Ed. Note: Before or after viewing these pictures, you may want to read up on the area and attractions shown. Click here to visit the Mermaid Lagoon  section in the DisneySea Overview from Marc's August 10th Land of the Rising Mickey column.

We're deep inside Mermaid Lagoon for the third, last, and BIG installment of this part of the tour. We'll start off with Ariel's Playground. Much of the area, like Ariel's Grotto, is good happy fun. But apparently Ariel doesn't scare easily (or she likes to be scared)...

In many ways, much as Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour at Tokyo Disneyland (even more than Haunted Mansion), I see Ariel's Playground filling the obakeyashiki  (obake = ghost - yashiki = large house) role at DisneySea. Even more a requirement at amusement parks in Japan than the "haunted house" is in America, obakeyashiki are walkthrough attractions which tend to use darkness and scenes ranging from strange to shockingly gruesome to frighten visitors (The one at Korakuein is really sick and the one at Fuji-Q Highland is staged inside an actual dilapidated former hospital... weird). To be clear, the blood and gore found in most obakeyashiki is not present at Ariel's Playground, just certain touches and the weird spirit (so to speak) of an obakeyashiki. Although adults likely won't find the area frightening, aspects of it are just plain terrifying to small children (and generally eerie and creepy to my friends and myself).

Although it's no surprise to me that aspects of a "Disneyfied" obakeyashiki are included at DisneySea, I am surprised that it's to be found in a place as harmless sounding as "Ariel's Playground"...

Mermaid Lagoon Part Three - Page 1

Were we left off last time, the playground's entrance...
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Just inside and we're surrounded by the Galleon Graveyard, Kelp Forest, and...
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... above, the Fisherman's Nets play areas.
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