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3894
11-08-2001, 01:20 PM
Nothing new to report, sad to say.

I just miss the world's largest private submarine fleet. :crying:

innerSpaceman
11-08-2001, 02:21 PM
I really liked the battleship gray subs much better than the later yellowy-orangish paintjob. I hardly ever went on this ride (lines were always soooo long), but that's what made it so special each time I did. I have a recording of the original 1959 ride spiel, and if you thought the later versions were corny.....

Anyway, I too miss the voyage through liquid space. It was revolutionary in its day, and still unique up until the moment they coldly ripped it from Disneyland.

zapppop
11-08-2001, 04:08 PM
I wish they kept the ride until they began work on a new one.

Cadaverous Pallor
11-08-2001, 04:19 PM
Originally posted by zapppop
I wish they kept the ride until they began work on a new one.
This should ALWAYS be the rule. Never leave us with empty space, filled with echoing memories. Every now and then I walk up to the railing and stare into the water at the plastic coral and wish I could go back in time. This ride was one of my father's favorites and his excitement was infectious.

So they changed the spiel over time? I didn't know that. The only time I heard a different spiel was during a summer promotion celebrating the '50's.....hula hoops and poodle skirts....they changed the spiel to clips from 50's songs cut into a dialogue. It was terrible and I was so happy to have the old voice back.

How many times did the spiel change? Anyone know?

innerSpaceman
11-08-2001, 04:49 PM
There were 3 versions of the spiel. The original '59 version. A new version for New Tomorrowland in '67, and yet another new version in, oh I don't know the exact date of this one, but it was in the early 80's around the same time they repainted the subs from gray to yellow. Maybe someone else will know the exact date of the last revision, but the correct answer to your question, CadaverousPallor, is the same as the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop ... 3

coronamouseman
11-08-2001, 05:32 PM
Don't forget the 20K ride at WDW either!

The first time I went to WDW in Florida, a huge thunderstorm broke out the night we first boarded the 20K Leagues ride there -
it was truly fantastic with the lightning, thunder and the exquisite Nautilus-type subs (still one of the great Disney contributions to the film world).

Eisner and his boys still don't get it that older Disney customers love to return to those attractions that they enjoyed so much in their youth - every time they yank down one of the DL or WDW "classics" they alienate that many more persons with fond memories of their first time on "Mr. Toad" or "20,000 Leagues" or "Carousel of Progress" or ..................

Yes, new attractions are great but leave enough of the old ones to keep some continuity ..........

Ace
11-08-2001, 07:26 PM
why was the voyage through liquid space closed anyway? that lagoon looks so empty.......they should at least put a small boat ride there......

Nigel2
11-08-2001, 09:48 PM
Originally posted by 3894

I just miss the world's largest private submarine fleet.
I thought that the sub ride at the Westedmonton mall (Canada, grrrr) has a larger fleet.

3894
11-09-2001, 05:51 AM
Well, if you're talking about real submarines (that actually submerge), then the West Edmonton Mall fleet wins.

This is according to a google search. Before you enlightened me, I had no idea that such a place existed. Many thanks!

Disney's never did got underwater, as we all know. In all, there were eight "subs".

By the way, has anyone ever seen a stray Sub Voyage plastic fish, etc. for sale? On another site, Fab the Disney Babe mentioned they sometimes come up on ebay. Never have seen that, have you?

stinkerbell
11-09-2001, 06:32 AM
Being a little claustrophobic, the subs weren't my favorite things, but I always made it a point to ride them. And you're right, the lagoon looks so empty. When my daughter asked what everyone was in line for (the line of smokers who were smoking and looking at the lagoon) we told her it was a new land called "Smoking Land." That space should be used ASAP, esp. with the "new" Tomorrowland right there. I think it's an embarrassment.

coronamouseman
11-09-2001, 06:47 AM
Reply to Squinky:

I believe it has been pretty well documented in a number of other past threads on this site that the closing of the submarine rides at DL and WDW was due primarily to high maintenance costs coupled with the ride's low guest capacity.

Never mind all of the postings to this thread or in others where previous guests at the parks talk with reverence about the fond memories or experiences they had on these rides - think of it more in the "modern" Disney terms of profit/loss (more the latter these days!) and park cutbacks executed to improve the corporate suit's dotted line results rather than preserving the tradition of unique and creative attractions as originally started by Walt Disney himself.

Nigel2
11-09-2001, 10:15 AM
Speaking of the subs at West Edmonton...
This ride is the dumbest looking ride, but it looks so much better in person. They are real subs as noted above, but they still run on a track and they have a team of divers always on call to get them back on course, so if you do go there and have a fear of closed spaced I would recomend avoiding this. Also they have real fish in their version...but they are all in fishtanks underwater:) .

Not Afraid
11-09-2001, 09:58 PM
Does anyone remember the live mermaids that would sit on a big rock in the lagoon? I'm talking about real people dressed as mermaids.

I remember clearly being very young, standing by the lagoon and looking in wonder at the "real" mermaids. My Dad was very intrigued as well (fits into the category called: "Things you don't realize about your dad until you're older"). :eek:

This would've been in the mid to late '60s.

Nigel2
11-09-2001, 10:50 PM
I actually know a guy that married one of the Mermaids, but I don't know which happend first them getting hitched or her becoming a mermaid. They use to sit on the rocks that were by the monorail supports right? I rember in Mouse Tails they said the water bleached their hair since it was so chlorinated.

Not Afraid
11-09-2001, 11:14 PM
Originally posted by Nigel2
I actually know a guy that married one of the Mermaids, but I don't know which happend first them getting hitched or her becoming a mermaid. They use to sit on the rocks that were by the monorail supports right? I rember in Mouse Tails they said the water bleached their hair since it was so chlorinated.


That's sooooo cool! I wasn't sure if I actually saw them or it was just one of those imaginary things I made up as a child. (Here I could go into a long explanation about being a lonely child with a big imagination :crying: , but I won't.)

I need to read the D. Koening books!

Morrigoon
11-09-2001, 11:59 PM
I'm pretty sure you can order those through Mouseshoppe ;)

stinkerbell
11-10-2001, 10:40 AM
Originally posted by Morrigoon
I'm pretty sure you can order those through Mouseshoppe ;)

Oh, can you? I hadn't heard........:)

Ugh, my daughters are going to wonder someday why Daddy is in all the pictures of them with Ariel and none of the other pictures. What is it about the mermaids?????

Not Afraid
11-10-2001, 10:50 AM
I married a man with a thing for mermaids! I have red hair, like Ariel, but I don't wear the same clothes. He keeps trying to get me in a mermaid costume though. It could be worse! :)

stinkerbell
11-10-2001, 11:13 AM
So you married a guy just like dear old dad, eh?
That's so funny. I'm always on the look-out for
Tarzan myself ;) .

Not Afraid
11-10-2001, 11:19 AM
There's a really nice Tarzan specimen in the DL Parade of the Stars. Every once in a while the gorilla replaces him and the parade is not the same. :mad: But when he's there, I can get my husband back for goggling at Arial. :D

rexfarms
11-10-2001, 11:43 AM
I wish I could have one last ride.:crying:

3894
11-10-2001, 03:16 PM
Ah, dads and mermaids ... In the summer of '67, my dad pointed the live mermaids out to me. He thought they were a wonderful, funny touch. I remember not really seeing them well.

bandboy1985
11-24-2001, 09:14 PM
yup- the mermaids got the hook due to a couple factors. the first was temp changes- in SoCal, the winds from the Santa Anas can really kick up on exposed spaces (like a lagoon...) and it's no fun to be freezing out there in fishtails and clamshells. when it wasn't overtly windy, the sun could get to them. 40 minutes minimum out in the sun can be enough to roast you if you should happen to forget your sunscreen. also, standing up and transitioning in and out of the lagoon was perenially a problem, as the runner tails were easy to rip, and sewing rubber is not the best way to fix it. in fact, there was just no good way to fix rubber repeatedly back then, so that was a large issue. as someone else mentioned, the chlorine was a very bad factor for show. although necessary to keep the lagoon waters see-through clear and up to show standards, it actually left an unusual residue on the fins, and over time also bleached the cast members' hair. so there were several elemental factors that led up to the deletion of this cool cast member position and park addition.

LIMANDL4EVA
11-24-2001, 10:03 PM
Originally posted by Not Afraid
Does anyone remember the live mermaids that would sit on a big rock in the lagoon? I'm talking about real people dressed as mermaids.

I remember clearly being very young, standing by the lagoon and looking in wonder at the "real" mermaids. My Dad was very intrigued as well (fits into the category called: "Things you don't realize about your dad until you're older"). :eek:

This would've been in the mid to late '60s.
there is an issue from 'the e-ticket' magaizine wit pictures of the live mermaids