Ahoy Pirate Lovers - Advice on Pirate’s Lair

[HydroGuy]

We spent 75 minutes on Pirate’s Lair at Tom Sawyer Island (PLATSI) today (Tuesday, June 26) during the first full day of our DLR trip this week. I am busy with the trip and probably will not be able to answer questions until this weekend after our trip, but before coming this week I was looking for a thread like this to give me info on what is happening on PLATSI as far as hours of operation and show times. I was not able to find anyone with enough knowledge or time to give a solid response, so I am writing such a thread for others now that I know. This thread is intended for people with an upcoming DLR trip particularly this summer.

The wait times to get to and from PLATSI are pretty reasonable all day. PLATSI opens this summer at 8:30AM on most days and stays open until 6PM. This is listed on the Times Guide official schedule. Some days it appears the island does not open until 9:30AM (e.g., this week it opens at 8:30AM all days except for Friday at 9:30AM according to the Times Guide). For DLR novices, DL uses PLATSI for Fantasmic which shows every night during the summer, and hence they must close the island early to get it ready for Fantasmic.

There is a music show and pirate stunt show that lasts roughly 35 minutes altogether and begins at the top of every hour starting with the first show at 10AM. This is not listed in the Times Guide and I found this out by asking the PLATSI CMs.

See the show area from NOS here:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130678-L-LB

See the stunt show from NOS here:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130679-L-LB

We got in line for PLATSI at about 11:40AM to try and catch the 12 Noon show and waited one raft cycle to ride to the island. We got to the island at 11:45AM and went straight to the stage area. I asked the raft CMs what the wait times were lately and they said it was typical all day to not have long lines for the rafts.

When you board the raft they give you a map of PLATSI that looks like this:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130687-L-LB

The stage area has a covered, shaded area on an elevated level and an unshaded area at the lower stage level. Most people gravitated to the shaded area but one could have gotten a fine spot for the 12 Noon show today by arriving at 11:59AM. The total capacity for the show is not that much – maybe 100-150 people altogether – but demand was not super high although the viewing area did fill up.

If you want a shaded spot like we did and most other people do during mid-day, then if possible grab a spot in front (i.e., right at the netting) of the elevated viewing area as shown in this picture:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130684-L-LB

At the top of the hour the Bootstrappers begin their music and humor show. This is the view from the shaded area:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130692-L-LB

After 10-15 minutes the stunt show begins without a break between the two shows:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130699-L-LB

Depending on when you arrive, you will want to explore the island either before or after the show, or both. We did it after. There is lots of new stuff to see. Make sure to explore all the caves and bridge areas – or rather have your children to the exploring. We thought we saw everything and then on the way to get back in line for the return trip found some more caves we never noticed before that had some more cool things to see. So be thorough in your exploration.

If anyone has questions I will try to get to them this weekend and may have time this week while we are here when I do a quick log on at our hotel.

ETA:

FWIW, I noticed on subsequent days (when watching from NOS) that on several occasions the Bootstrappers performed under the covered, shaded area at the back of the elevated level. It would be in the back of this photo:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130684-L-LB

So they perform at both the upper level or the lower level depending on their whim I guess.

However, after the Bootstrappers finished the stunt show still took place on the lower level here:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130699-L-LB

[Hound 109]

Thanks for the solid information, Trey.


Posting at 1:20 am while at DLR....that what i call a dedicated Dis'er. :laughing:

Great pics (i like the one with the ship passing in back).

Good to know that even mid day, the "raft lines" aren't that bad. This was our experience 3 weeks ago. (we walked on a 10:30 ish am raft... with no line).

Sounds like this ride/area could provide a much needed respite during late morning hours.... following 2-3 hours of touring (or anytime when it starts getting crowded).

I forgot to mention (when i posted on the new attraction a couple of weeks back) that the caves are ALL worth exploring & some have cool things to see. Thanks for mentioning this. (so have the little ones check out the nooks & crannies in those caves).


Most importantly.....have a great time at DLR, Hydroguy. :thumbsup2


hound :cool2: (& say hi to Toad for me.)

