Little Mermaid Ride...anyone else have an impression?

[aes74]

Just went through new fantasyland. Has an opportunity to ride the Little Mermaid ride. The graphics, attention to detail--whatever you call it, was great. But I didn't love it. It's the same as Nemo -- you ride through a timeline of the movie. The end. I wish there were more creative rides being built. Will there never be another ride like pirates?

 

[FreeTime]

I haven't ridden it at MK yet but have at California Adventure. I assumed based on what I had seen it would be the samy ride, and sounds like it is. That being said, we weren't impressed and have already said we likely won't rush to ride it at MK.

 

[jade1]

I haven't ridden it at MK yet but have at California Adventure. I assumed based on what I had seen it would be the samy ride, and sounds like it is. That being said, we weren't impressed and have already said we likely won't rush to ride it at MK.

Same, area looks great though.

 

[Chuck S]

I think the differences between the Little Mermaid ride format and Pirates or Haunted Mansion is this:

With Nemo, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan etc, the movies were made, and were very popular, prior to the ride being designed. They were not designed to be E ticket rides.

With Pirates and Haunted Mansion, the rides were developed several decades before the movies. With the rides being designed as E Ticket attractions in and of themselves.

I think Disney has plenty of data on guest expectations and desires, and future E ticket rides are in the works, BUT they will more of the thrill ride nature than the gentle boats and omnimover (doom buggy) design. Unlike my generation, most today are not awed by the technolgy of lifelike birds and humanoid audioanimatronics...they want big thrill rides and "cute" childrens attractions for the family. I agree, kind of sad, but theme parks have to make a profit based on guest expectations.

 

[aes74]

I hear what you're saying. I don't even mind a gentle ride like haunted mansion, just something creative. Maybe Ariel could have even had a "new" adventure or something. I just left the ride thinking, after all the waiting and anticipation, meh.

I also have to say, having the DIS board on my phone as an app is becoming a dangerous thing for me!!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I really liked Little Mermaid. The queue and theme are much better executed in WDW then DL IMHO. To me it felt like a very different ride while at DL I did not get the hype

 

[tjkraz]

Synergy is the buzzword these days.

When Disney develops an attraction around known characters, there's already built-in name recognition. They don't have to spend millions of dollars trying to communicate the theme and strength of "Ariel's Undersea Adventures" because 99% of their customers are already familiar with Ariel.

For the most part, I agree that "Ariel" is sort of a snooze. I would rank it higher than the cheap video screens of Nemo, but it's no HM or POTC.

But it's still a "Little Mermaid" themed attraction which guests will enjoy for decades to come.

If Disney had put the same amount of money into a...wild west-themed dark ride or hiking-through-the alps dark ride (or any other generic, non-Disney concept you can think of), they risk the public responding with a collective yawn.

 

[Micca]

I watched the video of the new LM ride and thought it was very cute, but just a re-hash of dark rides that have gone before. I like TLM, I like dark rides, and what I've seen on videos of the landscaping of the new F'land, it's beautiful. I'm sure my family will enjoy TLM but there's nothing truly original there. I realize that some of what they did in the early DLE/WDW attractions was putting a special spin on an old technology. I don't even see a lot of that any more. Toy Story Mania is a good example, but that's the most recent thing that comes to mind.

In various Disney literature Walt Disney is famously quoted as having said "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." OK...you did it years ago, so do it again now.

Because this is the DVC board, I will say that we bought points because we've always loved WDW for what it was and what it is at present. If they can maintain that, we're cool. If they can improve on it, we're ready to buy more.

 

[DebbieB]

I haven't ridden it at MK yet but have at California Adventure. I assumed based on what I had seen it would be the samy ride, and sounds like it is. That being said, we weren't impressed and have already said we likely won't rush to ride it at MK.

I agree, I rode it at DCA. It was cute but not in the same league as Pirates where I would want to ride it more than once per trip.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I like it, rode it 4-5 times in the last couple of years at DL.

