The Seas with Nemo & Friends Epcot

NOTE: Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members were able to sneak preview The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot October 13 – 15, 2006.

Click HERE for photos of the ride!

10/16/06, Joianne Pinckney: My friends and I are seasonal pass holders and went to Epcot on Saturday to go on the new Nemo and Friends ride. We were pretty excited to go on the new ride and went straight to the Living Seas area. While standing in line we noticed that they were telling everybody that didn't have a pass that they needed to leave the line. They family behind us with their kids seemed disappointed that they couldn't see the new ride, so my friend suggests that we take them as our guests. I think they thought we were crazy but we told them it was our way of spreading the "Magic". They ride was great and the aqurium with the images of Nemo and his friends was great, I especially liked the jelly fish. It is a great addition to the park and a great ride for kids.

10/16/06, Kathy Geiger, Kennewick, WA: Well, my husband and I rode the new Nemo & Friends ride on Friday evening. What can I say? Well, if I still had little ones in my family, it would have been a big hit. It really was more for the younger crowd. I thought it was cute, and well done, but not terribly interesting. What I didn't like was the exit. You exit directly into the madhouse that is the Turtle Talk queue. It was confusing and we weren't sure where to go next. We made our way upstairs and found that the manatee pool is still there. Anyway, the ride. Very colorful, great technical mix of animation and the large aquarium background. But, again, seemed very simple and geared to the Turtle Talk age group… Nemo isn't bad, but not something I would ride often without children.

10/15/06, Marisa Sanderson: This past weekend I visited Disney World for the passholder preview of The Seas with Nemo and Friends. My husband and I had been looking forward to seeing how this ride would be done, and couldn't wait for the preview. I will say that this was a very cute ride with some amazing technology and beautiful theming. But trying to be objective, I do have some things that some visitors need to know.

The queue line was very long, which is understandable, but it was also very dark. If you have any kids who are really afraid of the dark, bring something that lights up so that they are distracted, or you may want to forgo this. Also, if any people in your party have vision problems that are affected by a quick change from light to dark, they could become disoriented as they walk into the building.

The ride itself is very adorable, and very well done. However, it also is very dark and could cause the same problems with small children who are afraid of this. There is a great scene with Crush and Squirt, but this has some loud exclamations that could startle small children. As we rode the ride, we were surrounded by other adults so I could not tell how much it affected children, but you know your kids best so keep this in mind.

Overall, my husband and I like the ride. I was hoping for the tunnel experience that the original ride had and would have liked a little more time viewing the actual aquarium, but was still very happy with how the characters appear in the aquarium. This is a new must-see.

10/14/06, Aaron Bokelmann: We recently rode the new Nemo ride. It was open to passholders only this weekend, and for the most part it was a fairly good ride. There were no signs or cast members telling people in line that it was for passholders only, so many were not real happy as they stood in line only to be refused entry. The ride basically went through all of the scene's of the movie except the whale part. The jelly fish was a cool looking part as well as all of the parts with Nemo. Nemo is a digital Nemo so he is nice and clear. The sets were are all done with the usual Disney top of the line quality. Even the rails in the waiting areas looked authentic. The entire waiting area looked like you were underwater. All of the rails were rusted and the the dim lights made the "Underwater" journey authentic. The only part of the ride that was not enjoyed by everyone in our party was the turtle tunnel a.k.a the E.A.C. When the tube starts rotating, it kinda makes you feel a little queesy. I think this is because the bubbles and turtles are blurry and not clear, therefore when they go through the swirling vortex of terror, it might catch your eyes. overall it was a good ride, but not one I would go out of my way to ride over and over. The kids liked it and I guess that is all that really matters.

10/14/06, AllEars.Net friend CC writes: We rode the new The Seas with Nemo and Friends today. First off I’d like to say, this is a very cute ride. If we still lived in the days of ticket books, it would be at least a "C" coupon and maybe even a "D" coupon. It wouldn't be fair to compare this to Expedition: Everest. But you can compare it to the "dark" rides in the Magic Kingdom (Snow White, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh) and this ride competes very nicely (I think it's better than any of them). It's appropriate for all ages.

You enter the attraction through the same entrance that you used to enter the Living Seas Pavilion. The "back & forth" queue is still here, but now the atmosphere is a beach and boardwalk, complete with a lifeguard station.

Once you reach the end of this queue and enter what used to be the waiting room for the film or hydrolators, you have the option of skipping the attraction and going directly into the pavilion, or continuing onto the ride. There is lots and lots of queue ahead of you. Disney expects this to be a popular attraction. The bypass route would have been hard to find as there were no signs. However, it wasn't being used today. Maybe they'll have signs when the attraction begins regular operation.

In this portion of the queue, you are supposed to be underwater. Rusted pipes make up the guide-rails and you can see a pier's support legs jutting down from the water's surface. You can also see the bottom of a boat floating above you, complete with ripples radiating from it.

Once you reach the loading area, you are directed onto a continuous moving ramp (similar to the Haunted Mansion) where you board your Clam Shell. We were told that the Clam Shell holds two to three people, but if you tried to put three people in one of these vehicles, one of them had better be a child. We were also told three times that flash photography is strictly forbidden. On this attraction, not only would it disturb other guests, but I'm sure it would interfere with the special effects.

The basic story is that Nemo is once again missing, and his father is searching for him. Along the way, we see others of Nemo's friends from the movie, including Dory, Bruce, and Crush.

For most of the ride you pass by underwater scenes featuring coral, seaweed, and underwater lighting effects. Crystal clear (high definition) projections of the various Nemo characters are part of each vignette, along with some animatronics and other special effects.

At the end of the attraction you ride by and look into the actual "Living Seas" aquarium. Here, Nemo and his friends have can be seen in the tank. This is an awesome effect and it really looks like they’re in the tank with the real fish. In the final scene, the Starfish has plastered itself to the glass and has several very cute parting phrases for you.

10/12/06, Stacey Kiefer: I just rode the new Nemo ride at Epcot during the preview for Cast Members. The ride is wonderful, so much better than the old ride. It was not what I was expecting. The entire walkway inside is now like you are walking under the sea. The room where the movie played before is now redone to look like the bottom of the ocean. The clamobiles are absolutely adorable and the special effects are really cute. The ride definitely seems longer than before. I say it's a must see for everyone.