Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is now officially open!

[Mufasa]

Today is the grand opening for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage- it's been a crazy, very hectic but fun day.

I'm not sure of any mainstream media broadcast coverage of the subs return that aired today on the major networks, but I do know that CNBC this morning pulled off a live broadcast from within a sub as it actually traveled around the lagoon early this morning which is pretty cool.

It all kicked off with a media presentation held in the HISTA theater which was very similar to the "What's Next" presentation that Intercot's webmaster John attended a few months ago.

Disneyland Resort President Ed Grier gave an update on the Year of a Million Dreams promotion and talked a bit about some of the latest Pirates related things in the park (Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island and the Nintendo DS in-park downloads which included an interruption and storming of the stage by Jack Sparrow and other pirates in a small swordfight). Later he went on to talk about the return of the Disney Cruise Line to the West Coast next year.

Next Tom Fitzgerald from WDI came out and was joined by Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew who were out with their Muppet Mobile Lab for the media to enjoy (and get sprayed a bit by water and silly string in the process).

After this, Tom went into discussion about the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and shared some of the early test animation clips and talked about the development and enhancements that went into the attraction.

To wrap up, Tom went on to talk about Toy Story Mania and shared some more concept art and video while providing a teaser of what was in store with the guest experience.

Then at around 10AM, they had the big opening ceremonies out in front of the lagoon.

First, Ed Grier talked again about the Year of a Million Dreams and specifically he introduced the winners of the Dream Job contest in conjunction with careerbuilder.com (and talked about how he's living out his dream job as president of the Disneyland Resort and told everyone later something like "thank you, don't try and take it from me")

Bob Iger was also on hand and took the stage and said “We’re here today to celebrate a classic Disneyland attraction which, through a brilliant marriage of phenomenal storytelling and innovative technology, has been transformed into a vibrant new experience – one that will no doubt rekindle nostalgic memories for many adults". He gave thanks to the team from Disney & Pixar Animation and at that point asked that Finding Nemo's writer director Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter stand to be recognized.

Jay Rasulo then next took the stage, thanked the Imagineering team that worked on the attraction and said “The return of the Submarine Voyage is a dream-come-true, How many kids – who have since become parents – have wished to take their own children on this magical voyage of discovery beneath the ocean waters?”

Out of nowhere a fairly cheesy musical number with dancers dressed in wetsuits started up and a giant inflatable whale appeared behind the stage out by the lagoon, which prompted the performers to ask if anyone spoke whale. Of course Dory (a performer with a Dory puppet like the AK show) came out and got the crowd to speak whale to ask the whale to move along so the ride could open.

To cap things off, around the bend and as a surprise to the crowd came a Disneyland monorail that was wrapped and decorated to resemble a big yellow submarine (complete with conning tower and portholes along the entire length of the monorail which looked great) and they declared the subs officially open at about 10:25am.

The media/invited guests on hand were then led to the attraction by a group of small kids (each decked out with Nemo shirts and those Nemo fish hats where it looks like he's sitting on top of your head).

The attraction opened to the public around noon where the line quickly reached out to Small World plaza and it was posted on the central plaza information board by 2pm that the wait for the subs was estimated at 4 hours and it's been hovering there about most of the day.

It was busy enough throughout the park that they were suggesting that Annual Passholders get their hand stamped while exiting if they wanted to return later in the day.

[Tink&Goofy]

Thanks for all of the great information! Hopefully when we go in August, the wait won't be 4 hours!! Do they have a fastpass for this? If not, I guess the trick is to get there EARLY (like first thing when the park opens?)

2 1/2 months left to go!

[iceicebritney]

just curious for some info from those who've riden the new ride..
how does it differ from the old classic 20,000 leagues submarine ride?
is there anything similar that you can still see - or did they completely change it?


does anyone know if this ride will be coming to wdw anytime soon? i was so sad when the origional ride closed in MK... i did hear a rumor though that it was actually filled in with cement...

[2Epcot]

To cap things off, around the bend and as a surprise to the crowd came a Disneyland monorail that was wrapped and decorated to resemble a big yellow submarine (complete with conning tower and portholes along the entire length of the monorail which looked great) and they declared the subs officially open at about 10:25am.

I saw the monorail on the news. That was very cool .... looked like a giant submarine. Thanks for the recap of the day.

[NotaGeek]

4 HOURS??

I am even more grateful I got to experience the ride during last week's AP Previews! I must admit, i can't wait to see it again though ... this time with the waterfalls working!

[disneycouple2004]

POSTED: 8:51 am CDT June 11, 2007

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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Disneyland's "Submarine Voyage" ride is back in commission after nearly a half-century.

Disneyland closed down the submarine ride a decade ago and spent $70 million to reconstruct a state-of-the-art attraction.

The redesigned attraction was scheduled to reopen Monday at the Anaheim theme park with a new story line, shiny new coral reefs and something not envisioned when it debuted in 1959 -- an alternate experience for disabled visitors.

The "Imagineers" at The Walt Disney Company couldn't retrofit the hatches and spiral staircases of the original 52-foot submarines to accommodate wheelchairs.

So, the undersea voyage has been photographed with state-of-the-art equipment, and the high-definition images will be displayed on a 61-inch plasma screen in a theater designed to resemble an observation outpost.

