Major 2015 Pirates of the Caribbean Refurbishment Watch/Rumor.

[ToTBellHop]

The Disney maintenance person must have found the tool box. Back up.

He's usually at Animal Kingdom keeping all the whozits and whatzits spinning on Primeval Whirl. That's priority #1 at WDW.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I think the main issue it is not used, even for executive level is one of safety, the landing approach was from the South West which had them flying right over the Monorail Beam. I am not sure if their is a HeliPad on property for execs or not.

There used to be a heliport over by epcot somewhere or was where art of animation is at now. I can't quite remember. But, I do remember seeing aerial pics of it. Basically a big green circle of grass with some paint markings.

Yes, the monorail also added to the decline. My point about MCO dooming it was mostly in the fact that roads and volume improved at MCO and detracted from the need of WDW STOL. Not that MCO did not exist when WDW was being developed. I did not expand on that idea enough I guess. MCO was been there long before Disney World. It was an Air Base in the 1940's hence MCO for McCoy Air Base or Naval Base. Then after the war it was deeded to Orlando. The military did this all over to the smaller air fields. Another instance the MLB Melbourne International Airport. It used to be a Naval Base as well. Also, I too believe that it was more of an early necessity of construction and running WDW early on. Similar to how they used the current epcot beam path as a construction road during epcot construction so as not to infringe on the tourist traffic, etc. on world drive. Then once they were done they installed the epcot beam in its place. However, I do not believe the construction road was paved.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

not really, since MCO was the stop for the short hauls that were to land at the STOLPort. what killed them is the increased volume of Aircraft landing at MCO BECAUSE Disney was right there.

My reference to MCO was not expanded enough. I did not mean the creation of MCO. I was implying the volume increase. MCO was there long before Disney World existed as it was McCoy Air Base/Naval Base before the government sold it to Orlando after WWII. Same thing happened in Melbourne with their Airport. Was a Naval Base then sold to the City. The government did this all over the country to reduce surplus property, etc. I think that mostly the march of time, the advancement of roadways, monorail beams killed it. Plus the fact that it wasn't needed much after Disney World construction finalized and whatever point in time Disney said, ah we don't need this. For the guests I think it was somewhat of a fad.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

We rode PoTC a few weeks back on the 14th and it was not that backed up at the end during unload. Our boat was fully loaded with all rows filled. The mermaid projection in the water was working but timing was off a bit I think. It showed before and after our boat so it was hard to see well, even though I knew what to look for. I think it would have been better if it showed right beside the boat as boat drifted past. there were several points along the boat path that it was making some bad scraping sounds and I thought for sure that we were going to bottom out and get stuck. There were also some turns that were kinda bumpy too, more so that usual. The air cannons in the water were not working as well, that took some of the fun away from the ship scene. I have rode in past times when the air cannons were working so well that my hair was blown on the back of my hair. So much so that it gave the impression that a cannon ball just flew by my head literally. Pretty cool effect. Other than that, everything was ok. Oh, and the speedramp was not working either. A bit of an adventure in itself to walk up a speedramp that is turned off, with wet shoes and kids in tow.

 

[wogwog]

In other news, PotC is presently down again. 12 Noon.

 

[ToTBellHop]

In other news, PotC is presently down again. 12 Noon.

I think we should shift our approach. Perhaps people could post here during the 5 minutes of every Thursday when the ride is actually in operation.

 

[wogwog]

I think we should shift our approach. Perhaps people could post here during the 5 minutes of every Thursday when the ride is actually in operation.

Hope the mechanic is working today and has the tool box.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I thought I might correct a couple of things based on my understanding of what you have said.

Similar to how they used the current epcot beam path as a construction road during epcot construction so as not to infringe on the tourist traffic, etc. on world drive. Then once they were done they installed the epcot beam in its place. However, I do not believe the construction road was paved.

They couldn't have used the current Epcot beam area as a construction path because the Monorail was up and running long before the construction of Epcot was completed. You could ride the Monorail over to the platform at Epcot and see the different stages of construction that was going on. If you mean how they got to the site before the rail was completed, then that is possibly correct.

The mermaid projection in the water was working but timing was off a bit I think. It showed before and after our boat so it was hard to see well, even though I knew what to look for. I think it would have been better if it showed right beside the boat as boat drifted past.

I don't think that timing is really possible with that scene due to the fact that the boats are not connected to anything that guarantees their position. They run on water currents and are free flowing through most of the ride. There is no guarantee that they will show up at the mermaid scene exactly in time with the continuous projection loop. The scraping you heard is more likely the sides of the boat hitting the guide rails along side it. The water in the ride is deep enough that water would have to be spilling over the sides of the boat before it would hit bottom. But, that said... Yes, the old girl is in dire need of a facelift and some corrective surgery.

