Report for today Monday, 6/26, Pirates reopening

[CaliforniaDreamer]

We arrived late, around 10:15-10:30 AM on Monday. I knew it would be bad for Pirates and the line for the bag search was incredibly long. We headed to POTC after getting a locker. Traffic flow was a mess with bottlenecks through Adventureland. It turned out - and no one told us this anywhere - that you had to go back out of New Orleans Sq, go to Main St and go to Frontierland to get in line for POTC. So we wasted some 20 of walking in body to body traffic. The line was past the Golden Horseshoe. After 5 minutes, a CM announces that the ride is closed, there is a problem and there is no telling when it will be fixed so we should get out of line. I ask him if we're getting any kind of numbers to show we've been in line already - no, he says with a smirk. My heart sinks as this is our only day to do this, my pass runs out and everyone is traveling on.

We stay in line and move up about 25 people as many did get out of line. About 5 min later there is an announcement that the ride is working again.
They rearrange the ropes so there are more switchbacks near the water and we move more quickly. As we approach the last section (once inside the actual perimeter of the building), a jerk cuts under the rope where no CM stands, claiming he's looking for his family. He doesn't look for them though and continues to move along in line. This guy looks to be in his late 40s, he really should know better. He has managed to move ahead of many people who followed the rules because he doesn't want to wait.
We make it to the front and I inform the CM. She seems to take it seriously but I see she has let him line up as our boat leaves.

I won't spoil the ride for you but we managed to see it on this the first or second official day in 1 hr and 10 minutes. This started around 11:00. Later we could see the line was much worse, especially around sundown when the line extended along the water. We saw a Jack Sparrow CM from a distance but were disappointed never to see him again - he should have worked the line.

The park was terribly crowded and unusually muggy but we managed to also ride Haunted Mansion, buzz Lightyear twice (once with a fastpass), Mr. Toad's, Pinoc, Indiana Jones. We saved time by eating gumbo while in the POTC line and then had our res at Blue Bayou - water table. We shopped and saw the parade and then the fireworks - which were wonderful.

The worst CM: the guy running Mr. Toads - he was as grumpy as it gets, clearly miserable he was there. The best CM - a gal who manned the section of the parade by Alice in Wonderland and the Teacups. I can clearly see a decline in the attitude of the CMs but also today was very busy and very muggy. Still- please, a smile goes a long way.

They were already sold out of any special pins today. Best news - the round beignets are back at the gumbo take out place under POTC.

I talked to a tourist family who did not do their homework and they did not get on any rides! They thought the lines were too long for POTC and Haunted. Now if we can arrive at 10:30AM on this opening day and still get on those rides and many more, so can you. Just plan it out. And try to eat at off hours. Plan on dinner at 4, lunch at 11 and you'll be ahead of the game.

 

[darkacre]

We went specifically for POTC. We arrived around 9 pm. By 9:15 we were in line. The line went past Big Thunder Mountain, but it went fast. After 25 minutes, we were under the walkway, figuring that another 10 minutes later, we would be on the ride. We were wrong.

The ride broke down. At first, it was "indefinitely." Then, around, maybe 11:00, they announced that the ride was dead for the night. They were using firemen to get people out of the stuck boats.

We went home.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Why in the world is it breaking down so much? You would think with the refurb they could have gotten it working well enough to support heavy crowds for at least the first few days! Goodness!

We had that happen a few years ago, almost every time we rode it, it would break down. And we'd be stuck on the ride for up to an hour sometimes. Which really upset us, because that was time that could have been spent on another ride. But they kept saying it was fixed and fine, half way on the ride though, broke! Hopefully they'll get these bugs out before we go.. who wants to stand in line for an hour to only be told it's broke!

 

[YoHo]

Maybe something wih the new Animatronics stopped working or the soundtrack. Or maybe somebody did something stupid.

I've never had pirates break down on me and it was running fine last night around 7.

