Yes, she IS real! SHE IS! SHE IS! And I have these pictures from the Disney theme parks to prove it! Click on the highighted links to see the photos!
That evening, she was scheduled to perform two concerts backed by an orchestra at the open-air America Gardens Theater in EPCOT Center's World Showcase. The second performance had to be cancelled to due a thunderstorm.On Jan. 9, 1998, 11 members of the Arielholics Mailing List gathered at Walt Disney World to meet, greet and spend two days having fun and hitting all of The World's Ariel-related spots.
Highlights included: Being invited on-stage to visit "Ariel" and the puppeteers at "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid" stage show at the Disney/MGM Studios; getting group pictures taken with Ariel at Ariel's Grotto in the Magic Kingdom; and being invited by the actress at Ariel's Grotto to officially take part in the Magic Kingdom's daily parade, dancing the conga and the limbo alongside the Ariel float!
Arielholics gathered around a statue of Ariel at Ariel's Grotto in the Magic Kingdom
Ariel" surrounded by her fans, blowing paper party horns, at Ariel's Grotto
Arielholics and others do the conga and the limbo in front of the Ariel float at the Magic Kingdom's "Remember the Magic" parade
SPECTROMAGIC is the Magic Kingdom's nighttime parade, with millions
of fiber optic lights, lasers, prisms, holographs and other light technologies
illuminating floats based on the major Disney animated movies, all set to
dazzling music. Ariel has her own float, shaped like a wrecked ship.
Ariel in Spectromagic Float
Ariel in Spectromagic Float
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Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Daytime Parade is an interactive parade,
in which guests are invited to sing and dance with the cast members. Ariel's
float is a giant clamshell, and she's surrounded by Flounder, Sebastian
and a custacean band.
Originally scheduled to end in December 1996, it has been extended for several
months.
Ariel in daytime parade -
closeup
Ariel in daytime parade -
the float
Ariel's Grotto is the newest addition to Fantasyland, right behind Dumbo's
Flying Elephants. It includes an interactive water garden, a bronze or copper
statue of Ariel perched on a bolder, an interactive musical garden with
a likeness of Sebastian, and a statue of King Triton shooting water from
his trident. Best of all is a real-live Ariel (or a convincing actress)
available for photos and autographs.
The entrance to Ariel's Grotto
Children playing in the interactive
water garden
A close-up of the Ariel statue
The statue of King Triton
Sebastian!
Ariel poses with a staggerlingly
handsome 'total Baldwin' hunk
"The Voyage of The Little Mermaid" is a 15-minute indoor stage
show set in an auditorium designed to look like Ariel's undersea hideaway
cave. A combination of actors and actresses, puppets, animation, laser effects
and other special effects (including water sprays) is used to re-tell the
movie's story. A live Ariel sings "Part of Your World," while
a puppet Sebastian leads more than 50 other undersea puppets in a dance
rendition of "Under the Sea." The attraction is located just behind
the studio arch, and across the courtyard from the park's functioning Animation
Studio - where part of "The Little Mermaid" was made in early
1989.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
- Ariel in closeup
Triton Gardens, formerly the Alpine Gardens, was recently spruced up with
the addition of a fountain identical to the one at Walt Disney World's Ariel's
Grotto (see above). The gardens also feature leaping water fountains similar
to the ones at the Grotto.
Triton Gardens
Near Triton Gardens is a souvenir kiosk with a large doll of Ariel suspended
from the ceiling, with some seaweed and kelp streamers entwined. The sign
inside the kiosk against the back wall names the kiosk "Ariel's Treasures."
The mannequin at Ariel's Treasures
One of Disneyland's most venerable rides, the Storybook Land boats take
riders past intricately detailed miniatures of the buildings and places
in many of Disney's animated films, from Cinderella's Castle to the Three
Little Pigs' houses to London's Hyde Park, over which Peter Pan, Wendy and
her brothers flew. A recent refurbishing added the Sultan's Palace from
"Aladdin" and Prince Eric's seaside castle from "The Little
Mermaid," complete with docked sailing ship. The boat guide introduces
it as "The castle where Ariel and Eric lived happily ever after."
Storybook Land:
Prince Eric's Castle
Fantasmic! is Disneyland's big nighttime extravaganza, which takes place
on the Rivers of America facing New Orleans Square. It combines live actors
and actresses, lights and lasers, boats (including the sailing ship Columbia
and the Mark Twain riverboat) and animation projected onto 50-foot-high
sprays of water, giving the effect of the images simply floating in mid-air.
The story of Fantasmic! is that of Mickey Mouse exploring his imagination
- and battling the Disney villains (including Ursula) who want to take over
his mind.
At one point, Mickey dreams of beautiful princesses, and three decorated
boats (actually the Mike Fink keelboats during the day) drift past the audience
gathered on the shore. The boats are carrying Snow White and Prince Charming,
Beauty and the Beast, and Eric and Ariel, each with a song selection from
the appropriate movie, newly recorded and blended in with the other musical
themes used in Fantasmic!
Eric and Ariel in Fantasmic!
Ariel also appears in Disneyland's daytime "Cruisin' the Kingdom"
parade on the back of Chip 'n Dale's car, tossing beach balls to the crowd
(Video capture courtesy of Gary Uyehara .)
Ariel cruises the kingdom
If anyone has information and/or pictures of Mermaid appearances at
Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, please, pass them on!
