water in POTC boats still an issue! (small rant)

[disney world dreamer]

i'm truly disappointed by the response i received after emailing disney.

i received the inital "we got your email and will get back to you" yesterday and then a couple hours ago i received an almost as generic response of something like "we appreciate that you took the time to send us your comments about pirates of the caribbean. we do want everyone to have a magical time. we have sent your concerns to the appropriate leadership team".

seems to me like they have no plan in place to attempt to fix the issues because never have i gotten such a generic brush under the rug type of response.

 

[muffyn]

jungle cruise it a water ride.
its a small world is a water ride
living with the land is a water ride
...do you expect to get wet on those?

THIS

really makes me wonder if these people , who insist its a water ride, EVER ever rode it years ago when you barely got a drop on you...
don't WATER rides have height restrictions??? who on earth would take a baby on this ride now, with a chance of getting soaked?!

 

[Planogirl]

I think that there are always people who will deny that anything is wrong. However I see way too many reports to believe that all of it is coming from delusional people. Something is wrong and if Disney truly doesn't address it then shame on them.

 

[Turn the Page]

We rode POTC twice in October. We were on the left side of the boat each time and the second time the boat was listing very heavily to the left side.

The first time we got more of a splash than I had ever seen before and our backpack got a bit damp. We were in the second row and didn't get much otherwise but the lady in front of us on the right hand side commented that the whole right side of her body got soaked. There was more water than I remember being usual on the seats when we got in so our tushes got a bit damp when we started.

The second time I was expecting a soaking since the boat was leaning so heavily to the left but I barely got a splash. Granted, i was a few rows back from the front but still.

i'm truly disappointed by the response i received after emailing disney.

i received the inital "we got your email and will get back to you" yesterday and then a couple hours ago i received an almost as generic response of something like "we appreciate that you took the time to send us your comments about pirates of the caribbean. we do want everyone to have a magical time. we have sent your concerns to the appropriate leadership team".

seems to me like they have no plan in place to attempt to fix the issues because never have i gotten such a generic brush under the rug type of response.

Just out of curiosity OP what kind of response would have made you happy?

 

[prudence64]

A water ride involves a bathing suit. That's why splash and Kali aggravate me too so pirates gets added to the list of things I won't do.

 

[Disney Khi]

We rode on Monday and did not get wet at all. However, only the first two rows and the last row (where we were) had passengers; the middle rows were empty even with a long line of people waiting to ride. I wonder if they are trying less weight in boats to help with the splash problem.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Just out of curiosity OP what kind of response would have made you happy?

I wrote and expressed my disappointment in the change to emh hours over the wine and dine 1/2 weekend last yeat, because the change meant that runners (and spectators) would not have an opportunity to experience MK EMH, as they would have been able to do prior to the change. I didn't expect them to change it..didn't expect anything, really, just wanted to let them know so maybe it would be considered for future races. I got a phone call from a CM to discuss it a few days later. I don't think that would be unreasonable for the, IMO, more serious situation happening at POTC.

 

[Musicman20]

Oct 2015 - rode the ride twice. Loved it.

First time, front row, got a bit of water on us...more than I expected.

Second time, second row, not wet at all. Parents in the front did not get wet as I intended!

I always see water on the seats but didn't look at the floor of the boats.

I can't remember exactly what it used to be like. The slope at WD seems less steep...but 'slower' at the end and the waves are bigger. Not sure if I've got a little wet on it previously (at both WDW and Paris) and both were a long time ago probably before major updates.

Still love the ride. Water coming OVER the side is a little concerning but hey, surely they've checked this and think the boats will always stay afloat?

 

[BarbieGal457]

All this talk definitely has me curious. We rode in early June before the refurb and felt nothing at all, despite being crammed in like sardines on a very, very packed boat. No one in my boat came off soaked at the end. Now we are going next week and I will be riding next Thursday so I will make sure to report back when we get home. It will be disappointing if I get soaked but at the same time I don't think it'd made me stop riding. I would just know that it's a possibility and accept it may happen to me. I love it too much not to!

