Flooded POTC boats

[BuckeyeBama]

Guess it's all about who gets in the boat with you? I just rode this past Saturday and there was no "standing" water in the bottom of the boat - it was wet, yes, it's a water ride so I expect that.... but there was absolutely no 6+ inches of water, lol.

I also didn't get soaked at any time during the ride, nor did anyone else that I noticed. Just the normal splashing involved in the cannon room and at the bottom of the hill. I didn't notice any difference in the amount of "wetness" and I've been riding it since 1980's.

Perhaps I got lucky and was in a boat with lighter weight people, lol.

We are a smaller family. We rode at least 30 times after the last refurb and never got wet, nor did anyone in any of the boats that we were in. Can't just be luck at play. Not saying that no one got wet before, but certainly not to the degree that it was described on the Dis. I suspect that this round is much the same.

Those really unhappy express themselves. Those who are happy just go on about their day. And people on the Dis, by and large, have learned not to express their positive opinions in threads like this lest they be labeled a "Disney apologist".

 

[MolonLabe]

We rode several times over the last week of September. I never saw overloaded boats but I rode front row with my first born twice and first time we were destroyed water wise.

Feet, pants waist down was drenched. Second time we raised our feet up and I had my daughter hold my pack in front of her. That worked outok.

Anyway, I am not pleased with the situation.

It needs to be rectified.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Just offering our experience from the MNSSHP on 10/25 and riding POTC. I had read ahead of time the issues of being soaked in the front row so would not have picked the front and luckily we weren't assigned that. I heard the CM ask - "wet or not wet"? when she was lining people up after us, clearly for the front row. We were actually given the last row and there are three of us. We immediately noticed the floor was very wet but not major (or so we thought). My DH got in first, all the way to the left side and after we sat down, he then noticed it was a pool of water on his side and it did appear the boat was leaning to the left side so that would make sense why it was "pooling" but it was enough that he couldn't even put his feet flat down or his shoes would have been soaked. We heard screams going down the hill but didn't hear or see anything. We got the normal droplets on the ride but not wet really.

Fast forward to me waiting near Splash Mountain for my DH and DS to ride it and I was just chatting with a woman also waiting for her family and her daughter and and grand daughter came up and they were drenched - like jeans stuck completely to them, socks and shoes completely wet and they were laughing about it BUT it was from POTC, not Splash Mountain and they were shocked and a little ticked as they had to do the party like that. I have to assume they were in the front row but I didn't ask or hear them mention it.

Clearly there are enough issues so hopefully they can make more changes.

Heather

 

[Andyman33]

Just offering our experience from the MNSSHP on 10/25 and riding POTC. I had read ahead of time the issues of being soaked in the front row so would not have picked the front and luckily we weren't assigned that. I heard the CM ask - "wet or not wet"? when she was lining people up after us, clearly for the front row. We were actually given the last row and there are three of us. We immediately noticed the floor was very wet but not major (or so we thought). My DH got in first, all the way to the left side and after we sat down, he then noticed it was a pool of water on his side and it did appear the boat was leaning to the left side so that would make sense why it was "pooling" but it was enough that he couldn't even put his feet flat down or his shoes would have been soaked. We heard screams going down the hill but didn't hear or see anything. We got the normal droplets on the ride but not wet really.

Fast forward to me waiting near Splash Mountain for my DH and DS to ride it and I was just chatting with a woman also waiting for her family and her daughter and and grand daughter came up and they were drenched - like jeans stuck completely to them, socks and shoes completely wet and they were laughing about it BUT it was from POTC, not Splash Mountain and they were shocked and a little ticked as they had to do the party like that. I have to assume they were in the front row but I didn't ask or hear them mention it.

Clearly there are enough issues so hopefully they can make more changes.

Heather

sounds like my family experience. we still love it but we were ALMOST (and not an exaggeration) as wet from POTC as we were from kali river rapids (no we weren't the "lucky" ones that got the major soaking on kali)

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

sounds like my family experience. we still love it but we were ALMOST (and not an exaggeration) as wet from POTC as we were from kali river rapids (no we weren't the "lucky" ones that got the major soaking on kali)

I swear, they seriously were just as wet and that was first time "seeing" the true soaking from POTC. We all had a giggle over it but I wouldn't have been happy walking around that soaked all night.

Heather

 

[DVCcurious]

I never saw overloaded boats but I rode front row with my first born twice and first time we were destroyed water wise.

I realize that not everyone gets a soaking, but I don't even want to risk being "destroyed" by water. I like Pirates, but I'm not going to risk being drenched to experience it.

