Pirates: WDW vs DLR.

[lazyboy97o]

Option 3. Disneyland Paris.
Better than DLR's Pirates, which I didn't think was possible.

Agreed.

But that's so out of character for WDW to scrap bigger, more elaborate projects in exchange for scaled down ones. :shrug:

Do remember that after Roy Disney's death is when Walt Disney Productions started to head towards financial troubles. There was also the growing coaster craze and a young Imagineer who starting pushing for his part of the Thunder Mesa project to be a stand alone attraction that would cost less and get Disney more into the coaster game. In many ways Tony Baxter got his start by killing Thunder Mesa and the Western River Expedition.

 

[TP2000]

I agree the outside is great, but it's also surprisingly small and smashed between NOS (which, FWIW, barely resembles the real New Orleans) and Splash Mountain. Plus, the show building is just as visible in DL as it is in WDW.

You think New Orleans Square "barely resembles" the real New Orleans? Really? I find it to be one of the best examples of themeing and scene-making that Imagineering has ever done. It's certainly cleaner and fresher and better-kept than the real New Orleans, but it looks nearly identical to the place and time it represents.

So much so, that a candidate for New Orleans mayor five years ago got into big trouble when she photoshopped herself on a picture of a charming winding alley in the great city of New Orleans. Except it wasn't New Orleans, it was a picture of New Orleans Square in Disneyland, 1500 miles away.

Political Ad for New Orleans Mayoral candidate

It became a national story back in '06, and then it got worse for her when the story broke and her campaign's first response was to simply photoshop out the Disneyland trashcan over her shoulder.

It's New Orleans, honest! We removed that Disneyland trashcan!

Finally after a few days of national coverage, her campaign removed any reference to the New Orleans Square image on her website and her political materials. She didn't win the election. :lol:

If a citizen of New Orleans running for mayor can use a picture of Disneyland to represent her city, then Walt must have done something right when he designed and built New Orleans Square in the mid 1960's.

As for the Disneyland show building behind Haunted Mansion, I have never noticed it before from inside the park. I would love to try and get a glimpse of it; where do I need to stand to spot it? I'm headed to the park this weekend so I could take a picture of it and share it with everyone here.

 

[mp2bill]

It's pretty much common knowledge that POTC at DLR is about twice as long as the WDW version with more skeleton scenes, the swamp and 2 waterfalls. It's also well known that the WDW version has a better themed queue. What I would like to propose is, which version does a better job at telling the story? The swamp at DLR is used primarily to set the mood and also as a transition between the French Quarter of New Orleans Square and the rest of the ride. The waterfalls (while fun) are mainly used to bring the boats to a lower level to bring them under the RR tracks and into the show building. The skeletons (again, part of the fun), are used to help create the atmosphere and to prepare you for the main part of the ride. All of these elements are part of the fun and excitement and they all serve their purpose but they don't really add to the storyline of pirates attacking an 18th century Spanish colonial town. My argument is that while the WDW version is considerably shorter, I believe that it's a more clear, concise example of Disney story telling. The WDW queue basically achieves the same purpose as the swamp, skeletons and 1 of the waterfalls. Granted, a longer ride is more fun than any themed queue but the end result is achieved. Disney story telling.

I did not know this. However, now seeing that most people have voted for the DL version, that makes me want to go to DL all the more.

 

[tirian]

Nope, NOS is too clean. :lol:

 

[tirian]

Leota floats out at DL. Saw it two weeks ago. I just think it doesn't work very often. I WILL say that I think the seance room in DL is wayyy too bright though. It was too easy to see the wires for both Leota and all the instruments.

The more compact attic doesn't bother me, either. I think the phantom playing the piano effect works much better there in the attic than it does on the floor in the WDW version. That makes the attic a "push" to me.

Can't argue with your other points... Other than to say I think NOS looks JUST like NOLA to me. :shrug:

I know we're OT, but I've never seen theirs float. I know it's supposed to; it's just always broken.

TP, you can see the show building from the queue, almost at the same angle as in Florida. It doesn't really bother me, however.

