Pirates of the Caribbean visible from Disneyland Paris railroad?

[jimmay]

To those that have ridden the Disneyland Paris Railroad from Frontierland to Fantasyland, what is the extent of the Pirates tunnel the train passes through?

Pirates will be in refurb while I'm there on March 11th, so it looks like the feature on the Frontierland-Fantasyland route will be the only option to glimpse any of the attraction. I've watched youtube footage of the line, but, as is typical of any dark attraction, all I saw was black. So is it a glimpse into the attraction proper, or, like the grand canyon diorama, is it simply a staged showcase separate from the ride itself?

And if it is a glimpse into the attraction, does that mean it will be closed/walled off like the Blue Bayou is while Pirates is being refurbed?

Any help you can provide would be appreciated. I'm somewhat disheartened at the attraction's closure, sad that one of what may be one of my only opportunities to see an original, Sparrowless, Pirates-chasing-women version like I remember from the DL trips of my youth, (plus enhanced, sword-fighting AAs, and swinging characters), is dashed.

[Sgt. Tibs]

i feel bad for you jimmay. i wouldn't even entertain the idea of going without pirates being open. easily the best ride ever :-)

as for your question, from the railroad you do see into the actual ride but it's a quick glimpse of stalactites and running water in the back of the treasure room. you do get to see stuff you can't in the ride, like extra treasure, which is quite cool but not much else.

as for whether this view will be obscured or not during refurb i couldn't tell you. Olivier is a regular, he may be able to help you out.

good news about the refurb though. hopefully everything will be as good as new when i get there to ride it 10 times a day :-)

[davewasbaloo]

The ride through is similar to the ride through Splash Mountain from the train. At DLP you have the pirates first, then the skelleton caves. From this one you can see the skelleton on the heap of treasure.

I understand that they usually block off the view during refurb, but I am not sure. The two attractions we always ensure are open are PotC (because this is the best version in the world) and Phantom Manor.

[jimmay]

Thanks, guys, that's what I was looking for.

I consider Pirates and Mansion/Manor must rides every trip as well, but this time I had to secure the time off well in advance, and choose between Paris in March or May and Universal Orlando in March or May for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Potter is highly unlikely to be ready by March, so Paris got bumped up to March and Orlando to May.

As depressing as it is I'd be more let down if Phantom Manor were down. I'm a life-long Mansion fan and have been looking forward to riding the Paris western version since I first read about it well over a decade ago.

With the pirates/train ridethrough, it sounds like even if its not closed off the water's likely not to be running. Oh well.

[Laura678]

While we are on the topic of POTC, while I was in DLP last week and on POTC i noticed that the hat pirate was missing his hats!

[10/6]

(little off topic as it is off shore)
Nearing the end of 08 in DL the Hat Pirate lost his footing on the boat and ended upside down in the water for several days. Maintance threw a black sheet over him in the water until he could be removed and repaired. It was fantastic! LOL