I dont understand the difficulty in fixing minor issues such as the 'ping' sound you hear when the bullet strikes the cantina sign in the auction scene. I havent heard in over a year. I would think its just a speaker on a timed loop. All in all, the little effects not working dont ruin the ride, but it sure is noticeable when youve grown accustomed to them.
Worst part of our last ride on POTC was not the shabby conditions but the family in line with us who were at extreme pixie duster apologist level. Ride went for down for appx 15 minutes right as we got to the loading area. When they announced it was resuming people started clapping and cheering. The wife says to the husband, "why do these people get upset, its an old ride and it breaks down". They kept explaining to the their son how this was the best ride and he was gonna love it. So as we round the first bend where you see Black Beard in the fog, the dad says, "get ready, Michael, here comes the pirate in the fog!" Of course it wasnt working and the kids asks, "where is it"? The mom is all like, errr, "hes not there, but you can hear him, isnt that cool !!???" My wife nudges me and giggles a little.(this woul become a trend for the whole ride) Next they are telling Michael, "look for the mermaids!" and again, theyre a no show. The mom says to Michael, "usually they are there, its really cool!" Between the mermaids and the lift hill the mom and dad must have spewed out at least ten more, "look Michael, isnt that cool", seriously, it was at least ten times in 20 seconds and it was starting to get annoying.
We go down the hill and of course they have to ask the kid, "wasnt that really cool!!!??? Then they decided to start explaining EVERY scene and event as we approached it, and they were very loud. "Thats the mayor, the pirates are trying to get him to talk", "Theres Jack Sparrow hiding, isnt he cool!!??", "look at the cool pirates". I was starting to wonder if the parents had a limited vocabulary because "cool" was the only adjective they seem to use. By the time we reached the auction scene I just couldnt take it anymore. I was ready to jump ship and risk being crushed by the boat. It was laughable at first but the ride just became horrible having to listen to these two constantly telling their kid "look at that", followed by "thats so cool". I dont even think the kid was enjoying it because he had no time to soak anything in. I just began saying out loud to my wife, "look honey, its water, isnt that soooo cool", "look, theres a pirate, its so cool!!!" I know for sure they heard me but I dont even think my extremely sarcastic and mocking tone was understood because they just kept on trucking and berating poor little Michael with their excitement to use the one adjective in their arsenal of descriptive words, "cool"
Even after getting backed up for several minutes at the treasure room scene and the kid asked why we were stuck the mom just explained "this is how the ride is and people get upset for no reason". Oddly enough, nobody in the boat was complaining yet she felt the need to educate her son on the issue. Of course as we unloaded the parents had to explain to him what was happening and did it with a great big "that was so cool, now we have to get off the boat". The mom was mumbling all the way up the exit ramp about people who get upset about the effects not working and that they should just enjoy the ride. It was strange because nobody on the boat, including us, said anything about effects. I seriously wanted to ask them if they were members of this website but I just shook my head and laughed as my wife said, "I know you cant wait to tell all the other doom and gloomers about these two". Ill always wonder how little Michael will turn out as he gets older. Hes got an uphill battle with those two leading the way. I fear that the word "cool" will be a trigger for some type of dangerous behavior in his adult years. Catcher in the Rye may come in handy.
(apologies for the long story but I had to suffer through it, and now you did too)
