I’m sure — by now — you’ve seen photographs of those colorful construction fences that ring “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure” work site.
Photo by Angela Ragno
Just as I’m sure that — by now — you’ve seen a concept painting or two of what the exterior of this currently-under-construction DCA addition will look like.
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Or — at the least — that you’ve seen a drawing or two of what the interior of this new dark ride will supposedly look like.
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But as for what’s actually going on behind those construction fences right now … Well, you’d have to be a pretty tall guy ( 6 foot, 7 inches to be exact) who’s plenty skilled with a camera in order to see what’s happening. Luckily, JHM has Noe Valladolid. Who — when he and Shelly Smith were touring California Adventure back on March 18th — was able to snag these photographs. Which reveal the effort that the Imagineers are putting into preserving & protecting that smallish sized version of San Francisco‘s Palace of Fine Arts that used to serve as the entrance of DCA’s old Golden Dreams attraction.
Photo by Noe Valladolid
Meanwhile — if you look just to the right of this structure — you can see that many of the concrete footings for the basement portion of this show building (which will house the Omnimover system that will move your seashell-shaped ride vehicle through “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure”) are already in place.
Photo by Noe Valladolid
Likewise toward the back of this work site (i.e. in the area that borders
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail as well as Disney’s Grand California
Hotel & Spa), you’ll note that the foundation work is nearing completion.
Photo by Noe Valladolid
Long story short: This means that the horizontal portion of construction on this particular DCA expansion project is nearly complete. Which means that — in the coming weeks — crews will begin hauling pieces of structural steel into this work site so that vertical construction can finally get underway.
Photo by Noe Valladolid
FYI: If you want to get a better sense of what this new dark ride will actually be like, make plans now to swing by DCA’s Blue Sky Cellar later this summer. When — following the opening of “Disney’s World of Color” — a brand-new show will be loaded into this display place which will then go into greater detail about “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.” Which — in spite of this year’s extremely damp winter — is still right on schedule, construction-wise. And barring any further delays, California Adventure visitors should be able to go “Under the Sea” with Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian starting in the Spring of 2011.