Are the Pirates of the Caribbean boats still taking on water?

[Peanut Giggleface]

We went mid-February and with a large group took up two rows toward the front of the boat. We were not front row, I'm thinking second and third rows, but we didn't get wet at all, not even splashed.

 

[Deputyjc]

We went last October right after they got the new boats and the people sitting on the left side got a little wet. I think it depends on how much weight is in the boat as to how wet you may or may not get. The lower the boat rides in the water, the easier it comes over the sides. jmho tho.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~Wow, I didn't even notice that we rode in newly designed boats! They look great!

--->~POTC New Boats~<---

~Old Boats~

~We sat one row from the back of the new boats and didn't get wet.

 

[LilyWDW]

It is going to depend on how the boat is loaded. What is the overall weight of the boat and how is that weight distributed?

 

[Broker]

They look like the same boats to me. And we have never had an issue with getting wet on that ride. And we certainly ride it a lot.

 

[julsmom]

We rode front row a few days ago. The new boats made it a lot different. We did get sprayed a lot more than in the old boats and my daughter, sitting in front row outer right, got quite wet. It was a surprise from the old boats. And in the pirate ship scene there is a big water cannon that sprayed the first couple right side rows pretty good and scared a child. That was a little surprising in a negative way.

I thought the ride was perfect the way it was before. No need to make it more "exciting".

 

[FLSarah]

We rode last weekend. Our bag was by our feet, and the bottom of it was soaked when we got off the ride. I think we were in the 2nd or 3rd row.

 

[monorailmom]

I do wonder about the amount of weight in the boat causing it to flood...when we were there in October, we were in the 3rd or 4th row. Right after we pulled away from the dock, I noticed that the water seemed much higher than it usually does. I then realized the boat was tipped slightly to 'my' side, which was the left. I asked my daughter who was sitting next to me if I was imagining it, but when she looked at the water level next to me, she nudged my son who was on her other side to MOVE OVER! We tried to squeeze over, but once we went down the drop, I was SOAKED!! It was an Oct. evening, so it was a little chilly...and I spent the next hour or so a little uncomfortable and smelling like "Pirates" water! I did mention it to a CM when we got off, because that had never happened to me before! I was wetter than I had ever gotten on Splash!

 

[Oomiak]

I've ridden three times this week, the most recent being this morning. I rode in the new boats each time and I haven't seen any water on deck. We did have a heavy list to the port this morning but that was because all the grownups were sitting on the port side. No wet feet for me at all this week. I'll be on it again tomorrow or Friday, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[HallGirl]

The front row has a tendency to get splashed when going down the drop. If most of the weight is in the front, you'll likely get soaked. It's an ongoing problem since they got the new boats in August. They are plastic and the old ones were fiberglass.

Please don't yell at the CMs about getting wet. They are aware of it happening and there really isn't much they can do about it short of warning you that you may get wet. If you don't want to get wet, simply request to not sit in the front and be polite when you ask.

 

[xie]

We have often gotten "splashed" a bit if we were in the front row, on the initial drop down into the ship scene. Very rarely, one of the cannonball water explosions would splash one of us sitting on the outer end row.

However, when we were there at New Year's, the CMs were overloading the boats with too many people. They were cramming 5 into rows where 4 normally sit, and 4 into rows where 3 normally sit. In addition, a lot of people are flat out a lot heavier when they used to be. And we had water washing in over the sides and the boats scraping bottom.

Also on a couple of rides, too many heavy guys were on one side of the boat, and it leaned to the right or left a lot. That side got water in.

Basically, the CMs need to take more care with loading than they do. I don't think they care though, as long as it's not breaking down the ride.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks for the additional feedback.

 

[Davey Jones II]

How ridiculous. Don't they weigh practical considerations when they redesign a ride vehicle? Do they ever test them with real people? Real people will be riding them.

This is not an improvement. If we want to get wet, we'll ride Splash or GRR.

 

[Comeundone87]

Now this could be a false memory, but I thought I got wet on PotC when I was a child (late 70s) So I was surprised when I didn't get wet a couple years ago. Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to sit near the back. Don't want to get wet now.

 

[dreamseeker9]

I haven't been on POTC at WDW since November 2012, and we didn't get wet at all. But in November 2013, I went on POTC at DLR - we were in the front row, and we got very wet from the waist down! Much more so than on Splash Mountain!

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

We were down in February for President's Week. I was in the front row, against the left (port) side. DW was in the center of the second row. I was wet (not soaked, but a pretty splashing) on my left side; DW had soaking wet feet - soaked.

Will try it again next week to see how the back of the boats do...

 

[mom2rtk]

Sounds like an annoyance in the summer. But we usually travel in December and have hit some very cold weather. I would not be happy to find a ride that previously had not gotten us wet all of a sudden gave us a drenching.

I had a friend ride in October who said they got off with their skirts drenched.

 

[The Hub]

We have often gotten "splashed" a bit if we were in the front row, on the initial drop down into the ship scene. Very rarely, one of the cannonball water explosions would splash one of us sitting on the outer end row.

However, when we were there at New Year's, the CMs were overloading the boats with too many people. They were cramming 5 into rows where 4 normally sit, and 4 into rows where 3 normally sit. In addition, a lot of people are flat out a lot heavier when they used to be. And we had water washing in over the sides and the boats scraping bottom.

Also on a couple of rides, too many heavy guys were on one side of the boat, and it leaned to the right or left a lot. That side got water in.

Basically, the CMs need to take more care with loading than they do. I don't think they care though, as long as it's not breaking down the ride.

The Cast Members at Pirates do care. Safety is their first priority. As far as cramming guests into rows, they were only doing as instructed. All leadership teams instruct their cast to keep their hourly guest capacity as close as possible to the highest guest count. This includes not skipping ride vehicles and sitting 3 per row in omnimovers and just enough in each row at other ride types to be safe and in accordance with the attraction's operating guide. Without doing so, a wait that could be 40 minutes would turn into 70 minutes. You went during New Year's, which is when we have to do it. At shows, we have to open a preshow door as soon as the last group exits and keep them open until it is full. This could be 120 at Coaster or 425 at Monsters. Some shows can even seat close to 1,000 guests. Every seat must be taken and all available space must be filled. We have support coordinators who assist us with loading and park support auditing us every day to make sure we are doing so. We do this for you.

 

[cjbcam]

We weren't there at a crazy busy time but my DS and I went on this ride a lot of times. Lots of times just him and I in a row. Some times with another person or two. The most we got was a little tiny splash (like a couple drops). We sat everywhere front, center and back. That's crazy they would fill the boats so that people are getting soaked.

 

[Bluegrrl]

What ugly boats! I liked the old ones better - why did they feel the need to re-do them?

I have had issues with the boats before, especially when the boats had some weight in them. But that shouldn't be a reason to change the boats. Pretty ugly ones though Maybe its the fact that they wanted more bench like backing to them - they look a little like park bench seats on a pontoon boat. Maybe the water isn't meant for that sort of design?