Made if over to soft opening last night. First, for all the fanbois who insisted this was NOT a "Potter Swatter"--they doth protest too much. In person, the "feel" of the new land is exactly like WWoHP, albeit without the soul. The restaurant was closed, but standing at the bottom of fake rockwork behind gates, looking up at a forced perspective castle--the only sense I get is "this is just like Potter."
On to what was open...
Gastons. Fountain is cute, interior feels like a less detailed rip-off of Hogs head, down to the large round table in the corner. The dark, rustic look and feel is far more Potter than B&tB. I didn't see any cute little easter eggs from the movie. The "Disney details" that made attractions from Pirates to the Adventurers Club so awesome is missing--these feels like a Chuck E. Cheese version of the Hogs Head.
I kind of like the base of LaFou's Brew. The apple slush has some caramel notes that help it, although it is very sweet. But the mango foam does not compliment it at all. And they escallop it on top, like Duchess Potatoes, completely destroying the illusion that it's a naturally rising foamy head on the beverage. In other words, it's clearly not done for show--to create the illusion that this is actually a beer-like liquid--but because Butter Beer has foam on top of slushee and, hey, that sells.
Mixed emotions on the gift shop. Glad to see a return of stores that aren't entirely plush (although there is a corner). But nothing in it says "B&tB". Sure it feels like medieval Europe, but the Europe of Medieval Times or, you guessed it, Hogwarts, not Fantasyland. It feels like a shop out of Harambe Village plopped down at the exit to the Jungle Cruise, just incongruous. The new Main Street magic shop and Spongebob Storepants, to name two, do a much better job of integrating a gift shop to characters.
Exterior of Mermaid is awesome. Not getting the love for the queue tho. Sure, like Pirates, it's long and detailed--but the details are all highly realistic. That doesn't match the ride to come. Again, incongruous, perhaps the best word to describe FLE (or second best behind "rip-off"). All of Ariel's treasures look real--that doesn't jive with the candy-colored plastic version of her world we're about to visit.
There are two ways to do dark rides. Hyper-realistic--Pirates, Carousel of Progress, Countdown to Extinction--or hyper-stylized--Small World, Cat in the Hat, Splash Mountain. Mermaid is neither. Most of the decor just looks like cheap plastic, there's no thematic consistency. The first two Ariels look creepily like sex dolls. The Ursula sequence works very well, and "Kiss the Girl" is alright, but it would have been 100 times better with real water effects ala Splash Mountain. And by slowing the ride down to extend ride time, you just have more opportunity to realize how limited the movement of the animatronics are. Overall, not that much of an improvement over the 40-year-old Snow White ride they just demolished. In terms of atmosphere, Snow probably gets the edge.
Final verdict: overhyped, and tainted by bean counters who are clearly obsessed with The Boy Who Lives Up The Road but incapable of understanding why that land is such a hit. Every attraction/restaurant/shop ultimately comes down to story. You just need to know the story you're trying to tell.