the ride to be like the one from the movie, especially since the ride is allegedly in bad shape now.

I hope that doesn't happen and the new movie is just a passing fad, though the ride could definitely benefit from some sprucing up.

No it won’t; Fantasyland is based on the animated movies.

And that is why Gaston looks like this:

Instead of this:

 

[OrlandoRising]

To my knowledge, there are no plans to change the attraction. The box office results would squash even any remote discussion.

Legitimate news sources show that the movie did well domestically. Different story overseas, obviously, but that nuance wouldn't fit your agenda. https://deadline.com/2023/05/the-li...-bombing-international-box-office-1235381992/

The real answer as to why we shouldn't expect the attraction to be changed is that Disney hasn't changed any other permanent attraction or show in its parks that was based on an animated film after the remake came out.

 

[SomePixieDust]

I highly doubt it

 

[seascape]

Some posters and YouTube posters may know movies but do not know finance. The Deal Comcast and Disney agreed to was that Disney would own 2/3 of Hulu and Comcast would own 1/3. However, Comcast could decide not to continue to contribute to Hulu's operations and their share would be reduced. Brian Roberts in an early stockholders meeting said Comcast would stop contributing and so they own less than 1/3 today. I do not think anyone other than Disney and Comcast know the true amount each company owns. Now as to the value of Hulu, it is probably not even worth the 27.5 billion valuation Disney and Comcast set in the deal. Comcast will likely end up with slightly less than 9 billion not the pipedream of 23 billion you reported. In 2021 during the peak of Covid media stocks were grossly over valued and have since all come back to the real world.

 

[YouMakeTheWorldGoRound]

No

 

[Prototype82]

They should update the closed show at HS …would take some work but could be converted to a live action mermaid show…win win

THIS. 100% This. Every detail out of the Fantasyland Little Mermaid attraction is themed to the animated through and through. The castle would have to be altered, everything... Would make zero sense. I'd love Halle's Ariel and some of the live action new scenes to breath some life into that old Hollywood Studios theater.

 

[Mikomike12]

Honestly they should do it, I genuinely think the current ride is one of the worst new era dark rides they’ve ever made. I wouldn’t mind seeing the new version take over, why not

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

Honestly they should do it, I genuinely think the current ride is one of the worst new era dark rides they’ve ever made. I wouldn’t mind seeing the new version take over, why not

I don’t understand the hate for Ariel! Sure, it is not a e-ticket ride, but I personally think it’s as good as most other dark rides. E-ticket groundbreaking rides are awesome, but we need a balance. Ariel delivers for me on a classic feeling Disney dark ride. They’ve never been technologically stunning (for the most part), but they tell a story. Ariel tells a story just as good as any other dark ride IMO.

 

[Ares]

Honestly they should do it, I genuinely think the current ride is one of the worst new era dark rides they’ve ever made. I wouldn’t mind seeing the new version take over, why not

I'm beginning to suspect you've never gone on the current ride.

I don’t understand the hate for Ariel!

People who wish to pretend redhead Ariel never existed are the source of the "hate" you're alluding to.

 

[Joel]

I don’t understand the hate for Ariel! Sure, it is not a e-ticket ride, but I personally think it’s as good as most other dark rides. E-ticket groundbreaking rides are awesome, but we need a balance. Ariel delivers for me on a classic feeling Disney dark ride. They’ve never been technologically stunning (for the most part), but they tell a story. Ariel tells a story just as good as any other dark ride IMO.

I really like it, too, but it's got some glaring flaws. The major one being how whacked the pacing is because of the massive Under the Sea scene. You go straight from "Kiss the Girl" to Ursula is, uh, angrily watching Ariel and Eric kiss? The end!

 

[LittleBuford]

People who wish to pretend redhead Ariel never existed are the source of the "hate" you're alluding to.

No-one is pretending that redhead Ariel never existed.

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm beginning to suspect you've never gone on the current ride.

The current ride is pretty terrible; it has massive flaws everywhere. There's a reason it almost never has a wait. It looks like it was done as cheaply as possible despite costing a significant sum.

I don't want them to change it to the live action version, mind you (and they're not going to). I just wish they'd built a good attraction for the Little Mermaid.

 

[BlakeW39]

I'm beginning to suspect you've never gone on the current ride.

The current ride is pretty terrible; it has massive flaws everywhere. There's a reason it almost never has a wait. It looks like it was done as cheaply as possible despite costing a significant sum.

I don't want them to change it to the live action version, mind you (and they're not going to). I just wish they'd built a good attraction for the Little Mermaid.

having been on the attraction in both parks, I can say with absolute certainty that TLM is one of the worst dark rides I have ever been on.

 

[Coaster Lover]

Isn't the Under the Sea song in the live action version staged VERY differently than in the animated version (I haven't seen the live action version yet). That's a pretty significant scene in the ride and I'd imagine that would be pretty difficult to change to be more similar to how it is staged in the live action version (and would be significantly less compelling than it currently is).

 

[Ayla]

The current ride is pretty terrible; it has massive flaws everywhere. There's a reason it almost never has a wait. It looks like it was done as cheaply as possible despite costing a significant sum.

I don't want them to change it to the live action version, mind you (and they're not going to). I just wish they'd built a good attraction for the Little Mermaid.

TLM is cringe-worthy. I totally agree about the massive flaws.

 

[erasure fan1]

The current ride is pretty terrible; it has massive flaws everywhere. There's a reason it almost never has a wait. It looks like it was done as cheaply as possible despite costing a significant sum.

That's because they spent all the money on the rides facade and queue. In my opinion it's one of the reasons the rides so disappointing. You get this amazing setup, and then it just falls flat.

 

[UNCgolf]

That's because they spent all the money on the rides facade and queue. In my opinion it's one of the reasons the rides so disappointing. You get this amazing setup, and then it just falls flat.

I don't even think that's true because the DCA version opened first with a less elaborate facade/queue, and they spent an absurd amount of money (relative to the quality of the ride) on it too.

The facade/queue does set high expectations at WDW, though, and the ride does not live up to them.

 

[No Name]

I think it is a very good ride, and obviously it’s not being changed.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think it is a very good ride, and obviously it’s not being changed.

We feel this way too, it'll never make our top 10 list but it's very rare for us to visit DCA or MK and not ride it. We really enjoy it.

 

[UNCgolf]

We feel this way too, it'll never make our top 10 list but it's very rare for us to visit DCA or MK and not ride it. We really enjoy it.

I think it's fine as a walk-on, which it seems to be most of the time. Still wildly disappointing compared to what they could have done for Little Mermaid, but at least it's some additional capacity that you can ride almost at will.

I also think it's obvious it's a big failure from a Disney operations standpoint. They didn't build that ride (and that queue) expecting it to be a walk-on regularly; they were trying to build a major draw.