The start of an adventure
7:30 a.m. - 6/12/2007 - Arrival at the tram loading zone. We came early today because we had a job to do. I thought this was cool - they made their billboard look like it was cut into the hedge.
Our Mission
We were on a mission - bound and determined to find Nemo, no matter how long it took. We arrived at the gate 1/2 hour before opening and, having learned an insider's trick to get closer to the gate, we hovered near the early admission gates until they started closing them, then got in those lines quickly as they converted them to general admission gates. By so doing we were able to be the 2nd group in line. By 8, all the turnstyles had lines stretching across the entire plaza to the gates of California Adventure. When the gates opened, we were ready to speed our way to the Submarine line.
the start of the line
Doreen, Sue, and Lenise, ready for our mission - to wait patiently until we got to the dock. We made it to the end of the line at 8:05, when the line was at the entrance to the Matterhorn. Within 15 to 20 minutes the line stretched back so far we couldn't see the end of it. People said it went all the way to Small World, with several switchbacks. The line had been 3-1/2 hours the day before, and the ride stayed open to accomodate all those who had been in line before closing time at midnight. We didn't anticipate that long a wait. We were hoping our trick at the entrance would cut our wait to 2 hours or so.
view of the lagoon
After about 30 minutes we at least got close enough we could see the lagoon up close - all 6.3 million gallons of it. As you can see, the formerly gray submarines have been painted yellow. Jeff says it's like Peter Max meets Nemo. For those of you who remember the old submarine ride, these are indeed the same submarines. When they were getting ready to reopen the ride they were trying to decide whether to build new ones or not so they had someone inspect the old ones. They were pronounced so well built that they have 40 to 50 years of life left in them, and they are already almost 50 years old! The original Submarine Voyage opened in 1959 and ran until 1998.
Run Silent, if not deep
The fleet of 8 subs has been updated with more than a fresh coat of paint. They have all been converted to electric power, so they are totally silent. An interesting bit of trivia is that, among all the countries and navys in the world, Disneyland has the eighth largest submarine fleet in the world.
A ninth submarine?
Monorail Red has gone undercover and is disguised as a submarine for a limited time. When we rode it later, the driver told us in a whisper not to tell the monorail train that it wasn't a submarine. Not sure if the monorail or the driver was delusional, but it was fun anyway.
A colorful redo
We couldn't decide from here whether it was a coat of paint or just a vinyl skin on the monorail, but up close we could see it was covered in vinyl, so it should be an easy change to convert it back to Monorail red (if they decide to break the news to it that it's not really a submarine after all).
The line.
This is the view from the monorail down on the line at about the point the last picture was taken. They told us when we got to this point that the wait was about an hour, and it was 1:10. Disney does know their lines pretty well. Not a bad estimate for a ride that's only been open one day.
Mine, Mine, Mine.
That title will mean nothing to those of you who have not seen the movie, but the 3 seagulls on the buoy keep saying that. (Seagulls are not portrayed very favorably in the movie - they come off as pretty stupid). Notice the rock formation in the background. There is supposed to be a waterfall for the subs to go under when they dive deep and go into the cave. For some reason it quit working for about 40 minutes while we were in line.
Waterfall is working now
As you can see, they finally got the waterfall working again.
Close up
The picture before is my point-and-shoot effort, but Doreen is the photographer of the bunch, and she pointed out this view. So here is the artsy picture to go with the last, more informational-type shot.
Ready to board
1 hour and 55 minutes after getting in line, we were ready to board the Nautilus.
Doreen at her porthole
We will stay glued to these little windows for the next 15 minutes or so.
familiar view
Those of you who rode the old subs will remember this view of the mussels and starfish on the pilings dockside. They haven't changed at all.
More mussels and starfish
Actually, they're the same mussels and starfish, just a closeup view.
a scary sight for a little fish
The little terror Darla is out collecting her own fish now.
Big fish
The lagoon doesn't have as many fish as I remember on the old ride, but the huge grouper is still there, and colorful seaweed.
Remains of Atlantis?
The lagoon is a repository for some of the artifacts from the old ride. The story line is that it was recently uncovered by activity of an underwater volcano. They don't mention Atlantis, just long buried ruins.
Another view of the lagoon
The colors are very bright, as you can see.
Diver Dan
Another holdover from the old ride.
Deeper denizens
Of course you have to have a giant clam. As we go deeper, the feathery seaweed changes to coral. In an attempt to cut down on maintenance and keep the colors bright, Disney imagineers "painted with glass." Instead of painting the coral, they used 30 tons of recycled glass in 40 colors to add color to the reef, extend its life and reduce fading.
More bright colors
And of course more giant clams.
more coral
I didn't know glass came in that many colors.
Inside the cave
This is not a good picture, but it was so dark I couldn't get any good ones, so I picked the best of the bad. Inside the cave the characters of Finding Nemo entertain you. Pixar has done several minutes of new animation, combined with actual figures and settings that take you with Marlin and Dory on their search for Nemo.
Undersea volcano
On the journey with Marlin and Dory the sub gets too close to an undersea volcano, gets swallowed by a whale, escapes from Bruce the shark, the jellyfish, rides with Crush and the turtles on the East Australian Current, and eventually finds its way home.
Back in port
These giant crabs welcome you back to civilization.
Lagoon from above
The view of the lagoon from the monorail. You can see the brightly colored seaweed and the giant groupers (far right). After finding Nemo, we were going to try and see the new pirate's lair on Tom Sawyer's Island, but the park was so crowded and we didn't have much time, so we decided to ride the monorail to get the bird's eye view of the lagoon and complete the whole Nemo experience. We even rode the "disguised" monorail.
Going out in threes
They could load three subs at once at the dock, so they were keeping them all busy and sent them out in fleets of three.
Misson Accomplished!
Our adventure ends where it began, back at the tram stop and the billboard hedges. We had completed our mission. Nemo was found. I'm sure I will have to endure that line again with the girls when they are out of school, but for today we have a feeling of accomplishment and can go home content. The End.