Chapter 5:Dead Men Tell New Tales!

After making about a 10 minute journey total from our resort, we arrived at the MK gate! What a beautiful sight it was, to finally arrive at a WDW theme park. We pulled up to the a gate ready to pay the 9 dollar parking fee (What a scam...). Anyway, we paid the money, and received a parking ticket in exchange. After that, we were heading into the MK parking lot, held in the TTC, or Transportation and Ticket Center. We followed all of the guides to our final destination, a spot in the Donald parking aisle. We all jumped out of the car, and went over to the tram stop. I wasn't familiar with the parking configurations in the MK parking lot, so I couldn't tell if the park was crowded or not. Anyway, we walked over to the tram stop, which was luckily waiting for passengers when we arrived. We hopped on, and enjoyed a quick, but enjoyable ride to the TTC. Hey, it was our first ride of the trip. When the tram makes a tight turn into the drop-off area, the instructor told everyone to put they're hands up as if they were on Space Mountain :P. What did I do? Hang on for dear life. If I put my hands up, I'd be kissing my WDW vacation goodbye, because I would be falling out of that tram so fast I wouldn't know what hit me. Anyway, we quickly arrived at the drop off area, and climbed the ramp to the Monorail station. Luckily we grabbed a Monorail that was Express to the MK, so we didn't have to stop at the Contemporary on the way there. Ah, the WDW Monorail. I love this thing. I just love the views and the enjoyable ride that it gives. It really makes you feel like you are at Disney. Anyway, the Monorail ride was quite short, because it was an Express. One thing that is noteworthy...you receive and EXCELLENT view of the Space Mountain structure from the Monorail, perfect for taking pics. I don't have one myself..but I do have a few others. Anyway, we finally arrived at the MK, where they had some kind of odd Chip and Dale recording go over the intercom. Everyone rushed off the Monorail and to our first stop in the MK, the all important security booths. Luckily, however, security was very quick and efficient. They checked both of our bags, and we made our final stop before entering the park...the turnstiles! The MK is trying out a new system from the rest of the Disney theme parks (at least in Florida). You must place your ticket through the slot, press down your index finger, and wait for your card to shoot out. One thing about this confuses me though...my brother and I had the same ticket (Mickey on it). So how would we know who's ticket was his or mine? I guess we would just have to wait and see. Anyway, the system is quite quick, but it really makes you think... Anyway, I didn't think anything of the sort when I entered the MK. I was just ready to ride. I waited long enough. We passed under the Main Street Train Station (where I picked up some maps for my collection) and onto Main Street, U.S.A. You won't fine a more accurate replica of an old style main street anywhere else in the area. Main Street is simply charming, from its small shops to its old fashioned food stalls to its classic trolley trains. It is unbelievable how picturesque this small strip of land can be. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to take it all in. Main Street was completely packed. I think it was either almost time for a parade or a parade just let out. Anyway, we made our way through the huge masses of people to the heart of the Magic Kingdom, a.k.a "The Hub", right in front of the "dressed-up" Cinderella Castle. This is where one of the most important pieces of information for guests just entering can be found, the Billboard of all wait times in the park. As soon as we arrived at the board, I checked it out, and to be honest, I was quite surprised. The wait times were not bad at ALL. The longest waits were Splash and Space Mountain, along with Peter Pan, which are expected before entering the park. Anyway, with 20 minute waits for the all-new Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion, we opted to hit the right side of the park first. Since Pirates would be the first attraction we would hit that everyone wanted to do, we decided to hit that first!

