Little Mermaid ride video!

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Take out the pathetic Pooh Playground in MK, open up the space formerly occupied by the 20K attraction, and build Mermaid Lagoon from Tokyo. Attach the Little Mermaid dark ride to the ML show building (there's plenty enough space) with the ride's queue housed inside.

Perfect location in a park that desperately needs something better than a toddler pit stop.

[Professortango]

Tony Baxter knows where the ride would fit...Ariel's Grotto would be the beginning entrance to the ride. That "waste of space" by Buzz is the area I believe that would be the place Mr. Baxter realized the ride could fit in.

Mr. Baxter also was the one that said that if we email Disney enough, it would be built. If anyone is interested, all they have to do is go here: https://secure.disney.go.com/disneyl...=ContactUsPage

The ride could not fit there in anyway shape or form. Not only is that a very tight and crowded parade route, it is also a transitional spot. Putting a darkride there would be incredibly awkward. There's TL and right in front of it is Eric's castle? But all theming aside, no way it could fit in the tiny grotto/ meet and greet area. It's tiny. And they use that small walkway behind the grotto as overflow for Buzz since they forgot to build an adequate que actually inside the building.

It would have to be built in the motorboat cruise area or Fantasyland theatre if it was going to be put at DL.

[cellarhound]

You know what is really funny... I was going ga ga over this in the Special Features (Games and Activities section) of the Little Mermaid DVD, and posted it...

And it took MerlinJones to find it on YouTube for everyone to go gaga over it....

This is a ride that should have been built many many years ago... The fact that it never got the greenlight, when Pooh did is an absolute travesty...

This ride would be at LEAST as popular as Peter Pan Flight if it was aloud to be built.

I am shocked that it took release of the design for people to say something about it, really...

The message to Tony Baxter and to John Lasseter is to allow this thing to be built already... Take it to Iger and PRESSURE Rasselo if you have to... There is no excuse for this to be mothballed... Make the budget to do it.

[BigPigletFan]

no- not a joke-

This ride was in production- models were made- this was serious. Then the project was shelved.

Check the Little Mermaid DVD- the info is all there.

So the question is, if this isn't going to be an attraction why put this on the Special Edition DVD? Do you think it was done to generate interest - especially since TDS has a lot of Mermaid compared to US parks. Personally I think this will confuse the average guest, especially young fans. Hopefully, someday something like this will exist.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

The ride could not fit there in anyway shape or form. Not only is that a very tight and crowded parade route, it is also a transitional spot. Putting a darkride there would be incredibly awkward. There's TL and right in front of it is Eric's castle? But all theming aside, no way it could fit in the tiny grotto/ meet and greet area. It's tiny. And they use that small walkway behind the grotto as overflow for Buzz since they forgot to build an adequate que actually inside the building.

It would have to be built in the motorboat cruise area or Fantasyland theatre if it was going to be put at DL.

Well I never said that Mr. Baxter felt that the queue and ride would be built exactly the same as it had been originally planned for a whole different park. All I know is that he knows where the ride would fit.


As for the issue with capacity and clamshells...all they have to do is add more rows IMO. And it being suspended like that is really cool and would be a huge hit.

[cellarhound]

So the question is, if this isn't going to be an attraction why put this on the Special Edition DVD? Do you think it was done to generate interest - especially since TDS has a lot of Mermaid compared to US parks. Personally I think this will confuse the average guest, especially young fans. Hopefully, someday something like this will exist.

I am just wondering who approached Tony Baxter to put this on the DVD... I wonder if Lasseter had the time to put this thing together...

It is clearly an end run around the "singles and doubles" doctrine that has permiated Pressler and Rasselo, where great imagineering designs never see the light of day.

When Rasselo said, "we want to streamline the approval process"- it was a big lie...

[MrLiver]

This ride will never see the light of day. If the high spending Japanese didn't want to build it for their land entirely dedicated to the Little Mermaid - what chance do we have here in America?

I'm guessing that the only reason this was put on the DVD was as bonus material filler - as a reason to buy yet ANOTHER version of this movie. Nothing more.

[DisneyDude2006]

I think their wanting to see who all would be interested. Maybe their wanting fans to write in and be like "please build the ride!" If they generate enough interest, thenthey will have more of a garentee people will ride it.