 

[celluloid]

It is fairly easy to hide motion sensors that can be triggered. Pretty common in even small scale attraction these days.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Hope the mechanic is working today and has the tool box.

I heard he left it at Primeval Whirl. He will be back on Friday.

 

[betty rose]

Hope the mechanic is working today and has the tool box.

He needs a big tool box. Rode in the back row last week, which was already full of water, went down the little hill....it was so unstable , but no boats backed up on us.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I thought I might correct a couple of things based on my understanding of what you have said.

They couldn't have used the current Epcot beam area as a construction path because the Monorail was up and running long before the construction of Epcot was completed. You could ride the Monorail over to the platform at Epcot and see the different stages of construction that was going on. If you mean how they got to the site before the rail was completed, then that is possibly correct.


I don't think that timing is really possible with that scene due to the fact that the boats are not connected to anything that guarantees their position. They run on water currents and are free flowing through most of the ride. There is no guarantee that they will show up at the mermaid scene exactly in time with the continuous projection loop. The scraping you heard is more likely the sides of the boat hitting the guide rails along side it. The water in the ride is deep enough that water would have to be spilling over the sides of the boat before it would hit bottom. But, that said... Yes, the old girl is in dire need of a facelift and some corrective surgery.

Yes, It's true it would be hard to get the timing just right. Maybe some infrared sensors could help it though. Maybe when the boat goes past a certain point it triggers the sensor which could start the projection. I dunno, just my thoughts. Mostly likely not worth looking into. There are bigger problems that need to be addressed first for sure.

 

[ABQ]

OTPN threw Pirates condition under the bus today.

"This ride is seriously in need of help. During our ride (no worries, we had used FastPass+) we noticed an unsafe amount of water inside the boats, bad light positioning throughout the ride, reflective metal pieces on the ceiling, special effects not working, outdated audio... The ride needs a two-year refurbishment."

Near the bottom of this page http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/03/magic-kingdom-update-spring-break.html

 

[ToTBellHop]

Only indirectly related, but as the original POTC just turned 48, Disney released this video of Walt talking about Pirates. I had never seen it before. Absolutely incredible. And those models!
Perhaps they can show this the the crews working on our refurb and say, "Make it look like this!" Where are my sharks?

 

[Prince Thomas]

Only indirectly related, but as the original POTC just turned 48, Disney released this video of Walt talking about Pirates. I had never seen it before. Absolutely incredible. And those models!
Perhaps they can show this the the crews working on our refurb and say, "Make it look like this!" Where are my sharks?

That was absolutely amazing!!!!!

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

"Pirates of the Caribbean got its restraints stuck"

 

[DisneyJayL]

Wasn't able to ride this year!

 

[montyz81]

My reference to MCO was not expanded enough. I did not mean the creation of MCO. I was implying the volume increase. MCO was there long before Disney World existed as it was McCoy Air Base/Naval Base before the government sold it to Orlando after WWII. Same thing happened in Melbourne with their Airport. Was a Naval Base then sold to the City. The government did this all over the country to reduce surplus property, etc. I think that mostly the march of time, the advancement of roadways, monorail beams killed it. Plus the fact that it wasn't needed much after Disney World construction finalized and whatever point in time Disney said, ah we don't need this. For the guests I think it was somewhat of a fad.

Weren't there regular flights from MCO to the STOLport? That was initially the way they wanted to move people from that MCO to WDW. There were flights in there from other surrounding airports as well. Once the monorail right of way was built, it made it too dangerous to fly in there because the monorail was too close to the end of the runway. To much of a risk of an accident.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Weren't there regular flights from MCO to the STOLport? That was initially the way they wanted to move people from that MCO to WDW. There were flights in there from other surrounding airports as well. Once the monorail right of way was built, it made it too dangerous to fly in there because the monorail was too close to the end of the runway. To much of a risk of an accident.

Regular flights is not really an equivalent to high capacity or a primary means. Disneyland had regular helicopter service, but it was never more than a luxury for a few.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Only indirectly related, but as the original POTC just turned 48, Disney released this video of Walt talking about Pirates. I had never seen it before. Absolutely incredible. And those models!
Perhaps they can show this the the crews working on our refurb and say, "Make it look like this!" Where are my sharks?

If you can manage to find it, the entire episode that this is from is on the Walt Disney Treasures Disneyland USA dvd. I believe it's in the Disneyland 10th anniversary special. There's also an extended section on Haunted Mansion where Walt and the ambassador explore models and effects tests. It's a pretty facinating watch.