Nemo Subs

[ROBONICS95]

I know a lot of people are skeptical with what Jim Hill reports (myself included). But he has posted this interesting article regarding the Nemo Subs:

Again (And I know that this news is going surprise a lot of you Pixar fans) no. Many of the attraction's pre-existing settings & set-pieces are going to stay right where they are. And -- yes -- that included that silly-looking sea serpent.

"But -- if that's really the case," you sputter, "Then how is any of this 1950s era stuff ever going to fit into an attraction that's supposedly based on a movie that's as colorful & stylish as 'Finding Nemo.'?"

To quote "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," don't panic. The Imagineers have come up with a clever plan to fold new elements from "Nemo" into existing parts of the old Tomorrowland attraction. With the end result being a new-ish Disneyland ride that tells one rather funny story.

Take -- for example -- how the Sub's old "Lost City of Atlantis" sequence is going to fit into "Nemo" 's new storyline. Think back to the scenes from that film that were set in the dentist's office. In particular, how Gil, Bloat & the rest of fish who lived in the aquarium used that fake underwater volcano as part of Nemo's initiation ceremony.

Well, after they finally escaped from 42 Wallaby Way, what better place could there be for the Tank Gang (Who clearly enjoyed getting dressed up & doing ceremonial chants at Mount Wannahockalougie) to set up shop than at the base of a real underwater volcano?

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1414

[ModHatter]

Honestly? That just sounds atrocious on so many levels. The most important being, it has even less to do with Tomorrowland than some of the other concepts people are proposing.

I know TDA is nervous about a lot of things lately, but why not split the Nemo budget in two. Do something sort of like the original plan for Space Mountain/Rock It Mountain... re-open the classic attraction for a while, and if it's not getting the kind of attendance it needs to, close it down again and then install Nemo. It didn't take long to install the box in the lagoon, and that was done onstage. It should be a lot faster to install boxes backstage in the caves, and you can build all the elements that will go in the box before the ride closes for refurb.

If it IS performing well enough... do nothing! You now have tens of millions of dollars to put into a whole new attraction. Plus you have all the WDI plans which they can put into a brand new ride worthy of a national marketing campaign. More bang for the buck.

[jepple]

I can't wait for this. Those plans sound amazing! Nemo + Sea Serpent = mucho fun.

I wonder what Jim means when he mentions that effect that will "make your hair stand on end?" This is gonna be a great ride.

[Disney Analyst]

Sounds so cool!

[themur]

I don't know why people think the Nemo plan sounds dubious. It has been discussed for months. The official announcement should come next week (as noted by both Al and Jim.)

There is much love for the Nemo characters. While I agree that it doesn't have a lot to do with the future; either does the old attraction. In 2005, riding in a submarine is not very futuristic.

Had Atlantis done well, it would have fit nicely in the '97 Tomorrowland redo which tried to borrow a bit of DLP's Discoveryland theme. Unfortunately Atlantis was a bust at the theater and Pressler didn't do enough to go the Discoveryland way ($$$$) and as a result we had an old TL with new paint and an E-ticket that was about as much fun as driving fast on I-5 (come to think of it, driving fast on I-5 IS more fun) that didn't even last 2 years.

I was lucky enough to go to DLP and I love the Discoveryland themed area. Pressler's attempt here was lame!

My teen-age kids loved Nemo and greatly look forward to the attraction opening up - whereever it is.

[Mickey_D]

yup, I'm just happy to hear something is finally going in there. The Nemo project is being billed as DL park's next E-ticket so as much as we can criticise the plans, lets wait and see first before we make up our minds prematurely.

The only thing that really concerns me about all of this is the rides capacity - I'm expecting HUGE queues when it opens. Hopefully they push ahead for a new Star Tours etc at the same time to take the weight off things.

[Disneymike]

ModHatter said:

Honestly? That just sounds atrocious on so many levels. The most important being, it has even less to do with Tomorrowland than some of the other concepts people are proposing.

Dude, you really need to mellow out on the whole "Tomorrowland Theme" thing! Wait until it opens and if you still do not like it then don't ever ride it again! I think it sounds great and am just overjoyed that the subs are coming back instead of being ripped out and turned into a meet-n-greet.

