Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage will just keep swimming with new enhancements when the attraction reopens at the Disneyland Resort. The Tomorrowland submarine ride, which set sail in 2007 as a retheme of the original Submarine Voyage attraction, has been closed for refurbishment since Disneyland shuttered amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. On Monday, the Disney Parks Blog announced the Finding Nemo-inspired ride reopens July 25 with the addition of Hank, the crabby septopus voiced by Ed O’Neill in Pixar’s Finding Dory. See a preview of the enhancements in the behind-the-scenes video below.
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According to the Disney Parks Blog, Walt Disney Imagineering has enhanced the lagoon of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage with “more coral, new paint, fresh kelp and seaweed, as well as enhanced special effects and lighting.”
In addition to the speaking seagulls perched on a buoy, the lagoon will now be home to a figure of Hank sitting atop a rock.
“This is going to be a great renovation for Walt Disney Imagineering. We’re really going back to 2007 when we first opened the attraction,” said Michele Hobbs, producer, Walt Disney Imagineering. Added Project Manager Jibram Martinez, “The thing that was unique was that this attraction doesn’t go under refurbishment so often.”
Disney Imagineers collaborated with Disney and Pixar for the TLC, including the addition of Finding Dory‘s “curmudgeonly but lovable septopus,” said Art Director Michael Dobrzycki. “He’s within earshot of a group of seagulls on the other end of the attraction. They’re saying ‘mine, mine, mine,’ and really driving him nuts, so you can see he’s casting quite a bit of side-eye over in that direction at those seagulls.”
Designers studied the animated underwater world of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory to add more than 3,000 pieces of coral and 12,000 feet of multi-colored seaweed to revitalize the attraction for its 15th anniversary.
“This is a spectacular renovation. You’re going to see brand-new color, all-new lighting, great special effects and projections bringing back all of those characters you know and love,” Hobbs said.
Disneyland describes Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage:
With all the humor and heart of the original film, this immersive submarine ride takes you on an unforgettable ocean adventure—to find a missing clown fish.
Climb down into a yellow research submarine operated by the Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation Institute (N.E.M.O.). Peek through the portholes as you sail past scuba divers and artifacts of an ancient civilization scattered along the seafloor.
Some familiar fins soon swim into view: it’s Nemo and his turtle pal, Squirt, with Marlin and Dory hot on their trail. During your underwater adventure, you’ll encounter other friends from the movie, including Bruce the Shark, Mr. Ray, Gill, Bubbles, Pearl, Peach, Crush and more—and thanks to special “sonar hydrophones,” you can hear what everyone’s saying!
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage reopens at the Disneyland Resort on July 25.