—but yeah, DL's POTC is better.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

Since I haven't seen the Paris version, DL Pirates gets my vote also. If forced to choose, my preference would always be a longer and richer ride experience over queue theming. Queue theming is great and definitely serves to set the stage for the ride to come, but the ride is where it really counts.

I love NOS! It's one of my favorite areas of the DL park. Definitely a highly sanitized version of the original, but beautiful and completely charming.

 

[The Duck]

You think New Orleans Square "barely resembles" the real New Orleans? Really? I find it to be one of the best examples of themeing and scene-making that Imagineering has ever done. It's certainly cleaner and fresher and better-kept than the real New Orleans, but it looks nearly identical to the place and time it represents.

So much so, that a candidate for New Orleans mayor five years ago got into big trouble when she photoshopped herself on a picture of a charming winding alley in the great city of New Orleans. Except it wasn't New Orleans, it was a picture of New Orleans Square in Disneyland, 1500 miles away.

Political Ad for New Orleans Mayoral candidate

It became a national story back in '06, and then it got worse for her when the story broke and her campaign's first response was to simply photoshop out the Disneyland trashcan over her shoulder.

It's New Orleans, honest! We removed that Disneyland trashcan!

Finally after a few days of national coverage, her campaign removed any reference to the New Orleans Square image on her website and her political materials. She didn't win the election. :lol:

If a citizen of New Orleans running for mayor can use a picture of Disneyland to represent her city, then Walt must have done something right when he designed and built New Orleans Square in the mid 1960's.

As for the Disneyland show building behind Haunted Mansion, I have never noticed it before from inside the park. I would love to try and get a glimpse of it; where do I need to stand to spot it? I'm headed to the park this weekend so I could take a picture of it and share it with everyone here.

As a lifelong resident of New Orleans and the surrounding area, I can well remember this political fiasco. The candidate was a well known loon and was fired from her previous City Hall job for incompetence. One of the things that made people go was that the streets in the real French Quarter don't wind and curve like they do at Disneyland. They run straight in a grid. The cleanliness and trashcan was another matter entirely.

 

[TP2000]

TP, you can see the show building from the queue, almost at the same angle as in Florida. It doesn't really bother me, however.

Wow, okay. I have never noticed it, and I've never heard that ever mentioned before on any of the Disneyland websites.

I'm assuming you are speaking about the side queue switchback area, where the Railroad goes through the tunnel berm and beyond it somewhere is the show building. As shown here, looking due west from the queue and towards the berm and show building beyond.


Waiting in line at the haunted mansion by FrogMiller, on Flickr

Is there a specific angle you need to be looking at, or standing at, to be able to see the show building? I would love to try and spot it this weekend!

Back to Pirates, I found this layout of the two lower levels of Disneyland's version. This is from the first drop back to the lift hill, but it does not include the ride path on the top level of this three-level attraction.

http://www.dldhistory.com/2k9attract.asp?Page=3&Filter=Info&Ident=501

I love looking at stuff like that, especially for complex attractions like Pirates. Has anyone ever seen a similar ride map for the WDW version of Pirates? I couldn't find anything on Google.

 

[TP2000]

As a lifelong resident of New Orleans and the surrounding area, I can well remember this political fiasco. The candidate was a well known loon and was fired from her previous City Hall job for incompetence.

Hilarious! Thanks for the additional info.

I found an image that shows Ms. Butler's campaign ad, with the section of the alley she used from New Orleans Square outlined in the red box.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/15/disney_butler/

And yet you have to ask yourself "Where is she now?" A search on Google and Linkedin revealed nothing past her 2006 embarassing run for mayor. She has apparently fallen totally off the radar. Maybe she's still looking for that really clean alley in New Orleans?

 

[SeaCastle]

I suggest anyone interested in the DL vs. MK Pirates discussion to this article (it puts into words what I would like to say):
http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2010/06/case-for-florida-pirates.html

 

[AEfx]

I guess I'll be alone, but WDW's.

I've been told my whole life that Disneyland somehow has this vastly superior version, the same things you hear people in this thread saying. I wish I knew what ride they went on, because my experience was far different.

