Originally Posted By TDLFAN Hello all, I just returned from the MK where the newly re-opened POTC ride has been operating all day long, without a hitch I am told. SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! Read at your own risk from now on... The new marquee out front is nice but not as impressive as it was made to be in the art renderings, which resembled more the one from DLP's POTC. Still is adecuate and some work went into putting some rocks and cannon prop at the base. Nice touch. Simple but effective. Some other less noticable decorative changes were made to the outdoor and queue areas.. Some new banners went up and some painted accents were added to enhance the architecture of the building prior to going indoors. Most shocking to me was the retirement of the talking parrot out front which has been a central figure welcoming guests to ride POTC. I miss it terribly. Once inside...in the queue.. Not too many changes there. But the queue did appear to be quite clean. Obviously the housekeeping cast from a nearby hotel was hard at work here... We'll see how long that lasts. One tip: always go on the left line. Shorter and moves quicker for some reason.. maybe because the right line is longer and wider?? Duh!! Once arriving in the boarding platform... again. No differences. Then we set sail... First up.. the music. There is a different background melody and we hear the ghostly "Dead men tell no tales...!" famous phraze at this point in time.. *before* the waterfall. It used to be heard after the drop. First change is the mist screen thru which we sail on our way to see the pirates. On it, we see that octopus-like face character from the movie to proceed at own risk jada jada. Sorry, since I don't care much for this movie, I have no clue what the characters names are. Feel free to fill in for me. Once we go beyond the mist wall (a not so well executed effect since you can see the entire mechanism that holds it from above) some new blue lighting gives the cave a sense of fog.. but after that. Not much else new. We then go down the waterfall. ARGH!! More new music plays overhead and as soon as we enter the bay... we spot Jeffrey Rush's character screaming at us from the pirate ship. Nice AA, fluid moves. But if I was Mr. Rush, I'd sue. There are some new booming sounds from the "cannons" but I noticed not much else new here in terms of special effects. Even the jumping water blasts are the same old tired WDW effects that have been in place forever. We proceed on to the dunking scene. I didn't notice much new here but pass that scene, we get our first glimpse of Depp's character, hiding in between of two womanly mannequins of sorts.. peeking at the situation while the major goes down for his bath in the well every ten seconds. The imagineers did hit the bullseye with Depp's AA. Very convincing and very much looking like the real thing in costume. Kudos. Made you realize how cheap the Pirate AA inside World of Disney store in DTD really iS!! Not too many changes from this point on until we get to the "chasing scenes", where the ladies are still chasing the pirates (I thought this was going to get reversed as originally presented but I guess not, and still politically correct even if not all that true to reality if the situation was indeed a real one). Here, we see Depp's AA again popping out of the barrel while the oblivious pirate sits there looking like your average tourist at Pinnochios Village Haus. This particular AA of Depp was the one that impressed me the most. The movements are fluid, as he peeks out of the barrel, looks around and hides. Very very good AA movements there. We move on pass the town on fire...(same old red lights projected into sheets blown by fans), then pass the jail scene with same dog still sitting there teasing the jail bird wannabes. But then the last change... where we once saw a pair of guards tied up and surronded by a treasure.. now we see Depp's character talking and sitting on a chair in a very "matter of factly" kinda way, I guess making smart arse remarks about getting the loot but not the girl since there are no new female additions here. I guess Kyra or whatever the lead actress' name is... was not worth even talking about here. Not surprisingly.. she is a plain Jane. Then the ride ends. Not much else new here at the disembarkation point, except that the CM control console has been moved to the very end of the dock by the moving walkway, whereas it used to be in the very middle of the disembarkation area. My thoughts... The changes are very small and insignificant to really impress me in a new way. I honestly do not thing anyone else in the boat with me noticed that it was a Depp AA up there because no one seemed impressed or actually spending as much time as I was admiring the changes. In a sense I am glad, because I personally would not like to see this ride being drastically changed for the sake of Disney synergy. As for the technical aspect of the new show... Ho-hum. I was NOT impressed there at all. There is new music and some new dialogue in those few precious scenes that got altered however... not much else was done to the rest of the ride and the difference in quality from the new sounds to the old ones is quite apparent. At least to some those of us who are familiar with the ride's show qualities. The new dialogue was simply hard to follow.. Too much noise to really get what is being said.. much less make any sense of why Depp pops in and out, and why is he sitting at the end enjoying his new found loot. So I was not really able to follow what was going on. The the outdated effects.. I did not noticed anything new there at all, except for that mist screen, and we have all seen that done at DL's INdy with mixed results. Very disappointing to me indeed. Didn't help either I had a child sitting in front of me making noise and simply all over the place. BRAT! Much to my surprise.. I got there at around 4pm or so and the wait time was only 10 mins. In fact the MK today was not all that crowded. 