Well, DH and I were up bright and early this morning to try and hit the Pirates line before it could reach Main Street! We were at the park by 8, and even lucked out and got there right as they opened 4 more turnstiles...we were in the park in a SNAP!
The funny thing is...it didn't matter.
The line was already WRAPPED around the flagpole in Town Square!
We bit the bullet and got in line.
The wonderful thing was, the line just kept moving! It was moving like greased lightning! Even though cast members were telling guests, "The Pirates line is currently at 2+ hours..." we were actually IN the Pirates building in only 30 minutes!!
About 2 boatloads from the front of the line...our mouths watering...the line stopped moving. Completely.
Cast members announced that they were cycling out the ride, but we were welcome to stay in line...it should only take about 15 minutes! (The only reason we could figure was that Pirates tends to get backed up and has to be cycled out if the person launching the boats is too button-happy. A few seconds can make all the difference and cause a big jam.) Oh goody...
So we watched boat after boat after boat after BOAT full of people return to the station, and I swear they just kept coming! I don't know how many boats they had jammed up in that ride, but it was waaaaay more than the ride's usual capacity! No wonder the line was moving so fast!
True to their word, in only about 15 minutes, they started loading the ride again. YAY!
(Only 45 minutes in line, we weren't complaining!)
We boarded our boat and were on our way to experience the new Pirates...woohooo!!!!
So we made it out of the station and were observing Blue Bayou floating by when our boat STOPPED. I looked ahead and saw that the boats were literally butt-to-nose.
Honestly! I KNOW they're trying to get the line to move fast, but this was getting ridiculous! We were even waiting in a huge queue while we were ON the ride!
The talking skull looked (when we finally got there) looked BEAUTIFULLY refurbished! Oh, it made me so happy! He was just spiffed up and looking better than ever.
Down the waterfall we went, WHEEEEEEE!!!!!
Well, to make a really long story short, we made it just past the Captain's Quarters when our boat STOPPED. AGAIN. And this time, it was for good.
We knew something was wrong when we were repeatedly being asked to remain seated, and being assured that our "voyage to the Caribbean" would resume shortly.
Pretty soon, the audio track was snapped off. The effects were snapped off. And we were sitting in the most UN-magical Pirates world you could possible imagine.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER...
Our boats started moving again. There were cheers all around!
Problem was, someone forgot to turn the audio & special effects back on!
So we floated silently past SEVERAL new additions to the ride, and it was TERRIBLE!!!!!!
We couldn't hear anything or even figure out what was supposed to be going on!
43 minutes after our initial foray into the world of Pirates, we returned to the dock, bored frustrated and with sore behinds!
I immediately hopped out of the boat and demanded that they let us ride again. The cast members were very obliging, and soon we were back in a boat!
This time, the ride only broke down once, and it was for about five minutes.
UGGGGGHHHHH!!!! Beggars can't be choosers! At least we had full special effects and music this time!
And it was worth it.
My behind is NOT happy with me after sitting in the boat for over an hour~! But I got my Jack Sparrow fill, and I was truly thrilled with what they did with the ride. So little is actually changed, so they really maintainted the integrity of the original attraction. But the new things are just SO COOL!
I will say this one thing...when Matt Ouimet said that Jack Sparrow was going to be "more lifelike than you could possibly imagine", he wasn't kidding! We saw a clip on TV last night, but that couldn't even compare to seeing Jack in person. He's INCREDIBLE! It's like Johnny's right there!!
Alas, no spoilers here. Y'all can go enjoy it for yourselves someday.
So Dizzygirl and Mr. Incredible entered the Pirates building at 8:46 AM, and left at 10:11 AM. That was our high-seas adventure!!