Soaked on POTC!

[mrstomrice]

I had heard that the new boats could cause you to get splashed more so than the old boats, but we got soaked on Sunday night. There were 2 adults and 2 children in the front row. When we went down the hill, we got soaked when the water came in the front of the boat. It was cold that night too. We were there for the MVMCP. I told the CM at the exit about it and she said that there were signs that we could get wet. This was worse than Splash Mountain, which we avoided due to the temperature. She directed me to the manager, who was talking with another guest whose camera got wet. I told her that we would never had ridden it if we knew we'd get that wet because it was cold and we had 3 hours left in the party. She offered to get us blankets and walked us up to the gift shop. She then offered us sweatshirts, but she saw the limited availability. She gave us 8 no string attached slips for pants and sweatshirts for all of us. She sent us to the Emporium. I was so grateful! We had so much to do that night, including Wishes (which I missed as she was helping fill out the coupons) and the parade. We would have never made it being so wet. I appreciate how Disney helped us out! Great customer service!

 

[MaleficentRN]

That is awesome! Glad they could salvage the evening for you.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I loved reading this post. It's sad that you got so wet on a ride where that is certainly not really expected. It's especially sad that you got so wet when it was so cold and a party night. But, hearing how Disney did everything they could to make it right and how much you appreciate that is really a breath of fresh air. It seems like so many would have focused on how wet they got and, if they even mentioned the blankets and new clothes in the post, it would have been along the lines of, "Well they offered us No Strings Attached cards for clothes and blankets, but it took us so much time to get everything that we still missed Wishes and didn't have time to ride some rides and meet some characters." I love that, although things didn't go as planned, you were able to see Disney trying to make it right and came here to tell us that yes, they do still have that customer service we all love.

 

[Mikie]

Great that it worked out! I know the signs say you could get wet, but I still think of it as a slow boat ride like Small world, Mexico ride, living with the land, etc. you really don't expect to get *wetter* than a ride like Splash, despite the signs. Especially since this is a change to a ride people were already familiar with. I had a front row seat and it was a total wave over our laps, soaking almost all our lower bodies. Luckily, mine was a warm afternoon. So glad they could help you out.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

OP. I'm glad they were able to help you to your satisfaction. It seems lately people are just never satisfied as a pp stated.
I have to tell you, I was there for Halloween and was shocked at how wet we got on PotC. When the kids came off after going on ahead of us (they're teens) we didn't believe them and thought they had just come off splash. Then we all went together and the kids called dibs on third row, I wound up in front, and had squishy shoes all night.

 

[JZCubed]

I loved reading this post. It's sad that you got so wet on a ride where that is certainly not really expected. It's especially sad that you got so wet when it was so cold and a party night. But, hearing how Disney did everything they could to make it right and how much you appreciate that is really a breath of fresh air. It seems like so many would have focused on how wet they got and, if they even mentioned the blankets and new clothes in the post, it would have been along the lines of, "Well they offered us No Strings Attached cards for clothes and blankets, but it took us so much time to get everything that we still missed Wishes and didn't have time to ride some rides and meet some characters." I love that, although things didn't go as planned, you were able to see Disney trying to make it right and came here to tell us that yes, they do still have that customer service we all love.

By and large, I have found Cast Members to very helpful.

But on our recent trip, we also experienced the 'love' from a Cast Member who did more than was necessary to rectify a very small problem caused by 7Dwarfs being down for our last FP+ as we were getting ready to leave WDW on our last day. Frankly, she was very quick to hand over a FP for Peter Pan even though it not listed as a replacement ride for losing a 7Dwarfs FP+.

And yes, I did mention this Cast Member by name in the survey that followed me home.

 

[jeanico2000]

I so sympathize with the OP! we rode POTC last November, and were seated in the first row. At the bottom of the drop, a wave of water actually washed over my adult DD's head! Her hair, her jeans, her shoes... all soaked! She was in total shock. When we left the ride, I asked the CM what the deal was with that, and he just laughed, saying this has been happening since the new boats were put into service. Warning signs should be changed from 'you may get wet' to 'you may get soaked, especially the suckers seated in the 1rst row!' Lesson learned!

 

[princessmocha]

I love reading posts like this, where you hear about the good CMs. We have luckily never had a bad or negative experience with one. Glad they made it right by you and who knew you could get soaked on POTC. Something to note next time we are there!

 

[mom2rtk]

At the bottom of the drop, a wave of water actually washed over my adult DD's head!

