Disney’s Little Mermaid ride at the Magic Kingdom, officially titled “Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid is based on the Disney classic of the same name. It’s a dark ride where guests climb into an omnimover (which looks like a clamshell) and are taken through what is more or less the same story as the movie.

Given the theme of the ride and the slow nature of it, it’s common for park-goers to think this is one of Magic Kingdom’s classics. But, surprisingly, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid opened in December 2012!

Even though the ride is newer than you think, it fits right into Fantasyland and is one of our favorite rides.

What Can I Expect?

Throughout both the ride and the queue, you’ll see Ariel, Scuttle, Flounder, Sebastian and the evil sea witch Ursula. Longtime fans of the movie will notice a majority of the ride is ripped straight from the screen and put right in your face. Brush up on your Little Mermaid song knowledge because the ride is way more fun when you sing along throughout.

The Queue

The Little Mermaid Ride at the Magic Kingdom has a pretty unique queue structure, mostly because of its size. And boy is there size! This queue is LOOOOONG. Because of this, your wait could be wildly different depending on how busy the park is that day, and which sections of the queue they have open.

It’s easiest to start at the end of the queue and work backward from there.

Because it’s an indoor dark ride, regardless of how busy it is, the line will always end indoors and at the loading station. The transport vehicles are part of an omnimover system, so there is no stopping and starting of the seashells. All you do is walk onto a constantly-moving conveyor belt and into your clamshell.

Going back from there are your run-of-the-mill switchbacks until you get to about halfway through the queue. At this halfway point is another indoor room with painted walls and ceilings, telling the story of The Little Mermaid; think of it like an under-the-sea Sistine Chapel. Depending on how busy the ride is, this little grotto (get it?) can be completely roped off, allowing a direct route to the clamshells, or opened for an extended queue. If you’re waiting here, the bad news is the ride (and probably the park) is busy. The good news? It’s still indoors.

From this halfway point to the beginning of the ride entrance is going to be the same regardless of park attendance.

It’s also where the queue’s entertainment is.

The beginning parts of the indoor queue feature a fun game with Scuttle and his crabby friends. As Scuttle will tell you, the crabs have unearthed a bunch of treasures and it’s up to you to decide what’s valuable and what isn’t. You’ll notice some portholes laced throughout the queue. Each of these portholes will have a video of a crab holding some piece of treasure. It’s up to you to decide if it’s valuable or not by waving your hand.

Although of all the times we’ve ridden this ride, we couldn’t tell you if the game actually works or not. More often than not we see people wildly swinging their hands back and forth trying to play the game only to result in the crab doing whatever it wants anyway. It’s still fun to see though.

Last (first?) but not least is the outdoor portion of the queue. This part runs from the entrance to the ride until you get to the crab game. How long you wait here depends on if it’s busy enough to merit opening the grotto or not. A good rule of thumb is to expect to spend some time outdoors, but a majority of time indoors.

The Ride

The Little Mermaid ride at the Magic Kingdom is a CliffsNotes version of the film, mostly centering around the songs. If there is a popular song in the movie, you can bet it’s going to be on this ride.

(It also leads you to notice just how many songs happened at the beginning of the film as opposed to the end because the ride skips A LOT of plot.)

The Verdict?

This ride is a family-friendly ride if there ever was one. Your clamshell is slow-moving, never spins and the closest it comes to anything “extreme” is a one-time, pretty severe tilt backward. Likewise, there are no sudden or loud noises, no flashing lights and nothing pops out at you. The biggest health hazard on the ride is the clamshell can get a little cramped when you fit more than two regular adults in it. It also doesn’t provide much legroom for people taller than 6’0.

This fun, whimsical ride is a must-do whether you’re a fan of the movie or not.