I still don't 'get' the basis for the argument that Johnny Depp ruined PotC. If anything he gave the ride a few more advanced AAs and updated it so younger fans might recognize what's going on. I guess you really can't please everyone.
So, you're saying that pre-Depp PoTC was hard for younger fans to recognize what was going on? I don't think that stance holds much water. PoTC was one of, if not the most popular rides in all of WDW for
decades before Captain Jack was added. I agree that the same refurbishment brought some better technology to the ride, but they could have done that without Depp's AA.
I think the refurb was mostly a wash when the positives and negatives are weighed. The tech is great to have, but I do think adding Jack and Barbosa added too much story to the ride. You're no floating through vignettes of some random pillaged town in the Caribbean, you're following a really weak storyline of Barbosa hunting Jack, with Jack randomly ending up in the throne room, speaking some pretty odd (and awkward) dialogue. In essence, before the addition of Jack the ride was the world's coolest diorama that you got to float through. Now, it's more like a storyboard that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's still Pirates, and I still love it, but the movie tie-ins bug me because in
this instance, no story was better than a crappy story.
Also - I really doubt PotC (the movies) are going to be timeless enough for the movie specific tie ins to make sense in 10 years. Could they change the ride again by then? Sure, but I wouldn't put money on it.