Just heard a rumor about Pirates

[UncleMike101]

Still can't get FP for anytime from 5/11 to 6/7.
I called WDW and they even tried to set up FP times for us.
The system has POC "grayed out" for those dates.

 

[Reddog1134]

Actually, it makes me sad. It was reported that the Imagineers said it needed a bare minimum of 6 months downtime to fix all the problems. Management gave them 4 and then shortened it again.

Correction: I was just reading a thread on another board. They said it would take a minimum of 6 months to fix just the urgent problems (ie safety and operations problems).

 

[seigyoku]

Actually, it makes me sad. It was reported that the Imagineers said it needed a bare minimum of 6 months downtime to fix all the problems. Management gave them 4 and then shortened it again.

Correction: I was just reading a thread on another board. They said it would take a minimum of 6 months to fix just the urgent problems (ie safety and operations problems).

THIS. As I said in another thread, just got back from WDW, and Pirates was going down all the time! It became a running gag with our group. So even if you are going in May/June, don't count on riding it! The ride needs some SERIOUS TLC.

 

[jhaig]

Sooooo...why the change in rehab dates? They only shortened the start date, but not the date of completion. All of a sudden they can can whatever they need to get done in 4 months instead of 5?

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Is it still opening back up in September for certain? Disney's website says it's being refurbished from June 8 until the fall. At least as of this afternoon, it made no mention of a specific reopening date.

 

[Imagineer22]

The way Disney is handling this refurbishment is really confusing. Why close one of the most popular indoor rides that eats huge amounts of people during your hottest and busiest months? I understand if this was a 6+ month refurb where you can't avoid a busy season, but with it being a 4 month refurb why not push it back to the fall or at least overlap with part of the off season? Instead Disney has decided to close it literally at the start of the summer season and open it at the end of the summer season, makes no sense. Either there are SERIOUS issues that the ride must close down immediately to fix or Disney just doesn't care. The timing for this seems to tell me that Disney's attitude is, we have to close it sometime so it doesn't matter when because we are always busy (as long as it is not December 24th-January 3rd). There are a number of ways Disney could have closed this attraction for the same amount of time and affected fewer people. Really starting to question Disney's decision making abilities lately.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Sooooo...why the change in rehab dates? They only shortened the start date, but not the date of completion. All of a sudden they can can whatever they need to get done in 4 months instead of 5?

We have no way of knowing until it reopens, but maybe there was a budget increase so the work could be done faster. Then again maybe some corners are cut. Just no way to know until later

 

[Reddog1134]

One thing that has apparently been proposed multiple times but never approved is making the load and unload areas the same and adding a show scene.

 

[Starshine]

Still can't get FP for anytime from 5/11 to 6/7.
I called WDW and they even tried to set up FP times for us.
The system has POC "grayed out" for those dates.

No luck for me either (checking May 10th-18th). Hopefully they'll get the system opened back up.

 

[HCinKC]

THIS. As I said in another thread, just got back from WDW, and Pirates was going down all the time! It became a running gag with our group. So even if you are going in May/June, don't count on riding it! The ride needs some SERIOUS TLC.

This is what I keep "hearing"! I was sad to see ODS wouldn't be able to ride on his first WDW trip, but I was also relieved. I love the ride, and I know he would, too. He has seen videos and wants to ride so badly. I know people are bummed to miss it, but it sounds like it is in dire need of a refurb. At this point, I hope it IS closed when we go in May. If ODS sees it open, he is going to want to ride. I don't want his first POTC experience to be awful.

 

[UncleMike101]

Just got a FP for 5/20/15.
It appears that they've finally opened up the reservations

 

[Davis2902]

Just got my FP+ for 5/17

 

[TandLMommy28]

Yea! I'm glad it's going to be open for the 24 hour event.

 

[Candleshoe]

Got mine for June 5!!

 

[Minniekins]

Almost sounds like, from some above posts, they might not even care about fixing the boat/water issue as there are more pressing things. That stinks, they should finish all things needed before opening back up!

 

[loves to dive]

Cool, we will be there 5/10-5/15 and were bummed it was going to be closed. My DS is just getting out of the Navy with a bad back so most of the rides we usually ride were going to be off limits for him but this one was one of our favs and easy on the back. Course, it wasn't going to kill the trip if it was down, we had already decided we were going for F&G anyway so we were going to just take it easy and smell the roses so to speak.

 

[amandals2007]

still doesnt help me ill be there sept 10-21 and its my FAVORITE RIDE!!!

 

[BillSears]

With a major rehab like this I sure hope they do something about the accessibility. The previous boats worked for me because the back row had a high side and I could lift myself from the bench to the side of the boat and then to my wheelchair. The newer boats had a lower side and then they closed off the back row so I haven't been able to ride with the new boats.

I'd love to see a special boat that makes it easier for transfers. Or even just a transfer board type of thing that makes it easier to get in and out. But I realize it probably isn't going to happen.

 

[JJsmama]

With a major rehab like this I sure hope they do something about the accessibility. The previous boats worked for me because the back row had a high side and I could lift myself from the bench to the side of the boat and then to my wheelchair. The newer boats had a lower side and then they closed off the back row so I haven't been able to ride with the new boats.

I'd love to see a special boat that makes it easier for transfers. Or even just a transfer board type of thing that makes it easier to get in and out. But I realize it probably isn't going to happen.

Are you able to ride IASW? They have boats what the wheelchairs roll onto , right? Does pirates not have that? If not, surely they have to improve the accessibility!

I don't understand why Pirates has so many problems. It doesn't seem like a very complicated ride, relative to Disney capability.. Isn't it basically the same as IASW in function and that ride is not always down or cutting people's fingers off...? I just don't get it.

 

[BillSears]

Are you able to ride IASW? They have boats what the wheelchairs roll onto , right? Does pirates not have that? If not, surely they have to improve the accessibility!

I don't understand why Pirates has so many problems. It doesn't seem like a very complicated ride, relative to Disney capability.. Isn't it basically the same as IASW in function and that ride is not always down or cutting people's fingers off...? I just don't get it.

Yea, IASW is easy to ride. Pirates doesn't have a roll on boat and I understand that with the drop it's not really possible to have one. For each row they have a boarding entrance with 2 wooden rails leading up to the boat. The only wide rail opening, for wheelchair access, is the back row. That was fine with the old boats because the back row also had the high side. With that I could manage to slide into the boat and use my arms to lift myself up onto the side of the boat and then into my chair to get out. With the newer boats the side was lower and too far for me to lift from the side of the boat back into my chair. Then they closed off the back row and the other entrances are too small to bring a wheelchair into. The previous rehab really took away most of the accessibility for me as a paraplegic. I have full use of my arms but no use at all of my legs so I can get in and out of my wheelchair but it's all done with my arms.

E.T.A. I'm not really looking for major accessibility changes, I'd just like a higher side on the back row like it used to be. Thinking about it that lower side is probably what caused one of the major problems. Having the back being the same level as the front is what caused the issue with injuries when people put their hands over the back and boats collided. If the back row had been higher like it was before there would be no way for the hands to get caught between the boats.

Here is the old boat. You can see how high the end side is:

Here's a picture of the newer boat and you can see it sits much lower and more even with the front: