Was Magic Kingdom's POTC damaged by the movie refurb?

[ChrisFL]

The script is the worst part....or was, until the new boats were put in.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Count me in as another who wishes the Jack storyline never existed in the ride.

Now here's a couple of fine Pirates.

Depp as a Pirate.... Naaah, doesnt work for me either.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I imagine the pitch for integrating Johnny Depp went something like this:

One: Jack Sparrow needs to be louder, angrier and have access to a time machine. Two: whenever Jack Sparrow's not in the ride, all the other characters should be asking “Where’s Jack Sparrow?”

 

[FettFan]

The problem with adding the film franchise to the ride is that the uber-realistic Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush animatronics don't mesh well with the cartoony pirates dreamed up by Marc Davis.

It's like putting the more realistic Maelstrom polar bear onstage with the Country Bears.



Also, as mentioned above, they give the ride an unnecessary plot to explain why Jack Sparrow is suddenly there. The original ride didn't have a real "plot" to it...just pirates sack a town, get drunk, and burn it down.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I disagree. I like the Jack Sparrow audioanamatronics and thought they were very well done. I thought there were other movie tie-ins, especially in the DL version, that worked very well. And enough of the original attraction was preserved on both versions to make it feel almost "classic but updated".

The original was only preserved if attractions are nothing more than a collection of isolated objects. The less narrative driven experience was completely ditched for a narrative with no internal consistency. The Jack Sparrow figures, while impressive in isolation, are a total departure from the specifically crafted aesthetic.

It does what it is intended to do, ties it in with something the younger generation is familiar with. Everyone loves Jack Sparrow. How well that fits in to the original theme of the ride, that can be debated. I never really thought about it, and didn't read too much into the 'story' of the ride. I just like taking it in.

Some of the old AA are getting pretty dated (the chickens, the chase scene around the light post, etc..), but that lends to the charm and nostalgia of the experience.

Yes, but similar to the reason that many articles have mentioned that any new Star Wars attractions will be based off of the new movie rather than the originals, many people won't know that the movie was based on the attraction, not the other way around..

Playing to ignorance is never a wise idea.

 

[coachwnh]

I was taken aback when I experienced POTC post-movie refurb. I felt that more than anything, the experience was damaged by the movie changes. It really hit home when I went on DL's. It almost seemed like the movie changes were intended for DL's and then shoehorned into the MK version.

For instance, the Davy Jones waterfall actually works as a neat curtain between the caves and bombardment scene in the DL. I actually feel it could be argued that this is genuinely an improvement (although I don't exactly approve of the removal of the original dialogue). It seems to now be the point where you boat travels back through time and space to the Caribbean. At MK, the waterfall scene just kinda comes out of nowhere at the start of the ride and really has nothing to do with anything. I guess MK version never had this time/space travel thing going for it, so what exactly is it all about in the MK version?

Now, the grotto scene has been altered to focus on mermaids, which really has nothing to do with the ride and feels totally out of place. It's completely baffling. So now, you set sail in the MK version and encounter a bunch of random stuff for no apparent reason that in no way sets a proper tone. I don't know, maybe someone else can justify all this and convince me why this is better than hearing the classic "Yo Ho" and being warned of rough waters by that talking skull guy? Not as great as DL's bayou/cave transition, but awesome in its own way.

The DL version received a new barker bird that has now become an iconic part of the experience. We all know that WDW already had one, which was one of the most classic and memorable things in the entire resort. Did they figure that because WDW already had one that no longer fit their re-imagining of the attraction, they should just ditch it? Terrible.

Jack Sparrow was integrated into the ending of the attraction with the treasure room scene at DL, replacing what had become a new scene added in the 90s of pirates created from EPCOT Center World of Motion characters. So basically, it replaced a scene that was never an original part of the ride anyway. At MK, they literally removed the entire original finale of the ride depicting drunken pirates with the treasure, one of the unique elements of the MK version. The attraction now has less Audio-Animatronics than when it originally opened.

At DL, the Davy Jones sayings were integrated into the ending where you go up the waterfall and I have to admit, while I'm generally a purist, it's kinda cool. The music and Bill Nighy dialogue is neat. At MK, they used this for the exit ramp and it just kinda comes off as...dumb, for lack of a better word.

I don't know. Maybe I'm off my hinges. I feel like these refurbs were an opportunity to really improve MK's inferior version, but they've only made it worse.

Not sure I'd go into as much detail comparing the two (or know as much to do so), but I will say that the WDW version is good while the DL version is amazing!!!!

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Riding DLP's Pirates is like watching Hollywood Boulevard emerge without the BAH - you only really realise how stupid the IP-add-on is until you experience it without again.