But this was never planned to be an E ticket ride. It is what it is......

I liked the previous poster's point that instead of the story of the original movie, it could have been designed as a new adventure. that could have been interesting.

 

[kyle051777]

I don't mind it but I do not think it was meant for me. One trip with my 4 and 2 year old we went on it 20+ times in 3 days. They are boys and absolutely love it. It is great to see them singing along and how excited every time they ride it. To me that is what it is about.

I do wish it was like pirates for my liking but I can tell you my kids love little mermaid ride ALOT more then pirates.

 

[Joey7295]

When did the ride open? Is the new Fantasyland open?

 

[zavandor]

I rode it in DCA. When going to a new theme park, I tend to avoid to read reviews of the rides, because I like to be surprised. For The Little Mermaid instead, I read a few comments about it before going to California and I read that most where disappointed.

So I wasn't expecting much, and I ended liking it. It has wonderful animatronics and some of the scenes are very nice.
I think we should not compare it to Phantom Manor or PotC, but to Snow white or Mr Toad. And in that category it's really a good dark ride.
Not every attraction can be an e-ticket. The new coaster will be.

 

[tfc3rid]

Mermaid was always meant to be a C or D ticket... It's not an E Ticket. It is a nice harkening back to the dark ride days of yore but will likely see 10 minutes waits once the newness dies down, just like at DCA.

 

[Greysword]

The main positive of the Little Mermaid ride is that it moves a lot of people quickly. Thus, it can be a great stop while touring Fantasyland for the more busy times of day. I rode the DCA version, and enjoyed the detail, but I wished it were longer.

As for the "good old days of omni-mover rides", the peak was probably EPCOT Center, which is being replaced with the likes of Test Track and Mission Space. I'm not a fan of the Nemo "ride", and much prefer the immersion of the Hydrolator and Sea Base Alpha.

All in all, the big ride for Fantasyland is supposed to be the Dwarves' mine cart, right?

 

[Yellowsky13]

the little crabs in the Q are very cool my fav part, the few things i did not like was Arials hair in the fish room DCA looks better, the eels do nothing dont talk or move very dull DCA they move, the vid of Arial getting her legs needs to go.. the hair on KT is lame on DW version DCA looks much better.

other than those its a cool ride

 

[HayGan]

IMHO, it is better than Nemo but only slightly. To put things into perspective, in the 10+ trips we have been on since Nemo has opened we have only ridden it twice because none of us are fans. We rode LM twice so far and I can't really see us going back on it again anytime soon.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[La2kw]

We've been riding it for over a year now at DCA and got to ride it two weeks ago at the "rehearsals" for the new Fantasyland. It's a nice kiddie ride, but nothing to wait in long lines for. In fact, we usually walk right on it at DCA, the line is rarely longer than 20 minutes. As far as the extra large queue goes, it was nice, but nothing fantastic either.

We also went through the storytelling with Belle, which was nice and had impressive animatronics of the wardrobe and lumiere. I wouldn't wait more than 10 minutes for it though.

The pork shank was pretty good as Gaston's, but their version of butterbeer was sad. I mean, why does Disney feel the need to just copy Universal? They should have come up with something more original. Butterbeer is from a story, which is hugely popular with many kids (now adults) who grew up using their imagination about what it tastes like. Lefou's Brew seems something the marketing department made up to try and fool people into thinking it was more than just frozen apple juice. It even looks like butterbeer..

This new land was fine for kids, but has little appeal for adults and boys and my guess is that it will have no impact on Universal's Harry Potter areas. Disney should have put in an E ticket here instead of a kiddie ride. Another kiddie coaster themed to a princess is not going to do much to help this new area.

 

[La2kw]

Mermaid was always meant to be a C or D ticket... It's not an E Ticket. It is a nice harkening back to the dark ride days of yore but will likely see 10 minutes waits once the newness dies down, just like at DCA.

Might not be that short since they added the very unnecessary fastpass to this ride.

 

[DisneyGeek1010]

I think the new ride looks fun!