Back in November, we noticed that the sail outside of Magic Kingdom’s Pirates of the Caribbean had been replaced. The sail acted as a sign for the attraction, with “Pirates of the Caribbean” printed on it, plus a few cannonball holes. The sail was replaced with a solid black one, and we expected a quick update to add the lettering. But almost two months later, the new sail hasn’t been touched.
The sail’s mast sits just outside the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance, with a skeletal pirate standing in the crow’s nest above it.
While such a prominent advertisement for Pirates of the Caribbean might not be necessary, the plain black sail does stand out as odd in the highly-themed area.
Keep checking WDWNT for updates about refurbishments at Walt Disney World.
We noticed the blank sail during our December 29-January 5 vacation. It did look odd. They did have a sign closer to the entrance. Experienced visitors knew what the attraction was, and Tortuga across the way was closed. The social distancing lines ruined the landscape of the parks. Everywhere you looked there was a line. Some of the lines took us behind the scenes in areas formerly only for cast members.
While it might not be as fun, it could be argued that a plain black sail is more thematically appropriate. You see a lot of ornately-decorated ship sails? I think such decoration was reserved more for flags than sails.
It seems quite unfortunate but, it appears Disney is not in a state of actively getting projects done. Also seems there has been more issue with rides being down and for long periods of time.
I know the pandemic is rough for everyone, truly I get that. Though I feel Disney has been approaching it all wrong from a pricing standpoint. Heck, I feel now would be the time to do special promotional pricing like crazy. Offer discounts of passes too. Especially since if you pay for a ticket now, as opposed to a ticket that would of been cheaper in January 2020, you are getting a lot less features or Disney magic unfortunately…
Again I do understand a pandemic is really rough on everything but I feel Disney needs to reevaluate current pricing options and open it up to be more affordable dining, accommodations and tickets/passes.
Maybe the pieates are going to mutiny.
I noticed that, a couple weeks back. I don’t think it’s for refurbishment. I think it was done strategically, to avoid people congregating for pictures. Mission accomplished – no one was there taking pics, like normal, when I was there.
I noticed on our early Dec trip that the animatronic as the ride is ending to the left sitting in chair with the treasure chest face has been altered to not resemble Johnny Depp. It used to be spot on but not anymore
The Black Flag is more of a ‘movie’ political move.. The 2 reasons are simple. 1..Covid groups taking pictures for safety. 2…The next ‘Pirates’ film will not feature Johnny Depp. Name of the film will be a different Black Flag to come.. Even within the ride, both Depp’s voice and image are already being phased out. Shame…
Seems like they are really scrapping the barrel with cost cutting…such a shame.