Walt Disney World visitors will get to see this new ride as part of the Fantasyland expansion that opens in late 2012 or early 2013. But for now, Ariel's Adventure is a California Adventure exclusive.
Disney Parks Chairman Tom Staggs welcomed Jodi Benson, the original voice of the Ariel, to the stage during this afternoon's opening ceremony. Benson sang "Part of Your World" before introducing Sherie Rene Scott, the Broadway voice of Ursula, who performed "Poor Unfortunate Souls." Additional singers emerged for a medley of other Little Mermaid tunes before the ride opened to an explosion of streamers.
The Little Mermaid revived Disney's animation division when it debuted to critical and public acclaim in 1989. Buoyed by Alan Mencken's Academy Award-winning score, The Little Mermaid reminded the public that Disney could still make a delightful animated film.
Well, then, Ariel's Undersea Adventure reminds us today that Disney can still build one heck of a musical dark ride when it puts its mind to it, too.
You ride in brightly colored clamshells, whose color helps you forget that this attraction is built on the same ride system as the very dark Haunted Mansion. As you pass under the stern of Prince Eric's ship, Scuttle sets the scene to begin the story. We turn a corner, then we drop "under the sea" as lights and projections create an underwater effect. (Be sure to look up for your first glimpse at our little mermaid.) The sounds of "Part of Your World" signal that we're about to enter Ariel's cave hideaway, where the little mermaid is singing her ode to a statue of the prince.
Ariel's "handler," Sebastien the Crab, has other ideas for the mermaid, and leads a wild chorus of animatronic sea creatures in a delightful rendition of "Under the Sea." The scene, the largest in the ride, explodes with color and motion. Take a look at Ariel's eyes, which dance in delight - Disney didn't skimp. You might not notice such detail, but they help sell the scene to even a skeptical rider.
But no great story is complete without some good ol' evil. Flotsam and Jetsam lead us to the lair of one of Disney's most delicious devils, Urusla the sea witch, who belts out "Poor Unfortunate Souls" while plotting the theft of Ariel's voice.
With the tragic deal in place, Ariel gets her legs and Ursula claims Ariel's voice. We next see Sebastien crooning "Kiss the Girl" as Ariel and her beloved Price Eric float along on an evening date, accompanied by Sebastien's crew.
And then… the plot hole.
In the movie, Ursula transforms herself into a raven-haired beauty, using Ariel's voice to lure Prince Eric, against which the now-mute Ariel can't compete. The little mermaid's fauna friends bail her out, though, allowing Eric to escape Ursula's spell until Ariel's father, King Triton, could put everything right. (That didn't happen Hans Christian Andersen's original story, which ended on a tragic note.)
I once twisted my young daughter's mind by pointing out that, from Snow White's perspective, the apple worked. One moment, the old lady is offering her a magic apple, and the next thing she sees is her beloved prince leaning in for a kiss, about to sweep her away to live happily ever after.
Score!
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Adventure reminded me of that twist, because here, we skip straight from Ariel and Prince Eric on their date to happily ever after. If you hadn't seen the movie, you'd be lead to think that Ursula came through: Ariel got her man!
What a nice sea witch, helping that lovesick mermaid like that, without taking anything in return.
(Grrr….)
Still, hearing those songs again, in a delightfully immersive environment, filled with motion and color, helped me forgive the omission of all that drama. Set behind an impressive seaside boardwalk facade, Ariel's Undersea Adventure is as sweet as salt-water taffy. Just don't chew on it too long.
Tweet
I will have to wait until 2012 or 2013 to experience the ride. The facade that Disney will build in Magic Kingdom looks more impressive though.
Your video stopped before the ride ended. What happened? Was your camera what Ursula wanted in return?
However, Disney has always been best known for its storytelling, and in that department they really dropped the ball. The ride is a wonderful visual experience, but the story still needs to make sense, and here it seems like they ran out money in the third act. What's the point of even introducing Ursula if your not going to bother following the conflict of the story? The ride seems to be missing a couple of scenes that would complete the story, and as it is, the story HAS NO CLIMAX. It just has a pat resolution that makes no sense. I agree with everyone that the ride needs one more big scene to match the big "Under the Sea" scene with a big storm at sea as the heroes face a giant Ursula before transitioning to the big happy ending.
This is a great technological achievement with color and fancy for the kids and the kids at heart, but it fails as a complete story.
Regarding the look, I didn't find it impressive. Ursula's animatronic is excellent, but even the dated Pirates of the Caribbean have a broader range of movements. Perhaps it's because they allow you to get too close to the animatronics, revealing too much detail. Then again, I'm sure the video doesn't do it justice.
Regarding the above comments, I completely agree that they should have included Ursula's epic battle with the ship. That scene in the movie still gets me fired up.
General theming and musical scoring are excellent.
The pacing of the piece is a little odd throughout, but not least with the last appearance of ursula.
People say that 'Under the Sea' is alive with movement but I feel the somewhat simple movements some of the animals make is pretty dated and basic - like 4 lobsters all moving on the same mechanism and as a result looking mechanical. I would forgive this more if they didn't then use identical versions of these creatures in the final scene.
Finally, I know it it a high art, but I don't think Ariel looks much like Ariel, rather a toy of Ariel. Her hair in the Under the Sea scene seems misjudged. And Eric is arguably the most handsome of all Disney princes but this doesn't translate well in this ride.
Sorry it sounds negative, but children are more perceptive that we think and they know when something they are seeing doesn't quite match the image they have in their heads.
Nick M, UK
On a different note, why does King Triton only make an appearance at the end? This would have to be chalked up to the lack of a climax as well, IMO. And is it just me, or does Triton's beard look really out of place? Like they tried to make him look more realistic than any other character. From what I can tell in the video, it looks like they used real "hair" for his hair and beard as opposed to Ariel and Eric's cartoony, plastic hair (which fits the theme better). To me, Triton looks like Harry from "Harry and the Hendersons"...just real goofy looking.
It seems like I'm complaining. Overall, it seems like a great ride--great energy, state of the art technology, and everything in between. Just seems like with all that effort, they would have patched up the holes in the story.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
