The LA Times chimes in on the recent changes to Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s classic Pirates Of The Caribbean attractions. For some reason this quote from an Imagineer working on the attraction changes really bothered me.
"I cannot imagine how anybody can see this attraction and walk off and say, ‘Boy, they did something they shouldn’t have,’ " said Disney Imagineer Kathy Rogers, who is overseeing the ride’s creative changes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida. "It really has strengthened the classic."
This quote completely discounts the opinions of the fans who think the changes won’t be any good. Stuff like that seems downright rude and is exactly the attitude that ruffles the fur of Mickey’s biggest fans, the parks guests. Hopefully that quote was taken out of context.
I do agree that fans should wait and see. And I can’t wait to see, that’s for sure.
It might see like a rude dismissal of fan fears about the updated attraction but it is also important to remember that the fans are worried because they haven’t seen the attraction. The imagineer could very well be right. Everything I’ve read from those who have SEEN the changes (which, admittedly isn’t too many people) has been nothing but positive.
It seems a bit shabby for people to continue to tear down something that they haven’t even seen yet.
I love Pirates and I’m not worried at all. To the contrary, I’m quite excited. I don’t know about WDW, but at DL there is never a queue of more than 5 minutes, which is nice if you don’t wish to wait long, but not good if it means the ride isn’t pulling in the guests. Unless the new additions are brightly colored cutouts of plywood and cardboard I expect a positive reaction.
I find it odd that they feel the need to tweak the POTC attraction to be more in-line with the film. The film did not have decades of “fan equity” when it was first conceived (unlike the attraction), so why did they not write the film to be in-line with the ride? The ride actually tells a clear story, unlike that disaster of a movie. Don’t get me wrong, Depp was a great comic relief (but the film itself was horrible).
Cramming a johnny depp doll into POTC is just as bad as Gilbert Gottfried taking over the tiki room.
Disaster of a movie? I think that’s a bit unfair. While you may not have enjoyed the movie I’d hardly call it a disaster. It was a runaway smash hit that shattered all expectations for box office take. Honestly? I found it quite enjoyable. It wasn’t remotely ACCURATE, but it was fun…which was the whole point of the movie.
And, much as I LOVE the ride, I’ve not had to wait in line for it for YEARS, even on the hottest of days when it is certainly the BEST place to be in the WDW MAgic Kingdom. That said, maybe it DOES need a bit of a facelift. On the bright side, the pirates aren’t chasing food anymore. From what I’ve heard they got rid of the politically correct creap that they put in a while back.
Its hard to sit back and not complain about changes being made to rides like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, but I’m certainly willing to wait until I SEE the changes before I judge them.
A Pirate’s Life for Me
Current PR on Pirates, here excerpted from a LA Times article and posted on The Disney Blog, suggests the corporation is trying to be proactive in promoting the ride’s changes this time around:
Kathy Rogers is right. What would guests, who haven’t seen ANY of the changes and are going strictly on speculation and a misguided sense of ownership of the attraction, know about the upcoming changes?? I love POTC, but it’s about time this tired attraction got a facelift! What better way to do it than tying it to one of Disney’s best movies in a decade?
I was lucky enough to attend the movie premiere at Disneyland and got to ride the newly revamped attraction. Being something of a purist myself, I was annoyed when I heard the news of the coming changes. How dare they further tamper with a classic?
The character of Jack Sparrow appears three times during the ride: First, you find him surreptitiously hiding behind some dress-maker’s dummies just beyond the dunking-of-the-mayor scene. Instead of being forced to reveal the secret location of the town’s treasure, the poor water-logged mayor now has to divulge the wherabouts of Captain Jack Sparrow.
The animatronic Jack Sparrow is eerily lifelike and perfectly captures Johnny Depp’s facial expressions and mannerisms.
The second time you see Jack is in the infamous “lecherous pirates” scene where the pirates chase the women around. The whole revised PC “gluttony” angle is mercifully abandoned in favor of more, “Where be that scoundrel Jack Sparrow?” The pot bellied pirate drones on and on about it when all he has to do is turn around and see Jack hiding in the barrell right behind him.
The third and final time is at the very end of the ride before your boat makes the climb back up the waterfall. In place of the pirates struggling to pull a large haul of treasure, Jack Sparrow sits like a king reclining in his chair amid a room full of golden dubloons and other assorted treasure.
Other noticible changes include Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa replacing the time honored classic Paul Frees pirate aboard the pirate ship sacking the town and a thin layer of waterfalling mist with Davy Jones’ image projected on it which warns you of dangers ahead.
There were other changes far more subtle that some fans might miss them completely. The addition of the chest of Aztec gold from the first movie to the Skeleton Pirate Loot Scene is one and actual projected lightning strikes behind the Skeleton Pirate at the ship’s wheel is another.
Other classic scenes were mercifully left untouched: the jail scene, the burning of the town, the wench auction, etc.
Of course, this is just Disneyland. I’m not sure what changes have taken place at Walt Disney World.
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