Les Mysteres du Nautilus

Report by André Willey

To be honest, the biggest mystery of all was why is queue so long? I guess it must be because this attraction looks so good from the outside. A very authentic-looking Nautilus waits docked in a lagoon near to the new Space Mountain, inviting you to come aboard. You enter a nearby lighthouse and descend down a spiral staircase, and then walk along a long underground corridor. Entering the sub, you walk through several rooms (treasure room, Captain's quarters, airlock/diving-suit room, etc) until you reach Captain Nemo's room - complete with iris-shuttered portholes on either side, and his grand pipe organ at one end. A short, rather uninspiring, show takes place in which a giant animatronic squid attacks and is repelled by electric shocks (you get to see this through the large porthole screen) and then you leave via the engine room.

Basically, there's nothing much to it. The engine doesn't move at all, the squid attack is lack-lustre, and it's painfully obvious that the walk-through is nowhere near the submarine you saw in the pen outside (in fact, you come out facing it!). If only they had at least attempted to give you the feeling of entering inside a submarine from the long corridor (perhaps by walking beside a hull mockup, or even by going through some sort of connecting tunnel or bridge) but they didn't.

Unless the queue is short, don't waste your time. A shame, really, as this could have been rather good if properly imagineered in true Disney style.

From Scott Van Horn (svanhorn@anetbbs.com): The new Nautilus ride was a disappointment, it seemed like a "we need something, how about this?" I felt a bit embarrassed being in it.

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