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The Little Mermaid ride that almost was (pics!)


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I can't Believe that with all the Disney fans in here nobody mentioned it yet!

 

On the New Little Mermaid 2 disc DVD they have a bonus segment on the dark ride that disney almost built complete with commentary from the imagineers and includes a full CG POV! (screenshots below)

 

This was a great bonus feature as it features the models and layout/plans for the ride. I cannot believe they didn't build it.

Odd thing about the ride is that the things happen out of sequence. but I guess makes sense for the ride as a whole

Ride time was 4 min.

 

I would reccomend this DVD alot. IMO it is still the funniest Disney Movie with great characters and story.

 

JEFF

LMride011.jpg.7a24f66d1cc5b14cd98a10b5d09f537e.jpg

loading area where you can see the car in front of you.

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Go on and ____ the Girl!!

LMride008.jpg.1ebca2c12ce5691fa63de0e37c0cc654.jpg

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your dead now!

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Of course she signs it. (Girls will do anything for a piece of ass) =)

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into Ursula's lair

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you know your singing it!

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about to go "under the sea"

LMride001.jpg.b22302bef89821cab557c5ed86be8d17.jpg

your "monorail" type gondola

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Did they mention what park this ride was going to be assigned to? Looks like a good fit for Disney Sea.

 

One of the designers said "Disneyland" but people throw Disney park names around so much, I don't know how valid it is.

 

other info: Scheduled to open in 1992 (movie premiered in Nov. 1989)

 

Pics of the model

Front plaza area was supposed to resemble Eric's kingdom.

 

JEFF

LMride012.jpg.674bfea962a71bd454bdbe5aa3393696.jpg

LMride013.jpg.99f833b5dc67a741ca965277dd5142b3.jpg

It's this big

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Holy crap! I wrote a letter to somebody (I have no idea who, my mom got some address) at Disneyland when I was like 6 years old right after this came out about how much I loved The Little Mermaid and was hoping there would be some kind of ride and got a response saying that they were planning to build one. I can't believe it wasn't a lie! Looks like I will be buying this movie!

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I mean sure it would have been a "cool" ride but it looks to me sort of like the "Movie Ride" at MGM.. with just images and you're just riding through. Plus the building looks like it would have been expensive to maintain.

 

For example, Peter Pan is 100x better because the actual characters are moving.. and its not just a screen..

 

Idk, this is just my two cents.

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Let me re-phrase this with a little more thought.

 

The Fantasia/Mickey Mouse portion of the "Movie Ride" in MGM Studios is basically all just screens with a couple of lighting effects. That is what the mermaid ride (from the pictures seen above) reminds me of.

 

On the other hand, the Peter Pan ride (from what I recall) had actual figures moving. Same example could be used with the Haunted Mansion.

 

:] I hope this made a little more sense.

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It's really a shame that there hasn't been a Lion King attraction built, considering how big it was, and it happened during the "Disney Decade". There's always room in Fantasyland at the MK, but I doubt they would make it now, considering it was 12 years ago. It's really a shame.

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*ahem* take two...

HPIM4385.jpg.9ac4b09298caf7098a3e882caac84f0f.jpg

the 'fish fountains' from the little mermaid dark ride, that were built into a gift shop in the same land

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a portion of the *fully built* ship which is in the exact model of the one on the DVD

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more Ariel's Grotto

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more Ariel's Grotto

HPIM4367.jpg.2eba92d1ecb995999dc5c76995659434.jpg

more Ariel's Grotto

HPIM4366.jpg.6a2ec6bfd25b0bac8a6f9b5eb7c34b52.jpg

more Ariel's Grotto

HPIM4365.jpg.a598c6bedc859861ac854603c07a63d1.jpg

Ariel's Grotto

HPIM4364.jpg.a5334e893d3690eca76521f1ef589141.jpg

more Ursula's Grotto

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more Ursula's Grotto

HPIM4362.jpg.c180584eb72f69310a307f8771924624.jpg

more Ursula's Grotto

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I feel... since so much of the ride was built into the mermaid land in Tokyo DisneySea, there really is no need of the actual ride. The basic side system is already used in the park's 20K attraction (overhead monorail) to great effect... and the park doesn't really need two. It would be a perfect addition, however, to Hong Kong Disneyland, and give it a much needed UNIQUE attraction (instead of building yet another Peter Pan.)

 

Plus the animatronic Ursula head at DisneySea (which can be seen from the video on my blog at:

http://web.mac.com/okwhatev/iWeb/disneysea/Ursula%20Animatronic%20Head%20Video.html

 

I say build it, but build it somewhere that DOESN'T already have an inverted monorail darkride.

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Wouldn't it be cool if all the millions of Disney fans who buy The Little Mermaid DVD start a grass roots effort to get Disney to actually build this ride? I have watched this part of the DVD over and over, and I think it would be a great addition, perhaps replacing the Little Mermaid show at MGM with this attraction.

 

The two levels looks awesome, and if done well (and not on the cheap), it could be as impressive as Pooh's Hunny Hunt, though completely different technology.

 

Just my two cents...

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