[ModHatter]

The old subs not very futuristic? I dunno... how often does the average person get to ride a submarine these days?

Yes, among Disney fans, the Disney presentation of Pixar's Finding Nemo is popular. How popular will it be with them by the time this ride can open? How about two years afterward? And what about the non-Disney fans? Think Pooh when you answer.

Any change to a ride should be to make the ride better, not just newer. Stitch and Jafar at MK, and Tarzan and Gummi Glen here show time and time again that adding newer elements doesn't necessarily make a ride better, and arguably make it worse.

Put aside Pixarification, Nemo is the DCA-zation of Disneyland.

[sunnygirl]

I might be alone in this, but I don't think it matters if they change it or not, just as long as they BRING THEM BACK!!!!

[Disney Analyst]

The old subs not very futuristic? I dunno... how often does the average person get to ride a submarine these days?

Yes, among Disney fans, the Disney presentation of Pixar's Finding Nemo is popular. How popular will it be with them by the time this ride can open? How about two years afterward? And what about the non-Disney fans? Think Pooh when you answer.

Any change to a ride should be to make the ride better, not just newer. Stitch and Jafar at MK, and Tarzan and Gummi Glen here show time and time again that adding newer elements doesn't necessarily make a ride better, and arguably make it worse.

Put aside Pixarification, Nemo is the DCA-zation of Disneyland.

Okay, so whats so different about riding on submarines, when you dont normally get to do that, with nemo characters?

You said:

And what about the non-Disney fans? Think Pooh when you answer.

Any change to a ride should be to make the ride better, not just newer. Stitch and Jafar at MK, and Tarzan and Gummi Glen here show time and time again that adding newer elements doesn't necessarily make a ride better, and arguably make it worse.

So, these rides sucked, that automatically makes this one gonna suck? Weren't those created under the eisner and pressler era? I know you've said you didnt like the movie that much, and you think the ride will bomb, your opinion. But how can you justify saying it will bomb, when it hasn't even been announced? No real plans have been released? I say we should all wait it out, and wait and see what will happen!

[ModHatter]

Dude, you really need to mellow out on the whole "Tomorrowland Theme" thing! Wait until it opens and if you still do not like it then don't ever ride it again! I think it sounds great and am just overjoyed that the subs are coming back instead of being ripped out and turned into a meet-n-greet.

Nope, I won't mellow out on the issue of a themepark trying so hard to destroy the thing that makes it special -- theme.

Just like a person with size 15 shoes doesn't have to try on size 5s to know they won't fit, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Nemo doesn't fit in Tomorrowland, that tiny aquarium fish don't fit with full-size sharks, octopi, humanoids, etc.

"Optimism" is one thing, but with all the rah-rah posts boosting Nemo, I haven't heard one idea to be optimistic about.

If I'm a pessimist, and I'm wrong, who loses? But if all these "optimists" are wrong, and we end up with a terrible ride, everyone loses.

[ModHatter]

Okay, so whats so different about riding on submarines, when you dont normally get to do that, with nemo characters?


So, these rides sucked, that automatically makes this one gonna suck? Weren't those created under the eisner and pressler era? I know you've said you didnt like the movie that much, and you think the ride will bomb, your opinion. But how can you justify saying it will bomb, when it hasn't even been announced? No real plans have been released? I say we should all wait it out, and wait and see what will happen!

What's so different? It destroys the theme, and any interesting illusion.

Is Eisner gone? I kinda thought he also greenlit Nemo. Hmmmm...

[Dustysage]

Finding Nemo 3000:

Nemo and his pals are caught by a Fish Stick company and flash frozen. 1,000 years later they are thawed out and find themselves living in the future.

Then just use all the existing props and you have a Tomorrowland attraction that no one will be happy with. Problem solved!

Actually, the subs, Autopia, and Matterhorn were all transition rides - part Fantasyland and part Tomorrowland. Matterhorn has been in either or both lands depending on the year and Autopia had one track in each land that looked pretty much the same. The rides on that side of Tomorrowland don't really fit the Tomorrowland theme anyway (except for the Monorail).

