I know that many people HATED the submarine ride back in the day (claustrophobia, boredom, cheesy broken mermaids!) but my sweetheart and I were able to get on the newest reincarnation of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in less than 45 minutes on July 3rd and I am geeeeeeking out about it. We'd gone a week or two ago at 8am on a Sunday and were greeted with a 5.5-6hr line!
First, let me say that the storyline is choppy (Nemo's lost, look out for jellyfish!, found him, now he's at school, joy and fun, the end) and they added stuff that no one cared about (the volcano search?) but overall, it's super cute. The characters are also sadly animated and projected instead of being cheesy animatronic fish, which I think many who are used to Disney would argue is pretty awesome. My favorite elements: the anglerfish scene; the beautiful, undersea coral; the seagulls on a buoy who intermittently yell "Mine?" and flap their little wings; the captain who lets us know that new technology called "sonar hydrophones" (my new band name) lets us listen to the undersea creatures. The first few minutes are non-Nemo but once we hear about the technology, the fun begins! I'll spare you who have not yet enjoyed it with too much details here but suffice to say, I clapped like a 3-yr old most of the way through it.
Many people have asked if the ride is claustrophobic but I didn't feel that way though the Midwesterners who kept talking the whole 10+ minute ride didn't help me feel particularly comfy, but I digress!
You are loaded down a left or right spiral staircase and seated on a bench with twenty seats; you're back-to-back with the other twenty who fit on the other aisle. You get your own porthole, though if you are over 5'6" expect to crouch to see anything. You're then escorted off the sub with an instrumental rendition of "Beyond the Sea"...sigh.
All in all, it was magical and reminded me that Disney will never cease being a place where you can forget about work and school and cleaning the house, and whatever responsibilities you may have and just relax...that is, after you pay the steep Disney entrance toll ;)