Pirates of the Caribbean R.I.P.

[Kevy Baby]

I can't help but laugh at the chicken little (and no, this was not meant as another movie tie-in) attitude I see in this thread. So they're making a couple of updates. Did you expect the ride to remain exactly unchanged in perpetuity?!? That is NOT what Walt wanted. Said so time and again.

Jeez people. Get a freakin grip!

[HydroGuy]

I think you're missing the chronology here. In the 60's there was a great ride developed about a group of Pirates who sacked a Spanish town. In 2004 the Disney Marketing Machine made a movie loosely based on this classic attraction. Now the ride will serve to promote the sequel to a movie that is based on the very same ride. I love rides based on movies (like Indy). What smells of a marketing ploy is when original rides are altered to fit contemporary movies in order to sell Johnny Depp t-shirts.

I guess I am missing something here. What is the big difference whether the ride or the movie came first? Both are building on the other. I think making movies based on the rides is a great idea. Are the marketers going to use that? Of course, that's their job. DL has a long history of modifying rides (see Space Mtn). Usually it is for the better. Why is it bad if they modify a ride because of a movie, but OK if they modify for any other reason?

[Alchimedes]

Wasn't Treasure Island made for this also in tribute? This sounds like a movie "Tie-in" ?

[NoWakeZone]

I am going to have to agree to disagree. Adding more pirates will not be a problem; the more pirates the better. If you don't belive this to be true, then you don't like pirates as much as you thought you did.
As far as Lindsay Lohan's castle, not a bad idea!

[FI183]

^ it might be red, white and blue(like Herbie!)

[CaraGoCeltica]

^^^that would be awesome...

[jorek]

Though I imagine the "rumored" Pirates movie-makeover could be done tastefully, you've got to wonder, why?

I mean, Pirates is already a huge draw for the park. I was actually put off by Al's remark that adding Jack Sparrow and Barbosa will "make it fresher and more relevant to 21st century audiences." POTC is already many peoples favorite ride, a zillion people ride it every day, and last time I checked, all of those people live in the 21st century.

Will adding these characters really make the ride better? I don't see how they will. They might not make it worse, but with no real guaranteed chance for improvement why bother? Why not just spend that money sprucing up some of the rides aging effects, or adding more decor to some of the more empty caves?

The film worked in a way because Johnny Depp was an outside observer to what was otherwise a straight pirate story - the story of Orlando Bloom's character and all of the other pirates could have been a 60's Disney adventure film that the ride was based on 30 years ago... But what really made it click was that you had these two giant personalities (Sparrow and Barbosa) sort of riding on top of it commenting on the whole thing, taking it all in and living it up while also being amused by the entire thing.

That works great in the film, but the thing is, in the ride, that role is already filled - by the riders! We don't need a Johnny Depp fueled outside-the-story-but-still-loving-every-minute-of-it commentator running along throughout the ride, because that's already what we're doing, pretty much literally, in our boats. I can't see the presence of Jack Sparrow on the ride doing anything but cheapening the experience, and tipping the magical "observer but still participant" balance that makes the ride so great too firmly over to to the "observer" side.

It will really take you out of the ride more than help draw you in, and that's a terrible thing to do, given that's why the Pirates ride has such a huge allure to begin with!

[Tedi Bara]

one Johnny Depp audio animatronic is fine, but several, NO!!! They should just fix up all the costumes and mechanical problems, pirates is a classic not to be messed with

[travelmom]

Walt's dream is not dead. He would have done this.
If it is done right (not cheaply), it will be a good thing.
Jack Sparrow and Barbossa are pirates. They totally will fit in and bring the ride into the movies as the movies are in the ride. I don't think it will matter if people in the future knows who Depp is. Many people don't know that the pirates and HM animatronics are all Disney people either, and it just doesn't matter. And Disney movies that are classics last a long long time. I still watch my old ones today. So the association will be there. Walt used his park to promote his movies, and his television show to promote his park. This is exactly what Walt would do.
I just hope they get a new roof, so it doesn't cave in on the whole thing!
You know what I would like to see, is when they re-open it, have the pc scenes put back to the original way. I think people get that pirates chased women, and that we aren't promoting that by depicting a fantasy of a period in history.

[Sallah]

It amazes me how so many who posted here are for changes to a classic attraction like Pirates (which is fine the way it is in my opinion) but as soon as someone talks about changing Sleeping Beauty Castle to prevent it from falling apart everyone freaks out. Enhancing or preserving an attraction is one thing. Changing something that already works fine to be trendy is something else. Time will tell I suppose.

[mickeyandme67]

Too bad WDW's version is the one that really needs it, since I think it's a joke compared to the original. Something like this seems like a better fit for Florida anyway since not as many people would be shouting the sky is falling.

Absolutely. Well said. This movie tie-in plays SOOO much better in Florida!

Disneyland's POTC was the last ride Walt supervised even if he didn't get a chance to ride it. I think that these changes, reeking like WDW's Tiki Room New Management, are a lame, corporate attempt to sell more DLR tickets and get mileage out of another new ride that in actuality is just an overlay of an old one. They are not trying to make the POTC attraction more contemporary when there is NO NEED to do so. Have you ever heard anyone complain about Pirates needing a makeover? I haven't. This idea, in my opinion, SUCKS!

[pixie chick]

i think just adding him to the jail scene would be ok. i don't like the idea of him popping up several times throughout the ride, though. i, too, liked the scary night-time version idea that was floating around. that seemed like it would make both sides happy.

[FI183]

You guys are still disagreeing with this refirb? Hello? Walt would have loved this idea, he wants things like these to happen in all the rides, and besides, its just a few changes, you guys are still acting like they are redoing a whole ride. And btw the new refirb would attract a lot of ppl(especially girls, who'll jump off their boat to hug the jack AA), and they are fixing mechanical problems, costumes etc. too!

[thejoshualee]

ok... settle down. Pirates is not going to be ruined any more than the PC overlay did. we may not like what they did, but we still like the ride.

Don't fear change, there's a great big beautiful tomorow just a dream away. Learn to adjust.

[mickeyandme67]

Oh... on second thought maybe it will be great. I mean the Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones animatronics are so first-rate that every time I ride Indy I think that he is acutally there! So life-like! So real! Such a good animatronic!

C'mon people!

And don't tell me what Walt would want. You don't know what Walt would want. I don't know what Walt would want. The current Imagineers certainly don't know what Walt would want. You have an opinion so state it. Don't embelish it with a fake endorsement from a genius that died almost forty years ago.