Finally Nemo

After months of waiting, we finally got to go on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, the newest ride at Disneyland. It's also one of the oldest rides too, having arisen from the ashes of the original Submarine Voyage that opened in 1959 as part of the first major expansion of Tomorrowland (it was one of the first rides requiring an E Ticket).


We rode the submarine named Mariner. (09/30/07)

The ride was in operation for nearly 40 years until Disneyland announced that it would be shut down and re-opened with a new theme in 2003. Apparently there was an attempt to resuscitate the ride in 2003 based on the 2001 Disney film Atlantis. But when that movie flopped, so did the prospects of re-opening the ride.


James and Amy can't hide their enthusiasm. (09/30/07)

And then came a little movie you might have heard of. If memory serves correct, I think it was called Finding Nemo. Maybe a couple of you have seen it. :) In 2005, it became official and Disneyland announced the ride, which was slated to open in 2007 (it seemed so far off then).


Something about the two drivers just looks wrong! (09/30/07)

The ride opened in June to great acclaim. We tried to get preview tickets, which were offered to Annual Passholders via a lottery system. Unfortunately we had no luck. We would have to wait in line with everyone else. Only problem was the wait was up to four hours long during the opening week peak.


Tim and Ashley get ready to go down under. (09/30/07)

We even got to the park at 8:45 a.m. one day (they opened at 8:00) only to find that the ride already had an hour-and-a-half wait. The only solution — other than waiting for long stretches of time — was to open the park and dash directly to Nemo. We even found two people who volunteered to come with us: Amy and her sister Ashley.


We found Darla under the water. (09/30/07)

So there we were, lined up at the front gate at 7:45 a.m., 15 minutes before opening. When they opened the gate at 8:00, we immediately dashed to the ride, which was still undergoing the morning tests. The wait turned out to be about 30 minutes, which is really short all things considered.


Tim climbs out of the hatch. (09/30/07)

The ride was great! Now, I know what most of you are thinking. Same old shit that used to be there, right? Wrong!!! This ride has been totally revamped. Sure, it starts off with the same type of stuff, only cleaner and more brightly colored. But leave it to those Disney Imagineers to come up with a cool way of making the Finding Nemo characters come to life (I won't disclose too much, since I don't want to spoil it for anyone). But let's just say it's really cool!