Animatronic Ariel's Head Broken in Viral Video from Magic Kingdom

A new video posted online by guests shows Ariel’s head looking a little out of place during her appearance in Under The Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid in Magic Kingdom.

Under The Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid

A sculpture of Ariel from the Little Mermaid on the front of a beached ship, which serves as the entrance to Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid at Magic Kingdom.

This new video was posted on TikTok by @sistertravel.diary. In the video, the guests are seemingly riding Under The Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid in Magic Kingdom.

This attraction retells the majority of the original animated film The Little Mermaid, with one or two minor adjustments courtesy of Scuttle. Read Disney’s full description of the attraction below:

Revisit the classic “tail” of how one lucky little mermaid found true love… and legs.

Your underwater adventure takes you below the waves on a tour of Ariel’s gadget-filled grotto. Immersive special effects and hand-drawn animation sequences recreate each unforgettable scene. Watch Sebastian the crab conduct every singing, dancing fish in the sea. Skulk past a sinister eel-infested lair, and then cheer as Prince Eric kisses the girl.

A cartoon red crab holding a baton sits on a shell stage, surrounded by underwater decor in a dimly lit scene, capturing the magical atmosphere of an "Under the Sea" performance reminiscent of the Little Mermaid finale.

The video begins in the portion of the attraction dedicated to the song Under the Sea, which takes place in one of the larger rooms. In this portion of the ride, guests riding in their clam shells travel past an animatronic version of Ariel, who is swimming by some coral and dancing along to Sebastian’s music.

Ariel Animatronic Head

Ariel Animatronic stands off-balance among coral, arms raised. Text reads, "Ariel you good?"—like a viral video moment.

Animatronic Ariel at Magic Kingdom with a tilted head and “Ariel you good?” text goes viral.

Normally, this animatronic figure has a moving head, tail, and arms as she slowly bobs up and down. However, in the video Ariel is looking a little disturbing, because her animatronic head is tilted at an uncomfortable sideways angle.

The animatronic’s head remains in that awkward diagonal position for the entire clip, despite the rest of her body and red hair moving as it should. The video includes the caption, “Ariel you good?”

The post also includes the description, “I think the ride needs some fixing! AHAHHAHAA.”

The video was originally posted two days ago, so it is possible Disney maintenance has already addressed the issue and Ariel is back to normal. Such maintenance issues are not entirely uncommon, though it can be a little surprising to see your favorite character not quite looking as they should.

You can watch the original video below:

@sistertravel.diary I think the ride needs some fixing! AHAHHAHAA #magickingdom #littlemermaid #attractions #disneyworld ♬ original sound – Kendy

If you want to enjoy even more of The Little Mermaid, you can watch our full show video of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure, which was recently added to Lightning Lane Multi Pass.

Have you ever experienced a similar maintenance issue while visiting Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments and on social media.

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