Flooded POTC boats

[MolonLabe]

Over the past 35~ years I've been to MK hundreds of times. I've probably been on POTC at least that many times. Every MK day of a trip, I ride it. It's my favorite attraction and has been my entire life.

We were there in April I ride it three times, never more than a slash from the canons.

We were there in late Sept, Sat first row once got completely soaked. Kali rapids bad from waist down.

I noticed standing water each time, once it may have been close to three inches.

It may have been my imagination but e think the sides of the boats may be lower after the refurb. Sounds odd but I remember sitting on the outside thinking, "I don't recall the water being this high" and then immediately realizing, it was the boat that was off, not the water.

Anyway, last trip we had 3 MK days and 1 party night, I pretty much experienced everything that's been said here first hand.

It's all true.

Something is VERY wrong with POTC. Fyi, I like water rides like Kali and especially splash. I don't like this at all. It's getting soaked for no reason at all. It's a defect. At best.

 

[metzgardesign]

Ultimately, like any money-making venture, Disney will not make any improvement changes until it is in their (or I should say, shareholders') monetary interest to do so.

If the bulk of their changes results in noticeably loss of gate, hotel, food, etc., income; someone gets undeniably injured (with a substantial financial outlay in settlement)....then, perhaps changes will be made to improve the experience.

Until then....it's a plop signs here and see what happens thing.

 

[eXo]

Well I can give you some examples that are more measurable and objective so you can put to rest any doubts about people's "subjectivity" about being soaked. While sitting in the front row recently I took an actual small wave to the face. I'm not a short person and it's not like the front of the boat just dipped and allowed some water to flow in. I'm talking about full on smacked in the face with cold, nasty water to the point where I was gasping and choking on water from the "surprise".

This makes zero sense. How can that much water hit someone in the face on this ride?

Most people are reporting that water washed over the front of the boat, which, if that is happening would explain the wet laps and such. But a "wave to the face"? Really?

Here is a picture of the boat with people in it:
http://images.travelerstoday.com/da...iding-pirates-of-the-caribbean-ride.png?w=600

Do you have any idea how large that wave would have to be to hit any one of those people full on in the face? Impossibly large.

Every time I think I finally understand the complaints about POTC and have found a way to rationally explain the waves of water people report, someone comes along and ups the stakes. By next week we'll have someone claiming they had to hold their breath underwater while the mermaids swam passed them.

 

[metzgardesign]

Here is a picture of the boat with people in it:
http://images.travelerstoday.com/da...iding-pirates-of-the-caribbean-ride.png?w=600

To be fair....1975 called and wants its photo of the POTC boat back.

As I understand it...these boats people are speaking of now, are a replacement boat, yes?

 

[eXo]

To be 'fair', the boats look identical.

The new boats are lighter, that is the only difference.. They didn't suddenly drop the seating by 24 inches and put peoples eyes on the same level as the front of the boat. Folks sit just as high as before. It is still ludicrous to state a "wave hit me in the face". Even by the standards of this thread, it is an outlier. Of those who claim they got wet, every single other person either says it was from standing water or water washing over the front during the drop. The jump from that to a "wave in the face" is gigantic.

I'm already being asked to believe this whole thing is entirely random. For every person who swears they got soaked, someone else comes along as says they just road it and it was fine. For every person who claims they almost drowned another comes along as says they nursed their baby on the ride and felt a gentle "mist". For every person claiming they got more soaked here than Kali River Rides, another person is saying their shoes got wet. For every person claiming there is a "foot" of water in the boats, there is someone else saying there was about an inch of water.

The amount of hyperbole here is simply out of control.

Physics is not random folks. Either the weight of the boats makes a difference or there are boats in the 'fleet' that have this problem. Or a combination of both. But there is deity of luck that is so bored that he sits at the POTC drop randomly soaking people just for giggles.

edit: for the record, I'm not saying that people aren't getting wet. I'm simply saying the wide variety of descriptions here as to different people's experiences are being embellished.

 

[jenf22]

I feel compelled to report our recent experience since there is now a "positive experience" thread. We were there on 10/29. We had FP for POTC but it was down during our FP time, so that FP was assigned to a generic one. We walked by POTC later in the day and were informed it had just reopened so the wait would be minimal (the CM standing there told us this). Well, we waited a little over 30 minutes. We were in the middle of the boat and didn't get wet. I didn't see anyone get soaked, but to be honest, I wasn't looking. The ride did break down when we were right in front of Jack Sparrow. We were there about 20 minutes. There was only 1 boat in front of us with people, so we were annoying close to the end of the ride. Because of our location we couldn't hear the announcements being made and they never turned Jack off. It was truly annoying, but at least we weren't drenched.