Yes, DL's is nearly double the length of time, but the majority of that is spent in empty caverns. The tiny portions that we don't have (the treasure room, for example), are nothing special (and that one, in particular, just gets weird because we see live pirates then dead pirates and then live pirates again?) and are so brief I don't think casual viewers would even know the difference.

Then you have the facades. I know that long ago New Orleans had some pirate history, but it still doesn't fit at all to me. Sacrilege, I know, but it's how I see it. It makes no sense whatsoever to enter this fine, southern mansion, go through a quiet bayou, and then go...on a pirate adventure? Then why didn't they call it, "Pirates of New Orleans"? It makes much more sense at WDW, where you enter a Caribbean themed area, enter a pirate bunker, and go on a pirate ride.

Other than the long six-minute stretch of nothing at the beginning (which I don't object to, but I do object to the notion that somehow it's a much better ride for it), there is the end - where your exit from this world abruptly parades you feet away from guests waiting in line to do the ride. It's not a huge deal - but it's always like deer in headlights, people don't know how to react on either side, LOL.

In addition, the sets at WDW are designed eerily similar, but because of the extra space afforded at WDW the canal is wider, and you feel like you are more in a body of water and not on a boat track as much. I found this effect at many Disneyland dark rides - you are closer to the sets, which is neat in one way (you can literally touch some stuff at Disneyland if you wanted), but on the other hand it feels more "epic" at WDW (I notice this most at the opening scene with the ship at sea, as well as areas like the transitions between the larger show scenes).

 

[Laura]

Other than the long six-minute stretch of nothing at the beginning (which I don't object to, but I do object to the notion that somehow it's a much better ride for it), there is the end - where your exit from this world abruptly parades you feet away from guests waiting in line to do the ride. It's not a huge deal - but it's always like deer in headlights, people don't know how to react on either side, LOL.

I have never thought of the beginning as a six minute stretch of nothing. In fact, it's my favorite part of the ride and includes the Bayou, the drop, the caverns, the little island with the crab, the ship in the storm driven by the skeleton, the tavern of skeletons, the skeleton in bed with the magnifying glass, the treasure room.... Not really "nothing".

In addition, the end includes the part with the fire and the wood beams that look like they could give way any second (my second favorite part of the ride), then the pirates shooting over your head with the "explosivo".

And I've always found the ending that goes back through the queue to be neato. Though you are right about the awkwardness of it. :lol:

 

[tirian]

I guess I'll be alone, but WDW's.

I've been told my whole life that Disneyland somehow has this vastly superior version, the same things you hear people in this thread saying. I wish I knew what ride they went on, because my experience was far different.

Yes, DL's is nearly double the length of time, but the majority of that is spent in empty caverns. The tiny portions that we don't have (the treasure room, for example), are nothing special (and that one, in particular, just gets weird because we see live pirates then dead pirates and then live pirates again?) and are so brief I don't think casual viewers would even know the difference.

Then you have the facades. I know that long ago New Orleans had some pirate history, but it still doesn't fit at all to me. Sacrilege, I know, but it's how I see it. It makes no sense whatsoever to enter this fine, southern mansion, go through a quiet bayou, and then go...on a pirate adventure? Then why didn't they call it, "Pirates of New Orleans"? It makes much more sense at WDW, where you enter a Caribbean themed area, enter a pirate bunker, and go on a pirate ride.

Other than the long six-minute stretch of nothing at the beginning (which I don't object to, but I do object to the notion that somehow it's a much better ride for it), there is the end - where your exit from this world abruptly parades you feet away from guests waiting in line to do the ride. It's not a huge deal - but it's always like deer in headlights, people don't know how to react on either side, LOL.

In addition, the sets at WDW are designed eerily similar, but because of the extra space afforded at WDW the canal is wider, and you feel like you are more in a body of water and not on a boat track as much. I found this effect at many Disneyland dark rides - you are closer to the sets, which is neat in one way (you can literally touch some stuff at Disneyland if you wanted), but on the other hand it feels more "epic" at WDW (I notice this most at the opening scene with the ship at sea, as well as areas like the transitions between the larger show scenes).