[autumn]

cool! has anyone been on it yet? i am completely clausterphobic and was wondering about the experience. maybe the observation area would be good...

[tinkwest]

cool! has anyone been on it yet?

There are several "trip reports" in the Annual Passholders - win a sneak peak ... thread from some of the Annual Passholders who were lucky enough to experience the ride during preview days.

i am completely clausterphobic and was wondering about the experience. maybe the observation area would be good...

Some comments regarding the viewing area can be found in the Finding Nemo baby swap thread.

[2Epcot]

cool! has anyone been on it yet? i am completely clausterphobic and was wondering about the experience. maybe the observation area would be good...

Linda posted the link to where those of us who have been on it have given our comments, but I will add that I thought Mission Space had a more clausterphobic feel to it, then the Nemo sub.

[DisneyPrincess75]

Is there no fast pass for it? That's wierd they would open a new ride they know would be popular and not put in a fast pass?

[Melanie]

Linda posted the link to where those of us who have been on it have given our comments, but I will add that I thought Mission Space had a more clausterphobic feel to it, then the Nemo sub.

I totally agree about Mission:Space. In fact, clautrophobia didn't even enter my mind when I rode Nemo.

[Mufasa]

Is there no fast pass for it? That's wierd they would open a new ride they know would be popular and not put in a fast pass?

Because of the limited hourly rider capacity of the subs, fast pass would make the overall standby wait for the attraction much worse and you'd have fast passes running out for the day very quickly.

[*tinker_belle*]

I just returned from the kingdom and let me tell you, i was not about to waste my day waiting in this Nemo line. I wanted to go on this ride so bad but being an impatient person, i cannot fathom the thought of waiting 3 hours in the sweltering heat for a sub ride. We asked some people over near where Tomorrowland hits Fantasyland and they had already been waiting an hour and half and they were still so far off from the front of the ride queue. It was insanity...

[Taterbug]

We successfully "Found Nemo" during the opening week. We were there on Monday and Tuesday and the parks were crazy crowded.

We didn't want to wait 4-6 hours (yes, 6 hours was the height of the wait on Monday) to see it, but we couldn't imagine not seeing it....here is a bit of trick that we found on Friday night.

Right before the fireworks (during the electric parade at CA), get into line. We got into the "Nemo" line about 9:20pm on Friday night and saw the fireworks from the line. We only had to wait about 70 minutes total for the ride. We met a nice group of people in line and we chatted the entire time which made the time fly.

As far as the 'cramped' claustrophobic feeling...I'm horribly claustrophobic and was very stressed when I first got into the sub. However, my hubby just reminded me that we were not "under the water" just the windows were; plus I leaned forward and focused out the porthole and remembered "this is Disney"; you are completely safe. Also, just like in the original, there is no AC so going at night, the air in the sub wasn't too warm since the sun wasn't beating down on it. Plus after standing in line in the cool evening, it was nice to have the 'warm' sub air.

The sub ride was fun and I think worth no more than an hour wait but paying $83 to spend half the day in a line for a single ride is silly. (My 2 cents).

We got to ride all of the rides plus see Nemo using the "firework" trick.

Fingers crossed for you and have a great one!
Liz

[Chescat]

This is actually a Nemo submarine related question. We were at the park yesterday, they were only running what I think was one monorail. The monorail is now yellow with the Nemo submarine logos on it.

My question to Mufasa or anybody else out there is, are all the monorails looking like this? Or is it just one and I happened to see the same one going around and around.

[forgettomorrow]

well, i was there last week and saw both the nemo-themed monorails and the regular ones.

i don't know if that helps you at all, but there you go.

[Mufasa]

My question to Mufasa or anybody else out there is, are all the monorails looking like this? Or is it just one and I happened to see the same one going around and around.

Only Monorail Red was converted with the Nemo overlay, so you saw the same monorail going around all day. I don't know of the long term plans, but believe it should at least stay this way for a month or so.

I like the way it turned out especially seeing it cruise over the submarine lagoon, but I'm also anxious for the upcoming new fleet of Mk. VII monorails and the return to a very classic look with their predominant red color scheme.

Monorail Purple was not modified.

[Chescat]

That sounds awesome. We first saw the monorail go overhead while we were in the tram going from the parking lot to the entrance. It was so cool watching it go by. I need to get pictures of that, it looks awesome!

One thing I always thought was cool with an earlier model of the monorail was the dome in the front car. A couple times we got to sit up in it with the driver below us. That was pretty exciting when you were a kid.

[BrerGnat]

I rode Nemo today...the Nemo monorail...

That was cool. But the ride had a 3 hour wait 20 minutes after park opening. It was the fastest I could get there. It looks like I'll never ride it...

[brownie]

We rode it on the evening of 6/20/2007. We had about a 90 minute wait in line. We had gotten to Disneyland before it opened at 8 AM and went right to the subs when the park opened, but the line was already over 2 hours long. It did make for really short waits on the other Tomorrowland attractions first thing in the morning though. Cast members at California Adventure said the wait had been averaging 2.5-4 hours, so we were pretty fortunate. The ride was cool, but 90 minutes was really too long to wait. The decorated monorail is pretty neat, too.