Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage – June 7, 2009 – Disneyland – (Ending cut off)

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened at Disneyland on June 11, 2007. The original Submarine Voyage operated at the park from June 14, 1959 to September 7, 1998. My first Disneyland trip was in 1999, so I missed the original submarines altogether until Nemo came out. No attractions had resurfaced in the lagoon for nine years until the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage premiered. This updated version was based on the 2003 Pixar film Finding Nemo (which I saw at the El Capitan Theater). The Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation (NEMO) Institute sends out submarines to explore an underwater volcano. During this trip we follow the adventures of Marlin and Dory as they try to find Nemo. The characters, animated by Pixar, are projected on screens beyond the layer of water outside the submarine’s portholes. Vibrant coral in the 6.3 million gallon lagoon was created with 30 tons of crushed glass. The fleet of eight submarines switched from diesel to electric power with Nemo and the nine minute ride is now fourteen minutes. Traveling 1.4 mile per hour, guests will see almost every Finding Nemo character, 126 sea creatures, and 10,000 artificial plants. This ride has not reopened after 2020.

Submarine Voyage. I could fill the entire description with information about the original, but this is about Nemo, so I will write a one paragraph version. On June 14, 1959 the Disneyland Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Submarine Voyage all debuted. Walt Disney was proud of his monorails, but he was also proud of his submarine fleet, “the eighth largest sub fleet in the world.” The submarines were military gray and looked like navy subs. It cost about $2.5 million to build and in the first few summers live mermaids waved in the lagoon. Guests would pay their E-ticket, enter the hatch into the submarine, travel into “liquid space”, pass Atlantis, travel under the polar ice cap, and encounter a sea monster. In 1986 the submarines were painted yellow and were renamed. The ride building is under the Autopia track.

Development. This project was one of the last approvals by Michael Eisner and one of the first theme park projects for new CEO Bob Iger. A model of the new Nemo Submarines was presented to Disneyland president Matt Ouimet demonstrating the projection technology. The project got approved at a rumored budget of $70 million. Other attempts were made in the past to bring back the submarines themed to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but the film did not do well at the box office. Top Imagineers, like Marty Sklar, fought hard for the submarine attraction to return. The new captain in the ride’s audio was Australian, and show writer Kevin Rafferty kept some of the original submarine banter in the script along with nods to mermaids and sea serpents. Two weeks after opening, Bob Iger was riding with an admiral of the U.S. Navy and he pointed out the captain’s command was off by one degree, so the line was rerecorded. The music was arranged by Ed Kalnins, and is a fifteen minute track on the 2008 Disneyland Resort Official Album. Since the submarines were so long the audio cues are broken up into four zones on board the vessel.

Brief ride through. In this 2009 home video you will see the loading dock, located under the monorail platform. This was the Autopia Winner’s Circle shop when the ride was not operating. We board the submarine which seats 40 people, 20 on each side, looking out portholes. We get moving and bubbles fill our window as we dive, dive, dive! Passing by Darla, she has a new fishy in her bag. Oh no! Next we see diver P. Sherman exploring ancient ruins. More bubbles as we dive deeper. In the show building sonar hydrophones are used so we can hear the fish talk. Marlin and Dory are looking for Nemo. Mr. Ray and his class are looking too. Nemo, Squirt, and Crush are surfing the East Australian Current. We see Bruce the shark surrounded by mines. We hit one and it explodes and we lose power. In the dark Marlin and Dory explore tiny lights, which turn out to be anglerfish. Then they travel past jellyfish. The submarine arrives at the volcano and Marlin finds his son Nemo. We see Gill, Bloat, Gurgle, Bubbles, and Squirt. As a giant humpback whale swallows our submarine, I run out of video tape. At the end of the ride, not recorded, the whale shoots us out of its blowhole and we return to the surface.

Submarine names. 107 – Nautilus, 207 – Scout, 307 – Voyager, 407 – Mariner, 507 – Seafarer, 607 – Explorer, 707 – Neptune, 807 – Argonaut.

REFERENCE:
Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career, Kevin P. Rafferty, 2019, Disney Editions
The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland, Alex Wright, 2008, Disney Editions
Secret Stories of Disneyland, Jim Korkis, 2017, Theme Park Press
The Disneyland Encyclopedia Third Edition, Chris Strodder, 2017, Santa Monica Press
The Disneyland Story, Sam Gennawey, 2014, Keen Communications

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