Wow. Just wow. They really need to do something about that. I had heard people were getting wetter than they used to, but that is just nuts.

 

[jeanico2000]

Wow. Just wow. They really need to do something about that. I had heard people were getting wetter than they used to, but that is just nuts.

I agree! this was beyond 'getting wet' on this type of ride! Contrary to the OP, we were lucky because it was a nice hot day outside, but still... wet jeans and shoes are crappy to walk around in! DD was seated on the left hand side of the 1rst row, I was in the middle, and DH was on my right side. DH's shoes and pant bottoms got wet, and I received quite a bit of splash, but it was DD who really got hit. So, left hand front row riders, beware! This could happen to you!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I so sympathize with the OP! we rode POTC last November, and were seated in the first row. At the bottom of the drop, a wave of water actually washed over my adult DD's head! Her hair, her jeans, her shoes... all soaked! She was in total shock. When we left the ride, I asked the CM what the deal was with that, and he just laughed, saying this has been happening since the new boats were put into service. Warning signs should be changed from 'you may get wet' to 'you may get soaked, especially the suckers seated in the 1rst row!' Lesson learned!

As a person who has been visiting WDW for over 20 years and has ridden Pirates more times than I can count, I have to say that a sign isn't going to do diddly for me. I've ridden Pirates before and gotten splashed here and there. If I saw a sign that said I might get wet, I'd think that someone who got splashed complained because they were hoping to get something for free and managements solution was to put up a sign. I would not think that the ride suddenly changed to where I was going to have a Splash Mountain experience. I'd have to see something on the sign that stated something to the tune of, "Due to recent changes in attraction equipment, please be prepared to get wet or possibly even soaked while riding Pirates of the Caribbean." I'd need to see that changes to the ride had been made before I thought that I actually had a chance of getting more than a little splash.

 

[SoScary'09]

This was me in Oct. of last year. Got seated in the first row. It missed the others while I got absolutely SOAKED. My family just laughed at me when we got off. Good thing it was warmer out and I dried off fast. But in the mean time it looked like I had totally wet myself! XD

 

[Baptist]

Great customer service/customer care.

Shocked you got that wet on POTC. Everyone gets a little splash, but drenched like Splash Mountain is certainly uncommon.

Let's see if people start wearing ponchos on the ride.

 

[Seeker615]

Oh yuck!

POTC is one of my favorites but I do not want to get soaked on it.

When did the boats change over? We were there last November and were seated in the middle row and didn't get wet.

 

[nkereina]

Oh yuck!

POTC is one of my favorites but I do not want to get soaked on it.

When did the boats change over? We were there last November and were seated in the middle row and didn't get wet.

I believe it was over the summer. I've read a few posts with the same experience.

We were there the week before Thanksgiving when the area was experiencing record cold temps. We rode POTC and got seated in the front and didn't even get a drop wet. Knowing when it's cold they turn down the water features on Splash, I had suspected they lowered the water level or something like that to minimalize that wave that now comes up in the front row. Hearing OPs story, I'm surprised if they don't do something like that with all the complaints they must be getting. That's certainly a ride you don't expect to get that wet on.

 

[soniam]

It seems to be the first row that's an issue. Also, it seems to have gotten worse since they started leaving the back row empty. The weight distribution in the boat seems to matter as well (more weight towers the front = more water in the boat).

 

[jeanico2000]

It seems to be the first row that's an issue. Also, it seems to have gotten worse since they started leaving the back row empty. The weight distribution in the boat seems to matter as well (more weight towers the front = more water in the boat).

This makes absolute sense to me, although the 3 of us are a totally average weight and only my DH is tall (my DD and I are only 5'3"), just the fact that there are 3 adults up front and no one in the last row could certainly contribute to a really wet nose dive!

 

[chelseabun76]

This is making me very nervous to ride it at the end of January!! If it's a cool day, I think we'll definately be either saving it for a different day, or scratching it all together. We don't plan on park breaks to change clothes... Or, just sit closer to the back if it's a nice day?

 

[jeanico2000]

This is making me very nervous to ride it at the end of January!! If it's a cool day, I think we'll definately be either saving it for a different day, or scratching it all together. We don't plan on park breaks to change clothes... Or, just sit closer to the back if it's a nice day?

I certainly wouldn't skip it if I were you; just ask to sit in the 3rd row, where I imagine you should be fine! It's such a wonderful, classic ride!

 

[DebbieB]

I rode it in October, there were 3 adults in the front row, I was on the left. My left leg did get splashed but I wasn't soaked.