Journey of the Little Mermaid at Walt Disney World

New Fantasyland opened late 2012 in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and, arguably, the main attraction in this beautiful area is "Under the Sea, Journey of the Little Mermaid."

Please note, I will be taking us under the sea, looking at the queue and several scenes from the attraction itself, so if you want to be surprised, please read no further! Our adventure begins outside the castle...

...and continues into some nearby caves...

...where we find treasure...

...as well as other, not pictured surprises! I don't want to give away ALL the fun! We continue under the castle...

...and out into our loading area, the docks, to take us fathoms below!

We board our clam mobile. This ride vehicle is very similar to the vehicles in The Seas with Nemo and Friends, so I am assuming it is an all ages ride with no restrictions.

A neat effect takes us underwater, and we begin to see Ariel's journey to meeting her prince, and becoming human. "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?"

We are treated to the hit songs from the beloved cartoon, "under the sea."

The ride isn't without a villain, as all good tales should have a good protagonist. We come upon Ursula singing about "poor unfortunate souls."

Prince Eric is urged by Sebastian to "kiss the girl."

To be honest, the scene that comes next, where Ursala is done in, is a little lacking, in my opinion, but at least we have a strong finish featuring King Triton and Sebastian.

And finally the happy couple.

At the end of the day, this is just a dark ride, but one done on a large, and more wondrous scale, and is a delight for the entire family.

Portions of this article were originally posted on the Tips From the Disney Diva Blog, where Nick is a contributing writer.

Capsule Toys: Disney Cinemagic

I've discovered a new love. Capsule toys. These little beauties come out of vending machines. I've seen these listed as Gashapon and Gacha, but I'm just going to stick with calling them capsule toys.

The 2 pieces I will share today are the 1st couple I purchased on eBay.

First we have The Little Mermaid from the Disney Cinemagic Films Volume 4 collection, and was bought for $5.64, with free shipping.

How small is this figure of Ariel holding Flounder? A little over an inch, or 3.5cm. Ariel and Flounder came detached from the "film strip", and they simply snapped together.

The capsule itself wasn't shipped with the figure, but it did come with a little pamphlet picturing the whole series.

Also included are little clips that connect each new figure to make a "film reel". I'll include that in future posts when I receive more of these tiny treasures.

Next up is a piece from the Disney Cinemagic Museum Collection. It depicts a scene from the musical number "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast.

It measures about 1.5" inches high and 2" wide. There is a lot of wonderful detail in a small package. In back of Lumiere is Mrs. Potts and Chip. I didn't even notice this until I was photographing it!

This was a bit more expensive, at $7.99, also with free shipping.

 It also came with a pamphlet picturing more from this series.

I'll be sharing more Capsule Toys in the future, so please, Be Our Guest!