Alright you guys, I’ve already discussed this with a lot of you in my DMs, and I’m proud to say that we’re all on the same page. THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN REFURB?!?!?! AND THAT ANIMATRONIC SKELETON?!?

If you missed my little rant on IG, I’ll catch you up now- I hate it.

Pirates has been closed at Disneyland for a few months due to a refurbishment and it recently re-opened with a new animatronic- one that took the place of one of the most iconic skeletons of the ride! Videos and images of the animatronic immediately flooded my Instagram page (the algorithm knows me well), and the more I saw this thing, the more I hated it.

It looks so cheap and so cheesy and I just don’t understand why they would touch and change the nostalgia of this ride in such an obviously terrible way! I feel like Walt Disney has to be rolling his eyes looking down on this thing.

Pirates is my favorite ride and my favorite movie (yo ho, yo ho), so I am a fierce defender of it for sure and it probably gets to me more than I’m happy to admit because of that. But it’s one of the most iconic rides at Disneyland and was also the last ride Walt Disney personally worked on prior to his death in 1966. Because of that, I feel like these good ol’ imagineers shouldn’t really be messing with it too much. And I get that we need to innovate and keep up with the times and all of that- I definitely agree that the addition of the Jack Sparrow animatronics elevated the ride and made it even better. BUT to my point- they styled the Jack animatronic to fit in with the vibe and the feel of the rest of the ride. It matches, it goes with the story, and it doesn’t feel unnatural.

The new little cartoon skeleton guy? I don’t get it and it certainly doesn’t fit in with the rest of the ride in my opinion. We actually went to Disneyland for a little staycation for my birthday and we went on the ride and I saw it in real life for the first time. It cemented how I felt about seeing it online, I still don’t like it one bit.

When it comes to Disneyland, I just feel like the most magical part is the nostalgia of the place. It’s knowing that Walt Disney walked down Main Street and made this whole place real, made it the happiest place on earth, and with the original rides, I think we should innovate but also respect their history at the same time.

People come to Disneyland because it’s the original and only park Walt Disney physically saw and spent time in. In my opinion, they can change and do whatever they want in literally any other park around the world and I would happily help ship this creepy pirate animatronic to Disney World in Florida if I could 🙂

Well, that’s my little rant, have you seen the update? I’d love to hear your take (if you care) in the comments!