Prepare to WALK the plank!!!

Well, I decided it was time I weighed in on the big controversy brewing at Walt Disney World this week!  I know a number of people are upset, some concerned with how it will affect the rest of the theme.  Does such a large franchise belong?  Is this cheapening or commercializing the park? 

That’s right . . .  I’m talking of course about the announced attraction The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow!  Ouch!  Sorry, my triple shot, no whip, not fat white chocolate mocha was a little hot!

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yeah . . . Disney has announced a new walk-through attraction will be opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  They’ve closed the door on Narnia and dropped the wardrobe in a wood chipper.  Where once there was a snowy forest, a lamp post, and fauns, there will now be piles of treasure, gold doubloons, swords, and surely a few skulls & skeletons.  Dead men tell no tales, nor do they use Omnimovers!

Aside from having an incredibly long name, The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (phew) invites guests into a secret pirate’s grotto, probably not unlike Shipwreck Cove or Isla de Muerta to stand before a magical skull (see I told you!  Skulls!!!)  This ghostly host will test your mettle to see if you’re worthy to join the crew of Captain Jack! The attraction is set to open Dec. 6^th though it’s likely you might catch a dress rehearsal any day now.

I love the Pirates franchise.  Jack Sparrow (yes, I know . . . there should be a “Captain” in there somewhere!)  What I’m not a fan of is walk-through attractions.  Even when wearing Crocs.  I’ve yet to enter one that didn’t seem a bit slap-dash . . . especially those at Hollywood Studios.  The first Narnia seemed like a great idea until I entered the wardrobe to discover it was . . . lame.  It looked like the Christmas tree display at a big box hardware store with a screen showing a glorified trailer to sell DVD’s.  Then of course some deranged White Queen look-alike walked out on the fire escape and yelled at us, and we were ushered out.  I kept thinking “couldn’t they at least put me in a wagon and pull me through?!?”

I never bothered with the Prince Caspian version. 

Even Universal Studios, who I’ll give credit for trying to elevate the walk-through attraction by throwing a ton of money into Poseidon’s Fury at Islands of Adventure still missed the mark.  Of course it didn’t help I waited 20 minutes in the hot sun to get in, not knowing it was a walk-through.  It looked too big, too grand, too expensive not to have a complex vehicle system, right?  Wrong!  The whole time as they ushered us from amazing looking room to room, I kept telling myself “this is all preshow.  The next room will have cars!”  Not to be, sadly.  It felt like we were walking through a great ride building because the track was broken.

Ironically Walt’s original plan for the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland was for it to be a walk-through wax museum of sorts.  So in some small, weird way this honors his idea.  I’m certainly willing to give The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow a chance.  The set pieces along will likely make it worthwhile.  Even the artwork on the show building looks pretty incredible.  Hopefully they’ve actually put some real thought (and cash) into this attraction.  If not, it will likely be a walk-through Avengers attraction next year and I’ll stick to the Lonely Island/Michael Bolton song. 

Now back to the good part . . . !

UPDATE:  Ok, I take back any misgivings about this attraction!   Just watched this attraction video posted by Inside the Magic, and it looks cool!!!  There's a little "dead air" towards the end, but the effects look good, they've spent money, and made a quality walk-through (well, looks more like a stand-in) attraction!  Well met!  Check out the video below and check out www.insidethemagic.net for more amazing WDW coverage, video, etc!