Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I agree with Cinderella too. I am not a huge fan of that one either. Yet my daughter adores both TLM and Cinders. I do not know why. But I can appreciate that TLM did bring Disney back onto the scene for a while, leading to Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King and Hunchback of Notre Dame - real masterpieces IMHO.
Originally Posted By mstaft Hunchback? Really? Too over the top with the heavy political angle for me. Way too preachy. Dave, my bet is when your daughter becomes a teen closer to marriage, you'll appreciate Mermaid even more. I know. I just married tow daughters off in the last year.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hunchback because I love how dark it is, the politics, the oppression, the passion. The only bit I do not like are the gargoyles. I really am not a fan of the girl movies other than B&tB and Mulan.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo But then again, Treasure Planet is my fav animated feature by Disney.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: While I don't totally agree with you in regard to your opinion of Cinderella, Ferret Afros, duckling, I certainly can appreciate what you're saying. Disney's Cinderella has the advantage of being popular mainly because the original fairy tale was so popular. Disney's Cinderella seems to be riding on the success of the original story more than anything else. ORWEN: The mice make it cute and some of the songs are catchy. But the absence of the Prince--who is given such a small part in the Disney version--works against it. I know the Disney animators weren't that good at drawing realistic male characters back then. But they sure made up for it with Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty. ORDDU: So, yes, Cinderella could have been much better if it had been handled differently than it was. I wouldn't go so far as you did in saying it's boring. But you're points are still well taken over all.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 "Oh, and now its "not being slowed down?" This after you claimed it was because John L. wanted it that way? Hmmm, Imagineers I talked to laughed with glee at your post on that one. They fully admit they let that one out just to get you Al. You might want to start double checking your "facts" Al." Well if Al is actually reporting what these so-called imagineers you know(if you actually DO!)are telling him then what is he supposed to do? I think you just shot yourself in the foot here because all it proves is your so-called friends are feeding false information and Al is just the conduit. Not his fault if he is being deliberately fed the wrong thing. Just makes you "friends"(again, if they even exist!)look like liars and game-players.
Originally Posted By Manfried The problem is that if Al is a conduit then he needs to recognize and admit he is being used, or tired of being used, by the Disney folks to trumpet their own agendas. And if they align with Al's, he loves it. And folks like those who support that should admit it too.
Originally Posted By Westsider So Manfried, you are saying that Imagineers purposely gave Al's sources a fake story that the Mermaid Omnimover was being tested at a slower pace to please Lasseter, just to see if the info would end up in his column? That would only seem to prove that Al has some solid sources within WDI.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Indeed! Manfried comes across as the obsessed villain who just takes too much glee in seeing someone else being set up so he can try and use this as some sort of twisted proof that he is somehow a protecter of the truth when, in fact, he seems to support those who would lie, instead. Mr. Lutz only reports what he hears and has said so many times. He doesn't declare that everything he says is the final way things will be. It's up to his readers to have enough common sense to realize things can change at the last minute. ORGOCH: Yeah an' in the meantime Manfried just goes 'round makin' hisself look like a dang fool fer his attacks agin' poor ol' Al. Not lookin' too credible, Manfried!
Originally Posted By crazycroc I think if you read Lutz's gushing and crushes about certain Imagineers, it's really pretty easy to figure out his sources
Originally Posted By Westsider You passed your test Constance. So now that official CM Previews have begun today, with friends and family invited, I'm going to post my review since I've been on this ride several times in the past few days, including the official preview ticket ride I took today. SPOILERS AHEAD! This is a darn good dark ride. The narrow sea caverns that you descend and ascend through at the beginning and end of the ride is surprisingly effective. The projections and lighting effects in these sections are the best I've seen in any Anaheim attraction. The animatronics of Scuttle are great, Ariel comes across best the first time you see her a few moments after the ride begins, and her watery hair looks the best there as well. The big Under The Sea musical production number isn't quite as big and impressive as I was expecting. It's still a fun and wacky time, but it's not quite on the scale and impressive nature of Haunted Mansion's graveyard scene. Ariel in this scene is okay, but not as effective as the first Ariel you see singing in the cave. In the Under The Sea scene she looks like she is having a spasm. Ursula? She kicks butt. Let's hope they get the technical glitches with Flotsam and Jetsam worked out before June 3rd, but they are cool too when they work. But Ursula steals the show two thirds of the way through the ride. The finale' is a bit weaker than I had thought it would be, although it's a nice reprise of the Under The Sea vibe. The final farewell and ride wrap-up by Scuttle doesn't work well at all because his dialogue is drowned out by the swelling music in the finale', and they really need to reposition his speakers or move him 8 feet further down the track. The finale' leads to a short hallway as your clamshell swivels around into bright daylight and it's welcome-back-exit-to-your-left-and-watch-your-step. It's not quite as jarring as the Happily Ever After exit of Snow White's Scary Adventures, but it's close. But really? This is going to be a big hit for DCA. Single adult Disney fans who spend too much time on the Internet will be underwhelmed, especially the guys. But the ladies will like it, and the young girls will go crazy over it. As an adult male I don't know that I need to ever go on this ride again, but I say the same thing about Small World and still end up on that one sometimes with a lady friend or two. This one will have big lines this first summer, fall and Christmas. And then by next winter it will settle in to a modest 15 minute wait for a high-capacity Omimover attraction that is aesthetically stunning and artistically pleasing, especially if your DCA party contains a 6 year old girl or anyone who has ever been a 6 year old girl. The super-macho types can skip it and never look back.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo As I suspected Westsider, thanks for sharing. My soon to be 6 year old daughter and perhaps my wife will love it. But it sounds like there is enough to keep my son and I entertained while we are jonesing to go on Star Tours the Adventure Continues or Radiator Racers.
