This is the newest dark ride at Disney's California Adventure. It is where Golden Dreams used to take place. The Little Mermaid is a definite upgrade.
The queue moves rather quickly because the clam shells are on a continuous track just like the Haunted Mansion. The only time the queue stops is when they need to slow the ride down or stop it for special needs guests. Or when the ride breaks down, which happened frequently on our trip June 20th.
Once you are in your clam shell you will skirt around the story of The Little Mermaid. You will see the friends and the enemies in this attraction. But as always in a Disney attraction, the good always wins and the end of the ride is happy as all get out. One item of note is that you are in clam shells similar to a doom buggy. But this ride is not in the dark like the Haunted Mansion. You can see and hear what those around you are saying. And since some guests don't even stop talking in a ride this can be very annoying at times.
The Voyage of The Little Mermaid reminds me of The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland. They are both 'new' dark rides akin to that of Fantasylands original dark rides. These two are more crisp and clean.
The colors are bright and fanciful, and the music for the ride is wonderful. The lines are long and there is no fastpass. My recommendation? Plan your time, and definitely get in the queue for this attraction. It is worth the wait. And don't forget to look down in the queue. That is not used gum you are stepping on here (hopefully).
Our Editorialist, MFT, wrote that this is probably going to be a ride just for little girls. I disagree with that because I liked it and regret that we didn't get a second chance to ride because of timing in ride break downs. Alex also really liked the ride even though he doesn't like the movie.
Discuss this article on our forums:
Website: The Voyage of The Little Mermaid Review, June 2011