By: InspireDiva
The movie The Little Mermaid came out when I was 10 years old. I instantly fell in love with the movie and wished that I too was a mermaid. Of course, I also dreamed of marrying Prince Eric. I would sing along to the video tape and rewind it over and over again so that I could watch it and sing along all over again (I’m sure that this drove my 5 younger brothers and my parent’s absolutely crazy but I was obsessed!). So when I finally got back to Disneyland after not being able to go for many years, I was more than excited to go on this ride!
Since The Little Mermaid is one of my all-time favorite movies I wanted this ride to be amazing! I was not disappointed! The queue is usually short for this ride, and in fact we usually get right on the ride. After you climb into your giant clam shell, you go past Scuttle who starts off this ride by telling you a story. Then as he goes on and on you are transported under the sea…
Diva Tip:
This ride is dark and could be scary for some children. The animatronics are really amazing and Ursula can be a little scary, but on the other side of that Ariel is very realistic as she moves and even blinks her eyes. This really helps you envision yourself as part of their world.
As the ride carries you under the sea, the temperature drops and you can hear Ariel singing Part of Your World (this is my favorite song) and then you’re off to my FAVORITE part of the ride. You meet Sebastian as he tries to convince Ariel that life under the sea is better than anything they have got up there. Our family sings and dances (very enthusiastically) to Under the Sea, the animatronics are absolutely amazing.
After passing the creepy Flotsam and Jetsam, you meet the evil sea witch Ursula, she is larger than life and very convincing as she coaxes Ariel into doing as she wishes (this is the scariest part of the ride). You then meet Eric as he tries to guess Ariel’s name to the song Kiss the Girl (this another favorite and in case you haven’t noticed all of the songs from this movie are one of my favorites). My kid’s favorite part is my hubby’s impression of scuttle singing (it’s a hilariously accurate impression).
Then of course good triumphs over evil and Ariel gets her wish and her and Eric are happily married and wave farewell to you as the ride ends.
Then you hear Scuttle finish the story as he says “and they all live happily ever after.”
Diva Tip
Usually we ride this at least 2 times in a row because the line is so short. Sometimes it is even more that that it just depends on our mood and on whether or not World of Color just got over. This can be a great place to wait out the crazy crowds!
On a side note, the last time we went we decided that this would be our very last ride before we left for the airport. As we got to the end of the ride my daughter turned to me and said it was like they are waving goodbye to us, and much to her dismay I promptly burst into tears (I was probably on the verge anyways, I always get a little teary when it’s time to leave.) This shocked her and she felt really bad afterwards, but there was no way she could have guessed my reaction. I recovered soon enough, but not before I received a few strange looks from the cast members as we walked out (I’m pretty sure that isn’t a typical reaction for the ride). Even with all of that this is one of my favorite rides at Disney’s California Adventure Park.
Diva Tip
This ride is family friendly and loads of fun! I put the scream factor at zero it is a ride for everyone. I definitely recommend it. My best advice would be let yourself be silly and get into this ride. It can be a whole lot of fun! In fact some of the best memories that my family has from visiting Disneyland are from when we really just let our Disney Sides show! Sometimes it is contagious, on one of or undersea adventures we had our two cars plus another family and their two cars sing and dancing. There is nothing wrong with spreading a bit of joy and happiness!
