Looks who's finally back from the dark side. ;-) Greetings everyone and welcome back to oft delayed "Two Minute Drill." I thought for sure I'd be able to update this thing more often, but time just isnt on my side. Pretty cool update today so lets get to it shall we?
Dead Men Tell NEW Tales..UPDATE!!
With a little bit less than a month to go, the changes to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction at Disneyland have finally solidified. If you dont want to know what happens on the ride go ahead and skip this whole section. Otherwise read on and see what awaits ye when the ride opens June 26th.
(A Special thanks to Al Lutz from Miceage for the following info)
As visitors to the ride enter the building they'll find the familiar queue and flume with boats floating towards the loading dock. The fiber optic treasure map installed over a decade ago has been removed and replaced with a more natural beach setting. (The notoriously leaky roof in this area has been fixed, after plumbers finally traced the water to a leak in the terrace fountain in the Disney Gallery above.) The Laffite's Landing loading area itself has a few extra props placed about, and a redesigned wheelchair area on the unload side, but will look quite similar. As you leave the dock, try to look up to get a peek at the control tower that's been newly outfitted with a wall of video screens connected to dozens of cameras that can now zero in on just about every corner of the ride.
As the bateaux float out into the bayou, the ride will begin just as it has for thirty-nine years. Although sharp-eyed visitors will likely sense the lighting and audio changes made throughout the attraction as they float past the Blue Bayou restaurant in two feet of water. They replaced over 250 audio speakers throughout the entire multi-level facility, and with the newly cleaned up and digitized audio tracks WDI has been tinkering with, the chirping crickets and croaking frogs coming through all of that new equipment have never sounded better.
The trip down the first big twenty-one degree fifty-two foot drop into the caverns is much the same, but as the bateaux round the first bend and head towards the second thirty-seven foot drop deeper into the caverns, the new lighting will be most appa. All of the lighting throughout the ride was replaced, and original 1960's incandescent fixtures were swapped out for much more advanced LED fixtures. The considerable work done throughout the ride on just the lighting and audio alone is impressive enough. But it's when your boat splashes down the second drop that the physical changes begin to make their appearance.
New props and shipwrecked boats abound in the caverns area. The Hurricane Scene, the Crew's Quarters Scene, and the Captain's Quarters Scene have all been refreshed and updated with new props and eye candy. But it's when your bateaux approaches the famous Treasure Scene that the movie makes its first big appearance.
This scene has been reworked entirely, and the actual treasure chest used in the second movie will now take up prominent residence there.
As the bateaux pass farther into the caverns, the impressive new Davy Jones mist screen effect takes place directly above the heads of passing riders below.
Originally, this was also going to be the location for a new effect with an audio-animatronic skeleton perched in the rocks above the flume, but that addition was shelved at the last minute. The timing of the new Davy Jones mist screen was more important here to help set up the plotline about to unfold, and so the skeleton was scrapped for now. He may show up in a future rehab somewhere else in the ride, perhaps next year, as WDI also wants to install a new treasure map scene in the queue
As the bateaux float out of the caverns and into the Battle Scene, here's where the movie really makes its presence known in the old ride. The Wicked Wench remains and looks just as it has for 39 years, after Jerry Bruckheimer refused to allow WDI to use the Black Pearl name or signature dark look on the pirate ship in the ride.
But while the ship is cosmetically unchanged, the dialogue here between the pirates and the animatronic defenders on the fort has been completely reworked. The original pirate captain himself has apparently retired, and in his place is a strikingly realistic animatronic version of Captain Barbossa.
As you read this WDI will have wrapped up the computer programming of this new Barbossa figure as he now shouts out lines like "It's Captain Jack Sparrow we're after, and a fortune in gold!" The new cannonball effects and new props floating in the water round out the changes to this scene.
The Dunking Scene will also look slightly different. New audio tracks are here as well, with the the pirates demanding the mayor to tell them the whereabouts of Jack Sparrow. Just beyond this scene, where there used to just be some barrels and open space, Johnny Depp himself makes his first appearance in the ride. Peeking out from behind two young giggling lasses, the first of three animatronic Jack Sparrow figures makes an appearance. Jack Sparrow doesn't have much to say here, but the sight gag the Imagineers have cooked up here is quite telling of some of the changes further along in the ride. Let's just say once you see where Mr. Depp has placed his hands on these two young ladies as he tries to get a better look at the mayor you'll realize that any hint of political correctness from 1997's infamous rehab has been thrown out the window
The famous Auction Scene is found immediately to the left of the new Sparrow figure, and the audio has been reworked here as well with a few more Sparrow references thrown in.
As the bateaux float into what used to be called the Chase Scene but was re-titled the "Gluttony Scene" for the '97 rehab, riders will notice the chase is back on and the food is gone. The additional animatronics from Epcot's old World of Motion ride that were added in '97 have been removed, and a couple of the original turntables with pirates chasing the girls have been put back in. Some of the girls will be carrying treasure and jewels as they run from the pirates but the contrived "pirates are hungry" plotline from ‘97 has mercifully been scrapped. Depp shows up again in this scene, popping up out of the barrel in place ofthe unfunny cat that had been there since '97, as the pooped pirate in front of him talks of the hidden treasure.
The Burning City Scene is mostly unchanged, although this is one area where all of that new audio and lighting equipment is really going to make a big difference. The Jail Scene will play out mostly as it always has, but the original plan to have the final Depp figure located across from the jail has been shelved in favor of having Sparrow star in his own new scene near the end of the ride.
As the bateaux float through the burning timbers and out into the Arsenal Scene, more of the 1997 additions have been removed. The original 1967 staging of this scene has been reinstalled, but with new lighting, gunfire and audio effects. Those pirates added in '97 who were trying to pull the treasure up the ramp have been removed. In their place is a vault type structure housing a brand new show scene that has been constructed on the left side of the up ramp. As the bateaux are pulled up the ramp, riders will be able to see inside this treasure vault and discover that a giddy Sparrow has found the town's treasure and evaded the pirates once and for all.
Also the entire New Orleans Square area by "Pirates" will be themed to "Pirates". There will be a pirate themed show and band playing at the "French Market" restaurant and a pirate themed show taking place on the "Sailing Ship Colombia".
There will also be a "Jack Sparrow" character walking around the area and mingling with guests.
According to Al, they've lined up quite a few actors who have really "nailed' the part of Jack Sparrow and they cant wait to unveil him to the Disneyland public. I guess we'll find out on June 26th.
Superman Returns..Sooner than expected!!
Word came out today that Warner Bros has bumped up the release date "Superman Returns" to June 28th. Originally scheduled to open on the 30th, Warner Bros hopes to take advantage of the extra days and bumping up that opening gross a few extra million. Speaking of millions...
X-Men: The Last Stand? (Maybe not)
The third chapter of the mutant franchise shattered the record for 4 day openings taking in a whopping $122 million. For the three day Friday-Sunday period the film took in $103.1 million, making it the 4thbiggest opening of all time.
All these figures beg the question: Will FOX really pull the plug on such a lucrative franchise?? When asked about the possibility of a fourth X-Men movie, Fox's distribution head Bruce Snyder would only say "We'd start another one right now if we could."
Many of the actors arent signed for another movie and Halle Berry has stated this would be the last X-Men movie she would make. However now that her role as "Storm" has been expanded, maybe she'll change her mind? Without giving too much away, the ending for "The Last Stand" left open the possibility of another run. All I can say is STAY TUNED because in Hollywood, money talks and you can never say never!!
OK, that'll do it for now. Hopefully I can get back on track with this thing. Take care everyone and see you next time.
DQ
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