I'm speaking from more of a Disneyland viewpoint here, but having been on Disneyland's un-pc, pc, and Deppized, as well as Disney World's un-pc, pc, and Deppized versions, I can honestly say I'm not a fan of the current movie overlay. In some ways, it doesn't bother me as much that it was done at Disney World, as I've always considered it a Reader's Digest version of the real thing in Anaheim, so any changes might be considered as improvements. I don't mind that they replaced the skull and crossbones with Davy Jones (WDW), only because I am so used to hearing X. Atencio do the voice for it at Disneyland. I don't know who did it for Disney World's version, but in my opinion he just didn't sound "piratey" or menacing enough. Fortunately, they did not eliminate the X. Atencio skull and crossbones at Disneyland. Next, I dislike that they took an iconic Pirates of the Caribbean figure - the pirate on the ship - and replaced him with Barbossa. In addition, they changed his speech so that the focus of the attraction is now ALL ABOUT JACK and the key. It's no longer just general looting and pillaging. While some may see that as an improvement, I don't. The story was fine as it was.
The Depp after the well dunking is fine, as it didn't cause anything else to be replaced. I've been on it about seven times and the conclusion I came to is that Disney stuck him there just for the, "Look it's Captain Jack!" effect that seems to erupt from all the people in the boat I've been with. From that point forward, though, it then seems to become a game to people to make as much noise as possible when they see another Jack. I guess my idea of fun is to silently enjoy things and let others do the same. I know, I live in a strange world.
The Depp in the barrel doesn't thrill me, either. One of my earliest memories of Wonderful World of Disney episodes involves a ride-though of the original, where the woman holding the candle featured in the scene prominently. So, I see her as iconic as well. Additionally, yet again they've changed the fat pirate's speech so now he's yammering on about Jack Sparrow's key and gold instead of the classic speech about the woman he's trying to find (or the obnoxious pc version about food).
The final Depp is the only one I truly like at Disney World. Why? Because the original scene just never worked for me. The dudes were tied up already, so the pirates were shooting at...who? Other boats coming in the room maybe? Not at each other (like at Disneyland). Now there's just Johnny Depp sitting in the gold room talking away. And that works for me. If they'd limited him to this location and maybe the other one after the dunking scene, and left out all the stuff about hunting for Jack and his key I might have been okay with it. At Disneyland the change in the final room isn't as natural. There are pirates on either side of you, shooting at each other and a precariously dangling barrel of explosives. Then, you come to what looks like an outhouse that has Johnny in it singing with the gold. It feels slapped in, and doesn't work at all for me.
Let me just say I'm not against plussing/upgrading/improving an attraction. Everything needs TLC from time to time. Replacing the AAs with state of the art ones (but maintaining the same character), painting, cleaning, general maintenance, and a better beginning and ending to the Magic Kingdom's Pirates are always welcome. Major changes that alter the storyline and remove classic characters entirely are not amongst my favorite things.
And that's my 95 cents' worth. Bash away.
