Difference between revisions of "The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)"

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The Seas with Nemo & Friends (Attraction)
Promotional artwork for The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Epcot
Land	Future World
Attraction type	Dark Ride
Opening date	January 24, 2007
Vehicle capacity	2-3
Ride duration	5:00 minutes
Based on	Finding Nemo
FastPass +	Yes (Group A)

The Seas With Nemo & Friends is an attraction located in Epcot. If you are looking for the pavilion which houses the attraction see: The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

Attraction History

Following the end of United Technologies sponsorship in 1998, The Living Seas began to decline in popularity ^[1]. One of the pavilion's preshow theaters was closed in 1999, and this was followed by the closure of the Caribbean Coral Reef Ride (which took guests through the Coral Reef Aquarium in the SeaCabs) in October 2001 ^[1]. In order to create a resurgence of interest in the pavilion, Disney decided to tie The Living Seas in with the popular Disney-Pixar film "Finding Nemo". In December 2003 references to the film began appearing throughout The Living Seas pavilion ^[1]. This was followed by the addition of a new attraction Turtle Talk with Crush on November 16, 2004^[1]. The new show featuring Crush the Turtle proved so popular that Disney chose to create a new Finding Nemo omnimover attraction for the pavilion^[1]. On August 21, 2005 The Living Seas completely closed so the new Nemo attraction could be implemented^[1].

The new attraction titled "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" was constructed in the location that had previously housed one of the pavilion's preshow theaters, the Hydrolators, the holding areas, and the queue for the old Caribbean Coral Reef Ride^[1]. The new attraction's queue replaced the Hydrolator portion of the attraction. The removal of the third Hydrolator as well as the preshow theater allowed Imagineers to install 9 new dark ride scenes. In order to extend the original Caribbean Coral Reef Ride track into these new scenes, 280 ft of additional track was installed. The SeaCabs themselves were repurposed and turned into the "Clamobiles" that take guests through the new attraction's story.

Imagineer Jerre Kirk oversaw the creation of the The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which featured cutting edge technology. The first three scenes in the attraction was set in a coral reef. To create this environment, Imagineers used "very thin castings of fiberglass", which had never been done before ^[2]. The final scene in The Seas with Nemo & Friends features the animated characters swimming with real marine life in the pavilion's Coral Reef Aquarium. To create this effect, Imagineers needed a new kind of projection technology. Disney had never projected animation into an aquarium before, however Research and Development Designer Alfredo Ayala came up with the new projection technology that allowed Disney to insert the characters into the tank using special effect glass ^[2]. According to WDI Vice President Kathy Mangum:

“He [Alfredo] played with it, developed it, and set up a demonstration. That demonstration really opened up the opportunity for us to create the finale. The technology really drove what the creative application could be.” ^[3]

After much trial and error with the new projectors, Imagineers were able to create the environment that they wanted ^[2]. In order to make sure the animation in the attraction was in line with the film, representatives from Pixar were on hand to help with the new attraction ^[3]. The attraction's climatic scene also features Nemo and the rest of the characters singing "In the Big Blue World" which was taken from the Finding Nemo - The Musical attraction ^[4]. Finally, on January 24, 2007 The Seas with Nemo & Friends was officially rededicated and opened to the public ^[1].

Attraction Plot

The Seas with Nemo & Friends is a dark ride attraction that tells guests the story of Nemo and Marlin subsequent to the movie Finding Nemo.

Queue

The Seas with Nemo & Friends begins when guests enter the pavilion. The first room that they encounter is themed to look like a beach with a pier. Sand, high grass, beach signs, and wooden fence posts can all be found here. Oceanic sounds such as waves and birds cawing echo around guests as they make there way through the room. After exiting the beach room, guests enter a room that is "underwater". The room is dimly lit and on the walls guests can see schools of fish swim by. After exiting the underwater room, guests enter the loading area, where they board their Clamobiles.

Main Ride

Bruce on The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

The first scene that guests enter in The Seas with Nemo & Friends takes place in a coral reef. Here, Nemo playfully hides from his father Marlin, who is panicked that he has lost Nemo again. In fact, Marlin shouts "not again!" before guests enter the next scene. In this area, Nemo can be seen swimming away from Mr. Ray and his classmates. As the entire class calls out for Nemo, one exclaims "(he's) swimming off to sea!" Mr. Ray however does not seem overly concerned, as he continues singing and calmly talking to his class.

After passing by a school of fish, guests see that Marlin has met up with Dory who predictably does not remember who Nemo is. Marlin, stunned by her lack of memory, reminds her that "We went on a huge adventure together!" Despite the clownfish's refresher, his pleas do little to spark Dory's memory. As guests continue on, they see dozens of jellyfish hanging overhead. Although Marlin is alarmed by their presence, Dory does not seem overly concerned. Instead she treats the situation like a game. At this point the Clamobiles come across a frightening anglerfish, who is trying to eat Dory and Marlin despite the fact that he is stuck. While Marlin is predictably panicked by the situation, Dory taunts the fish.

As guests move further down into the ocean, they come upon a ship wreck in a mine field. Here, Bruce the Great White Shark and Chum the Mako Shark are trying to find Nemo themselves. Bruce menacingly says, "Fish are friends, not food", but luckily Nemo swims by unnoticed. The next scene takes place in the Eastern Atlantic Current where Nemo has met up with Crush and Squirt. The three of them (as well as other turtles and the Clamobiles) quickly swim by after being propelled by the current. The East Atlantic Current deposits guests into the large aquarium, where the animated characters swim alongside real fish. Here Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Crush, Squirt, and Mr. Ray and his class sing the song "In the Big Blue World". As guests return to the surface (the unloading area), they pass by a starfish who makes humorous quips as the Clamobiles move by.

Cast

Nemo- Alexander Gould ^[5]

Marlin- Albert Brooks (Unconfirmed)

Dory- Ellen DeGeneres ^[6]

Bruce- Barry Humphries (Unconfirmed)

Squirt- Nicholas Bird (Unconfirmed)

Mr. Ray- Bob Peterson (Unconfirmed)

Peach'- Allison Janney ^{[5] [7]}

See the Attraction!

To see The Seas With Nemo & Friends click play below:

Fun Facts and Trivia

• In recent years guests have noticed that their are less fish in the main aquarium then there used to be ^[8].

• The Clamobiles were made from the SeaCabs that guests formally road in while on the Caribbean Corral Reef Ride ^[1].

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6VD1bJEYs
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} https://www.explorethemagic.com/forums/47-current-attractions-and-updates/5638-the-seas-with-nemo-friends.html
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/nemo-ride-description-spoilers.97827/
4. ↑ http://themeparks.about.com/od/disneyridereviews/fr/NemoRideEpcot.htm
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} https://d23.com/lights-camera-attraction/
6. ↑ http://themeparks.about.com/od/disneyridereviews/fr/NemoRideEpcot.htm
7. ↑ http://www.doctordisney.com/2014/05/30/voices-behind-droids-star-tours/
8. ↑ http://lostepcot.com/livingseas.html