 

[palmdaleminnie]

A castmemeber told me the ride broke when he was on it last week.
We waited in line only 50 min. Monday and were on Pirates around 11:15 am Monday and the ride broke. We sat for 25 min. in the dark tunnel, wasn't too fun. At least after 15 min. they turned off the Pirates song. We were going to go on it again Tues, but it broke down again Tues. morning so we decided to skip it in the afternoon. The lines were longer on Tues. than Monday, a 2 hr minimum wait and it wasn't as organized as Mondays lines. It was so crowded it was hard to walk anywhere around the area. At least the kids were excited they got to go on the ride opening day.
PS INdiana Jones broke down also Tues. and Mon. so many workers called in sick that they had to close Winnie the Pooh and Jungle Cruise according to a cast member we talked to.

 

[kwdietrich1]

We were in line for Pirates on Sunday. It was unofficially open as we found out. We had to line up at a special entrance due to me being in a wheel chair (foot problem). Well right before the entrance a CM came out to tell us we had to leave the area, the ride was broken down. We were so disappointed as we had to leave in 3 hrs to catch our limo to the airport. Well the same CM later admitted to us that they had decided to close the ride down because the crowds were becoming uncontrollable in NOS and in frontierland! Well, except for the long lines, everything looked controlled. We came real close, but I guess this gives us an excuse to return to Disneyland some day. I'm really glad some Disers got the chance to ride POTC!

On the other hand, we saw Orlando Bloom in the GCH! He walked right by me and DH with his dogs! We also saw Jerry Bruckheimer and the actor (whose name escapes me) that plays Captain Barbosa! We were star struck~ Orlando's dogs pee'd in the grass garden in front of the pool! We missed Keira Nightly walking around the hotel in the wee hours of the morning! I could slap myself for going to bed too early! CM's were telling us that she wanted to meet and greet fans and sign autographs for fans staying at the hotel. Really neat!

 

[doombuggy]

Unfortunately, rides break down much like your car, air conditioner, etc, etc, etc. We went to US on Sunday (had a free ticket) and when we got to IOA around 3pm, we went on the new Seuss Trolley ride. While it was stopped b/c of lightning, we eventually rode it and then walked over to ride Spiderman. We chose that attraction b/c it was indoors (the rain was coming), but we couldn't ride it b/c it was broken down! Not what we expected, but what are you going to do. We left. Just as the rain rain rain came down down down......


I probably would have expected to see at least one unhappy or tired Cm at DL this past weekend. Considering the late hours that the park was occupied on Saturday night, it is possible that the CM the OP saw on Mr. Toad had worked the night before. Try working an 8 hour shift until 1am and then turn around and have to be back in to work at 10am? Trust me, it's not easy.

 

[MateasMom]

We were there yesterday. We visited city hall to get a Bday sticker and both groups in front of us were complaining about having been given paper 'tickets' of some sort that were front of the line passes and not being able to use them on pirates. 1 group said the ride broke and they were almost boarding so they got the tickets. The other said the park was closing and they were almost boarding and they were given the tickets. Anyways, a supervisor came out and said they could exchange their tickets for another ride (it must have specified a ride on it?) but that there was NO WAY to get onto POTC faster then the stand by line was moving. That even wheelchair passengers were waiting the stand by time.

That said. We went to POTC to find out how long the line was. We couldn't even figure out where the line started. There were just messes of people everywhere. We found a CM who told us the line was supposedly 2.5-3 hours long for POTC. We chose not to ride I probably would have waited in line, I'm thinking 5YO, 7YO, and DH would have thought me a bit nutty.

We did Blue Bayou. They ran out of something and it was 45 minutes from the time they picked up our soup to the time they brought our meal They were nice enough about it I guess. The waiter told us a few times that he was sorry, but the kitchen had run out of something and our food would be out shortly. When we did finally get our meal, everything but DH sandwich had clearly been sitting around for a while so I guess whatever they ran out of must have been part of that. The food was okay. The service would have been fine if it weren't for the horrible wait, but certainly not an $80 meal (2 grown ups, 5YO and 7YO) even in theme park money. Maybe after they get their kinks worked out we'll give it another try.

The parks were very, very crowded. Especially the POTC side of the park. Not unbearable, and not anymore crowded then I expected, but crowded enough that in many places it was hard to find a place to sit, lines for many attractions were longer then I would have expected for a Tuesday, even in the summer.

