Finding Nemo Ride at Epcot

[Princessmarlo]

So, I went on the ride yesterday because I am a passholder and I would have to say it is pretty good. I don't know how to describe it really except it is sort of like snow whites scary adventure in the fact that you sit in a clam shell, and travel around the ocean. The rides colors were wonderful. The graphics or whatever you call them since they use a projector I think to project them on the walls looked great. It is more of a family ride. I think that kids will like it i a lot.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

You may want to add "at Epcot" to you title, because with "Turtle Talk with Crush", "Finding Nemo: The Musical" and "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage", I'm sure it'd be a bit confusing with the title.

Glad you seemed to enjoyed it though.

[goofystitch]

That is awesome, Princess Marlo. I've heard that the EAC effect is the highlight. I'll get to ride it in a little less than 2 months. I'm very excited to see what they've done with it. Do you think it is an improvement to the old ride? I never cared for it much. Does it have educational value? I read somewhere that it's kind of like tagging along on one of Nemo's classes with the sting ray and Nemo wanders off or something like that. I can't wait to ride it.

[Princessmarlo]

To answer your question, I can't remember the other ride, but it doesn't have any educational value at all.

[goofystitch]

No education value? Wow. That goes against the grain of Epcot's original goal. lol. Oh well. I never much cared for the old ride so I'm sure Nemo will be an improvement for me. I love all the characters from the film. I can't wait to ride it!

[Chrissy31886]

Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to check it out...Im surprised theres no educational value to it....with finding nemo there was a lot of potential for that, not to mention isnt education kind of the point of epcot?? lol o well im glad its a fun ride

[slave2moonlight]

Well, I'm rather disappointed at the lack of educational value. I don't remember the old ride well. Wasn't it just a riding view of the aquarium or something? Anyway, I think I liked it for what it was at the time. If they were just going to add a Nemo ride based on the film, they probably SHOULD have put it in Animal Kingdom. Oh well, at least it is something that will attract the kiddies to the pavilion, but I hope this park doesn't continue turning into a Magic Kingdom wannabe. I was hoping it would be sort of a cross between what has been described here and the old ride, so you were still getting the educational/information EPCOT type ride, just with Nemo here and there the way Figment was the highlight of the original Imagination ride.

[Princessmarlo]

Wasn't it just a riding view of the aquarium or something?

It does go past the aquarium at the end and nemo and marlin are "swimming with the other fish" but this is the least bit educational. It more for kids then anything.

[MichaeLeah]

Ah man, I thought I was going to get to start this tread but she beat me to it! I think the ride was wonderful! My wife and I went on it twice. I think most everyone will be very pleased. Something else that is cool is that they utilized a lot of the ideas from TLM ride on this attraction. There are new things the Imagineers did for both this ride and Turtletalk with Crush that are completely new and have never been used before. Let me give you a summary of the ride.

Queue: There is a lot of area available for this queue. The entire area is completely emersive in theming. The first line section has beach theming. You essentially walk on a boardwalk past lots of beach signs, etc.

The next section includes walking under the water. This is incredibly cool because they make it so that you are walking on the ocean's floor. You can look up and see the surface. They use fiber optics to show the movement of the water just like on The Little Mermaid ride. And here is the cool things, they figured out how to make the light move around on the ground like it does on the bottom of the ocean. They effect is perfect.

The next and final queue section continues the theming from the second section. The bars that show where the line is are rusty metal that has been underwater for many years. It looked real enough that my wife didn't want to touch them. There is a little boat about you with the anchor out. The boat causes waves just like the "Kiss the Girl" scene on TLM ride.

Finally you get to go on the ride itself. And it is so cool! The ride is on an OmniMover like Haunted Mansion. You get into a clamshell that holds up to three people. The clamshell closes itself and your journey begins.

Now, the story of the ride takes place after the movie, but it retraces a lot of the steps of the movie. I am going to try to retrace the whole story but I might get some of the order confused because I have only done this twice so far.

Nemo's father is immediately looking for his son because he says, "I am not going to lose him again!" You see him looking around for his son. From time to time you may see Nemo for a moment but he is more or less playing hide-and-go-seek with his father: he is messing with his mind. The opening parts of this ride seem like they are on tv screens but I think they actually project the image on a screen because you can actually see still objects past the screen. By the way, all around the screens are beautiful coral and the light moves around like it did in the queue.

After the premise of the ride is established, we just throw some screnes from the film as Nemo's father searches for his son. We come upon a somewhat scary scene where you can see that one fish with the huge teeth and the little light chasing someone (Nemo's father I think.) There is a real 3-D object that is moving very quickly and lit by black lights chasing the fish. It is very real looking and consequently scary.

You go through an area with a bunch of jellyfish. Some of them move up and down and they are lit by a black light. This is probably the low point of the ride, although it is fun to hear Dori make a joke of it.

You then go through a part where the sharks are trying to avoid eating Nemo because "Fish are our friends."

You then get caught in the stream with the turtles. All of this involves projection on the wall in front and above you. Crush and Little Dude talk to you as you go through this area with all the turtles and bubbles.

The next section was a real highlight of the ride. It was something really new. You get to see some scenes where Nemo is rejoined with his father. In addition, everyone starts singing a nice song. But here is what is really cool about this part of the ride. You get to see the characters from the film imposed in the real fish tank with the real fish swimming behind them. It is so cool! The second time I went on the ride a (real) shark passed behind the characters while they sang their song. It was such a great idea.

