Flooded POTC boats

[izzymommy]

We rode a few weeks ago, my husband and I and two young sons in the front row. No standing water on the floor but benches were dripping. At the bottom of the drop it felt like a wave washed over us. I was expecting to get wet but not drenched to my underwear - very uncomfortable. It startled me so much that I gasped and ended up snorting a huge nose full of water, lol - not my finest moment - coughing and gasping the rest of the ride. I have to admit that it did cross my mind that some nasty amoeba from the water might crawl up into my brain or something else as equally overly dramatic. Hope they treat the water though! I was also afraid that my phone, which I was holding in my hands, would be ruined. It took a good soaking but I think the case saved it. I would certainly never take a baby on this ride now, as it was my 2 year old was quite unhappy. Hope they can tone it down a little...

 

[ldymcbth]

We rode a few weeks ago, my husband and I and two young sons in the front row. No standing water on the floor but benches were dripping. At the bottom of the drop it felt like a wave washed over us. I was expecting to get wet but not drenched to my underwear - very uncomfortable. It startled me so much that I gasped and ended up snorting a huge nose full of water, lol - not my finest moment - coughing and gasping the rest of the ride. I have to admit that it did cross my mind that some nasty amoeba from the water might crawl up into my brain or something else as equally overly dramatic. Hope they treat the water though! I was also afraid that my phone, which I was holding in my hands, would be ruined. It took a good soaking but I think the case saved it. I would certainly never take a baby on this ride now, as it was my 2 year old was quite unhappy. Hope they can tone it down a little...

That is crazy! We missed riding POTC last week b/c it was down a bunch and then the wait was too long - now I'm almost glad! If I had been soaked to my skivvies I think I might have accidentally uttered a swear word!!!

 

[ktlm]

We rode a few weeks ago, my husband and I and two young sons in the front row. No standing water on the floor but benches were dripping. At the bottom of the drop it felt like a wave washed over us. I was expecting to get wet but not drenched to my underwear - very uncomfortable. It startled me so much that I gasped and ended up snorting a huge nose full of water, lol - not my finest moment - coughing and gasping the rest of the ride. I have to admit that it did cross my mind that some nasty amoeba from the water might crawl up into my brain or something else as equally overly dramatic.

Same thing happened to us. I have ridden POTC many times over the years and occasionally had a few drops of water hit me, but I've never had anything like we experienced a few weeks ago. I was wetter than I have ever been getting off Splash Mountain. We were in the front row. It was DH, DD and I. We are all average sized, not heavy, not thin--- actually DH is pretty thin. I didn't look behind us, so I don't know how large the people in the rows behind us were, or how many in each row. We came down the drop and a wave of water came over the boat. It seemed to hit my side (I entered the boat first) more than DH or DD. They were a little wet, but I was absolutely soaked. It went in my eyes and up my nose. My arm was as wet as if I had just gotten out of the shower. My clothes were soaked and my hair was wet. Like you, I was totally grossed out by that water being in my eyes and up my nose, I was really worried that I would get sick from it- I was thinking more about stomach virus than a deadly amoeba though. I was really hoping they treat that water. Luckily, I did not get sick during or after our trip, so I guess it didn't hurt me!!! It was quite a surprise though- I never expected to get that wet on POTC. It is one I usually like to ride more than once during our trip, but after that time, I was done. I'm sure I will get back on it next trip.

 

[ArwenMarie]

These stories are nuts. They have to do something about this. Load the boats lighter even if it makes the wait times go up, so be it.

I'm assuming they treat the water because someone would have probably died by now if they didn't, but still.

 

[Planogirl]

These stories are nuts. They have to do something about this. Load the boats lighter even if it makes the wait times go up, so be it.

I'm assuming they treat the water because someone would have probably died by now if they didn't, but still.

I'm thinking the same thing. How can they justify doing this?

I'm wondering if we should even ride this in December. It's a shame because it's an old favorite.

 

[TxWriterMama]

DH and I rode this last Friday to see if the water reports were as bad as we'd heard before we made a decision to take our autistic kiddo on it. Holy moly. We were second row on a boat that was completely tilted to the right. The poor family in front of us got soaked. I'm talking Kali River Rapids wet. That lady was dripping by the end of it. :/

I had a wave of water hit my right side and spill over my hip and thigh. My right foot was in water up to my ankle for the rest of the ride. My left was in a puddle deep enough to cover my toes. It was just so unexpected, especially after riding last year and riding the DLR version and never having this problem.

So. Yeah. I'm not sure what the heck is going on with those boats but we won't be riding again for the rest of our trip.

Also--I got hit by a crazy strong air blast from one of those canons! It nearly knocked my glasses of my face. Just--whoa!

 

[DougEMG]

Mental note, always ask to be in the back row.

 

[kelleybean]

Thank you so much for posting about this! We are headed to the Christmas party in a few weeks. Now we know to skip the ride. My son with autism is going through a phase where rides where he gets wet absolutely freak him out (unless we really talk about it a lot beforehand and put him in a bathing suit and bring a change of clothes). I've gotten a little wet on this ride in the past but would never expect to be soaked, and would not have been happy dealing with that during the party.

I just cannot understand why this problem was not solved while it was down for the refurb.

 

[Jennygt]

I would not be happy, my mom also wears orthotics and having them soaked would be a problem

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Thanks for bringing it up. We have a solution - back row, here we come!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yeah I am definitely canceling our FP for this. Not even interested in risking it.

 

[Hudson Hornet]

Can you ask to be put in back or to wait until you can be put in back or do the cm's get annoyed at this?

That only fixes the initial splash problem. When the boat levels out, the water rushes back and soaks your feet in the back. My wife, both kids and I all day in the back and had to go through the rest of he day with soaked shoes and socks.

 

[cjparker0110]

I sure hope they do something to fix this problem. I wonder what is driving them to overload the boats? Every ride should have an SOP that details how much weight a boat can safely carry.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I sure hope they do something to fix this problem. I wonder what is driving them to overload the boats? Every ride should have an SOP that details how much weight a boat can safely carry.

Probably wait times and pressure to keep the FP line moving, etc

 

[cjparker0110]

Could be. Seems like all that's going to do is frustrate people. Most people are ok with waiting in line if they have to. Most people are not ok with getting soaked. I used to work a water ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and people would buy ponchos in order to ride it because they didn't want to get wet! I can't imagine riding something that has historic kept you dry and coming off soaked. They will lose people over that.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Could be. Seems like all that's going to do is frustrate people. Most people are ok with waiting in line if they have to. Most people are not ok with getting soaked. I used to work a water ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and people would buy ponchos in order to ride it because they didn't want to get wet! I can't imagine riding something that has historic kept you dry and coming off soaked. They will lose people over that.

Yeah getting soaked on an indoor dark ride when it wasn't designed to be a wet ride is not appealing.

 

[cjparker0110]

Completely agree. I love POTC and was hoping to take my family on it when we go but if they don't fix this I think I'll skip it. They've never been on it and won't know what they are missing anyway.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to skip this ride.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

People keep mentioning weight - Is it really that much of a factor compared to years ago?

 

[popriv]

3rd row last night and no water. Minor water in the bottom of the boat. Less than an inch.