I think the ride could be built and run the same way as on the DVD without water. I think they could just use water effects and have the same effect. So where could this be built....

[cellarhound]

This ride will never see the light of day. If the high spending Japanese didn't want to build it for their land entirely dedicated to the Little Mermaid - what chance do we have here in America?

I'm guessing that the only reason this was put on the DVD was as bonus material filler - as a reason to buy yet ANOTHER version of this movie. Nothing more.

But it is not billed on the marketing material of the DVD... In fact it is hidden in Games and Activities... and placed there sort of as an after thought because they didn't want to spend money on any real games or activities...

[mycroft16]

If I was a head honcho at DL and someone showed me that mock up of the ride, I'd smile and say 'try again'.
I like it mostly, but I have a couple of problems with it. The most obvious is the 'Kiss the Girl' number after Ursula's demise. Bleh.
I'd also like them to explain the transition part from on the surface of the water to beneath it. How does that happen?
I also think suspended from above cars are not necessary. If you're not hovering over something (like London in 'Pan') then why use a suspended system? Or I'd tell them to make the shells swim over something interesting to look at...

If you have the DVD and listen to the commentary from Tony Baxter, he explains the scenes are out of order. He explains that it made more sense in the dark ride format to do it in that order for story reasons than to strictly follow the script of the movie. This is the same reason that when a book is turned into a movie, scenes are reworked... the format is different.

The transition from surface to underwater looks to me to be a fog layer and lighting change. It works really well.

I think suspended cars are necessary because you are hovering... on the surface of water... or actually floating IN the water. Having a track run on the floor where there is supposed to be only water would be slightly distracting, especially as they have places where you can see down UNDER the water while you are above it. Moving the track up and above the cars is the only viable solution.

[MrLiver]

I think their wanting to see who all would be interested. Maybe their wanting fans to write in and be like "please build the ride!" If they generate enough interest, thenthey will have more of a garentee people will ride it.

How many letters would they need to get? 1,000? 2,000? 50,000? How many letters would justify spending $100,000,000 million on a new attraction?

WDI just isn't operated in that fashion. Typically WDI is operated by egos and personalities - it's what the designers think would look good, would be cool, and be well received. Then those ideas get passed on to the budget people and top executives who then filter out all those "good" ideas for the ones that will be all of the above, but also make money and pay for itself.

By the time the Little Mermaid attraction plans got fully developed - Disney was on to other bigger and brighter ideas - bigger movies and bigger plans. Even today it's hard to justify spending money on a Little Mermaid ride, when you have more modern and more popular properties such as the Pixar Characters.

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

I am just wondering who approached Tony Baxter to put this on the DVD...

What makes you think it wasn't the other way around?

[mousephreak23]

i really dont see how anaheim is getting along like it is now w/o a MERMAID RIDEEEEE!!! its one of the main pictures...but she doesnt have a ride...this is just not fair...just cause she had a fin....jeez....

[sleepyjeff]

The ride could not fit there in anyway shape or form.

Not in any shape or form? Perhaps not exactly as on the DVD(but remember, that design was for a Paris version) but a modified version certainly could fit there.

Not only is that a very tight and crowded parade route, it is also a transitional spot. Putting a darkride there would be incredibly awkward. There's TL and right in front of it is Eric's castle?

They wouldn't have to actually build the exterior with a castle....the entrance could be more subtle with Triton's garden as it is now.

But all theming aside, no way it could fit in the tiny grotto/ meet and greet area. It's tiny.

Not just the Grotto meet and greet area but the entire extra wide walkway North of Buzz and South of the Matterhorn.

And they use that small walkway behind the grotto as overflow for Buzz since they forgot to build an adequate que actually inside the building.

The overflow
queue for Buzz will not be needed once its not the newest attraction in the Park anymore.

It would have to be built in the motorboat cruise area or Fantasyland theatre if it was going to be put at DL.

How many square feet in the Fantasyland Stage area? Motorboat Cruise area? Area behind Buzz?

[ganggreen4jc]

.......The only option would be to take over the Frontierland Arena area.

I agree. Seems to me that you could build the attraction all the way to the RR tracks and maybe a bit beyond, creating a new, aquatic themed diarama for the DLRR at the same time!