Maybe if I was a huge fan I'd take the chance. But if was a "huge" fan I'd add excessive weight to the boat and guarantee a drenching!

I'll just stick with Jungle Cruise where there's no risk of wetness.

 

[srferson]

I haven't been in several years now, but I believe the stories. There are plenty of people who report this experience and I have no reason to think they would all lie or exaggerate.

For those who have not experienced it... Congratulations. Apparently you got lucky. But 'it didn't happen to me' is not the same as 'that never happens.' (I know that many have already acknowledged that in their posts. I'm not talking about everyone.)

Finally, POTC is NOT a "wet ride." No matter how many times you try to call it that, it is not supposed to be a "wet ride." A "wet ride" does NOT drench people right at the beginning and then take them through a leisurely 15 minute boat ride in the dark and cold. It just doesn't. If this is happening then someone is doing something wrong.

Make all the excuses you like, but it is reasonable to not expect that especially if you have been on the ride anytime in the past 40 years it's been around. But this has clearly happened to plenty of people and in some cases made them extremely uncomfortable. That's not okay.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I haven't been in several years now, but I believe the stories. There are plenty of people who report this experience and I have no reason to think they would all lie or exaggerate.

For those who have not experienced it... Congratulations. Apparently you got lucky. But 'it didn't happen to me' is not the same as 'that never happens.' (I know that many have already acknowledged that in their posts. I'm not talking about everyone.)

Finally, POTC is NOT a "wet ride." No matter how many times you try to call it that, it is not supposed to be a "wet ride." A "wet ride" does NOT drench people right at the beginning and then take them through a leisurely 15 minute boat ride in the dark and cold. It just doesn't. If this is happening then someone is doing something wrong.

Make all the excuses you like, but it is reasonable to not expect that especially if you have been on the ride anytime in the past 40 years it's been around. But this has clearly happened to plenty of people and in some cases made them extremely uncomfortable. That's not okay.

I am thankful for everyone reporting this. We are going in a couple of weeks, when it's not going to be that warm probably, and now I know to either skip it, or ride on our way out for the day. I personally am thankful for the heads up that we will have ANY possibility of getting more wet than Splash mountain on PIRATES, because I would not have expected it.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Have you ridden POTC 30 times in the past month? The most recent refurb (and when people are saying they started to get wet) just happened very recently.

If so, you sure do enjoy POTC!!!

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Have you ridden POTC 30 times in the past month? The most recent refurb (and when people are saying they started to get wet) just happened very recently.

If so, you sure do enjoy POTC!!!

We, and many other people, started to get wet when they changed the boats out 2 years ago. it seems something about the recent refurb has made the problem worse though.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I'm so glad I read this now. Looks like I will not be going on POTC in a few weeks. I detest being wet in the parks. Rain I can't avoid, but certain rides I can. That's the reason I rarely go on Splash Mountain. I don't mind getting a little wet, but not soaked. I'm so disappointed to read this.

 

[HM]

We're just 2 adults so I'm not completely sure about larger groups but if you ask nicely I'm sure they try to accommodate guests to the best of their ability. We're going back tomorrow with fastpases. I'm wearing quick to dry clothes. Lol.

Not that accomodating. When you are only two of you, they make your ride with strangers. They won't let you ride with just your party of two like you used to be able to do. Those seats don't really seat four people well and I find it wrong that I have to be pressed up against a strangers hips on a ride. I don't even like sitting four across with my family of four and we used to say that we were two groups of two...no longer an option.

 

[Doofenschmirz Evil]

The amount we were drenched in the front row of PoC recently is almost unfathomable. (The only ride that I have gotten more drenched on is that Popeye ride at Universal Studios.) You don't expect PoC to be the wetter than Splash Mountain.

The biggest problem is the surprise factor. I've ridden PoC dozens of times. The most I've ever felt is a little splash. If I expected to get drenched, I would have made sure to take care of my stuff. But because that has never happened in dozens of experiences on PoC, my phone, my SOTMK cards (including the new Halloween card I got at the party the previous day), all of that is just in my pocket. And the drenching was ridiculous. We had to go back to the hotel about 3 hours earlier than expected because it was mind-boggling how wet we were. Someone else said down to the underwear. That was completely right and completely insane. Luckily our stuff wasn't ruined, but we literally had to lay out all the SOTMK cards on the hotel floor because they were all wet and my phone was a little wonky for awhile.

When we take some friends next year, I'm now saying to only do this ride at the end of the day so that if they have to go back to the hotel, it isn't the end of the world.

