Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
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Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage | |
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Land | Tomorrowland |
Theme Park | Disneyland |
Location and Opening Date | |
Disneyland | July 22, 2007 |
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California that is slated to open on July 22, 2007. The E ticket attraction is based on the popular 2003 PIXAR film, Finding Nemo. It is a restructuring and retheming of the classic Submarine Voyage attraction, which closed on September 9, 1998.
Contents |
[edit] History
Originally, the lagoon closed in 1998, and was promised to be reopened by 2003 by then-resort president Paul Pressler. Pressler, known among many for his mismanagement at Disney and later Gap [1] [2], later said that when the attraction would reopen in 2003, it might be themed to the 2001 animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but that was decided against when the film was released and flopped at the box office. Later, the entire lagoon was forgotten about and became a scenic viewpoint. Pressler later left, and fans of the park were upset at the broken promise of the attraction's return in 2003, which came and went.
When Matt Ouimet became the president of Disneyland Resort, many noticed new activity in the lagoon, the former home of Submarine Voyage. Neptune, one of the eight submarines in the fleet, was moored in the old Submarine Voyage station for inspection by Walt Disney Imagineering in 2004. Rumors spread quickly over the Internet about an attraction based on the Disney/Pixar animated film Finding Nemo. Finally, after months of speculation, on July 15, 2005, two days before the official 50th Anniversary of Disneyland, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was officially announced at the new Turtle Talk with Crush attraction at Disney's California Adventure by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts president Jay Rasulo.
[edit] The Voyage
Guests will board one of eight research submarines to set out in search of an active undersea volcano. As the captain gives the order to dive, the subs depart from the loading station and enter the lagoon. Through their portholes, guests view a spectacular underwater environment like never seen before. On the surface the subs cruise past a buoy where six seagulls sit atop bellowing "Mine! Mine!" Below the surface, guests view giant sea bass swimming amongst the unusual coral formations. Soon after, the subs enter the ruins of the ancient civilization from Easter Island. Amongst the stone ruins lay gigantic tiki heads embedded in the sea floor. The scene soon changes as the subs are immersed in the setting of a brightly colored coral reef. Bright colors of orange, aqua, green, crimson, maize, and more are displayed throughout the show scene. In the reef are monstrous giant clams that slowly open and close their giant mandibles as the subs pass. As the subs pass into the caverns, the guests soon discover Marlin, Dory, and the other characters swimming right outside their subs in the undersea world searching for Nemo who has gotten lost again. Some of the following scenes the guests view are a sunken war submarine immersed in a deadly minefield, a school of jellyfish, and more. Soon the subs approach the now erupting undersea volcano. After they safely escape, the subs dive along a breathtaking coral reef where the fish celebrate finding Nemo again. As the subs begin to surface they near the loading station. Before surfacing, the subs enter the harbor and come across a pair of crabs fighting atop a sewage pipe. The subs then surface and the guests return to the outside world.
[edit] The vehicles
The attraction will use the same submarines used on the old Submarine Voyage. The story of the ride starts right before you even board the subs. The load/unload areas will be themed as an Australian Harbour just like the movie. The ride's submarines do not actually submerge; they are boats in which the passenger seating area is below the water level. The submarines will still only hold 38 Guests. The subs have been repainted a new flashy yellow above the water, with a light blue strip dividing a dark blue hull below the water. The diesel fuel that powered the original subs has been scrapped and replaced with environmentally friendly electric power. The new sub names have been painted on the side of the subs in red. They are the Argonaut, Nautilus, Neptune, Scout, Voyager, Mariner, Seafarer, and Explorer. The new captain of each submarine will have an Australian accent due to the movie's setting in the Australian Great Barrier Reef.
Each submarine is painted with a wavy blue stripe across the ceiling. The interior also contains dark blue colour lining the portholes.
[edit] Confirmed show scenes
- Atlantean Ruins (tikis)
- Great Barrier Reef (giant clams)
- The Minefield (wrecked submarine: Bruce, Anchor, and Chum)
- The Erupting Volcano
- Conclusion Harbor Scene (Fighting Crabs)
[edit] New Exploration submarine names (2007)
- 107 - Nautilus
- 207 - Scout, formerly Neptune, before that Seawolf
- 307 - Voyager, formerly Sea Star, before that Skate
- 407 - Mariner, formerly Explorer, before that Skipjack
- 507 - Seafarer, formerly Seeker, before that Triton
- 607 - Explorer, formerly Argonaut, before that George Washington
- 707 - Neptune, formerly Triton, before that Patrick Henry
- 807 - Argonaut, formerly Seawolf, before that Ethan Allen
[edit] Current construction
The Lagoon is completely full as of March 13th, 2007, and subs are making round trip test voyages. The seagulls have been installed atop the buoy in the lagoon, but have been but some were backstage now.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage on Myspace!
- DisneySubmarines.com
- Westcoaster.net - Construction updates