The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure reviews
Theme Park Insider readers offer their ratings and reviews for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure, a dark ride in Paradise Pier at Disney's California Adventure.
Written by Robert Niles You'll travel "underwater" in clam-shell ride vehicles to visit Ariel's grotto, see Sebastien conduct a sea-creature orchestra and encounter Ursula's lair.
Readers' rating:
This ride is amazing down to the last detail. The AAs are stunning, there are so many details, the omnimover system keeps lines short, the building is beautiful; everything about it is great. Though some complain of the rushed disjointed feel of this ride, they are missing the main story point. The ride begins with Scuttle the seagull telling you the story and getting lost and confused as he tells it... and the rest of the ride reflects this. He even appears at the end to wrap the story up. If one recalls the movie you'll remember how scuttle never quite gets everything right, so it makes sense that as he tells the story of Ariel that he'd get everything a little confused. - Victoria Jurkowski The audio animatronics were great, especially Ursula. The only complaint I have is the story felt a little rushed. But it's still a great addition to the park. - Jeff Moon The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a nice addition to the park. It is a ride that gives a punch of traditional Disneyland flavour to the arguably less Disney-y CA Adventure Park. Although a traditional Disney dark ride, The Little Mermaid has all the little touches of newer technology. There are actually some real animatronic, even for Flaunder, a fish would usually be a generic motor-powered model, but in this case he actually dances along to the music. Ursula is also one of the biggest show stealer. She's the biggest character in size of the whole ride, and the texture of her skin is done to the smallest detail. On the other hand, Disney's little detail are sometimes just astonishing. When in the que line, they actually blend in seashells to the cement that paves the walk way. Although many may agree Little Mermaid is one of the best rides at DCA, as a Disney fan who's seen the ride simulation video that comes with the DVD I was a little disappointed how disjointed the story is on this ride. I came in expecting a dramatic defeat of Ursula, a opening set piece of the ship that got destroyed by lighting, which none of them appeared in this ride. However these little disappointment can't really diminish the overall quality of the attraction. So, 8 out of 10. Good job, Disney! Now I can't wait for Cars Land to open in 2012. - Jeremy Hu This is a very typical Disney dark ride, with all of the usual high points and failings. I'll start with the failings first. Like many Disney dark rides, the story is condensed too much. Some say like Snow White the ending seems abrupt, but I think what is really missing is conflict and a villain. Ursula gets one scene, and other than that the entire ride is all about happiness. As a friend of mine put it, its like they Disney-fied a Disney movie. There are a few long but mostly featureless hallways. Condense these, and perhaps an additional scene with real drama could have been added. Also, there are a few computer generated animations that do not match the style of the film nor the rest of the attraction. On the positive side, the animatronics and sets are great by simple dark ride styles, the very high ride capacity means long waits shouldn't be an issue, the building is beautiful, and overall the ride provides the family-friendly quick fun DCA has mostly lacked. I give it a solid "good" rating. - Tyler Stover Outstanding attraction! I would have said it was perfect, but without spoiling anything, the abrupt ending a la "Snow White" is the only major drawback to this attraction. Definitely one of the best additions to DLR. - Brandon Mendoza A highly enjoyable dark ride! Beautiful animatronics, great effects and a lovely building to house it. Some people seemed to be disappointed with it because it wasn't up to par with say "Pirates of the Caribbean", but what in the world is up to par with that ride? This is a great addition to the park! - Tommy N This is a VERY good DARK RIDE. If you go in expecting a dark ride, you will NOT be disappointed. This is what Winnie the Pooh at DL SHOULD have been. It is similar to Winnie the Pooh in length, but it has ACTUAL audio animatronics and not static characters. - Ted Heumann A nice attraction but could be better. An attraction that California Adventure needs. - nick . More attraction and restaurant ratings:
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