Side note - on the 29th Splash was down for part of the day, Big Thunder was down for part of the day, POTC as explained above was down, and we waited 30 minutes for Peter Pan only to be led out and told that ride had broken down. No FP were offered and the wait was 60+ minutes the rest of the day. So no Peter Pan for us this trip

 

[Disney Dynamite]

Threads like this one make me really grateful for these boards. I was so excited to ride POTC when I visit with my mom in a couple of weeks since it was down for refurb when I was there in September. I'm okay with being misted or sprinkled by water, but getting drenched would have been an unhappy (and completely unexpected) surprise. I think we'll avoid this one for now.

 

[Poohlet]

This makes zero sense. How can that much water hit someone in the face on this ride?

Most people are reporting that water washed over the front of the boat, which, if that is happening would explain the wet laps and such. But a "wave to the face"? Really?

Here is a picture of the boat with people in it:
http://images.travelerstoday.com/da...iding-pirates-of-the-caribbean-ride.png?w=600

Do you have any idea how large that wave would have to be to hit any one of those people full on in the face? Impossibly large.

Every time I think I finally understand the complaints about POTC and have found a way to rationally explain the waves of water people report, someone comes along and ups the stakes. By next week we'll have someone claiming they had to hold their breath underwater while the mermaids swam passed them.

Welp, I've got to say....I have experienced this 'wave' first hand. I chalked it up to there being three adults in the first row, but I do have to say...we all got completely soaked. Head to toe...and not an ounce of exaggeration here!

 

[MasterGracey84]

It seems there are a wide array of experiences that have taken place on this ride since my visit a week ago. Some people get wet, and some people get soaked. I don't mind getting wet, but I am highly aggrivated to sit in a moving bathtub that ruins my day. Will you most likely get wet on this ride? Absolutely. I am okay with that. Do people want to get baptized on this attraction? Absolutely not. Disney... please wake up and fix this.

 

[ArwenMarie]

To be 'fair', the boats look identical.

The new boats are lighter, that is the only difference.. They didn't suddenly drop the seating by 24 inches and put peoples eyes on the same level as the front of the boat. Folks sit just as high as before. It is still ludicrous to state a "wave hit me in the face". Even by the standards of this thread, it is an outlier. Of those who claim they got wet, every single other person either says it was from standing water or water washing over the front during the drop. The jump from that to a "wave in the face" is gigantic.

I'm already being asked to believe this whole thing is entirely random. For every person who swears they got soaked, someone else comes along as says they just road it and it was fine. For every person who claims they almost drowned another comes along as says they nursed their baby on the ride and felt a gentle "mist". For every person claiming they got more soaked here than Kali River Rides, another person is saying their shoes got wet. For every person claiming there is a "foot" of water in the boats, there is someone else saying there was about an inch of water.

The amount of hyperbole here is simply out of control.

Physics is not random folks. Either the weight of the boats makes a difference or there are boats in the 'fleet' that have this problem. Or a combination of both. But there is deity of luck that is so bored that he sits at the POTC drop randomly soaking people just for giggles.

edit: for the record, I'm not saying that people aren't getting wet. I'm simply saying the wide variety of descriptions here as to different people's experiences are being embellished.

So the people saying they are getting soaked are full of hyperbole but the people saying they nursed their baby while a gentle mist floated in the breeze are telling the truth?

I don't see any motivation for people to lie about this and I think there are enough reports from many different people to conclude that something is going on.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

This makes zero sense. How can that much water hit someone in the face on this ride?

Most people are reporting that water washed over the front of the boat, which, if that is happening would explain the wet laps and such. But a "wave to the face"? Really?

Here is a picture of the boat with people in it:
http://images.travelerstoday.com/da...iding-pirates-of-the-caribbean-ride.png?w=600

Do you have any idea how large that wave would have to be to hit any one of those people full on in the face? Impossibly large.

Every time I think I finally understand the complaints about POTC and have found a way to rationally explain the waves of water people report, someone comes along and ups the stakes. By next week we'll have someone claiming they had to hold their breath underwater while the mermaids swam passed them.

In our case, pretty much the entire bow of the boat went under at the bottom of the drop. It generated the wave. We were sitting MUCH lower in the water than the picture you posted. The new ride boats are definitely different from that one.

 

[poison ivy]

Not that accomodating. When you are only two of you, they make your ride with strangers. They won't let you ride with just your party of two like you used to be able to do. Those seats don't really seat four people well and I find it wrong that I have to be pressed up against a strangers hips on a ride. I don't even like sitting four across with my family of four and we used to say that we were two groups of two...no longer an option.

I've only gone through the first three pages of this thread thus far. To me it is totally unacceptable to be crammed into a space where I am literally leaning on (ok...touching) a stranger in a boat. They tried to cram my husband and myself on the Great Movie Ride in a row with 4 very very robust adults. I just thought, screw this and said no. Not going to happen. We waited for the next tram and were in the front short row. I think more people need to speak up. Just say no....I will not be crammed into a row of anything. I'm a guest who paid for comfort and not cattle. I don't expect a row to ourselves, I just don't want to be touching my neighbor. ps I know this is really about the water problem, but obviously the contributing factor is the weight in the boat!

