Tales of the dark sea
Written by @NateD1226 & @Goofyyukyuk
Story: An upbeat display of the story of sea travel is hijacked by the darker side of the sea. Now, the dark sea is ready to show guests their stories, and maybe why those stories are best left untold…
Technology: To drive home the idea that guests have been transported to the dark side of the sea, several effects will be used. First, wind machines and misters will allow us to control the feeling that a wild, uncontrollable storm is raging in Harbortown USA. Strobe lights will also provide lightning effects. Additionally, floats will be outfitted with wind machines and projectors that allow us to show the floats feeling the same conditions as the spectators.
Sequence:
Opening Narration, courtesy of Moana: “On the sea, there is nothing but you and the water. Waves lapping on the sides of your boat, the wind billowing in the sails. By day, we use the sun to guide us, but at night, we gaze upon the stars. Throughout this darkness, we can see glimmers of light, glimmers of hope that we will get where we are going, and we are not alone on the dark sea.”
Ursula cuts in: “Oh, but don’t you know you’re never alone on the sea? Oh no, you poor unfortunate souls, we are always there, always watching, just below the surface of the deep, dark sea. *Cackle*”
Ursula float snakes through Harbortown, as she sings Poor Unfortunate Souls. Behind her, puppets of Bruce and the Angler Fish dance together to her song.
The Viking float follows, with Vikings looking mean and menacing.
Behind them, a ship with a lone sailor moves down Harbortown. Around the bottom of the float, a wraparound screen shows sharks circling the ship, and they jump up periodically, in sync with AAs that jump up on the boat, “terrorizing” the sailor. As they “land” back in the water on the screen, water will spray from the float onto guests.
At this point, the wind and mist machines kick into high gear as we see pirate ships make their way through the town. When the first ship passes guests catch a brief glimpse of skeletal ghosts working on the ship when lighting flashes. The other ship holds Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew fighting the Flying Dutchman, helmed by Captain Davy Jones. Like in the movie, they’ll leave behind a whirlpool that the guests will experience.
When they pass, the whirlpool begins. The winds and mist blow rapidly and strobe lights make it clear that a weather phenomenon is occurring. This whirlpool “sinks” the guests, who are now underwater, as seen by the projection mapping on both sides of Harbortown. In fact, guests are inside a sunken ship.
In the street, the interior of the ship moves past, including a boiler room that creaks and randomly bursts into flames. (Inspired by the Boiler Room from the Queen Mary).
Although the sunken ship has passed, we are still underwater. A submarine, the Nautilus, moves down Harbortown, as Captain Nemo fights with the giant squid.
Ultimately, he is victorious, and we hear the voice of Triton as his float comes. On it, we can see clips of different Disney films where good overcomes evil in the sea:
“Ursula, when will you ever learn? For all the darkness in the seas and above them, good will always win as long as there are those who believe in it.”
Finally, the Spectacular Six sail down Harbortown, dressed as pirates, in their own pirate ship, greeting guests and reminding them that at Disney, good always wins.