-Dusty

[Disneymike]

ModHatter said:

Just like a person with size 15 shoes doesn't have to try on size 5s to know they won't fit, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Nemo doesn't fit in Tomorrowland, that tiny aquarium fish don't fit with full-size sharks, octopi, humanoids, etc.

What do "Full size sharks, octopi, humanoids" have to do with the future? I'm pretty sure Nemo was a salt water fish and as such would cavort with said sharks, octopi and humanoids. I have been on a nuclear sub and also one of those tourist subs-they both are not very futuristic. Tomorrowland as a whole is not very futuristic anymore, maybe back in the 5o's and 60's it was but in my opinion it's not now. The future moves too fast and Disney would have to "Re-Imagineer" Tomorrowland every other year!

[ModHatter]

As far as I'm concerned, that would be a better idea. Only, let Nemo stay frozen, and have a Nemo ice cube float by under the polar ice cap.

As for transition land... that's why the old ride worked. It had an entrance in Tomorrowland, and presented a Tomorrow ride with a pinch of Fantasy and whimsy. Nemo will be a fantasy, with slim to no Tomorrow, and because of the various problems with presenting these characters, not a very compelling or interesting fantasy illusion.

And, back to the whole "just because all five of these rides suck, this one automatically sucks" issue... No, it's not automatic. But, when it's rained for five days, optimism isn't enough to make me not take an umbrella, especially when there are dark heavy clouds overhead.

[ModHatter]

ModHatter said:


What do "Full size sharks, octopi, humanoids" have to do with the future? I'm pretty sure Nemo was a salt water fish and as such would cavort with said sharks, octopi and humanoids. I have been on a nuclear sub and also one of those tourist subs-they both are not very futuristic. Tomorrowland as a whole is not very futuristic anymore, maybe back in the 5o's and 60's it was but in my opinion it's not now. The future moves too fast and Disney would have to "Re-Imagineer" Tomorrowland every other year!

right... Nemo might join sharks, octopi, and humanoids. Of course, from a submarine, who would be able to see him with them? No one. So maybe that's how it shoud be.

So, because astronauts have been in space, Tomorrowland should never have space rides again? That space travel isn't very futuristic anymore? Thank goodness Disney didn't spend much money on Space Mountain then...

[Disneymike]

ModHatter said:

So, because astronauts have been in space, Tomorrowland should never have space rides again? That space travel isn't very futuristic anymore? Thank goodness Disney didn't spend much money on Space Mountain then...

Maybe I am jaded but i don't consider space travel all that futuristic anymore what with all the Space Shuttle trips, the Int'l Space Station, etc. Space travel to me is going to be the same as back in the day of the moon landings - land on Mars, find no aliens, pick up some rocks and come back.
As for Space Mountain, what is so futuristic now about a roller coaster in the dark? It's a great RIDE but as far as making me think " Wow this is what outer space looks like " Umm, no.

[VWSpawn]

I might be alone in this, but I don't think it matters if they change it or not, just as long as they BRING THEM BACK!!!!

Your not alone

[ModHatter]

ModHatter said:


Maybe I am jaded but i don't consider space travel all that futuristic anymore what with all the Space Shuttle trips, the Int'l Space Station, etc. Space travel to me is going to be the same as back in the day of the moon landings - land on Mars, find no aliens, pick up some rocks and come back.
As for Space Mountain, what is so futuristic now about a roller coaster in the dark? It's a great RIDE but as far as making me think " Wow this is what outer space looks like " Umm, no.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but I think Disney guests have come to expect certain things from Disneyland over the past 50 years, one of which is a forward-thinking Tomorrowland brought to life through Disney magic.

And I agree, during the Eisner era, Tomorrowland wasn't adequately cultivated, which led to a domino effect of closed and under-plussed attractions. I aso agree, the Space aspect takes up far too much... space in the current Tomorrowland. But the Tomorrowland concept isn't impossible, or even particularly difficult to realize. It just takes better leadership than we've had in years.

[Ghostbuster626]

I agree with Modhatter this is dumb...but I am willing to like it if it means we get a new Peoplemover, Star Tours II, and the movement of the Astro Orbitor back up to its proper place above tommorowland.