Little Mermaid ride.

[tinkermomma]

Hee! It was the Superstar Limo ride, which was both bizarre and rather disturbing. Here's the explanation on Yesterland and I know at least one video of it exists on Youtube.

Bizarre and disturbing indeed. Glad to have missed it.

I am really excited to see Little Mermaid and Monsters, Inc. I feel like so much has changed since I was last there.

And even though I haven't seen her in person yet Ariel does look like Crack House Barbie, er, Midge actually. Weird.

 

[rentayenta]

Oh, the ride is lots of fun...just close your eyes when you drive by Bride of Chucky.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

The superstar limo ride is horrifying. I'm glad I never went on that one!

 

[Domchi002]

Now I don't remember Superstar Limo, but I'm kinda curious now as to how Disney created something "weird" and "horrifying".
Apparently, Superstar Limo was a miss.
Glad I missed it, yet curious as to what it was.

We are headed to DLR in about 3 weeks,
and am seriously excited for Little Mermaid.
No expectations, just going with the flow.

 

[thelittletiffany]

I'm excited to go on the ride when I'm there next month, I remember being there when they had the signs up for when the ride was "Coming Soon". I don't think I'll be disappointed, I'm expecting it to be like the typical Fantasyland rides and I'm trying to avoid looking at too many pictures and any videos.

I went on Monsters, Inc. for the first time two years ago and thought it was really cute. I hadn't gone on it before because I thought it was a show in that building and not a ride...haha. I don't remember seeing Superstar Limo AT ALL, but I Googled it and it does look really weird and kind of creepy.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Now I don't remember Superstar Limo, but I'm kinda curious now as to how Disney created something "weird" and "horrifying".
Apparently, Superstar Limo was a miss.
Glad I missed it, yet curious as to what it was.

Decent Youtube video here.

It was a dark ride and your vehicle was a limo. You were supposedly a celebrity superstar on your way to the premiere of your own movie. You passed these audio animatronic "celebrities" but the AA effect turned out really weird and the celebrities were sure to be dated (Antonio Banderas and Drew Carey for example). Most of the women, especially Cher and Julia Roberts, looked like drunken prostitutes. There are some inexplicably bizarre scenes that blow the nightmare portion of Winnie the Pooh completely to pieces. The worst part of all was that your vehicle had this little screen and your "agent" would occasionally pop up to give you pertinent bits of information, but the agent seemed to be some kind of stereotypical Italian mob boss who looked like he'd died, been embalmed, and then resurrected to talk to you on the screen. It was just weird, weird, weird.

 

[Disco]

Haven't been on Little Mermaid yet but I have to say I'm surprised Monsters, Inc. is being dissed.

I LOVED Monsters, Inc.!!!! I can't find any fault with it. Maybe some are attached to the older, familiar dark rides?

Oh I wasn't diss’n on MI. It's a decent ride but it was also a band-aid ride and the most similar one I could compare to AUSA. It has a few faults: exterior theme doesn't match the surrounding, bad queue (still better than Mermaid), cheap AA like figures.
It's still a fun and cute ride but it was forced to reuse systems from that nightmare of an attraction that preceded it. If they were to build a new ground up version of it, where it would fit in better, it would be an awesome ride.

 

[Disco]

Decent Youtube video here.

I wish I didn't watch that. I forgot that the "agent" on the limo screen gives me total nightmares. He looks like a flesh hand puppet/muppet. Jim Henson would freak out is he saw that.

 

[tinkermomma]

I wish I didn't watch that. I forgot that the "agent" on the limo screen gives me total nightmares. He looks like a flesh hand puppet/muppet. Jim Henson would freak out is he saw that.

Yep. I love how at the end of the ride the guy in the back seat actually shivers from disgust

 

[Rhonna]

Oh I wasn't diss’n on MI. It's a decent ride but it was also a band-aid ride and the most similar one I could compare to AUSA. It has a few faults: exterior theme doesn't match the surrounding, bad queue (still better than Mermaid), cheap AA like figures.
It's still a fun and cute ride but it was forced to reuse systems from that nightmare of an attraction that preceded it. If they were to build a new ground up version of it, where it would fit in better, it would be an awesome ride.

I never went on Super Star Limo so I just watched it on youtube. Yuck! I can see one thing that was re-used, the little TV screens on the vehicles. (Probably the same vehicles in both rides.) But since I hadn't been on SSL I had no point of comparison and therefore those "re-used" parts that ended up on Monsters, Inc. didn't have any bad reminders for me.

I do agree the outside theming is lacking but I kind of think that helps "disguise" the ride - so we can go on it over and over without lines!

What really bugs me is the lack (imho) of lead up and theming to the outside of ToT at DCA compared to the one at WDW. You turn a corner at DCA and it just sits there, like an afterthought. (sorry, I'm probably leading this thread off topic)

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

We just got back from our first trip to DLR and I have to say that I really liked the Little Mermaid ride. We rode it four times and found new details every time ...

