Manic Monday

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Mine was all backwards. I didn't celebrate Christmas until last night, but it was a white Christmas, which was awesome. It snowed in LA! How insane is that?!? I have a million pictures and videos to prove it.

I also got to spend some quality time at Disneyland and I love me some theme park magic. I used to work for Universal on the shows and that was kind of cool, but I never really got into the theme park world until I started working for a theme park design company and then my world exploded. I’m so in love with theme parks and the way they work and the way they make people feel. I want to dedicate my life to that stuff. Anyway, sorry for gushing. I recently saw a leak of the new Little Mermaid ride, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure that is currently being built at Disneyland’s California Adventure. It hasn’t been built yet, obviously, but California Adventure is being completely revamped right now and this will be one of their new rides. Take a look at the breakdown and enjoy.

Scene 1 — The loading area features a panoramic mural with all the main movie characters and a seaside castle.
Scene 2 — Audio-animatronic versions of Sebastian the crab and Scuttle the seagull set up the ride’s back story.
Scene 3 — A blast of cold air and a visual illusion make riders feel as if they are submerging underwater as the clam shell vehicle descends into the heart of the dark ride.
Scene 4 — Riders pass through Ariel’s treasure-lined mermaid grotto with sidekicks Sebastian and Flounder as the song “Part of Your World” plays.
Scene 5 — Sebastian conducts an audio-animatronic orchestra of sea creatures in the ride’s main showroom to the tune of “Under the Sea.”
Scene 6 — In Ursula’s lair, riders pass under menacing rock work as henchmen eels Flotsam and Jetsam lurk nearby during the villainous sea witch’s big diva musical number “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”
Scene 7 — The clam shell vehicle appears to ascend from the ocean depths.
Scene 8 — Ariel and Prince Eric kiss on a rowboat to the strains of “Kiss the Girl” as geysers spout water
Scene 9 — The spell-breaking kiss drives Ursula mad as “Love’s First Kiss” plays amid gathering storm clouds.
Scene 10 — The “Happily Ever After” finale scene has been kept a closely guarded secret by Walt Disney Imagineers.
Scene 11 — Riders unload as Ariel and Eric stand atop the castle, King Triton salutes them from the water and Sebastian waves goodbye.

Here’s an older concept video of the ride. A lot has changed since this video, but it’s a very good example of what will actually be built: