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View Full Version : [Untagged] Spoiler Alert! I Saw Nemo Tonight! [Nemo Subs ride discussion]



ladodgerjon
06-03-2007, 12:57 AM
***Spoiler Alert!!!***

Don't read any further if you don't want to know what'ss contained in the ride!

I'm writing this for a couple of reasons:

1). For the land-locked folks unable to make the trip to the DLR...

and, 2). To start the discussion of the various effects found on the new attraction.

Let me start by saying what a weird -- yet familiar -- feeling it was to find myself in line to ride the subs! I know it's only been nine years since I made that winding trip down the sub's stairs, but it sure did feel like I was revisiting my childhood...

Because of my work in television, we were able to attend the preview tonight and ride the subs twice. Don't hold me to this, but I think the ride took about 12 minutes.

Frankly, I don't think my addled brain will allow to give a FULL account, but I'll try hard to be thorough.

Yes, you still sail through a curtain of bubbles to "dive." First stop? The film's dentist's little neice (daughter?) as a scuba diver A fun underwater AA as she's bagging some poor little fish. Then we move to a story (our narrator is the skipper and his female first mate-- both with Aussie accents) about undersea vents... volcanoes... and ancient "lost" civilizations.

Both times through this section we had slow downs. I later spoke to a CM who confided that the boat drivers still "needed practice"-- hence the unscheduled stop.

In truth, this is the weakest portion of the trip-- the art direction is thin.

Pretty soon, though, the ride picks-up, and would clearly earn itself an "E Ticket" valuation on sheer imagination and technical know-how.

The new animation techniques are nothing new-- but they are employed incredibly well. This is one of the few attractions (aside from Star Tours) that REALLY has a true storyline with dense dialogue that easily "tracks."

To be specific, Nemo and all the familiar characters from the film, track alongside the subs portholes as our sub encounters explosions... sub eating whales... snaggly-toothed sharks... shipwrecks... and deadly undersea explosive mines.

It's a heckuva fun ride!

While I am not certain of how the technology is emplyed, I can make some fairly good educated guesses:

Yes, there are several "old school" underwater AA figures (remember the mermaids? I don't see any of them-- but there are scubadivers, chomping eels, and swinning sea turtles that go about their rote movements like their predecessors). The new ANIMATED figures really only come into play when the subs enter the covered "cave."

I believe that in the center of the cave is a dry, "control room" where Nemo is projected onto glass to appear as though he is swimming alongside the sub's portholes. The "animated" Nemo is actually separated from the sub by a wall of plexiglass.

Pay attention to the "lava flow" scene. GREAT STUFF! The lava is actually high-def video being (rear?) projected into the lava troughs. The entire lava scene is actually in a DRY room-- again, separated from the sub by an invisible wall of plexiglass. The scene is layered with swimming fish-- all being projected onto separate pieces of glass that are devided from the sub by the water we're floating through.

It's late-- I hope I'm making sense!

Some of the stand-out scenes:

We get our best, first, glimpse of Nemo as the "class" of school-aged fishies arrive on the back of their mantaray teacher.

We meet the shark on a GREAT set of a shipwreck.

Lots of fun watching Dorrie tray to communicate with a pod of whales (yes, we get swallowed by one).

Fun interation with Dorrie and Nemo among a deep sea field of explosive mines.

Did I mention that the effect of lights and bubbles makes for a super cool explosion?

Also, look for an homage to the old sea monster-- he's towards the end... and is now part of a corral reef.

I'd love to hear other thoughts on the effects.

Enjoy the ride!

ladodgerjon
06-03-2007, 11:01 AM
BTW: I'm not at all convinced that the voices I heard are those of Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres.

THey sounded like sound-a-likes.

SANDYMARIE
06-03-2007, 12:23 PM
***Spoiler Alert!!!***

Don't read any further if you don't want to know what'ss contained in the ride!

[snip]

I'd love to hear other thoughts on the effects.

Enjoy the ride!


What a great report!! No, you did not spoil this for me, it's just makes me more anxious to get there and ride it myself! :)

Thanks for he insight. :)

TTFN

oohykitten
06-03-2007, 01:17 PM
If they aren't the voices, that is a tad sad.

Nancy
06-03-2007, 02:54 PM
What a great report!! No, you did not spoil this for me, it's just makes me more anxious to get there and ride it myself! :)

Thanks for he insight. :)

TTFN



Me too!!!

PanFan
06-03-2007, 06:26 PM
I got to go for the Cast Preview on Friday night. When I gave my report of my experience in another thread, I had forgotten about the shark part and the shipwreck. That was pretty cool. I'm sad I missed the sea serpent at the end! I really liked the animation techniques they used (especially the EAC and the lava).

I just wish the pace was a little slower because it really felt like we were rushing through it and barely got to see everything as we went by. But then my wait would have been longer than an hour and a half, I guess. That was my main complaint--just the pacing and how it seemed really rushed. I don't know if that's the speed they're supposed to go or if they were going faster because they were only using 5 out of 8 subs or if they were still practicing the timing. I guess I'll just need to go on it a few times to be able to take everything in.

ladodgerjon
06-03-2007, 07:07 PM
I just wish the pace was a little slower because it really felt like we were rushing through it

Two things: I looked for you at "Storybook" on Saturday-- but they said you weren't there. Drag. Woulda liked to have met you!

Funny how people's perceptions are-- I thought the ride was longer than the usual attraction run time (that's a good thing). In fact, I thought the top of the show (through the lost civilization) actually dragged a bit (but my guess is that's an anomoly as the skippers get used to working the show. JUST MY OPINION, though.

jcruise86
06-03-2007, 07:24 PM
. . . as the skippers get used to working the show. JUST MY OPINION, though.
I'm curious if it is still the skippers' responsibility to match the boats' locations with the recording. When I worked on the subs in 1983 it was, and unfortunately I rode it a few times with "captains" who didn't get it right.

evrythngwmn
06-03-2007, 08:38 PM
From what I know it's still the drivers determining the speed (I could be wrong but I believe that's what I've heard). Anyhow, our boat was slow enough in comparison with the old speed. PanFan's driver may have just been going faster than they should have.

Tinkermommy
06-04-2007, 05:28 AM
From what I know it's still the drivers determining the speed (I could be wrong but I believe that's what I've heard).

I suspect you are right. My daughter and I spent more than an hour yesterday looking at the sub lagoon from all different angles. Since we couldn't go on it, she wanted to see what was visible from outside. (We did manage to spot one animatronic human character.)

Anyway, after watching subs go by (and waving at all the captains), we saw one sub go by at a noticeably faster speed than the others had. We also noticed one sub sitting in one place about halfway through the ride for a while.

Walt'sbirthdaygirl
06-04-2007, 07:33 AM
I suspect you are right. My daughter and I spent more than an hour yesterday looking at the sub lagoon from all different angles. Since we couldn't go on it, she wanted to see what was visible from outside. (We did manage to spot one animatronic human character.)

Anyway, after watching subs go by (and waving at all the captains), we saw one sub go by at a noticeably faster speed than the others had. We also noticed one sub sitting in one place about halfway through the ride for a while.

We may have been standing right next to you!! My kids insisted we make several stops at the lagoon to see the pretty blue water and the big yellow boats!!!

Tinkermommy
06-04-2007, 07:43 AM
We may have been standing right next to you!! My kids insisted we make several stops at the lagoon to see the pretty blue water and the big yellow boats!!!

It's possible -- we certainly stood there long enough.

We all gotta start wearing MousePlanet t-shirts...:p

ladodgerjon
06-04-2007, 08:05 AM
From what I know it's still the drivers determining the speed...

This remains true with the new Nemo ride-- hence the reason we came to a "full and complete stop" while the audio track described the "lost civilization" whilst we were still twenty feet short of seeing any "ancient ruins."

I later confirmed this with a CM that seemed a wee bit frustrated at his fellow skippers that "...still need practice with their driving..."

evrythngwmn
06-04-2007, 10:21 AM
This remains true with the new Nemo ride-- hence the reason we came to a "full and complete stop" while the audio track described the "lost civilization" whilst we were still twenty feet short of seeing any "ancient ruins."

I later confirmed this with a CM that seemed a wee bit frustrated at his fellow skippers that "...still need practice with their driving..."

Yeah we didn't have any issues during the actual riding of the attraction but at the end our skipper totally over shot her mark parking the boat and had to back up.

rargirl
06-04-2007, 12:04 PM
I attended the Disneyland Cast preview on June 1 with a family member. I also just went to WDW in May where I rode the Epcot version of this ride at The Seas. Read on for my impressions and comparisons between the two rides...

The main queue area was pleasant with a vague nautical theme. While waiting, I noticed a large water pipe hanging down from the monorail platform. It said "TL1957" or something to that effect on it. A Cast Member in the know told me that during the refurbishment/creation of the Nemo subs, a main underground water line was broken rather than lose untold time and expense putting it back under ground, they themed it nautically/tomorrowlandly and ran it above ground. I think it kind of added to the scenery and made a nice factoid to pass the time while in line. There were some very pretty real plants in the queue that gave me the vague feel of being underwater or in an aquarium. I fear these plants will be abused by the idle hands of people stuck in this queue. There were also some nice faux "coral reef" rocks.

Once we boarded the sub down a circular staircase, and took our seats, I remarked at how I had forgotten how small the portholes for the subs were. (more on that here (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?p=1075646#post1075646).)

First we "submurged" pulling away from the dock and could see the familiar starfish and coral reef motif out of our portholes. The first portion of the ride reminded me very much of the original subs ride. There were some nice simple underwater animatronic clams with pearls and a scuba diving Darla.

Next, we went into the show building where the real magic began. Please forgive me if this is not in the proper order or if I missed something. At the beginning of the show scenes, it seemed like we were whizzing by. I remember seeing some of the animated characters somehow being projected mid-water. This is the same effect used at The Seas at Epcot and some of the same scenes, however, at The Seas at times, there are live fish swimming between them, which to me adds an extra something.

Next, I remember seeing some clever sequences with a ship wreck that appeared to be under water, but I think it was really behind glass in a dry room that had water behind it. There were lots of animatronics and some projection effects involved as well. At this point, I was thinking... Wow... this is really long and elaborate ride... I am impressed! At Epcot, this show scene was on a small-scale and was flat.

After that, was a sequence with some jelly fish, they had this at The Seas in Epcot as well, however, it worked much better in the subs version as they really looked like they were underwater. If you look carefully, you can tell that mirrors make many "jelly fish" look like many many more!

Next, there were some scary-looking snapping animatronic fish with lightbulbs they kind of snapped right at you. At Epcot, they had only one of these fish, on the subs version, several and they were far more effective.

After this, I found the ride a little confusing. There was a part that was I think about getting swallowed by a whale. I only figured this out when someone told me about it later. I do remember a lot of bubbles, and hearing Dory speak whale. There was also a part that included a volcano that looked neat, but I did not exactly "get". That was at the very end of the show room sequence, and in my opinion, they could have forgotten about the whale swallowing part and spent more time on the lava flow part so we could have caught on better to what was happening. But I guess, we needed to hear Dory speak whale, right?

After the lava flow part, I think or maybe before it, we see the turtles, which were my absolute favorite part of the ride. They were neat at Epcot, but in the Subs, there are turtle figures (not sure if they were animatronics) in addition to projections.


Overall, I really liked the ride, and my only true disappointment about it is that the lines are likely to be so long this year that it will be a while before I get to ride it again!

The Disneyland Finding Nemo Subs get extra points for super elaborate show scenes and extended length of ride, oh, and for being a 5 minute drive from my house.

The Epcot Finding Nemo Seashells get extra points for extra efficient and super-comfortable omni-mover vehicles that empty out in front of the manatee exhibit! :)

MrsPooh
06-04-2007, 12:11 PM
Me too!!!

Yeah, I'll third that.

Thanks so much for the report, I can't wait to ride it! :D

kiowa
06-05-2007, 06:55 AM
Last night I saw the Disneyland Finding Nemo Sub ride Commercial play about 6 times. Nice looking commercial, but the Narrator of the commercial said "Now Surfacing" which in my mind means, "Now Open". Imagine people who aren't savvy or don't know to much about Disney, see the commercial, head to the park and find out that it's not open.

Just an open question to everyone, could Disney get in trouble for false advertising?
Or are they going to open it early?

gtpinoy
06-05-2007, 09:04 AM
Mann...from what I've heard the ride seems pretty technologically advanced. Anyone know where you can find information on behind the scenes information? How it works?

kiki
06-06-2007, 09:00 AM
Last night I saw the Disneyland Finding Nemo Sub ride Commercial play about 6 times. Nice looking commercial, but the Narrator of the commercial said "Now Surfacing" which in my mind means, "Now Open". Imagine people who aren't savvy or don't know to much about Disney, see the commercial, head to the park and find out that it's not open.

Just an open question to everyone, could Disney get in trouble for false advertising?
Or are they going to open it early?


I saw the commercial too and at the end it has in small print that it opens on june 11th.

Karin
06-06-2007, 03:15 PM
BTW: I'm not at all convinced that the voices I heard are those of Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres.

THey sounded like sound-a-likes.

You're right, they are sound-a-likes. IMHO the Albert Brooks voice is much better than the Ellen Degeneres voice.

I rode it today for a client appreciation event prior to the AP Previews.

I enjoyed the ride immensely!

However, I wished for three things:
1) wider seats. these are still the old seats that were in the subs previously. We were literally packed in there like sardines. Granted, I'm not a large person by any definition (except the Federal Govt., but that's a different matter) and I felt squeezed and quite shoulder-to-should with my cabin mates. In re-doing the subs I would've thought a new seating arrangement would've been possible.
2) the portholes are in excellent location for the younger set. I however, and all the folks in my sub (since this was a client event, adults only, no children allowed) had to scrunch down a fair amount to look out the window. I know this porbably wasn't as possible as the re-do of the seats, though. But I still wished for it.
3) when we went through the EAC, mine field and whale effects, I wanted to feel it in the sub. It was disappointing to me that we managed to get through all those tumultuous events without the sub so much as softly rocking.

But all in all, I was very pleased! I highly recommend it and am afraid of what the lines will be like before I get a chance to get back on and take DH!

charpaul
06-06-2007, 10:33 PM
I had a chance to ride it Monday night (CM friend who I owe a BIG favor to!!!)

I liked the Dory voice better than the Marlon voice.

IF you really want to see some of the attraction - check out YouTube - type in Finding Nemo. The comercial - and a few clips of the actual ride are there. ALSO the Disney produced "behind the scenes" clip is there.

It is an amazing attraction. Many layers of things to see. I was on it at night and really want to see it in the light to see what ELSE is in the lagoon.

BUT - the lighting effects at night throughout the attraction are impressive!!!