 

[Lights_Out]

Ariel--she looked like Barbie on crack.

LOL.

 

[disneyfan67]

I just got back and rode it 3 times while I was there. I thought it was a great ride worthy of being a Disney dark ride. I also think over time and once the one in WDW opens, you're going to see a big following for it over the years. It takes time for somethings to be appreciated and enjoyed.

It's really hard for any ride to overcome the hype and scrutiny that this ride received while being built. Especially when you had multiple fan websites/ boards giving weekly photo updates for the past 15 months or so.

 

[Lights_Out]

^I understand your sentiment, but the Little Mermaid ride was just bad/boring in all aspects imo

it felt like I was inside a building with robots.. I didn't feel immersed in the Little Mermaid atmosphere.
Now if they made it into a water ride like Pirates... then maybe the atmosphere would've been different

 

[PinkBudgie]

DH had thought it would be underwater the way you go to an aquarium and you walk under the tunnel with fish swimming all around you. Now that would have been amazing!

As a PP pointed out, most of the time the line leading up to the rides in DCA are sadly lacking. I was rather disappointed when I saw a video of the line for TSMM at WDW because it looked much more interesting than ours. To me that is one of most boring lines. They at least could have done something more interesting than posters on the wall in that little room you walk through. And when you exit the ride, that little room you put you glasses away in, could have been Andy's room instead. That one just doesn't make sense to me. Whose room is it anyway?

Oops, got a little off topic. From Mermaid to Toy Story. Back to Mermaid. They could have done more with that line too. I know they say they don't have room, but they are imagineers. I think they could come up with something if they wanted to.

 

[HydroGuy]

DH had thought it would be underwater the way you go to an aquarium and you walk under the tunnel with fish swimming all around you. Now that would have been amazing!

As a PP pointed out, most of the time the line leading up to the rides in DCA are sadly lacking. I was rather disappointed when I saw a video of the line for TSMM at WDW because it looked much more interesting than ours. To me that is one of most boring lines. They at least could have done something more interesting than posters on the wall in that little room you walk through. And when you exit the ride, that little room you put you glasses away in, could have been Andy's room instead. That one just doesn't make sense to me. Whose room is it anyway?

Oops, got a little off topic. From Mermaid to Toy Story. Back to Mermaid. They could have done more with that line too. I know they say they don't have room, but they are imagineers. I think they could come up with something if they wanted to.

Yep. WDW gets a really cool queue for TSMM. And 100-120 minute wait times. DLR gets a wimpy queue and 30-60 minute wait times. Uhhh, I'll take TSMM at DLR.

Seriously though. I have barely seen the queue at WDW's TSMM. We use FP which means you miss most of it anyways...

 

[Disco]

Yep. WDW gets a really cool queue for TSMM. And 100-120 minute wait times. DLR gets a wimpy queue and 30-60 minute wait times. Uhhh, I'll take TSMM at DLR.

Seriously though. I have barely seen the queue at WDW's TSMM. We use FP which means you miss most of it anyways...

LOL your crazy, I showed up early and got in line for TSM at DLR and it was about an hour wait. The rest of the day it was well over an hour. This was just a moderate day too. The big win for WDW is what you said anyway, FP.

 

[Disco]

Yep. I love how at the end of the ride the guy in the back seat actually shivers from disgust

My favorite was "She looks like a dude!" and "She looks like a dude too!".

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I showed DH a ride through of Little Mermaid. I had told him about this thread and that the general consensus is that it wasn't so awesomesauce. So he watched it at the first and was like 'They're crazy! Going underwater is cool!" And then it got to the big room of dancing fish. He said "Ok..it's sorta just like a big room now...." (I referenced IASM) and then it got to Ursula and I said "She's dying here" And he goes "wait....WHAT?" LOL

 

[disneyfan67]

Regardless of the criticisms, I think the ride is a damn good one that could use a few tweaks, but we all should remember what it replaced. There was a time not too long ago that DCA was considered a sad joke and a flop by most standards. You look at DCA opening day in 2001 and read the reactions, it was a clear sign that Eisner and company needed to go, but sadly it took a few more years. If DCA would have opened with just the rides they have now, the park wouldn't have been the butt of jokes and ridicule it received for many years. Enjoy this 100 million dollar ride and hope that Disney has a plan to replace the terrible cheap Goofy's sky school, which I found to be a joke when I rode last week.

As a Disney fan and a person who loves the parks, I'm glad to see the work that DCA has been getting. By this time next year with the opening of Carsland, the days of lower attendance and even lower expectations compared to DL, will be a memory. My only wish is that I lived closer to visit Anaheim property more regularly.