:)

[victorandbellasmom]

Thanks Hydroguy for all your tips. We'll be there in less than a month. Nemo and PLATSI are our 2 main things we want to do on this trip as it is only 3 days long. How much time should we devote to PLATSI? We have a 9yo boy and a 6yo girl.

[cjhampton]

Just what I needed for planning our trip.... thanks Hydroguy! I am using all your information for planning because it is better than any guide book.
Thanks again!:)

[Hound 109]

Thanks Hydroguy for all your tips. We'll be there in less than a month. Nemo and PLATSI are our 2 main things we want to do on this trip as it is only 3 days long. How much time should we devote to PLATSI? We have a 9yo boy and a 6yo girl.
Since HydroGuy is at DLR :banana: ....

...i'll provide an opinion. Hydroguy said he spent 75 min. on the island, & that sounds about right to me. (1/2 hour for the shows & another 45 min. for exploring and taking the 3 min. raft trip back & forth).

Note: both Trey & I visited on a weekday & not late afternoon (my visit was 10:30 ish & his was noonish). It would be great if another Diser who visited on a weekend (or late afternoon) would report their experience.

If you are penciling in for this attraction.....i'd pencil in 90 min. & if you get it done in 75 min....then go grab a Mickey Bar, sit down and watch the rafts & ships go by. :laughing: :thumbsup2

hound pirate:

[Hound 109]

Thanks Hydroguy for all your tips. We'll be there in less than a month. Nemo and PLATSI are our 2 main things we want to do on this trip as it is only 3 days long. How much time should we devote to PLATSI? We have a 9yo boy and a 6yo girl.

Have they done Jedi Warrior yet?? !!! :hyper: :darth:

[blackjackdelta]

Thanks Trey, hope you do a TR after you get back. Hope you have some comparisions from the previous trips.

Jackpirate:

[sandgrace]

Thanks for this great information! We're heading to DL July 1-4, and now I'll have to put this on our must-see list! pirate:

[Master Mason]

I was there on the weekend after Memorial Day. It was my my 15 year old son, my Sister, BIL and 2 neices. We waited about 3 minutes for the raft, it was on the other side when we walked up. Spent about an hour there, but did not watch the show.

I had not been on the island since the 70's, thought the new stuff was cool, but was bummed the fort was closed.

[brenda1966]

Thanks Hydroguy! You're a gem!

I hope you and your family are having a great time.

And how about Nemo -- did you work that into your schedule?

[Leggyb]

I heart all Hydroguy's advice... It really is the best!

Here is some more info I read in order to prepare myself for my first Pirates Lair experience... http://www.allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/tsi.htm

[nemesis]

Wow! Thanks for all the info!:thumbsup2

[spazzyjazzy]

We were at Pirate's Lair yesterday around 1. We waited about 5 min. to get to the Island. The kids had a good time over there and did not want to leave. The caves were real neat. I liked it myself also. We watched the stunt show on Monday from the mainland.

[Miss_Savannah]

Thanks for the confirmation on this. We had a hard time figureing out what the times were for the rafts to open and when each pirate show was.

[HydroGuy]

Posting at 1:20 am while at DLR....that what i call a dedicated Dis'er. :laughing: I like getting photos off my camera each day and uploaded to smugmug so I can clear them out of my camera memory card. While doing that DIS was actually down with database errors so I could not post. I noticed it came back up and I immediately pasted in my message and hit the post button. Guess it was pretty late. I crashed right after that.

hound :cool2: (& say hi to Toad for me.)Mr. Toad and I had a hell of a time this morning (pun intended). He wanted me to send you his regards. ;)

[HydroGuy]

Since HydroGuy is at DLR :banana: ....

...i'll provide an opinion. Hydroguy said he spent 75 min. on the island, & that sounds about right to me. (1/2 hour for the shows & another 45 min. for exploring and taking the 3 min. raft trip back & forth).

Note: both Trey & I visited on a weekday & not late afternoon (my visit was 10:30 ish & his was noonish). It would be great if another Diser who visited on a weekend (or late afternoon) would report their experience.