You then have to exit the ride as you enter into the Sea Base (Alpha has been dropped from the name). Let me tell you what--The Seas was very busy yesterday and only some guests were even allowed on the ride. This pavilion has now really come alive.

I also finally did Turtletalk with Crush and I was extremely impressed, but I am going to start discussing this on a new thread. Right now I will say this--this show is completely different then anything Disney has done before and the technology used on this is incredibly impressive. I was so impressed (but I am sure you can't tell at this point.)

[Princessmarlo]

Wow, you did such a better job descibing it. I couldn't descibe it as well.

[MichaeLeah]

Wow, you did such a better job descibing it. I couldn't descibe it as well.

Thanks. Well, it is just that after last night after experiencing both Crush and the ride for the first time I was just overwhelmed and estatic. I am so excited about what they did. Last night I went to guest services and just raved over what they had done.

[slave2moonlight]

Wow! I hope I get to experience this new stuff within the next couple of years! The ride sounds amazing and I really do want to see that part where Nemo looks like he's in the real fish tank with the real fish!!! That's more what I was expecting the whole ride to be like. However, I hope it's not too much of just projecting the movie. I'm a much bigger fan of the old animatronics than just using projections or 2-D moving figures. It sounds like it's great though, and I thought that might reinvigorate the Living Seas Pavilion! I'm sad that they dropped the "Alpha" from the Sea Base name though. It's little things like that which they don't have to change that they shouldn't. I mean, why not keep the Alpha? It sounds cool and futuristic, and taking it away is just another slap in the face to those of us who loved old-school EPCOT. I'm glad the pavilion is doing well now though, as I always seemed to be the only person I know who liked it before, ha. It's as I said (I think in the other new EPCOT thread), I think it would have been better to do things like this rather than redo whole pavilions. I would like the pavilions to remain but update the attractions inside, and always opt for something that is an improvement, ha. I would like them to stick with the educational themes a little more though. But, like I said, just adding some favorite Disney characters to the pavilions hear and there (without overkill) could do wonders to increase the positive reactions. Some sort of Sport Goofy ride or something could have really helped Wonders of Life. Heck, I bet even a meet and greet would. Cranium Command was too great a loss, and the ride they had there was fairly cool too, though I won't miss it AS much, but a new ride could have replaced it. The human body should have been a subject with a heck of a lot of possibilities. I mean, there's a lot to deal with. It deserves its own EPCOT pavilion for sure. And with Space, well, I just don't like the idea of EPCOT attractions that people with bad backs, or pregnant people, or whatever else can't take part in. I mean, it's EPCOT. And Test Track. Don't get me started. The thrill of driving down the highway? I mean, I have to drive a LOOONG way to get to Disney World. Two Days non-stop, starting EARLY both times... I'd rather ride a Goofy history of motion that ends up with my vehicle picking up and flying as a surprise ending. You know, the "flying cars" of the future?

[MichaeLeah]

Oh, I forgot to mention...at the front of the pavilion there are seagulls from the film that sit on the rocks next to the sign and they move around their head and beaks and occassionally start saying "mine," "mine," "mine," etc. They are fun and they are the first thing to bring kinetics to the outside of the pavilion (other than the monorail).

[slave2moonlight]

Oh, I forgot to mention...at the front of the pavilion there are seagulls from the film that sit on the rocks next to the sign and they move around their head and beaks and occassionally start saying "mine," "mine," "mine," etc. They are fun and they are the first thing to bring kinetics to the outside of the pavilion (other than the monorail).

Ha, that sounds great! I hope they keep them there, because I'd really like to see that. I do remember that they had added sculptures of Nemo to the Living Seas sign outside on my last visit in 2004, and they looked really neat!

[blackcauldron85]

I rode the ride twice on Saturday. It is now one of my favorites at WDW. The technology is amazing!

Oh, I forgot to mention...at the front of the pavilion there are seagulls from the film that sit on the rocks next to the sign and they move around their head and beaks and occassionally start saying "mine," "mine," "mine," etc. They are fun and they are the first thing to bring kinetics to the outside of the pavilion (other than the monorail).

You should hear how many "Mine"s you'll hear around the park because of those seagulls! I know I said "Mine" more times than I should have. They are so fun, but I wish they spoke more often.

[MichaeLeah]

Well, I get different e-mails from Disney every once in a while. I am not sure why they come but I think it is because I am a passholder. Anyway, I got another one today that focuses a little more on the business side of things and I thought it had something worthy to share.

It said that the technology it uses to impose the Nemo characters in the real fish tank is new projection technology. I think that actually what they do is they have two layers of glass. There is the glass of the tank itself. There is some kind of material that is see-through but it serves as a screen to see the characters and there is a piece of glass closer to the people on the ride. I am not sure if that made any sense, but the most important thing in this post is the pictures I got. It isn't really practical to take pictures on the ride, but here are some photographs of the Imagineers working on the ride. Both pictures represent part of the actual ride (not the queue).





Enjoy!

[JEANYLASER]

i love it and it is awesome...:mickey:

[slave2moonlight]

I particularly like the Jellyfish Girl. Is she a part of the ride?

[MichaeLeah]

I particularly like the Jellyfish Girl. Is she a part of the ride?

I think she is part of the display on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But it looks to me like she is wearing a wedding band, so I think you are going to have to keep on looking.

[slave2moonlight]

Aw, I didn't catch that. All the cute ones seem to be wearing wedding bands...