Disney's New Pirates Island

[stargazer]

So anyone care about this new attraction? What do you think?

[Gifted]

It's not open just yet, but just a few days ago, some more info was released.

Please do not read following if you don't want to be spoiled when visiting Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland (MAJOR SPOILERS):

There will still be the two rafts traveling back and forth between the old mainland dock and the island, although the rafts have been renamed and propped out as pirate cargo carriers. Gone are the literary names given to the rafts since 1956 of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Joe Harper, and in their place are two rafts named for famous pirates Anne Bonney and Blackbeard. The raft drivers will have given up their traditional plaid shirts and straw hats ... and will now be outfitted like true pirates in a new uniform designed specifically for Pirate's Lair.

Just after the movie premiere a new marquee will go up at the entrance to the raft dock made from old ships masts and sails announcing that the pirates have taken over what used to be Tom Sawyer Island. A small stage has been built in the planter near the raft dock where a pirate will hold court as he enlists the waiting tourists to join his rowdy crew of pirates to be found on the other side of the river. The pirate in the queue will also pass out new maps of the island touting the new and improved features of Pirate's Lair and encouraging children to try to seek out all of the hidden treasure around the island.

Once you've finally made it through the expected long line and over to the island, then the real fun begins. Up on the stage originally designed for Fantasmic!, the Disneyland Entertainment Department will be staffing a non-stop parade of pirate performers, bands, stuntmen and talent. All of the pirate entertainment and bands that have inhabited New Orleans Square for the last year will be moved over to this area.

Five times per day the entertainment will be interrupted by a raucous and rowdy stunt show that will have pirates swinging down zip lines from the newly installed crow's nest, swaying from poles that bend way out over the river, making surprise entrances through all of the new barrels and treasure chests placed about, and staging dueling sword fights over and along the newly constructed platforms and bridges around the bend in the river.

While the stunt show is only about ten minutes long, it's where the Entertainment department poured a lot of their budget and they've just hired a small army of Hollywood stuntmen to pull it all off. The stunt show will be visible from the New Orleans Square riverside area to be sure, but it will really be staged and presented for the majority of the stage area on the island itself that will be configured for audience viewing.

Part of the show will involve the use of the new cannon recently added to the stage, but the original thought on how the cannon would work has been scaled back just a bit. Instead of being able to blow up a collapsible chimney on the rooftops of New Orleans, the cannon will now primarily activate a few cannonball splash effects in the river itself.

The whole stage area surrounds the old shack, which has now been turned into Laffitte's Tavern, and you'll be able to hear the hard partying pirates inside through the windows. All of the props and new equipment, including the cannon and support poles for the zip line, are designed to be stowed away by the Entertainment Tech Services crew prior to each evenings performance of Fantasmic! on the same stage.

Once you've taken in the stunt show, helped fire the cannon at the passing Columbia, or completed your course in talking like a pirate around Lafitte's Tavern, the next big draw will be what used to known as Injun Joe's Cave. While the stunt show is the pride of Disneyland's Entertainment Department, the newly christened Dead Man's Grotto inside the cave is where WDI has poured a great deal of their energy and capital for this project.

Injun Joe's Cave had definitely seen better days before it closed in February, and the scare factor of what was supposed to be a spooky cave had long since vanished for most kids. With Dead Man's Grotto however, the scare factor should be back with a vengeance. The cave has been broken in to three major scenes, with the first section remaining as the classic "Bottomless Pit."

But now the pit is being used by pirates to store their stolen treasure, and some of the new digital surround audio has gone in here when kids try to reach for Davy Jones chest that reportedly holds his beating heart. The audio and lighting effects, along with the chance to feel Davy's beating heart inside the treasure chest, should set the tone for what is a dramatically darker and scarier experience.

Beyond the Bottomless Pit is a reworked section of caverns where recesses in the rocks reveal treasure and jewels hidden by the pirates. Those who dare to get too close to the treasure however will be met with a combination of mechanical and digitally projected "pop-up" figures of bony skeleton hands or scary pirate faces that suddenly dart out to frighten you away. The pop-up scenes are placed at several different levels, so that both adults and children can take a peek. There was also consideration given to providing a pop-up figure at the height of someone in a wheelchair, as the pathway through the cave has been brought up to code and is now accessible from one end to the other in a wheelchair.

