POTC Johnny Refurb

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by MickeyLumbo

it kinda makes me sad that you aren't pleased.

Spoken like a CM who wants the guests to have the best experience ever each time they enter the park. Here's to ML. Would that every CM was like him.

[CoasterMatt]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

CM: Huh? What music was missing in the caves? Oh, and I know Davy tells (some guests) about a curse on the way back up .... but does he say anything about it as it's about to happen??

Part of the wonderful old music in the treasure scene was absent for nearly 30 years, according to press releases from the 97(?) rehab.

One of the Davy Jones projections does say "If you be brave or foolhardy enough to face a pirate's curse, proceed"

[Gemini Cricket]

I was really looking forward to a Davey Jones AA. That would have been cool. Moving tentacles and all that.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm cross posting this from the WDW Pirates thread, 'cause I posted it there and still want it as my response, but it belongs more to this thread.

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

As for the alterations as a whole, while I still find it an enjoyable ride, I fear that iSm may be right in that it has been altered to a point where it's lost its capacity to be a lasting experience. You just don't mess with perfection. There's a certain amount of tweaking that's fine to do (witness the continual improvement of the Auctioneer over the decades). Upgrade an effect or two, add a small, interesting element. But they can't lose track of what the essential elements are that make it a memorable classic. It's no coincidence, as iSm pointed out elsewhere, that two of the most beloved attractions in theme park history (Mansion and Pirates) share (or shared) the quality of having plausible sources for all the music and sound.

There's an undeniable difference in impact between "Holy crap, I'm in the middle of a pirate battle, all I hear is pirates yelling and cannon fire" and "Holy crap, I'm watching a Pirate battle, it's so exciting!" It's subtle, but there, whether the average guest is aware of it or not. There are thousands of theme park rides that people enjoy, but don't have the nostalgic power that Pirates has. So just because people are saying the still enjoy the ride doesn't mean that it hasn't lost that essential spark that made it ageless.

[€uroMeinke]

One of my Disneyfan coworkers saw Pirate on Friday with her kids and they loved it, thought the screen was really cool and can't wait to see the movie.

I would guess this is the reaction you'll get from most non-Disney geeks like us.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

I would guess this is the reaction you'll get from most non-Disney geeks like us.

No doubt. It remains an enjoyable ride. Only time will tell if it remains a timeless ride.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by MickeyLumbo

honestly, for several days, i waited with high hopes that you would report back that you loved the changes. it kinda makes me sad that you aren't pleased.

If it makes you feel any better, I still think the folks who do art design and set decoration are aces. The tavern, Captain's quarters, and treasure room are all top notch. These are great improvements, and the kind of "tweaking" that Ghoulish Delight referred to above. So were the big canon splashes added last summer.

I submit it is, in fact, the height of folly to radically change an attraction that has remained ultra-popular for nearly 40 years. And if you must change to keep things fresh - - always add; never subtract.

[innerSpaceman]

Ah, a Disney press release ... the height of integrity and factualness.


Sorry, in this case (as with the deleted Haunted Mansion dialogue), I will trust my own extensive personal experience of the ride since 1970. In all that time - till last week - I've never heard a smidgeon of music added back in. So, unless it was removed during the first 3 years....*




* not an impossibility: the Ghost Host dialogue that was just recently again removed from the Corridor of Doors was originally deleted in the early 70's, just a few years after the attraction's premier.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Ah, a Disney press release ... the height of integrity and factualness.


Sorry, in this case (as with the deleted Haunted Mansion dialogue), I will trust my own extensive personal experience of the ride since 1970. In all that time - till last week - I've never heard a smidgeon of music added back in. So, unless it was removed during the first 3 years...

Yeah, they're fudging - big surprise. Isaac could probably play you the specific bit of music, but, if I remember correctly, the slightly abbreviated "Scare Me" music was replaced with a more complete recording during the PC rehab.

I listened to a ride-thru recording on Window to the Magic dot com to get a better idea of why the new music additions don't work. Well, with the exception of the extended banjo picking, which I think works fine. It has to do with the split-personality of the ride now. Is it jolly fun adventure, or is it moody self-reflection?

Later on, when my brain isn't so hot, I'll try to expound. One thing I can point out, the new music in the Battle scene completely slows the rhythm of the scene, same with Downer Jack at the end. Remember how by adding music to Space Mountain the Imagineers made it seem as if the ride goes faster? In this case they've done the reverse.

Unhappy...unhappy...
Very very very very very
Very very unhappy

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

Unhappy...unhappy...
Very very very very very
Very very unhappy

Thank you, sir. Now I have 'The Producers' in my head...