Is the original classic Ariel character now hard to find to meet and greet in Disneyland?

[DodgerGirl]

Since the debut of the Ariel character from the live-action The Little Mermaid movie last year I noticed that the original classic Ariel has now become rare to find to meet and greet in Disneyland and the only time you can see the classic Ariel character is in parades but doesn't do meet and greets much around Disneyland anymore. Is this because the new Ariel character is more popular than the classic Ariel character and more people perfer this Ariel over the classic Ariel character. What makes this new Ariel different than the classic Ariel? Does this Ariel have a unique autograph than the classic Ariel's autograph? I first read about this new Ariel in People Magazine when the live-action The Little Mermaid came out last year and it surprised me why Disneyland decided to have a character of the new Ariel when they already had the classic Ariel character

 

[DonMacGregor]

Dunno, but you managed to use the word “Ariel” 14 times in one paragraph, and that’s pretty impressive..

 

[starlite_]

You noticed where? You haven't gone to the parks in 20 years.

 

[Smugpugmug]

You noticed where? You haven't gone to the parks in 20 years.

Unless there's a secret live action Little Mermaid movie released in 2004 that we don't know about....

 

[Karin1984]

The reason they probably decided to add new Ariel is that people of colour (and then especially little girls in princess dresses) can recognize themselves in her. Representation.

Ariel was more different in her live action movie than Belle was in the remake of Beauty and the Beast. Jasmine is a bit in the middle. She was more a new character than others.

There were good reasons to add new Ariel as a character for the promotion of the movie. And if she proved popular reason enough they keep her.

It differs per park. In Disneyland Paris we just had new Ariel for 6 weeks to promote the movie. She had a little show ahead of the movie. It didn't do much and she left quietly.
In the meantime original Ariel still met at the Princess Pavillion.

 

[lowlight]

Using post times and unusual punctuation, spelling, or grammar, you can kind of connect the dots on who the main accounts are for some people who post on alts. For example, not many people hyphenate live-action. Or box-office. The number of people who hyphenate both is even slimmer. Some people have multiple alt accounts, some are very good at hiding it and some are not.

 

[bbeagle]

The reason they probably decided to add new Ariel is that people of colour (and then especially little girls in princess dresses) can recognize themselves in her. Representation.

The problem with that is that it also causes someone who adored a character to be disappointed when they're not who they imagined them to be.

Imagine a girl - who is black - that loves Tiana as she looks like her, and fits in with her culture. She stands in line for an hour to meet Tiana in the parks, and when she gets there - it's a white girl who plays Tiana. Is that okay? It's the same as a white girl meeting a black Ariel.

You can't change these characters this way. It's wrong. Ariel can have a mermaid friend who is black, where they write a new story for. Nobody would be upset with that.

 

[lowlight]

The problem with that is that it also causes someone who adored a character to be disappointed when they're not who they imagined them to be.

Imagine a girl - who is black - that loves Tiana as she looks like her, and fits in with her culture. She stands in line for an hour to meet Tiana in the parks, and when she gets there - it's a white girl who plays Tiana. Is that okay? It's the same as a white girl meeting a black Ariel.

You can't change these characters this way. It's wrong. Ariel can have a mermaid friend who is black, where they write a new story for. Nobody would be upset with that.

Yeah, I agree. My children are biracial and I would never expect a current character to be altered to fit their image. It’s kind of low energy pandering. Tiana is great because it’s a great character, great story and was built that way from the beginning, not shoe horned in. Disney has an excellent and diverse cast of Princesses, there is no need to reskin. Come up with new ideas.

 

[Karin1984]

The problem with that is that it also causes someone who adored a character to be disappointed when they're not who they imagined them to be.

Imagine a girl - who is black - that loves Tiana as she looks like her, and fits in with her culture. She stands in line for an hour to meet Tiana in the parks, and when she gets there - it's a white girl who plays Tiana. Is that okay? It's the same as a white girl meeting a black Ariel.

You can't change these characters this way. It's wrong. Ariel can have a mermaid friend who is black, where they write a new story for. Nobody would be upset with that.