The faces and voices used throughout the cave are those of pirates from all three of the movies, but it's the last and final scene that should prove the creepiest. Inside a small cavern sits an animatronic skeleton surrounded by the remains of a shipwreck. As the digital moonlight appears through an opening in the cave above him, this skeleton becomes "undead" and his face suddenly turns to rotting flesh. Using the same projection technology as the Buzz Lightyear figure in that rides pre-show, this skeleton will hiss a warning against trying to steal any of his treasure. Needless to say if your kids don't do well in haunted houses or dark rides like Snow White, this scarier new Dead Man's Grotto with its digital subwoofered sound and sophisticated projection technology throughout is certainly not going to be their cup of tea.

So you've survived your trek through Dead Man's Grotto and now find yourself on the eastern side of the island facing Frontierland (photo above). Head up past those newly remodeled restrooms and towards the area known as Smuggler's Cove.

There you'll find old Tom Sawyer Island standbys like the barrel and suspension bridges, but they're now surrounded by all sorts of new pirate action. The swampy cove there has been rebuilt, and it's now the home of an old shipwreck broken into three parts. It's here that kids will be able to pump out the hull of the wrecked ship with bilge pumps to reveal sunken treasure and menacing skeletons.

Nearby on one of the new docks they can spin a capstan and haul up a treasure chest through the ships rigging, or step into a bone cage made of human remains just like the one from the second movie and have their families next Christmas card photo taken by a helpful Disney's PhotoPass photographer.

This newly reworked Smuggler's Cove area is another highlight of the new island, and the detail work and artistry that has gone in to the set pieces here is supposed to be impressive. (Check out the damage done by the flying cannonballs as you walk through this area. It's details like this that make Disneyland stand out from competitors.)

Farther along the island old standbys like Castle Rock and the caves and caverns beneath it are still there, but they've been joined by a big new set piece fashioned as the back half of a shipwreck.

Inside the shipwreck is the "Pirate's Den" scene, where the captain of the ship has abandoned his propped out command post and the barnacles clinging to the walls indicate that Davy Jones probably chased him out.

While it's easy to walk into the hull of the ship on one end, the spooky captain's quarters are connected to the adjoining system of caves by a ladder and passageway that are "conveniently" made too narrow for most parents to fit through.

Good old Fort Wilderness is still nearby, sans its traditional sign, but you still can't go inside. They have done a bit of remodeling however and have carved two new doors into the sides of the old fort so that you may now access the fort's restrooms again. A wheelchair lift has been installed nearby as these restrooms just barely meet the ADA codes for wheelchair accessibility. The other restrooms on the other side of the island have been remodeled as well, but are still sized way too small for a wheelchair to fit inside.

Fort Wilderness was a controversial part of this project early on as many in Imagineering didn't feel it fit thematically with the new Pirate's Lair version of the island. But it was retained for two reasons; it had working restroom facilities that would be desperately needed when the island is swarmed with people this summer, and there simply wasn't enough time to rebuild anything in its place on the extremely short timetable set for the project. So for now the Fort remains open only for its restrooms, and the interior space will be used as a Cast Member break area.

Just beyond the Fort is the reason most of the women visiting the island are there for, and that's the Captain Jack Sparrow meet n' greet photo location. Set amongst a big pile of jewels and gold and backed by ships sails will be the Jack Sparrow face character that currently roams New Orleans Square dodging college coeds and frantic soccer moms. Once you've had your photo taken with Captain Jack, you've made it from one end of the island to the other and it's time to head back to the dock and wait for a raft over to the mainland.

If the third movie and Pirate's Lair proves popular, phrase 2 will be funded and things have to do with Tom or Huck will be completely gone (also means Fort Wilderness will be bulldozed down). I hope they change their minds with no Tom connections.

[stargazer]

That's certainly some news there.

So anyone excited about this opening, or do you think disney does pirates too much?

[Gifted]

Pirate's Lair recently opened. I'm looking forward to maybe checking out this weekend, but it might better trying out everything. Imagine, everyone's trying to get to the lair and there's a lot more space on the other rides. We'll just have to see.

[stargazer]

That and neamo of course.

[BiZNicK]

when i went to disneyland for my senior fling....i went on this ride..

i hateddd it!! it was sooo boring! waste of time..

[Gifted]

How long ago was that?

TSI went into decay and they took away fun parts of it because of that. Also, they would never update it. Now they are, but I think they are going the wrong way. When people first heard of Pirate's Lair, they were angry TSI was leaving. In order to avoid people's outrage, Disney made a Tom Sawyer connection where Tom and his friends pretend to be pirates.

They could have so much more fun with that idea...but their taking away Tom completely. Oh well, it's their park.

Anyway, I've heard Pirate's Lair is doing well, but I can't say anything (I haven't been there yet).

[stargazer]

Awwww, how sad, I am still looking forward to seeing it though.