I COMPLETELY disagree with that assessment. Why does EVERYTHING have to appear as a "cashing in on a fad" opportunity to a lot of you?
They made the changes because the people wanted them and because the majority of the guests, who don't know that the attraction came before the film, were constantly asking "Where's Jack Sparrow?", "Where's Barbossa?", etc. And trying to explain the thing about the ride coming before the film wouldn't have worked very well. Those guests are not stupid, you know.
IMO, the PotC attraction is now better than ever with the enhancements. They original look and feel of the ride was not compromised in any way, shape or form whatsoever. WDW's version, which has always been quite lackluster compared to the DL original, especially needed the upgrades to keep the people coming back for more.
I hope you'll understand that now.
I hope you'll understand I'm not stupid, either. I've heard all these arguments, but I believe you're giving people far too little credit if you really think first time visitors have never heard of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction before. Come on. It is probably the supreme example of what an attraction can be. It has been around for over 40 years and unless you are completely ignorant of Disney or pop culture in general, and didn't grow up watching Wonderful World of Disney then I think you'd probably have at least a clue that the attraction was first. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Why should the attraction NEED to conform itself to a currently popular movie? Why must there be a Jack, Davy, or Barbossa in it? Were there not other pirates in the world? The attraction was still popular enough to not need these so-called enhancements.
Look, I'm usually all for improvements to attractions (ie. an improved AA, updated sets, a new GENERAL scene), if indeed they are improvements and they don't compromise the storyline of the original attraction. The adding of the movie characters has changed the general storyline to a specific one - Barbossa wants to find Jack and the key to the treasure. The whole attraction is now about that. Yes, all the major scenes are still there, but the scripts of the speaking pirates (except for the ones either in jail or just generally carousing) are now all talking about finding Jack. The original story was really less of a story and more a general scenario. It required you to use your imagination to fill in details, and consequently, it made for a much better attraction. Now, it's all handed to you on a platter. It's like the bride scene at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Before, the backstory wasn't given...you had to use your imagination to know what had happened with the bride. Now, she flat out tells you she's an axe murderer. Do people really need to be beat upside the head like that? Again, I feel this is a case of not giving people enough credit.
I will give you that I don't care as much that they made the changes to Disney World's Pirates. Like you, I thought that version was seriously lacking, and it was one of the few that actually disappointed me when comparing it to Disneyland's. Jack actually seems to fit into that last scene, and it makes more sense than that dopey final scene that used to be there (who exactly were those pirates shooting at?).
So, while my initial response to you was a bit glib, I still think it's accurate. You said it yourself in your post: "guests...were constantly asking 'Where's Jack Sparrow?,' 'Where's Barbossa?'" If this is true, and if that's why they did it, they were bowing down to a fad...a fad that may fade in the next ten years.
So, while you're entitled to your opinion about the changes, I'm entitled to mine as well. If they had just added Jack in as one of the characters and not called an extreme amount of attention to him - ie. one of the pirates in the jail cell, etc. - I would not oppose this change as much as I do.
He had a great time, but so many of his comments are negative. And they're written in a way that almost seems as if WDW went out of its way to disappoint him. 