If you are penciling in for this attraction.....i'd pencil in 90 min. & if you get it done in 75 min....then go grab a Mickey Bar, sit down and watch the rafts & ships go by. :laughing: :thumbsup2

hound pirate:Hound is my new disciple and we therefore almost always think alike. His advice here is the same as I would give.

FWIW I will add that the CMs told me that the short lines for PLATSI rafts were typical. When I asked if the lines shortened when Nemo opened they said they were already short before Nemo. So getting more feedback on weekends will be helpful for confirmation of what the CMs told me but they were quite insistent that the lines never get bad for PLATSI. Note that Tuesday when I did PLATSI was considered a very busy day for DL as they were expecting 65000+ and had three Fantasmic showings because of the expected crowds. I checked the lines for PLATSI later in the afternoon when we passed by and they remained 1-2 raft cycles max.

[HydroGuy]

And how about Nemo -- did you work that into your schedule?Yes, we did Nemo first thing Tuesday morning during EE. We arrived at the DLR security at 6:20AM and were third in line. When they let us thru security at 6:30AM we walked with purpose ;) to the gates and were first in one of the four EE lines. When they opened for EE at 7AM we walked to Nemo and were third in line. We rode the first sub of the day.

Nemo is a huge improvement over the old sub ride IMO. Tomorrowland seems more complete with the subs running again. But Nemo is not anything close to a jaw dropping experience like Soarin Over California or Indiana Jones. It is well done and fun, but not worth a 3-4 hour wait although many people are doing the long wait just to see it. IMO very few will do the long wait a second time because Nemo is not good enough to justify it. My prediction is after 3-6 months the lines will reduce to 45-75 minutes once most people have had their chance to ride it once.

[brenda1966]

Thanks for the info on Nemo Hydroguy. Did the CM's escort you to Nemo? What route did you take?

[seobaina]

Thanks for the advice. Is there a place to meet and greet Jack?

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Thanks for the advice. Is there a place to meet and greet Jack?

I can pipe in here in that there is a meet and greet area for Jack on PLATSI. DD and I were there last weekend and got right on a raft around 1pm. I had been worried about it being crowded but there was plenty of room for everyone. Here is a picture of my dd at the new meet and greet area. It is just great! THere were not that many people there thus dd was able to spend her time talking with Capt. Jack.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l223/danellejiron/100_0561a.jpg

[yeaUHS]

nice! thanks alot!

[HydroGuy]

Note that I added this extra info that follows as an edit to the OP...

FWIW, I noticed on subsequent days (when watching from NOS) that on several occasions the Bootstrappers performed under the covered, shaded area at the back of the elevated level. It would be in the back of this photo:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130684-L-LB

So they perform at both the upper level or the lower level depending on their whim I guess.

However, after the Bootstrappers finished the stunt show still took place on the lower level here:

http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/3064319#167130699-L-LB

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the info on Nemo Hydroguy. Did the CM's escort you to Nemo? What route did you take?There were CMs to direct us at certain points but no escorts. Here is the biggest advice about choosing a route:

Many people think "Nemo is in Tomorrowland" and take the right turn from the hub into Tomorrowland. Bad choice. Nemo is really in back of the Matterhorn and you want to continue thru the hub back to the Matterhorn at which point if you are early like us you take a right but if you are late the line will already be back to IASW and you will want to go left.

There are CMs there to try to give you this advice but with lots of people in transit you may not see them.

Once we got in line at the subs we could see some of the poor, desperate families making their way from the Autopia area where they were looking for the Nemo entrance (and could not find it) past us at the entrance and then unfortunately back to a line which by now was well over an hour long and probably 2+ hours at this point just a few minutes after 7AM. These people had taken the right at the Tomorrowland entrance and did not know exactly where they were going and paid the price.

We were in such a hurry that morning that we took zero time to look around the lagoon and so returned on a different day just to take in the whole view. FWIW when we asked about line length at about 5:30PM yesterday (Thursday, June 28) when we were viewing the lagoon the CMs told us it was 1 hour and 45 minutes long.