You can discuss this till we are both blue in the face, but fact is, Disney already made this movie with an actress of color. It already exists. Disagree with it or agree with it: new Ariel exists.

Disney has decided to have her meet guests.
What I can see on the DL website there is an addition of live-action. So people can tell who is meeting. There are people who want to meet new Ariel, if not, she would have been removed from the parks. It didn't work in Paris.

I think at least for Paris and Orlando original Ariel was still meeting while new Ariel was out as well, giving people a choice. But I am curious is that the same in Disneyland Anaheim? Isn't the original Ariel still meeting at Fairytale Hall or at the Princess breakfast in the hotel or is she fully replaced?

The Tiana argument doesnt work, because there is no movie made (yet) with a white Tiana. But in the case it did happen, I am sure it will be handled with a similar approach.

 

[starlite_]

The problem with that is that it also causes someone who adored a character to be disappointed when they're not who they imagined them to be.

Imagine a girl - who is black - that loves Tiana as she looks like her, and fits in with her culture. She stands in line for an hour to meet Tiana in the parks, and when she gets there - it's a white girl who plays Tiana. Is that okay? It's the same as a white girl meeting a black Ariel.

You can't change these characters this way. It's wrong. Ariel can have a mermaid friend who is black, where they write a new story for. Nobody would be upset with that.

These are racist talk points. And are irrelevant. As Karin1984 mentioned, there is a clear distinction of who you are meeting in both writing and pictures "Live-action Ariel" and "Animated Ariel". No one is getting confused unless they can't read and are blind. If they are blind tho, it should matter even less the skin color of the CM playing Ariel.

 

[bbeagle]

These are racist talk points. And are irrelevant. As Karin1984 mentioned, there is a clear distinction of who you are meeting in both writing and pictures "Live-action Ariel" and "Animated Ariel". No one is getting confused unless they can't read and are blind. If they are blind tho, it should matter even less the skin color of the CM playing Ariel.

These are NOT racist talking points. There are no distinctions many places. It matters.

In parades, there are no signs. You just see black Ariel or white Ariel.

Similar to when I visited WDW last year. There was a parade in Hollywood Studios with a black Santa. No mention of race - just that there would be a parade with Santa in it. And in Disney Springs, there was a white Santa. Again, no mention of race- just that there would be a meet and greet with Santa.

My 7 year old son noticed the black Santa in the parade and 'knew' that it was someone 'playing Santa' and he wished Disney would let him know when the 'real' Santa would be in the parade. He said that we 'waited an hour just to see a fake Santa?' My son was very bothered by it.

I understand it, my 15 year old daughter understood it. But you can't get a 7 year old to understand it.

If they substituted Bugs Bunny for Mickey Mouse, it would be an issue. Is that racist as well?

 

[NorCalFanatic]

You haven’t been in the park in 20 years, so I’m not sure what you base these observations on. My observations from a few weeks ago was our girls saw both Ariel’s and got autographs from both.

 

[Karin1984]

In parades, there are no signs. You just see black Ariel or white Ariel.

But Ariel isnt in the parade in Disneyland Anaheim, is she?
She is in Orlando, she is in Paris, both as original Ariel, but not in Anaheim, looking at the float descriptions of the parade.

They cannot and won't exchange Ariels because the esthetics do not match. You cannot put new Ariel on a float from the original movie. Disney is very strict about mixing characters.

 

[Karin1984]

You haven’t been in the park in 20 years, so I’m not sure what you base these observations on. My observations from a few weeks ago was our girls saw both Ariel’s and got autographs from both.

I thought there were two versions meeting. Thank you for confirming.

 

[mdmost]

Not sure about Disneyland because Ariel is not currently listed as a character doing meet and greets but WDW's app shows both Ariels. One is denoted as (From the Animated Story) and the other is (From the Live-Action Story). The live action Ariel is at Hollywood Studios. The animated Ariel is at Magic Kingdom. Live-action Ariel is Ariel in human form. Animated Ariel is in mermaid form. I highly doubt when Ariel is at Disneyland for meet and greets that it's one or the other. I'd imagine both are available but either in different locations in DLR or one is at DLR and the other is at CA.