Yes. Yes, I did. :D

From what I read on Mice Chat, Disney is having the same type of problem with the walk around character.

What other live action stars have they had walk around characters of?

Mary Poppins and Bert. I'm sure there are others.

Technically speaking, Cruella de Vil could be said to qualify.

No one has ever for one minute thought 'Glenn Close' when seeing Disneyland's Cruella deVil. She's the cartoon Cruella, through and through.

I'd also wager that not many think 'Julie Andrews' when seeing Mary Poppins. It's hard to relate that to Johnny Depp because I wasn't visiting Disneyland on any regular basis in 1964. Perhaps people did associate her strongly with Andrews at the time. If so, I think it's as much of a bad show distraction as the 'Johnny' character is today.

Good point that Disney Daniel raised. With all the other ride atrocities that have captured and tortured my attention, I never questioned the value of me thinking 'Johnny Depp' at every single AA appearance, and even the painting on the wall.

In the movie(s), with a performance being played, I can - at times - think 'Captain Jack Sparrow' ... but the robots have never, for an instant, made me think of anything but 'Johnny Depp.' I've never even heard of anyone calling them the 'Jack Sparrow' AAs. Even from the people who love the changes, I have heard universal reference to the new 'Johnny Depp' characters in the ride.


Interestingly, the robot who only barely resembles Geoffrey Rush is being referred to as "Barbossa" by everyone I've heard. We'll have to wait till next year to find out how the new robots are regarded, but so far they are certainly being called the Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom AA figures.


Bad, bad, bad, bad show. In fact, no show at all.

Thus I said technically. Which is correct for the question asked. They've also at times had Tom Sawyer and Becky characters which have only been presented in live-action form in Disney movie. But again only technically correct since they weren't intended to invoke any specific movie role.

Out of curiosity, since you hate it so much, will you no longer go on it?

Well, they've also had Davey Crockett and Zorro, and I'm sure those were meant to reflect Disney characters. But when the characters also have a "real" counterpart - either literary or biological - I think guests' perceptions are not channeled towards specific actors.


As for ever going on Pirates again ... I'm very sad to report that - - once the spate of riding with newbies is over, it will no longer be a ride I suggest riding. I will never be a stick-in-the-mud and refuse to board if that's a group's choice. But I will never be the one to encourage it.

Likewise with Haunted Mansion.

Hmmm, the two Disneyland masterpieces off my ride-desired list. That's a crying shame. If Space Mountain really becomes unavailable at night next year, I'm going to seriously be questioning my desire to go to Disneyland at all. As most of you know, I'm not really there for the rides ... but changing my three absolute favorites into experiences I'd rather not have puts a damper on the whole Disneyland experience for me.

Bah, sad, sad, bah!

Um, iSm... Space Mountain is gonna be "Rockin'" during the day too - they solved the problem of switching over. :(

That's exactly where I find myself now. Pirates is the only attraction on my must-do list when I'm in the Park.

Was.

The space in the Park that used to be home to a magical time machine is now host to a movie set from 2006.

BTW, still haven't seen the movie, but I feel like I've seen it five times already. The overpromotion of the thing is exhausting. Is anyone else getting weary of seeing Johnny Depp's mug peering out of everything from cereal and fruit rollup boxes to film development kiosks?