I had read about the new "additions" to the ride before the trip, and from my understanding, it seemed to be a very successful rehab in incorporating the characters from the movies. So, I was pretty excited to see what they really did during the near 6-month rehab. After walking through the sidewalks of Adventureland, we came to the ride, which has all-new decorations out from, most notably the mast of a pirate's ship with a big black and red sign saying the ride's title, "Pirates of the Caribbean". We walked over towards the entrance, expecting around a 20 minute wait, as the billboard in the front of the park had promoted. This particular ride has two different queue lines, but they all lead to the same place, just opposite sides of the station. It's been known that the left queue is ALWAYS shorter than the right. However, as we were walking towards the entrance to both queues, we saw a large amount of people walking into the left queue, so we ducked right and decided to try that queue. Unfortunately, this ended up being a poor choice on our part. Once we walked through the people-counter for the ride, we walked through the dim-lited and dark queue line until we came to a halt in one of the queue's numerous hallways. The queue for the ride is pretty nicely themed, with some random barrels and crates (full of rum, of course :P), torches illuminated with the light of fire, and overall just a prison-y feel to it, which is really cool. Even though we were in almost complete darkness, I took out one of my park maps and started observing it. Even though the MK is a pretty easy park to navigate, I hadn't been in the park in 3 years. So, I observed, and we-familiarized myself with the park itself. Our wait time, the depths of the POTC queue was about 15 minutes, in other words, we were on the "dock" in 15 minutes. Throughout waiting in the queue, I was extremely excited. It was our first official ride of the trip, and the additions to the ride really excited me. Once we arrived at the dock, we saw two operators who were definitely enjoying their job. Decked in pirates costumes and fake swords, and pointed the swords at park guests saying "what you looking at?" lol. I was waiting for one of them to do that for me...considering I had an answer for them. "You", I would simply say lol. Anyway, another operator asks us how many, and we told them. We were assigned the last two rows, which I was particularly happy about, but what can you do? We all sat down, and got ready for the ride in front of us. As I waited for the conveyor belt to send us gilding into the water, I looked around the station and realized how awesome it was. I had never realized how detailed it was. Anyway, the moving of the conveyor belt caught me off guard, and we were on our way. Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for me...

We were finally on our voyage through the seas of the Caribbean. The ride starts off very dark, and we rounded the turn, ready to take in the brand new effects added to the ride, the Davy Jones waterfall effect. We could hear his voice as we rounded the turn in near darkness. Finally, we encountered the waterfall. This thing seriously looks extremely real. The first time we rode it, meaning this ride, I thought we were going to get drenched by this huge waterfall. Well, this thing tricks you. There is no projection on the "screen" until you get close enough. Finally, the sea-monster named Davy Jones, appears on the waterfall. And what does he do? He laughs. After a big old laugh from Mr. Jones, he begins to speak, and repeats the classic line, "Dead Men Tell No Tales." I've learned that he says different things each time, which is pretty cool. Anyway, once he's done chit-chatting, there's only one way to go, through the water fall. As we went through, we were greeting with a mist-like effect, which was very awesome. It was really an awesome addition to the ride, and an amazing ride to start the ride off. Anyway, after the amazing effect, we were on our way through some sort of dark caverns with rock-formations. After a short trip through a cavern, we moved on that seems to be Isla de Muerta. The beaches are covered with plentiful ruins of old ships, and even some bare skeletons that have washed up on shore. On the other side, we see a jolly old skeleton steering a broken wooden ship. The wind sounds are now kicking in, adding more to the effect of everything being deserted, expect for the remains of some jolly old fellows. After we move on from the beaches of Isla de Muerta, we are surrounded and complete darkness. We continue to move closer and closer to a Skull and Crossbones dead ahead above us, and then, we drop. Whee! We sailed down what seems to be a 20 foot drop or less. Hey, it isn't much, but that isn't what this ride's about!After our nice, leisurely drop, it's time to meet up with our good friend Captain Barbossa. He seems to be having quite a battle on his hands. He's on his ship, decked out at sea, with multiple cannons firing from his ship to the fort next to us. The fort, which is being attacked, is firing back at Captain Barbossa, who is making orders from his ship. And we are all in the middle of it. Water is splashing everywhere from the cannonballs falling in the water, and explosions are heard when the ship or fort is hit. The Barbossa animatronic is very realistic, but looks a little differently than he appears in the movie (In a different outfit, mainly). This is the big battle scene of the ride, and it is pretty intense. What I love about this scene is how you're in the middle of it all. If you're lucky enough, you may receive a nice spray of water when the cannonballs hit. Even though Barbossa continues fighting and giving order, we move on, on the hunt to find Captain Jack Sparrow. He should be around here, somewhere...