5 mins standby for Stitch, 20 mins for Buzz', 10 for Haunted M... you get the idea. Kinda odd concidering it is the weekend before the 4th of July. Or maybe the calm before the storm... Put this many people inside TDL and it would have been a virtual ghost town, complete with tumbleweeds rolling by... To end my report....Once outside the ride, some minor improvements have been made to the gift ship but not really worth talking about. The store remains outside the original store location, and that area has been officially turned into a CM-only area and changing room. Get you Pirate merchadise here... Rumor was the shope would move back indoors.. guess it was not the case. The Johnny Depp doll is quite lifelike and the Pirate Mr. Potato head is too cute. One favorite pin on sale...Minnie as the Redheaded wendge. I am positive our westcoast fans have the same stuff in their Piarate shop and WOD. And that is it... Not much new to really talk about in this refurbishing of the ride. I feel there were many missed opportunities here.. and honestly... DLP's POTC, with 14 yrs in operation, still has nicer and more upgraded technical and special effects over our version here at WDW. But still... while the ride gets a B for fun factor... the refurbishing itself gets a C- in my book. Nothing great to really recommend highly, so don't make a special trip to Orlando just to see this. Photos later.. if you behave.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Yes, my sisters and I saw you from a distance, TDLFAN duckling, as we flew over the Magic Kingdom and were making our way to Animal Kingdom. We knew that Pirates was soft opening today but had a different agenda to fulfill, so didn't bother to land in the same park as you. However, we will be swooping down on Monday and hope the soft openings will not harden up by the time we get to experience it all for ourselves. (For that reason we have not read more than the first sentence or two of your report.) But we're glad there's someone like you around to keep everyone abreast of the changes. Hugs!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It's too bad that the changes weren't that great. I hope that they at least did a good job of just general maintenence, as should be done on just about any refurb. I bet a lot of the people didn't catch the new things, because many people earlier thought that the characters should have been there, and now people are simply getting what they expect. As sad as that may be.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Photos are up if you care to see them... <a href="http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32228692&f=" target="_blank">http://albums.photo.epson.com/ j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32228692&f=</a>
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Predictable. From everything I've heard, WDW management didn't even want the few changes made that were done. They seem to believe they can just leave the park 'as is' and people will show up. Thus far, they've been right. It's Orlando after all.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Amazing what they've done to the facade in just over a week's time. When we were there last week, none of what you posted was there, except the new painted entrance way. They had a painted board over the former parrot's perch. Given the shape of the board, I would have been certain the parrot would have returned. Oh, well. We'll miss you "Polly"! Thanks for the pictures again, TDLFAN!
Originally Posted By Westsider Will you get a chance to see the Disneyland version TDLFAN? I would love to hear the perspective of someone who has ridden both the Disneyland and WDW versions of the new pirate ride. From the sound of it, Disneyland's ride got more stuff in this rehab, and the changes seem more dramatic at Disneyland. That's too bad you can see the mist screen machine in the cavern. You can't see the machine in the Disneyland version. I've seen it with the worklights on, and it is well up in the rockwork, with a small bit of duvatine curtain hanging down in front of it. Once the worklights go off, it is invisible to passing boats. There is a bubbler now installed in the flume under the screen, the water bubbles up and spalshes, so it looks like the mist screen projection is causing turbulence in the flume as the "waterfall" cascades into the flume. But all of this machinery is invisible to Guests when the ride is running, all they see is an impressive digital waterfall with Davy Jones appearing every few moments.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN West, I am hoping to come to DL in late October or early Nov. We'll see. But I don't have to go there to know you guys got a better refurbish since all they do at DL, they do much better than the MK anyways. Even Universal's The Mummy turned out much better in Hollywood than Orlando. Go figure.
