Disneyland Guide Spotlight: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

This week we’ll be highlighting Tomorrowland’s Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Based on the Disney-Pixar film “Finding Nemo”, this attraction used new technology to bring life back to the long-vacant Tomorrowland Lagoon. It is the only underwater submarine adventure offered by any Disney theme park. To explore other Disneyland attractions, visit our Disneyland Guide!

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Attraction Type: Underwater dark ride.

Location: In the back of the land, just to the north of Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant.

General Description: Based on the 2003 Disney-Pixar film “Finding Nemo,” follow Marlin and Dorey around the Pacific Ocean as they search for Nemo.

Will’s Review: The original Submarine Voyage (1959-1998) was always considered an E-ticket attraction due to its immersive experience, lengthy ride time (twenty minutes back then, shortened to fifteen for the new show), and elaborate show scenes. The massive warehouse building that houses the attraction is indeed huge – the entire Autopia actually runs atop it. One of Walt’s favorite attractions, the submarines for the ride were built at a ship yard in Long Beach and at the time were the largest fleet of submarines ever constructed during peacetime. The show itself was a Disneyland original in idea and execution – it had no basis on any character and no popular movie tie-in; yet it remained a consistently popular attraction. The thematic fit of the ride into Tomorrowland at the time was justified by the ‘pretend’ use of nuclear-powered submarines, a convenient tie-in for the defense company General Dynamics – the attraction’s original sponsor. In reality, the subs were diesel-powered, but have since been converted to an electrical motor.

Nonetheless, the Submarine Voyage was closed for a temporary thematic overhaul in late 1998, shortly after the opening of the new Tomorrowland. The overhaul was expected to take a few years and was to be based on Disney’s animated feature “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.” When the movie didn’t perform well at the box office, an attraction planned for it was scraped as well. Luckily, however, the Anaheim lagoon was left as a scenic area; the folks in Florida weren’t so lucky when their 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was shuttered in 1994 and the lagoon was filled in.

Just when most Disneyland fans wrote off hope of ever seeing the subs in action again, early 2005 saw the resurgence of one sub to the old dock beneath the Monorail station for some initial testing by Walt Disney Imagineering. Sure enough, Disney announced plans for a new submarine adventure based on the Disney-Pixar film “Finding Nemo.” Now, all thematic issues aside (Disneyland doesn’t even try to pretend that Nemo really fits into the Tomorrowland scape), the ride itself is a must-see adventure that makes use of some of the newest technology in show design. Opening in June 2007, the arrival of Nemo brought along a hefty expansion of the show building, brightly-painted subs, and a more vibrant and colorfully vivid lagoon than we have ever seen before.

The back story of this attraction is that you are about to take an expedition submarine voyage with the Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation Center to scout out a new underwater volcano off the coast of Australia. After diving, guests are treated to a truly eye-popping display of coral reefs and given an educational lesson on how volcanic rock helped to form this reef, along with The Great Barrier Reef. Diving a little deeper, the captain tells us he will be using a new sonar technology that allows us to hear the fish ‘talk’ – in English. We immediately begin hearing Marlin and Dory just as they realize that Nemo, Marlin’s son, has been lost! The two begin swimming around frantically with Mr. Ray trying to find the lost little fish. Passing through the Australian Eastern Current, Crush and the other turtles swim alongside before changing paths as the subs approach the creaky wreckage of an old ship. Marlin and Dory show up here again, just as the subs try to manage their way through wrecked U-Boats and World War II water mines. Of course, it isn’t long before the sub hits a mine, causing a bright blast, brief lost of power, and a ghostly encounter with an angry anglerfish. Everyone escapes safely – only to encounter a large pod of jellyfish, in what has to be one of the most mesmerizing and elaborate scenes in all of Disneyland. The captain then announces that we have reached the underwater volcano, and another elaborate set is the background for the reuniting of Marlin and Nemo. In classic Disney style, the subs escape the volcanic area just before a massive eruption – by being swallowed by a whale and then shot out through the blow hole.

Unlike its predecessor attraction, Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage does not just tell its story through stiffly-moving Audio-Animatronics. Truly massive sets and cutting-edge special effects are used to carry out the story, all using bright paint and lights that are resilient to the color-sapping chlorine that gets poured in the lagoon on a regular basis. In addition, the “Finding Nemo” characters are actually animations that are projected onto a silk screen in the show scenes, creating the illusion that the animated fish, turtles, and sting rays are interacting with the real physical sets.

Touring Tips: If you are at Disneyland upon opening (you should be) you will witness a large rush towards this attraction, and waits quickly build up to 2-3 hours. However, this attraction is peculiar in that its lines actually decrease as the day goes on; this is unlike Space Mountain which maintains a steady line from the get-go. Therefore, go ahead and visit Space Mountain and Indiana Jones first thing in the morning, and wander back around to this attraction during parade performances, day or night. Most families with children – this attraction’s biggest fan base – will be watching the parade.

Family Info: Children will be the biggest fans of this ride, but just as the film appealed to all age groups, the ride does as well. The very scope of the ride far surpasses the fact that it was based on a cartoon, to be sure. Those with disabilities will have a tough time visiting this attraction, though, as access to the subs is only down a very small and narrow spiraling staircase. To that end, anyone who also suffers from claustrophobia will probably not want to ride. On a special note, disabled guests who cannot enter the subs can take advantage of the “Alternate Experience,” which is a special room for disabled guests that shows a film based on the ride. The downside to this, however, is that you still have to wait in the regular line before being admitted into the alternative viewing room.

Variations: This ride experience is completely unique to the original Disneyland. Another submarine attraction, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, operated at The Magic Kingdom from 1971-1994. Another, although very different, underwater attraction featuring Nemo can be found at The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion at Epcot.