Pirates of the Caribbean in Walt Disney World to receive much needed enhancements

[Brwhite]

So does anyone know if/when it will go down?

 

[greenyskp]

***" .....but if you cant put the concept together that POTC was built YEARS and YEARS ago, and is a staple attraction, and the movie was made recently, and was just a concept for the movie, not a play by play of the ride, than you and your family, who obviously did no research on the disney parks before you left, deserve to be dissapointed "***

Believe it or not, the educated Disney fanatics on this board and all the others represent a very small fraction of the worlds population. I knew virtually nothing about WDW or even Disney prior to my first trip in '95. If PotC movie had been released in '93 or 94, I can imagine my family going on the ride and saying afterwards "hey, where was Sparrow ? " Our pre trip planning involved logistical aspects, not historical.

Nothing in DL or WDW remains static. Even the ultimate classic ride ( IMO ) CoP has undergone changes. Personally, adding a Sparrow charactor to the ride will not hinder or enhance the ride experience in the least. But I can also imagine kids riding PotC for the first time getting excited when they spot him for the first time.

I think sometimes we let " the good ole days " mentality cloud our judgement a little.

I understand that. and i definitly can sympathize with the generations to come who will recognize Sparrow. I guess i just dont like change. Once they change it, we'll never be able to ride the original again. And like 20k, mr toad, whats soon to be carosuel of progress, and many more attractions, its just one piece of my childhood that i cant revisit. Ill always tell my kids about the POTC attraction when i was their age. If this had been a planned change since the movie came out, it would settle on me better. But theyre only doing it to market off of the success of the movie. I read that disney was embarassed about depps performance and were scared he was "too gay-looking" and thought the movie would be a flop. Had it been a flop, we'd get to keep POTC the way it is.

 

[rocketriter]

Oh, well, I'll finally chime in here. I can't see what the addition of a couple of Sparrow-like pirates is going to do to ruin this ride. Frankly, although I love the ride, after doing it for seventy-leven times I wouldn't mind an, "Oh, my gosh, look at that!" once in a while.

 

[Lady Cluck]

I just returned from disneyland and pirates is much better. I also can,t believe they would close this down during thier 50th. It would be great if they would add the resturant like in California to watch boats go by and eat the atmosphere is fantastic.

Maybe the nine months is for a structural remodel, to make room for a Blue Bayou restaurant. Right now, the area is not large enough to be able to accomodate the attraction and a restaurant. I agree that the night time water front atmosphere at Disneyland's Blue Bayou is magical. It would be wonderful if they could find a way to squeeze it in.

Maybe since POFQ lost their full service restaurant, they could add a copy cat version of the Blue Bayou in that space. The theming would fit in easily.

There is going to be a sequel to the POTC movie. If the second movie does as well as the first, then the tie in to the updated attraction could theoretically bring in more first time guests.

 

[Plus4206]

I don't know that Disney is trying to cash-in - so to speak - on the success of the movie in this case. I don't see the adition of Sparrow to the ride as being billboard or vacation info video material. Let's face it, Sparrow isn't going to spin the turnstiles any faster. There really isn't a financial gain to be made here.

Hey, at least they are doing something. It wouldn't cost Disney a dime to do nothing.

 

[dcentity2000]

Well good

Refurbs are always a nice thing - unless they're happening whilst you're there...



Rich::

 

[SammieG]

I also don't understand why it would take 9 months to refurbish an attraction. (It's taking that long to refurbish It's a Small World, but I assume that's because they have to keep replacing work crew members who go insane.) ...

oh good one rocketiter!!!!

 

[becobscot]

(It's taking that long to refurbish It's a Small World, but I assume that's because they have to keep replacing work crew members who go insane.)
rotflmao!

 

[becobscot]

Pirates is one of my favorite attractions and I'd hate for it to be closed when we go. I do wonder, as long as they are making several animitronic Johnny Depp's, do you think they could make one for my living room?

For your LIVING ROOM? Come on,elmosmom, we know what you are REALLY thinking!

 

[greenyskp]

I don't know that Disney is trying to cash-in - so to speak - on the success of the movie in this case. I don't see the adition of Sparrow to the ride as being billboard or vacation info video material. Let's face it, Sparrow isn't going to spin the turnstiles any faster. There really isn't a financial gain to be made here.

Hey, at least they are doing something. It wouldn't cost Disney a dime to do nothing.

Sparrow in the ride = sparrow in the gift shop. thats what i meant. When POTC came out there was nothing (except the DVD) in the shops. I bet there will be so much stuff after they add him.....thats what i mean by marketing...