We never saw the face Jack and I was really looking forward to seeing him. Maybe next time.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Doombuggy, I've more than been there, working long long hours for extended periods of time as a company tried to make a deadline. The issue is some poor planning on Disney's part not to have enough staff to handle their huge promotional roll-out. I love Disney but perhaps I love it enough to speak up when I see things slipping. When I was young, part of the magic was that every CM was cheerful and pleasant. It may not be the fault of the Mr. Todd employee that he was overworked, (although I assume others were too and they were not hanging their head, scowling and motioning rather than talking) but DL knew they had this premiere weekend, they knew there were going to be crowds. They needed to have enough staff. From what I hear, moral is low and that may explain why CMs called in "sick" on Monday instead of bite the bullet and deal with the crowds.

I have thought about POTC over the last couple of days and I feel it did not need to take this long for the few changes there are. The three animatronics were made in another location, so it's just the installation and testing of those. There is one main new visual that I won't spoil but that couldn't have taken all this time. There have been more changes to Haunted Mansion with less down time. The reason it was closed for so long was a marketing ploy to build anticipation for the new Pirates sequel film. It didn't need the hype, it is great on its own. It didn't cost DL anything to close POTC - people are still going to come to the park - so I believe it was all about the marketing.

 

[MateasMom]

Oh, I also meant to say as far as the overworked and understaffed, while we were at Blue Bayou there was a waitress who we heard ask SEVERAL other wait staff if they could stay. It seemed odd to me that she was openly asking out where the rest of us could hear about it. But anyways, appearantly they too were ill prepared for the big day (or day after in my case ).

 

[milestogo]

We were there on Monday morning at 8:30 and the line began at the Emporium. The main street attendants told us that it was a 2-4 hour wait, but it was only 60 min. exactly. During that time the line moved so fast we couldn't drink our coffee, we got reservations for the new Cafe Orleans and fast passes. Pirate Mickey was there with lots of pirates, press and new stuff to buy. We barely all made it back in line at the same time! It was a great fun ride and the attendants handled the mobs beautifully.

 

[Brina78]

Wow, that's all incredible. So, it's now true a Jack Sparrow will be running around NOS? Awesome to hear. We'll have to go say hello the next time we're up there. He might be played by an actor my sister knows from the Internet!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks so much for the report!

I have cousins coming in from El Paso, and it looks like they want to spend a couple of days this weekend there, and I know we'll be one of the hundreds in line for Pirates of the Caribbean!

 

[hawkrn]

I never saw the "live" Captain Jack and we were there 6/24-6/30. I thought there were going to be pirates on the Columbia, but that didn't happen either. We are WDW vets and this was our first trip to DL. I couldn't believe NOS and Frontierland. Even if there was no POTC line, I can't imagine the traffic flow would be better! It's too narrow of an area! I did notice a difference in the CM's at DL too. I think WDW has a lot of college program CM's who are just plain enthusiastic about working at WDW. We were disappointed in the CMs at HM. They didn't even act out the part!

 

[minniecarousel]

We got to DL during EE on Tuesday morning. The line was already forming down Main Street at 7:10. Knowing that Pirates wouldn't even open 'til 8 AM, we chose to ride a few rides that were open and then got in line at 8 AM - just before the regular Park opening. We started the line on Main Street right in front of the Train Station!! The line really started to move! We swung around through Frontierland and right up to the tunnel. We were on the ride by 9 AM. Not bad! We decided to ride it again in the evening. We got in line just before 11 PM - just as Fantasmic was ending. We moved for about 10 mins and then just stopped! No one told us anything, but it was obvious that the ride had broken down. The only time we moved forward was when groups of people in front of us left the line. Around 11:40 - 11:45, the people up by the entrance door gave up a cheer - but it was another 10 mins before we actually moved. We got on the ride after midnight. By the time our boat finished the ride, there were no more people getting on. Silly - but it was worth the wait! We don't plan on being back to Disneyland for a while so we really wanted to see it. (One new part, that had to do with a mist screen, wasn't working in the AM, and we wanted to see that part.)