As for the OP, yes, it is an ever more painful problem that everything seems designed for DL nowadays, and then shoehorned into WDW, where it is then ill-fitting at best.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm not entirely opposed to the movie changes, despite being a purist. I can't deny that numerous additions to the DL version are actually pretty cool, such as the barker bird, the version of "Yo Ho" heard in the grotto and the waterfall curtain. I genuinely am a fan of these additions. Really, DL's version was the fortunate one, despite having all the dialogue changes and movie characters (Mr. Rush's voiceover and awesome laugh during the bombardment scene are a guilty pleasure, the original Captain being an unfortunate victim of the refurb). MK's version got screwed big time between the removal of all the AAs and ruining the cave scene and ending.

 

[englanddg]

It almost seemed like the movie changes were intended for DL's and then shoehorned into the MK version.

That's because...they were.

I'll have to do some digging, but I watched a video interview with people from Imagineering talking about the refurbs coming to the WDW POTC a while back and they kept referring to layout and themes that are only present in the longer DL version.

The retrofit was meant for DL, and it WAS shoehorned into MK.

 

[unkadug]

The script is the worst part. Basically all I can hear in the ride now is "blah blah blah Captain Jack Sparrow blah blah blah Jack Sparrow blah blah Captain Jack Sparrow." It's as if they're afraid we will forget it's PotC unless every fifth word they throw in a "Jack Sparrow."

Also, the ride now awkwardly attempts to blend realism (the original show) with supernatural fantasy (mermaids).

Addition of the first Jack animatronic, with no changes to script, I would have liked. It's an excellent animatronic figure and doesn't call too much attention to itself. This would have subtly tied the attraction in to the films while allowing it to maintain its own integrity.

I disagree with your premise that the original show was based upon realism and therefore the mermaids do not fit. You are at Walt Disney World. There is a certain degree of "suspension of disbelief" that is required from everyone in order to appreciate the attractions for what they are.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I disagree with your premise that the original show was based upon realism and therefore the mermaids do not fit. You are at Walt Disney World. There is a certain degree of "suspension of disbelief" that is required from everyone in order to appreciate the attractions for what they are.

Suspension of disbelief is not a license to just toss in everything all at once. Great creative works are not just well put together, but also well edited.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I'm not entirely opposed to the movie changes, despite being a purist. I can't deny that numerous additions to the DL version are actually pretty cool, such as the barker bird, the version of "Yo Ho" heard in the grotto and the waterfall curtain. I genuinely am a fan of these additions.

Yes, despite being a cranky purist myself, I do accept that rides are not necessarily set in stone. Changes can be for the better.

The three changes you mention here are improvements despite being a movie tie-in, all three could've been installed unrelated to any POTC movie.

Shame that DL got a barker bird, while ours was removed. Which then neatly brings me to one of my main frustrations - that the MK has gotten worse over the years, while DL has improved. Nowadays, there is a no question the DL Pirates experience is the superior one. Whereas I, for one, would claim the reverse was true for the first two decades of the MK Pirates experience, from the bird to the sound of steel drums to fountains to an entire miniland.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

As I recall, MK never received the neat (although constantly broken) shadow fighters on the tower at the end of the bombardment scene, or the Spanish soldiers in the fortress?

Oh yeah and I also hated how they ripped out the original marquee on the fort at MK and turned off the cannons.

 

[unkadug]

As I recall, MK never received the neat (although constantly broken) shadow fighters on the tower at the end of the bombardment scene, or the Spanish soldiers in the fortress?

Oh yeah and I also hated how they ripped out the original marquee on the fort at MK and turned off the cannons.

If I recall my history correctly....Spanish Forts never had marquees as they were not really "into" inviting visitors inside to see the entertainment.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's beautiful! (except the movie flag)

 

[StarWarsGirl]

As I recall, MK never received the neat (although constantly broken) shadow fighters on the tower at the end of the bombardment scene, or the Spanish soldiers in the fortress?

Oh yeah and I also hated how they ripped out the original marquee on the fort at MK and turned off the cannons.

I'm not quite sure why they did that. It might be that Disney doesn't want anything "fired" in the direction of guests. The Imperial Walkers at Star Tours no longer shoot either.

But not sure why they removed the marquee. Or why they took out the talking skull warning you about the drop from the MK version but left it in the DL version

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If I recall my history correctly....Spanish Forts never had marquees as they were not really "into" inviting visitors inside to see the entertainment.

I don't think they had talking birds or steel drum bands out front either.

 

[copcarguyp71]

It's like putting the more realistic Maelstrom polar bear onstage with the Country Bears.

DON'T GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS....THAT BEAR IS UNEMPLOYED NOW YOU KNOW!!!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

They're using the polar bear as the basis for a giant Olaf. Can't let it go to waste!

 

[unkadug]

I don't think they had talking birds or steel drum bands out front either.

They would have been inside the fort.