Good points. I respect your opinion. :wave:

 

[The Duck]

I suggest anyone interested in the DL vs. MK Pirates discussion to this article (it puts into words what I would like to say):
http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2010/06/case-for-florida-pirates.html

Interesting read. A fair and unbiased account of both attractions strenghs and weaknesses.

 

[AEfx]

I have never thought of the beginning as a six minute stretch of nothing. In fact, it's my favorite part of the ride and includes the Bayou, the drop, the caverns, the little island with the crab, the ship in the storm driven by the skeleton, the tavern of skeletons, the skeleton in bed with the magnifying glass, the treasure room.... Not really "nothing".

To clarify, I was talking about the actual, literal stretch of nothing in the endlessly long caverns. There are several minutes with nothing but walls to look at. Again, though, I don't object to it - it's nice and relaxing - *but* people always comment on the ride length being an indicator of how much better it is, and when such a large portion is made up of that, I question that judgement.

The bayou is very neat - I'm a sucker for indoor-as-outdoor dark ride theming. And I greatly enjoyed the Blue Bayou (the only $100 meal I have paid for and felt more than OK with paying it). Although, the view of the restaurant from the attraction does kill a tiny bit of the immersion from the ride vantage point, I have to say.

I think the base is, like I said in a different way above, New Orleans just doesn't translate well to "Pirate" for me - I understand some of the history, but it's not a connection most people would make today (which is why I wondered above why it wasn't named "Pirates of New Orleans" LOL).

In addition, the end includes the part with the fire and the wood beams that look like they could give way any second (my second favorite part of the ride), then the pirates shooting over your head with the "explosivo".

And I've always found the ending that goes back through the queue to be neato. Though you are right about the awkwardness of it. :lol:

It's not that it's not "neat", but it just seems a bit abrupt to me - you come out of Pirate land, then back into the lobby of the pristine southern mansion, and then back to the bayou.

Good points. I respect your opinion. :wave:

Well thanks. And I respect those of the (many!) people who disagree with me. I just feel the need to post a differing view when this comes up, as my whole life I've felt like I was "missing out", and when I finally got to ride (and I did quite a few times), I liked the ride, but I was expecting something VASTLY different, which when you break it down it really isn't.

To be honest, I find the whole argument a wash - I think they are *both* equally good attractions. They both have things slightly different than the other, plusses and minuses on both sides. I just disagree with the concept that we got the "readers digest" version, when I find ours feels much more epic to me in many ways than it's counterpart.

 

[Laura]

To clarify, I was talking about the actual, literal stretch of nothing in the endlessly long caverns. There are several minutes with nothing but walls to look at. Again, though, I don't object to it - it's nice and relaxing - *but* people always comment on the ride length being an indicator of how much better it is, and when such a large portion is made up of that, I question that judgement.

I think you may just have exaggerated it in your memory. For the past 2 years I have been riding Pirates about 2-4 times a month and felt that what you were saying was not accurate. Just to confirm what I believed to be true I watched a ride-thru video. After the Bayou scene you reach the talking skull and then go down the hill into the caverns. The caverns section "with nothing to look at" lasts exactly 30 seconds and then you go down the second hill, after which more scenes begin.

So for whatever reason, a scene that is only 30 seconds long out of an over 15 minute long attraction has caused you to feel negatively about the ride. I think 30 seconds is "just right" and it's a really neat scene with a lot of detail.

 

[tirian]

To be honest, I find the whole argument a wash - I think they are *both* equally good attractions. They both have things slightly different than the other, plusses and minuses on both sides. I just disagree with the concept that we got the "readers digest" version, when I find ours feels much more epic to me in many ways than it's counterpart.

The show scenes and queue are certainly more epic in Florida, and the staging is better executed. Both versions have individual perks, and I agree with simply accepting both for what they are.

 

[LilSuzy]

I knew they were a little different, I had to go back and watch both home movies just to see HOW different.....ahhh I think DLR is slightly better