I think on any water ride with a drop, I expect to get wet, even to a substantial agree, and am prepared for it to happen. There are just so many factors that are unpredictable, such as total weight of the boat, weight disbursement, etc that I feel like you just can't predict that every boat will have the same drop experience. I expected to be drenched on Splash in December 2014 but we barely got a sprinkle, but our boat was probably on the very light end weight-wise so maybe that had something to do it with.

To be clear I'm not denying there is an issue with water coming into the boats or that something may/probably needs to be fixed, just that fixing whatever boat causing the flooding issues might not be the end-all of water coming in.

 

[PrincessV]

I think it's been mentioned, but I'll add my experience as well... experiences can vary within the same boat, and even within the same row! Last month I rode with a bunch of friends. I'd say the boat was full to capacity, without feeling totally overstuffed. Mostly adults, a couple kids toward the back. My friends in the front row? SOAKED. I'm talking being able to wring out every item of clothing and never dried off over the span of the evening (which was hot and humid, so that didn't help the drying process.) My friends in the second row? Also soaked, though not quite as badly as the front row folks - but they also wisely wore rain jackets. I was on the far right of the third row... the 2 friends to my left in the same row got a big splash that left their shirts and heads dripping wet, but I only got a few small drops. Water in the boat when we disembarked was less than an inch in my row, but a few inches in the 2nd row. Not sure how the rows behind us fared.

Aside from the drenching, our boat listed badly to the right the entire time, with the water level right at the top edge of the boat. It kept grinding against the tracks, making that awful noise, and got stuck a couple times, but was dislodged by the boat behind us.

FYI I've been a WDW regular for 20+ years, so I've been on POTC MANY times, in many different boats, with many different passengers. It got a bit wetter when they changed the boats and added the cannon splashes a couple years ago, but nothing like what I saw last month! This is in no way how the ride ever ran before. Such a shame - no way will we be taking the chance of getting soaked outside of the hottest summer months, so one of our favorite rides is now off the menu most of the year.

 

[hsmamato2]

I've read all these posts about water and was a little concerned about it, but we rode this past Monday, first row, and did not get wet. Just a few droplets... And there was no water in the boat.

I don't doubt that it's happening to some people but I wonder what circumstances have to be to cause it?

me too! I was all worried after reading the thread and.... nothing!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

What exactly did you expect them to say, "Oh yes, we will get the old boats back right away."

You got a response from someone who answers mail. They don't know what can be done. You won't get mail from whoever is in charge of maintenance on the ride, and if you did, it would not be right away. You can't assume this means that nothing will be done.

I think if they are going to keep the new boats, they have to do more work on properly distributing the weight in the boats. Like maybe not overfilling them or keeping extra weight out of the front of the boat. That could cause issues with loading that they would have to work out.

 

[disney world dreamer]

Just out of curiosity OP what kind of response would have made you happy?

i would have been happy with a response that included them acknowledging that there is a problem and giving me info about what they are doing to correct the problem.
and if that CM didn't have the info i was looking for they should have told me that they would get the info and email me back with it.

i don't think that is too much to ask considering that they have given me thorough answers in the past and if they didn't have an answer they found out and got back to me.

 

[Nancyg56]

This is not an attraction that is known for flooding, so if they were not prepared to be soaked, they were in for a long day. There really was no need to be so nasty.

 

[lovethattink]

Let's please try to keep this discussion within posting guidelines.

 

[Jennasis]

Is it possible the simple answer is that these old DL boats are not compatible with the WDW ride?

 

[Enjoying Life]

 

[2kidsForMe]

We rode POTC last week, and there was about an inch of standing water on the floor. The boat seemed very unbalanced, with the right side very low in the water. Still a fun ride, but I don't remember these issues before the refurb. Sounds like experiences vary though.

 

[ppjohnston]

Can you simply wait for another boat if the one you get has inches of water in it?

 

[ibob52]

Can you simply wait for another boat if the one you get has inches of water in it?

That was my plan . . but our boat was . . ok