The newly refurbished Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean ride has opened, rebuilt to include elements from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise (most notably, several appearances by a Johnny Depp animatronic in Jack Sparrow drag). It sounds like everything's gotten an update: better robots, better sound, better soundtrack, and what appears to be a pretty painless integration of the film with the ride. I can't wait to see it once I've moved to LA (Just so long as they don't try to merge the Haunted Mansion ride with the unwatchably crummy film adaptation).
Overall I am very, very impressed with how this rehab turned out. I was concerned about the Depp-ification of the ride, but I think they handled it just perfectly. There's certainly new stuff to see, and new faces spouting new dialogue, but it's all meshed perfectly with what has always been there.
The removal of the 1997 rehab figures and scenes is also a breath of fresh air. Aside from the Politically Correct junk that gone jammed in there, those World of Motion figures never quite gelled with their environments in my opinion. The lone exception being the conquistador guys they added to the Fort around '00. But the new stuff and new figures really meshes nicely with the original surroundings.
WDI added quite a bit of new props and eye candy. And someone in Imagineering must have gotten a really good deal on wood barrels and boxes, because there are dozens of barrels and boxes everywhere now from the loading area on through the entire ride. Maybe the townspeople were going to open a 19th century version of The Container Store or something? Who knows what WDI was thinking with all the barrels.
Link to video ridethrough, Link to Disney Blog review
(Thanks, JayF and W Elias Disney!)
Update: Worth1000 photoshopper Larry sez, "I predicted the Johnny Depp/Pirates Ride thing 3 years ago."
Update 2 Here's some better video — thanks, Gary!