Originally Posted By Westsider For what it's worth, I went on Pirates probably a dozen times in the week leading up to the Premiere as we were training new CM's. Then once the ride reopened I went on it a few times, and my last ride was yesterday after work. The ride has actually gotten even better in the last week. I can say that Disneyland maintenance and the guys and gals from the WDI offices behind Pirates continue to tweak this ride. They've fiddled with the lighting and all sorts of effects every night. As impressive as it was when it opened last weekend, it's even better now a week later. They just really nailed it with this one.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^That's great, Westsider. I hope to get out there later this summer, but I'll have to settle for WDW's version. And with my recent visit to DLP fresh, I know it'll make WDW's look even worse.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 <<<Wanna cut bread with me again...? I have "33" reasons to do so.>>> If our schedules match - absolutely! ;>
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>Then once the ride reopened I went on it a few times, and my last ride was yesterday after work. The ride has actually gotten even better in the last week.<< HA! That's funny. Because I went on it tonight (DL's) ... and no sight of the skull before the first drop. Must be a burnt out light bulb. Then in the auction scene .. I noticed there was barely any light on the pirates on the bridge at the auction scene. Some fire flies don't seem to have their lights working since I went on it June 26.... Was there a power failure??
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "...I'll have to settle for WDW's version. And with my recent visit to DLP fresh, I know it'll make WDW's look even worse." I understand Spirit. I grew up at the original DL between 1974 and 1986, and then DLP became my home park in 1992. When my wife made her first trip to WDW in 2000, despite me saying how brill DLP is, the popular belief in the UK is WDW is the best resort. She was really excited. WE loved Epcot and DAk, but we were soooo disappointed with MGM and MK. PotC, HM, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, It's a Small World, Dumbo, the tea Cups, the Dark rides and Autopia all paled in comparison for her. Thankfully, CoP, Hall of Presidents, Country Bears and Splash slightly redeemed it. I am so sorry to hear the Parrot is no longer. That was something that was a plus in WDW's version of PotC.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo And I see what you mean about the Sail out front TDLFAN - seems a jr version of DLP's, a real shame.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> I am so sorry to hear the Parrot is no longer. << Is thr parrot gone for good? Or will it maybe come back over time?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>the popular belief in the UK is WDW is the best resort.<< Poor people. They really believe in pixie dust and fairy tales don't they? After all, they still have a Queen and Prince in their ranks.
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp And here is the contrary opinion. We went on the POTC twice today, just to see what the changes were. Minor, for the most part, but not as negative as the original poster would have you believe. The mist effect was fun, especially when it made you feel like you were floating into a waterfall. Both trips, the other people in the boat were "scared" about being drenched. This one is a keeper. The storming scene is pretty much the same, but the second trip, we got to experience the new and improved cannon effect. Not major, but it did add to the ride, and was not something we expected. The Depp AA in the dunking scene is fantastic - extremely lifelike and acts like a real person. The remainder of the scene maintains it original character. The town on fire scene appears to have a lot more fire, and it looks pretty realistic - if you didn't know any better, you'd believe it. Notwithstanding the negative comments originally made. The only real disappointment was the treasure room scene. They've removed the treasure, and we're stuck with Johnny singing the Pirates song. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but this scene now appears out of place - there really is no treasure, but instead just a room with plates on shelves. Nothing to get excited about,and definitely not up to the changes at DL. But in any event, much better than either the TDL or DLP versions. Those pale in comparison.
