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Disneyland re-opens the submarine ride

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

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Sep 19, 2002
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News for Southern Californians...

The submarine ride at Disneyland is returning to life after a long hiatus in Davy Jones' Locker!

The ride was inaugurated in June 1959 with 8 gray-colored subs that circled a lagoon, giving you looks at toy fish, mermaids, and a sea serpent. The subs were repainted yellow in the 1980s, but remained basically unchanged.

Then, in September 1998, the ride closed. Disney spokespeople said it was too expensive to run the ride, which handled only 38 passengers at a time, and that it was no longer "relevant." They hinted at a replacement coming in 2003, but it never came.

This week, they've finally announced that the submarine ride is returning, in the form of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, based of course on the successful movie from 2003. The ride opens June 11, 2007.

You can see a time-lapse movie of the construction here and more history and news here.

Instead of toy fish, the ride will use high-tech projected images. Sounds like fishy fun!
 
They announced it just last week? ...It seems like I've known about it for at least a year. :confused:

Since they're using "high-tech projected images" now, I wonder if I'll miss the corniness of the old ride. ...It also makes me wonder why they even bother placing the subs in the water.

I'll be visiting Disneyland later this summer, so I guess I'll be able to answer my own questions. :)
 
Oddly enough one of my first ever memories are of the sub ride. I think the subs add a nice balance between rides and those sit down attractions (3d movies car chases ext)
 
EricNau said:
...It seems like I've known about it for at least a year. :confused:
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I snapped a pic of it awhile back... they had these walls constructed around the area "advertising" the coming Nemo ride.

I sooo wanna go. :eek:
 
I loved the Capt. Nemo Nautilus submarine ride in Disney World. I hope/wish that they kepted one and maybe in the future put one up on display.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
The legend of "the day" as that the Disneyland submarine fleet was the third-largest in the world, after the Soviets and the US.

Completely useless trivia, but it's late...
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Not useless at all. The "Mickey Missile" is widely credited with swinging the balance of power during the cold war....
 
EricNau said:
They announced it just last week? ...It seems like I've known about it for at least a year. :confused:
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It's no secret that it was coming, but they just started the publicity campaign, ad placements, promos, etc.

Names of the original submarines:
Ethan Allen, George Washington, Nautilus, Patrick Henry, Sea Wolf, Skate, Skipjack, and Triton​

Names of the yellow fleet:
Argonaut, Explorer, Nautilus (same as before), Neptune, Sea Star, Sea Wolf (same as before), Seeker, and Triton (same as before)​

The Nemo fleet:
Happy, Grumpy, Bashful... oh wait, wrong list! :p​
 
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I understand Disney's need to change with the times, but remodeling classic attractions just to incorporate animated characters is annoying.

What's next? Space Mountain featuring the characters from Cars!

The just remodeled the Living Seas exhibit at Epcot to incorporate Finding Nemo. At some point, it's just a bit weird.
 
joepunk said:
I loved the Capt. Nemo Nautilus submarine ride in Disney World. I hope/wish that they kepted one and maybe in the future put one up on display.
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They did. You have to take the Disney cruise to their private island, though.
 
I remember going on this ride when I was 5. I don't remember any of the scenery. I spent the entire ride looking at the water dripping in from the ceiling. My dad told me not to worry... but being 5 I didn't listen.
 
Well, its too bad DisneyLAND, sucks....compared to its WORLDly counterpart.

:p

Correct me if Im wrong, but in Orlando, it was 20,000 leagues under the sea "the ride", being based on the Disney movie of the book.

It closed, and from the view in a skybucket, looked like it was just not running, bubbles still went gurgle and ripples abounded.

Then, they closed the skybuckets.

Then they made the line-entrance to the 20,000 Leagues ride into a meet-n-greet character spot.

Then, they closed Mr. Toads Wild Ride, directly across the way.

Then they re-opened Mr. Toad as a twisted and eerily LSD influenced Winnie the Pooh ride.

20,000 Leagues uses a HUGE amount of real estate in the Magic Kingdom, yet its unused, for over a decade almost.
 
puckhead193 said:
what epcot tank?
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The Living Seas at Epcot. They allow guests to do supervised dives there. My roommate when I worked at Disney was one of the Dive Interns. He always came home with some really funny stories!

There has been a few rumors about what Disney will do with the former 20K Leagues site, but nothing has come of any of them yet. Makes me wonder if it has something to do with the park attendance falling flat in the last couple of years (which may, in turn, have something to do with ticket prices going out the roof...).
 
My mom is very upset she wasn't there for the opening. But then again she and my dad just went to the premier of Pirates 3 at Disneyland for $1,500 a ticket :eek:
 
cycocelica said:
My mom is very upset she wasn't there for the opening. But then again she and my dad just went to the premier of Pirates 3 at Disneyland for $1,500 a ticket :eek:
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Sounds like the "Disney-Can-Do-No-Wrong" type person.

the blind faith that Disney branded things mean the best.

that disneyworld and the mouse are god and need to be worshiped, with money.
 
A friend of mine was there yesterday for Nemo's opening day. You'll be shocked to learn that the submarine ride line was very long. One nice thing: they let people in line continue to wait for their turn even after Disneyland closes!

If you divide Disneyland's average daily attendance by the rate at which passengers ride the submarines, you'll find that it would take 60 hours (per day) to get everyone through the ride.
 
Sdashiki said:
Sounds like the "Disney-Can-Do-No-Wrong" type person.

the blind faith that Disney branded things mean the best.

that disneyworld and the mouse are god and need to be worshiped, with money.
Click to expand...

Err, I think its more that she enjoys Disneyland still and has a fascination with with much of Disney's history. She knows that Disney can do wrong, and has. Look at Eisner. Plus it was an anniversary gift and a once in a life time opportunity.
 
Sdashiki said:
Correct me if Im wrong, but in Orlando, it was 20,000 leagues under the sea "the ride", being based on the Disney movie of the book.

It closed, and from the view in a skybucket, looked like it was just not running, bubbles still went gurgle and ripples abounded.

Then, they closed the skybuckets...
Click to expand...
Oh the memories - I haven't been to Disney anything since 8th grade, but when my mom and I were there we rode on both 20,000 Leagues and the skybucket. The 20,000 Leagues ride *was* leaky, and kind of smelly too. But, it was cool in that "check out the world of plastic and robots beneath the sea" experience.

Actually, the skybucket was really fun too - if it is what I think you're referring to, we had a very peaceful ride across the park and got to see everything from above. Much like the ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...

Of course, that was also the time of the "original" Pirates of the Caribbean ride too - I remember that from long before Johnny Depp was included in the mix.
 
FoxyKaye said:
Of course, that was also the time of the "original" Pirates of the Caribbean ride too - I remember that from long before Johnny Depp was included in the mix.
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Which is even more blasphemous than kowtowing to women's rights groups about the portrayal of women on the ride.

i.e. being chased by pirates

replaced by women chasing the pirates and pirates chasing food (chickens, pigs)

sigh, truly a good chance to see the way things used to be, oh a pirates life for me.
 
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