Pirates at Disneyland

It seems like it has been forever, but Pirates of the Caribbean is now back open!  I decided to visit the park on a whim, but I should have been more prepared for the crowds that came along with this grand event. 

A couple weeks ago, there was a red-carpet movie premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.  From what I understand, it was an amazing event and an even better movie!  I can’t wait until I get to see it in the theatre!  Along with the movie premiere, the namesake attraction re-opened after being closed for a few months. 

I’ve got to hand it to Disney.  They had everything so organized!  I was told to expect a 60-75 minute wait.  As I prepared myself for a long wait, I found out from a Cast Member that I was able to keep my stroller until a later point in the line.  As a mother alone with her 19 month old child, this was a GREAT relief!  If I had to spend that whole time in line with a toddler, without a stroller, I would have gone nuts!  As I stood in line, I passed the time by talking to others in line and by calling and bragging to friends to let them know where I was and what I was doing.  Boy, were they envious! 

Surprisingly, the line went extremely fast!  There was a point where I had to take my child out of the stroller and pass it off to a Cast Member who then parked it.  Great Disney service!  They even have valet parking with strollers!

The one sad thing about the updates that Disney made is that they removed the Fast Pass system from this attraction.  The nice thing about this is that now both sides are open for all guests.  For some reason, everyone tended to veer to the right line.  This left the opposite side (the left side) wide open!  The only thing, the left side has a little bit extra queue area.  The lack of people in the left side more than made up for it though. 

It seemed like no time at all before we were feeling the ice cold breeze from the inside queue area.  On this hot and muggy day, it was quite refreshing!  One thing that was added was a painting on Jack Sparrow on the left wall as soon as you walk inside. 

In just a few short minutes, we were at the front of the line.  We loaded the boat, and our adventure began!  For the most part, the attraction was the same.  It looked like it was brand new, well as new as it could with spider webs.  The music was new.  It was the music from the movie.  There was also a great new effect in the cave right before the battle scene.  It’s an effect that makes it look like you’re about to go right thru a waterfall.  Also, Barbossa is now the captain of the ship in the battle scene.  There was also some new dialog. 

The next scene was almost the same as well.  The man being dunked in the well is now being questioned about Jack Sparrow with Jack waiting just a few feet away.  The likeness to Johnny Depp is amazing!  Everything else is pretty much the same.  There are a couple more sightings of Jack Sparrow thru the attraction and a couple new things.  For the most part, the attraction had a great “spruce up” job.

When all was said and done, after waiting in line and going on the attraction, it had been LESS than 1 hour!  Leave it to Disney to exceed your expectations!

Stephne

antispambot(‘Stephne@mei-travel.com’)