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We’ve taken you to the grand opening of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and on a trip through the ride itself, but now it’s time to learn more about how this long-awaited experience came to be.
Just after the new dark ride’s grand opening at Disney California Adventure, I spoke to Walt Disney Imagineering Project Manager Frank Antonides about how a ride based on The Little Mermaid finally moved from concept to completion after more than two decades of planning:
Then I hopped into a clam shell and journeyed under the sea with Walt Disney Imagineering Senior Show Programmer Ethan Reed to find out more about how Ariel, Ursula, Sebastian, and all the other characters come to life:
Reed is now working on the upcoming Orlando version of the ride as well as Mystic Manor for Hong Kong Disneyland. He also offered that there will be a “few surprises” in the Walt Disney World version of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.
Later, I sat down with Walt Disney Imagineers Larry Nikolai and Lisa Girolami to further chat about why the ride ended up at Disney California Adventure instead of Disneyland Park and what’s in store for the Walt Disney World version of the attraction in Florida:
And now that you’ve learned all about the creation of the new ride based on The Little Mermaid, hop in a clam shell and take a spin around the attraction:
The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is now officially open at Disney California Adventure. A similar attraction will open some time in 2012/2013 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. as part of the New Fantasyland expansion.
Hey Ricky!!
I have been listening to your podcast since day one. Even helped out with one of the meetups back during Mousefest when we had the Haunted Mansion and Harbor House meetup. I am always impressed with what you do but this TLM attraction coverage is just incredible. Doing a ride thru with an imagineer is just brilliant. Awesome work!!!
Thanks!
I’m glad you’re still enjoying it all.
did you get to choose to do the on ride interview or did they arrange that for everyone? did you just mount a camera to the vehicle in front? did you snap a pic of that rig?
Disney arranged the interview for me. We had a camera man facing us throughout the ride.
Nice job Ricky! You’re climbing the ranks in Disney journalism. Before you know it you’ll be starring in the in-room programming and travel DVDs for WDW.
It’s been a blast to watch the podcast grow throughout the years. Keep it up!