Walt Disney World's new Little Mermaid show is getting a Lightning Lane.
The resort announced today that The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure will become a Tier 2 Lightning Lane Multi Pass option at Disney's Hollywood Studios, starting next month. The musical production opened in the park's Animation Courtyard in May. In case you missed it, here is our review: 'The Little Mermaid' returns on stage at Walt Disney World.
The Little Mermaid effectively takes the spot of the now-closed Muppet*Vision 3D on Hollywood Studios' Lightning Lane list. Guests with Lightning Lane Multi Pass may select The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure as an option starting August 20, for visits starting September 11.
For a complete list of all available attractions using Disney's pay-to-play line-skipping service, please see our updated Complete guide to Disney's Lightning Lane.
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I get that there is a novelty factor at play here since the show is still new, but it should be worth mentioning that when I tried to see it last month, I was shut out twice because the line was out the entrance 10 minutes prior to showtime and already at capacity for the next show.
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There is only one reason this show has been added to LL, and that is $$$$. Putting a performance of this size/caliber on LLMP indicates to me that there aren't enough attractions available in DHS to provide value for guests buying the product. Thus, Disney has to add an attraction to the list that guests can easily walk up to in order to make LLMP buyer feel like they have something they can get out of their purchase.
LLMP is classic "bait and switch" as Disney advertises a number of attractions that guests can get at DHS, but because of capacity and demand, most are lucky if they can get a LL to one decent ride in the park and are left with bottom tier attractions that typically have minimal waits. Disney has already publicly lowered expectations of the system since it was launched, reducing the typical number of LLs a guest should be able to get in a day from 5-6 down to 3-4, even after restoring advanced reservations for on-site guests. It was one thing when guests weren't paying for FP/FP+, but now that people are paying for this service as a separate upcharge, Disney is constantly having to temper expectations and include attractions where having a LL is virtually worthless in order to make guests who buy LLMP feel like that at least got "something" for that fee.