 

[AndyMcV]

Hi Gang

Just wanted to add my $0.02. I like Johnny Depp as much as the next person and he is a great actor but I don't understand why Disney would ever want to timestamp such a fantastic ride by adding him into it. What happens in 5 - 10 years when people are wondering who he is and why he's in the ride. I think that they need to make these rides as timeless as possible. Instead of adding a celebrity maybe they should work on adding new and neat affects. I think that the imagineers are pretty awesome. Adding a celebrity over effects is pretty lame (IMHO).

Andy

 

[cam-89]

Hi Gang

Just wanted to add my $0.02. I like Johnny Depp as much as the next person and he is a great actor but I don't understand why Disney would ever want to timestamp such a fantastic ride by adding him into it. What happens in 5 - 10 years when people are wondering who he is and why he's in the ride. I think that they need to make these rides as timeless as possible. Instead of adding a celebrity maybe they should work on adding new and neat affects. I think that the imagineers are pretty awesome. Adding a celebrity over effects is pretty lame (IMHO).

Andy

My thoughts exactly.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

I also don't understand why it would take that long to refurbish...(It's taking that long to refurbish It's a Small World, but I assume that's because they have to keep replacing work crew members who go insane.)

 

[weeyore33]

I do not think this is going to interfedre with the timelessness of the ride, they are putting Captain Jack Sparrow as the captain of the Pearl- in 5-10 years more and more people will have seenPiates on Cable, tv, in school, we all know who Captain Ahab is, and Moby dick cam e out way before i was born, So it is not Johnny depp in the ride saying hi, im jonhhy depp! (if that were the case i would have to jump out of the ride and take a souvinier!)
relax, a pirate is a pirate, I wonder if they will do Captain Barbossa?

No matter what they do i am sure the ride will still be awesome!

i love Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!!!!

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

So, I wonder what the actual rehab schedule is? This entire post says the rehab was to start in May from what I gather and guess what? It's almost July and still no rehab scheduled....wonder what the deal is?

 

[Minderbinder5]

Slightly off topic, but I thougt this would be a good thing to post...it's about PoC at DL...

I don't remember where I read it, but several months ago I read an article about possible future updates to the DL PoC. The journalist said that it all depends on the success of the second movie, but Disney was seriously looking at changes they could make to the ride without compromising the classic scenes in the attraction. What they came up with is brilliant, in my opinion.

At DL, there is a large part of the ride used for storage of the extra ride vehicle boats, and they are all on a track which connects to the main ride for swapping as needed. So, they were looking to convert that backstage storage track into an alternate ride that would be seen only after nightfall. In that ride, all the pirates would be in the moonlight and skelatons. The journalist also said the ride would have much more excitement because they would have bigger drops and the pirates would actually notice you and try to board your boat. I guess the track branches off just before you enter the large room with the big ship and canons, so it's perfect. It would have a full duplicate of the town with skelaton pirates and more action.

I love this idea because people who love the original can ride it during the day, and at night, all the thrill seakers and movie lovers could get their fill. I think it's an outstanding compromise!

 

[qtwns]

I do not think this is going to interfedre with the timelessness of the ride, they are putting Captain Jack Sparrow as the captain of the Pearl- in 5-10 years more and more people will have seenPiates on Cable, tv, in school, we all know who Captain Ahab is, and Moby dick cam e out way before i was born, So it is not Johnny depp in the ride saying hi, im jonhhy depp! (if that were the case i would have to jump out of the ride and take a souvinier!)
relax, a pirate is a pirate, I wonder if they will do Captain Barbossa?

No matter what they do i am sure the ride will still be awesome!

i love Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!!!!

You're right--they would be adding Cap't Jack Sparrow, not Johnny Depp to the ride. (Of course any similarities they can make to JD would be greatly appreciated here! ) People will always associate great characters with the actors who portrayed them--that's what make them such good actors!

 

[Minderbinder5]

I wanted to post some corrections to my post from yesterday about the nighttime PoC changes at DL. I did some digging, and the original article that I read about these changes was on jimhillmedia.com, so you can read more about it there. Also, Jesse does some commentary on the topic in his second podcast at MousePod.

 

[merfsko]

i love the pirates of the carribean movie as much as the next guy but why do they find the need to have to change things i say just leave it alone or referb but dont add elements of the movie to it.. what happens when the second movie comes out and is a huge hit are they gunna close it again and add mick jagger?

I agree! I love the PotC ride, and I have for thre eyears, but it wouldn;t bve the same if thinsg were changed. i know it probably need sot be done for some reason or another, but I still prefer a good old ride...

 

[tygerlilli]

Personally, I think the addition of Johnny Depp just about anywhere is a Good Thing Indeed