I would insist on not being crammed in. We too rode on an MNSSHP night (10/25) and had not read any reports prior to getting in line.
We were very lucky it appears to have been given the last row which we easily filled with 3 adults. I didn't notice if the riders in the front rows got wet but we really didn't.

I snapped this photo before we were queued up. You can see how tight the fit is.

I keep writing this to various comments, but wow. This is situation is just insane imo. I can't believe you had to bail the water off the seat with your hands

there was about a 1/2 inch of standing water in the boat. The seats are plastic and mainly have beaded water on each end from the guests shoes as they exit the ride. Everyone appears to be using the bench as a step and their sneakers especially act as a conduit to the water.

 

[metzgardesign]

To be fair, eXo did provide a physics lesson as to why the drenchings are unlikely (at least as in a wave hitting the face), as well as photographic evidence of an ideal voyage from a few decades ago.

Of course, the maximized (and even perhaps varying) capacities of the boats probably have an impact on the buoyancy levels of the vessel. And may even impact its trajectory into the offending splashdown.

Just know this....next time I ride, I intend to wear my Speedos®, nose clips, and rubber swim cap thingie....just to be potentially prepared.

Wonder if they have a place I can hang my fluffy robe while I ride?

 

[HM]

I would insist on not being crammed in.

Believe me, we tried. The CM was adament that we sit with the other couple.

 

[Planogirl]

Physics lessons aside there are plenty of reports that convince me that things have changed and we will be skipping the ride. From my understanding the boats are different and I've even heard that these boats are discards from the ride in DL. Something is clearly going on.

 

[poison ivy]

Believe me, we tried. The CM was adament that we sit with the other couple.

That's insane. I don't care what size we are. There's no room for 4 adults. No way.

 

[Catvondita]

Well all of this is a bit of a downer. All that work on a refurbishment and its seems like there are even more problems :/

 

[poison ivy]

I cropped the photo to show how tight 3 adults fit across row 2. Row 3 has a family of 4 but with 2 younger girls.

In the front boat you'll notice the 2nd to last row also has 3 adults utilizing all space. and their last row is just a couple with possibly room for 1 more.

I can't imagine where they are cramming 4 adults?

 

[Disneylover99]

To be fair, eXo did provide a physics lesson as to why the drenchings are unlikely (at least as in a wave hitting the face), as well as photographic evidence of an ideal voyage from a few decades ago.

Of course, the maximized (and even perhaps varying) capacities of the boats probably have an impact on the buoyancy levels of the vessel. And may even impact its trajectory into the offending splashdown.

Just know this....next time I ride, I intend to wear my Speedos®, nose clips, and rubber swim cap thingie....just to be potentially prepared.

Wonder if they have a place I can hang my fluffy robe while I ride?

Don't forget your water shoes or flip flops.

 

[srferson]

To be 'fair', the boats look identical.

The new boats are lighter, that is the only difference.. They didn't suddenly drop the seating by 24 inches and put peoples eyes on the same level as the front of the boat. Folks sit just as high as before. It is still ludicrous to state a "wave hit me in the face". Even by the standards of this thread, it is an outlier. Of those who claim they got wet, every single other person either says it was from standing water or water washing over the front during the drop. The jump from that to a "wave in the face" is gigantic..

So, you know for a fact that the boats are exactly the same except for weight?

And an outlier does not automatically mean it's false or incorrect data. It means it's outside the overall pattern. An outlier can be caused by any number of variables.

I'm already being asked to believe this whole thing is entirely random. For every person who swears they got soaked, someone else comes along as says they just road it and it was fine. For every person who claims they almost drowned another comes along as says they nursed their baby on the ride and felt a gentle "mist". For every person claiming they got more soaked here than Kali River Rides, another person is saying their shoes got wet. For every person claiming there is a "foot" of water in the boats, there is someone else saying there was about an inch of water.

The amount of hyperbole here is simply out of control.

That statement itself seems like a hyperbole to me. I suppose it depends on how you define "out of control," but I personally think that's an overstatement for the circumstances of this thread.

Physics is not random folks. Either the weight of the boats makes a difference or there are boats in the 'fleet' that have this problem. Or a combination of both. But there is deity of luck that is so bored that he sits at the POTC drop randomly soaking people just for giggles.

You are correct. Physics is not random. But it will be affected by a number of different variables. It's not just the weight of the boat that will affect the outcome, but also the weight of those in the boat (including extra standing water that has accumulated) and the distribution of that weight, among other potential factors.

edit: for the record, I'm not saying that people aren't getting wet. I'm simply saying the wide variety of descriptions here as to different people's experiences are being embellished.

Frankly, I think you know it's embellished the same amount that I know it's not. No one is saying "the boat flew through the air and then capsized dramatically, only to drown out the screaming of the riders and the crying of the children." Some of them are saying they got absolutely soaked and at least one person got a wave in the face. Honestly, I don't think that's unbelievable. Obviously you do and that's fine, but I'd just like to point out that doesn't make either one of us right.