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne I was a six year old girl not too long ago and although I've never been a big fan of 'The Little Mermaid' Im desperately trying to figure out a budget that includes a 'quick' trip to the US just so I can ride it.. I have burst into tears multiple times reading this thread/ watching the sneak peak films etc because I have no idea when I'll get to ride it!! I think it sounds great.. Very envious there's people out there who've already been on it a few times!
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "aesthetically stunning and artistically pleasing, especially if your DCA party contains a 6 year old girl or anyone who has ever been a 6 year old girl. " Yay!
Originally Posted By DlandDug Hmm. I've KNOWN a few six year old girls. Does that count? Regardless, I am looking forward to this attraction.
Originally Posted By gadzuux So far we've heard nothing about the 'Kiss the Girl' scene. And I'd also like to hear more about the Ursula scene. From the concept art, it appears that Ursula is looming large over a crystal ball with Ariel and Eric projected inside.
Originally Posted By Westsider SPOILERS AHEAD! The Kiss The Girl scene is actually split into two scenes. There's the first scene after you come back up above water, and it's an animatronic set with Eric and Ariel in the boat leaning in for the kiss while fish and reptiles play music around them. It's a cute little scene. But Eric never actually lands the kiss on the girl there. Then you move into another scene where a painted flat and lightly animated view of Ursula is seen in the background being destroyed. In the foreground is a part of Eric's castle with a shadow projection of Eric and Ariel kissing while a moving projection of a heart outlines them in the doorway, and the kiss actually happens. Then you move on to the finale' wedding scene where a very buff King Triton and a lot of the fish from the Under The Sea room wish the newlyweds luck as an Ariel with legs waves goodbye. I should also say that it's the smaller animatronics that generally steal the show in this ride. Scuttle is awesome, and Sebastian appears in several scenes and his animated eyes and tiny movements are more impressive than the bigger and more traditionally constructed animatronics. The big Ursula is big, but nothing that drops your jaw open. She just sort of bounces around singing in front of a crystal ball that has nice projections of Ariel inside it. There's some neat details throughout, at least from an operations perspective. For instance, the CM staffing the end of the load belt has a console built into the shipwreck scene you first enter, and above the wood-themed console panel is a computer screen that can read out ride system information in the event of a ride stop or during normal power up/down procedures. It has to be there so that the CM can face the right way and watch the load belt. But 95% of the time that computer screen (found in every modern ride system) isn't needed, so they have an antique frame around the screen and a screen saver for it that looks like an oil painting of Eric's ship, and it then blends right in to the surroundings and you don't see a modern flat screen with an Excel spreadsheet scrolling on it. All you see is a painting of Eric's ship in an antique frame. Well done WDI! The whole facility has a great feel of quality about it. Flooring, furnishings, tilework, windows, doors, paint and wall textures, handrails, light fixtures, speaker covers, drainpipes, even the stanchions in the queue are all custom designed for this one facility. The metal stanchions in the queue have brass sea urchins on top of them, for example. I give the actual ride inside an 8 out of 10, but I give the facility as a whole a 10 out of 10 for its attention to detail and money spent on surfaces and textures. The ride is better than any Fantasyland-style dark ride anywhere (over twice as long too), but not quite as good as It's A Small World. It will satisfy most anyone who rides it, and should absolutely thrill a key demographic at a Disney theme park; young children and most females.