So now that the SoCal AP holders are blocked out the line is starting to drop a bit. My DS11 almost talked me into getting into the Nemo line at 11:50PM last night and waiting for a late ride, but the prospect of a potential 90 minute wait at that point (we did not check so I do not know the actual expected wait) was not worth it because, as I said earlier, the Nemo ride is fun but not so wonderful to justify that kind of wait. When I asked him if he really wanted to get back to the hotel at 2AM just to ride Nemo one more time, he thought about it and said "No, it was not that good of a ride". So we did our final ride on POTC instead.

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the advice. Is there a place to meet and greet Jack?
I can pipe in here in that there is a meet and greet area for Jack on PLATSI. DD and I were there last weekend and got right on a raft around 1pm. I had been worried about it being crowded but there was plenty of room for everyone. Here is a picture of my dd at the new meet and greet area. It is just great! THere were not that many people there thus dd was able to spend her time talking with Capt. Jack. Yes, Tink's Mom has it right. The spot is in the far back of the island to the right of the old Fort Wilderness fort.

[seobaina]

Thank you, both of you :-)

[Hound 109]

Hound is my new disciple and we therefore almost always think alike. His advice here is the same as I would give.

First time i've been called a "new" anything in a long time. :lmao:

Actually, I've noticed a few more folks extolling the virtues of:

- using EE efficiently & purposefully.
- grabbing FPs early & often.
- Park Hopping when it makes sense.
- Always taking a mid day break to rest the kiddos & "the dogs".

A new guy named Adi...something. A lawyer from DC i think was suggesting these things and complaining that the only "down side" was that walks from nabbing the FPs at the logical times was wearing his feet out. :rotfl:

& I wish I known about the Capn Jack being where the fake "booty" is. FYI - when we visited there was only a CM there. Had we known we would have stopped by again (or asked).

[disneyscootergal]

There were CMs to direct us at certain points but no escorts. Here is the biggest advice about choosing a route:

Many people think "Nemo is in Tomorrowland" and take the right turn from the hub into Tomorrowland. Bad choice. Nemo is really in back of the Matterhorn and you want to continue thru the hub back to the Matterhorn at which point if you are early like us you take a right but if you are late the line will already be back to IASW and you will want to go left.

There are CMs there to try to give you this advice but with lots of people in transit you may not see them.

Once we got in line at the subs we could see some of the poor, desperate families making their way from the Autopia area where they were looking for the Nemo entrance (and could not find it) past us at the entrance and then unfortunately back to a line which by now was well over an hour long and probably 2+ hours at this point just a few minutes after 7AM. These people had taken the right at the Tomorrowland entrance and did not know exactly where they were going and paid the price.




This kind of specific direction is exactly what I've been waiting for! I still may not try Nemo (in the interest of fitting all of the other wonderful things I want to do in), but I'm printing these out and taking them with me just in case. Thanks, HG!:thanks:

[HydroGuy]

I am bumping my own thread as I got a PM from someone asking about PLATSI.

[bumbershoot]

That acronym is just cracking me up, especially when I say it to myself.


I thought I read this when you first posted, but I don't remember seeing the picture of that cool map!

[Califgirl]

& I wish I known about the Capn Jack being where the fake "booty" is. FYI - when we visited there was only a CM there. Had we known we would have stopped by again (or asked).

Jack is back by the 'pirate booty' nearly all day. Or at least he was this past weekend. He is in the pirate show, of course, and then comes back to the set with the large pirate flag and piles of treasure for photo ops. They have (usually) a photopass photographer there for you as well. I just put on a 'quest' for some of my DLR friends and it was based mainly on Pirate's Lair. My husband was stationed by this set and he said Capt. Jack was there for about 1/2 hr and then had @15min breaks and then came back out again. Sometimes the lines were long for a pic, but often Capt Jack was there with no one at all in line.

Now, when we were there, the pirate show schedule was messed up a little. They had official looking people wandering the stage in the front, so perhaps Jack was out more than normal the day we were there, since there were not as many pirate shows.