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Sub Story (continued)

Climbing down the narrow winding stairs, you make your way to a tiny fold-down seat. Since they are the original ride vehicles, the interior of the subs looks about the same as it used to (although two seats have been added), they have been spruced up of course, and are now "Dory blue" and silver inside. It's pretty cool to be sitting in front of that porthole once again, anticipating the voyage. For me, it was kind of like seeing an old friend, an old friend who's got a great plastic surgeon and is looking good.

Sub Story

As the sub pulls out from the dock, you glide past walls encrusted with barnacles, starfish, and other crusty sea life. The new narration replaces the captain of old and you are now sailing with an Aussie to the Great Barrier Reef. The ship starts to "dive" and the surge of bubbles gurgling just outside the porthole really makes it seem as though the ship is headed deep down in the water.

Sub Story

When the sub reaches its cruising depth, you see brilliantly colored corals and sea life just as pretty and colorful as found in the movie, Finding Nemo. In the tradition of the old sub attraction, there are fish swimming around, but unlike those old fish, these guys don't look like big plastic fish suspended with wire.

And then... all of the sudden, there's Darla. You remember her? The little terror from the Dentist's office in Finding Nemo who meant death to fishies-in-plastic-bags? There she is, in all her orthodontic glory, scuba diving, and she's got a baggie with a poor unfortunate fish within.

You float on a little further, past the relics of an what appears to be an ancient city (an homage to the lost city of Atlantis from the old sub voyages?) and you'll notice there's more than one scuba diver out for a swim.

Sub Story

Darla isn't the only once collecting fish. Look closely on the back strap of the diver's mask and you just might see,

P. Sherman
42 Wallaby Way
Sydney, Australia

Anyone out there remember the giant clams from the former subs? I confess I had a fascination with them (it must have been something to do with an old John Wayne movie I loved as a kid). Well, the clams are back, popping open every now and then to reveal a giant pearl and the hiding place of a fish or two.

And then ... you get to the nitty-gritty.

Sub Story

Mr. Ray sails by with his school fishies and the story starts. The attraction isn't called Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage for nothing, so of course, Nemo makes an appearance and then immediately disappears and you have to set out to find him.

Sub Story

I think I am going to segue here from detailed description and deal with generalities. It's for your own good, dear readers, you just don't want to know everything, trust me.

Marlon and Dory and various other characters from Finding Nemo swim by here and there all throughout the ride. You see more ancient ruins, there's a mine field to navigate through, and a deep, dark abyss illuminated by lots of very attractive tiny lights.

Remember Dory, in Finding Nemo, being drawn to the lights saying, "It's soooo pretty ..." oh wait, she does that here. And if you remember that scene, you know what comes next, a scare-the-kids moment ... big, sharp, frightening teeth. Nope, not Bruce, the shark, but an angler fish that's really pretty gruesome looking.

Sub Story

You catch the EAC (that's the East Australian Current for all you non-turtle-dudes) with Crush and Squirt swimming around.

Sub Story

There is still a graveyard of ships (the first ship is a relic of the original Sub Voyage) which is where you do find Bruce (the shark who swears, "Fish are friends, not food."), and out of all the scenes with the animated characters, this was my favorite. I thought the ship graveyard with Bruce was pretty believable and darned fantastic.

Sub Story

Did I mention the jellyfish? No? Jellyfish, loads of them ... they're so pretty, but you really don't want to get caught in them. They're not as nice as they are pretty.

Towards the end of the ride, the sub starts to shake and you come upon a pretty fabulous looking erupting volcano (think Mount Wannahockaloogie from Finding Nemo and you'll get a mental picture of what it looks like), there's an encounter with a blue whale (and Dory, naturally, tries to speak to him) and then all of the sudden ... Hey! There's Nemo. You found him!

As the sub sails back into the harbor and you prepare to disembark, make sure you listen for the mention of a sea serpent and mermaids, a nice nod to the attraction's past, (and if you keep a sharp eye out, you might just spot them).

Sub Story

Now since each view from each seat can be a little different, your voyage may not look quite the same as mine did. But one thing is for certain, it will be every bit as cool as the voyage I took on my old friend with the new look, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

Do the effects work to make it look as if you are actually seeing the characters from Finding Nemo swim right outside your porthole? Well, while the effects are pretty astonishing, for me, I felt that it looked more like I was seeing a movie screen, and it wasn't quite a fabulous as I think I expected it to look. Nonetheless, it's still pretty wonderful.

Sub Story

My thoughts about the look of the effects aside, the kiddies are going to love this new version of the subs so much so, I think it's safe to say there's a new classic at Disneyland, one that will stand the test of time and be loved with the best of them.

Now that I think about it, I can't wait to go on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage again.

Do say hi to me when you see me in line.

Here are some fun facts that I thought were interesting:
  • The subs are 52-feet long and hold a pilot and 48 passengers.
  • Original construction was supervised by Admiral Joseph Fowler and cost $2.5 million dollars.
  • Live mermaids swam in the lagoon from 1965 to 1967.
  • The Submarine voyage was the first E-Ticket.
  • It took nearly 6.3 million gallons of water and 50 hours to refill the lagoon.
  • The subs are no longer powered by diesel but now operate on a nonpolluting electrical system.
  • Each rider will see and hear different experiences with a traveling sound system that follows the characters as they swim from one side of the sub to the other.
  • The coral and rocks in the lagoon are made of an environmentally friendly material.
  • The lagoon is colored with recycled glass which will retain its original color and provide the translucent quality needed for underwater.
  • In the graveyard of ships scene, the first ship comes from the original attraction.
  • Each porthole measures 12-inches across.
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Sue Kruse may be e-mailed at [email protected] - Please keep in mind she may not be able to respond to each note personally.

© 2007 Sue Kruse


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