 

[TexasPete]

I honestly did not care too much about my foot being submerged in 4 inches of standing water, but I would have been very upset if our nice camera or phones had gotten wet. Fortunately, we saw the water on the floor, pulled out a poncho, wrapped our stuff in it and held in on our lap. I was really more annoyed that the ride was breaking down over and over again. I still love POTC, but they make you work hard for it!

 

[Murron]

I've only gone through the first three pages of this thread thus far. To me it is totally unacceptable to be crammed into a space where I am literally leaning on (ok...touching) a stranger in a boat. They tried to cram my husband and myself on the Great Movie Ride in a row with 4 very very robust adults. I just thought, screw this and said no. Not going to happen. We waited for the next tram and were in the front short row. I think more people need to speak up. Just say no....I will not be crammed into a row of anything. I'm a guest who paid for comfort and not cattle. I don't expect a row to ourselves, I just don't want to be touching my neighbor. ps I know this is really about the water problem, but obviously the contributing factor is the weight in the boat!

 

[Juwu]

I'm so glad i read this. Taking my parents to MVMCP and this was going to be our second stop. My Mom hasn't been there since the 80's. If she got that wet she is the type of person that would go back to the hotel and called it a night.

 

[disneyseniors]

But it wasn't like that for the 5 years before. I NEVER got wet. This started happening to us, and I started seeing reports of it after the refurb 2 years ago.

Yes, but you see, you are not allowed to state your experiences here on the dis boards, because someone else didn't get wet, so too bad you are wrong. !!!!!
Yes, the ride is on water, but it is not a designated "water ride", and your experience is real, no matter what someone else says. I'm going to WDW in 2 weeks, and will surely be looking out for the water on the floor and I will definitely ride in the back. Been going to WDW for years and rode POC many, many times and never had to even think about getting this wet. It is a problem, as others on this thread have stated, even if some try to dismiss it.

 

[ktlm]

The amount we were drenched in the front row of PoC recently is almost unfathomable. (The only ride that I have gotten more drenched on is that Popeye ride at Universal Studios.) You don't expect PoC to be the wetter than Splash Mountain.

The biggest problem is the surprise factor. I've ridden PoC dozens of times. The most I've ever felt is a little splash. If I expected to get drenched, I would have made sure to take care of my stuff. But because that has never happened in dozens of experiences on PoC, my phone, my SOTMK cards (including the new Halloween card I got at the party the previous day), all of that is just in my pocket. And the drenching was ridiculous. We had to go back to the hotel about 3 hours earlier than expected because it was mind-boggling how wet we were. Someone else said down to the underwear. That was completely right and completely insane. Luckily our stuff wasn't ruined, but we literally had to lay out all the SOTMK cards on the hotel floor because they were all wet and my phone was a little wonky for awhile.

I totally agree. The experience I described back on page 6 left me wet down to my underwear. My underwear top and bottom, was soaked through my clothes. It was a total shock as I have been on that ride dozens of times too and been on all the rows and never experienced anything like it. I've been on that ride in the last 2 years before the recent refurb too and never experienced anything like it. Aside from being totally grossed out because the water went in my eyes and up my nose (probably because I had not expected that much water and wasn't being sure every thing was closed like I would on splash or Kali), I was laughing after we got off. DH and DD were really laughing because they were not nearly as wet as me and they thought it was hilarious that I was soaked. Luckily, because I had gotten a few drops of water on myself riding it before and because when we got in the boat, there was about an inch of standing water, I had quickly pulled a big ziplock bag out of my purse and put DD's Duffy bear in it. Had I not done that DD would have probably had a meltdown if Duffy had gotten soaked. I was just trying to protect him from any of that gross water, I didn't dream he might have gotten soaked through. For me, it was early afternoon and it was fine. I would not have been pleased if I had ridden it in my MNSSHP costume, or on a cool night. That would be because based on years of experience, that kind of soaking would not remotely be expected. If I rode Splash or Kali, I would expect to get soaked. POTC was a total surprise. I think maybe the CMs should warn people they are putting in the front row that they may get really wet as they load them in. We probably would still have done it that particular time, but I would have known to close my eyes and mouth tight and hold my breath on the drop!

 

[disneyseniors]

I realize that not everyone gets a soaking, but I don't even want to risk being "destroyed" by water. I like Pirates, but I'm not going to risk being drenched to experience it.

Maybe if I was a huge fan I'd take the chance. But if was a "huge" fan I'd add excessive weight to the boat and guarantee a drenching!

I'll just stick with Jungle Cruise where there's no risk of wetness.

Oh no, the jungle cruise is on water, so expect to get very wet, after all it's a "water ride". (sarcasm if you haven't noticed

 

[GeneralTso]

This thread has been thoroughly entertaining for me. Completely. Carry on.