My experience was decidedly less negative than Tom Morrow's. I rode it yesterday 15 minutes before it closed for the cast member party. It did break down a couple of times, but from a show perspective the ride is in immensely better condition than it has been in the last couple of years. Comparable to (and in some ways better than) the last great rehab it had in 2013. I did notice the following issues though-
- Mr Bluebird in the final scene is currently stationary
- There was one missing animatronic frog next to the riverboat
- The mouths of the two fountain turtles in the Laughing Place weren't moving
- Some of the organic plant life around the curve past the first lift hill is dead
Other than that, the ride is looking gorgeous. And i'm saying this with the full agreement that the above issues aren't acceptable and should have been addressed long ago. All the other animatronics were present and moving VERY smoothly and snappily (including the hopping Brer Rabbit). The fur and clothing is also looking very clean and new. Most striking is that the ride has received a thorough fresh coat of paint inside and out. Everything looks extremely vibrant and colorful again like new, beautiful. And I had no issues whatsoever with the sound, I could hear everything perfectly fine. I'm usually pretty sensitive to poor quality and balancing (it was one of the many horrible issues with the ride prior to its 2013 rehab). Even the vehicles were in fantastic shape, the rubbery padding in particular which is often caked with scum and mildew is new and clean.
This is not to excuse the issues I mentioned above. They are still unacceptable problems, ESPECIALLY after coming out of an extensive rehab. But there was only one non-moving animatronic alongside the simpler turtle figures whose mouths weren't moving. Which is better than before the refurb, which had a static bluebird AA, several missing chicken AA's off the Riverboat and a missing hopping Brer Rabbit. The ride is in much better condition than before, it hasn't looked this good since 2013 (and the Bluebird has been a recurring issue since that rehab as well).
It was Pirates of the Caribbean that had serious issues for me yesterday. Rode it at about 2:15 PM or so and the entire Auction scene was completely stationary, not one single animatronic or anything was working, all frozen. The talking skull was also not working (sound or motion). I told the cast member at disembark, she said she'd tell maintenance (hopefully so, because THAT was unacceptable and noted by plenty of other guests as well).