After the fort scene, we move on into a small pirates town, where the big news is Captain Jack Sparrow, who was seen running through the small pirate town. However, where is Captain Jack. As we move on, we see him hiding in a wardrobe of women's dresses. Nice hiding spot, Jack. This is our first glimpse at how amazing these AA's really are. It really seems like Mr. Depp is standing there, acting in a theme park attraction. His look matches perfectly as in the movies, from his clothing to general appearance. The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe how realistic it was. It really is a sight to see, and an excellent addition to the classic ride to give it a little more flavor and appeal. Anyway, moving on, we notice numerous pirates doing what they do best, drinking rum, of course! Yep, this scene consist of pirates ravaging the town with rum bottles in hand. After taking in these classics AA's, which I believe all stayed the same, we pass under a bridge and into the next scene, where CaptainJack but be sighted again. However, we first see some more classics parts to this ride, including some drunk pirates chasing some girls lol. After enjoying some more classic AA's, we come upon an old drunk man, sitting down on a crate. He's explaining the story of Jack Sparrow. Now irony kicks in. As we pass by, Jack pops his head out of the barrel behind the old drunk guy and stares at him...and then at us. It was a little creepy, but awesome. Once again, these AA's are something you're not going to find anywhere else, except Disneyland of course. After our second to last encounter with Jack, our voyage continues into the next scene. The next scene is what I like to call "What Happens When Pirates Get Too Drunk". As soon as we enter, we see the town in flames and in ruins. However, this is just the Pirates lifestyle, as they greet us with the singing of the classic song, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for me!" Sure, the town's up in flames and is burning as they sing, but does it seem like they care? I don't think so. We encounter some more classic AA figures in this scene, including a band singing the classic tune, and some pirates so drunk they can't even move, unless it is to put the rum bottles up to their mouths lol. Anyway, shouldn't we be running into Captain Jack sometime soon? Jack is nowhere to be found in this scene, but the ride moves on. Coming up next is quite possibly the most remembered scene in the whole ride, the jail cell with criminals begging the dog for the keys to open the cell. That dog is never going to move, and I think that those pirates know it, but they continue to try to try to end their misery in the prison. We now round a corner, and guess who we see. That's right, it's Captain Jack Sparrow, found in the treasure room. He's relaxing and enjoying himself with gold all around him. The treasure is his, as no one else is in sight. With the enjoyment of gold all around him, he sings with true pirate spirit. "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me". We then leave the joyous Captain Jack to enjoy his treasure, and we disembark at the exit platform. We all jump out, and head for the exit. On a final note, did a People Mover always used to be there to transport you from the exit platform to the upstairs gift shop? I personally never remembered that...Anyway, let's move onto the first KKR05's Expert Advice!

KKR05's Expert Advice-Pirates of the Caribbean-Is "Pirates" you're type of ride? Here's how to find out. Did you like the Pirates movies? If so, you will love the new additions to the classic ride. From the Davy Jones water effect to the amazing Captain Jack AA's, it's quite a sight to see. As for fans of the classic attraction, don't worry, most of the attraction has not been changed at ALL. All of older AA's are still in place I believe, along with all the old effects. Overall, Pirates is an attraction that anyone will now enjoy, especially with the new additions to the ride.

After an excellent ride on the new POTC, we made our way into the gift shop after riding the People Mover. The gift shop is now FULL of movie merchandise, along with some classic Pirate Props. It seemed to be doing very well, as it was full of people. I really think this rehab was a success and in the long run it will attract more and more people to enjoy the experience. After finding our way through the gift shop, our next stop was...the bathrooms! Yay! After a relaxing stop (lol), we were back on the "midway", and made our way west into Frontierland, home of 2 of the park's major attractions, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. One of these attractions was next up on our hit list...but you'll have to wait until next time to see which one!