If this sounds a bit familiar, that would be because we first told you about the game last May. (We had the name as "Pirates Adventure: Jewels of the Seven Seas.")
From Disney's press release:
In A Pirate’s Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas, guests will use a pirate map and magic talisman to help them complete five different pirate raids throughout Adventureland. The goal is to help locate different Treasures of the Seven Seas and fight off pirate enemies like the Royal Navy and Captain Barbossa, among others. If guests help Captain Jack succeed in all the missions, they’ll be welcomed as part of his new crew. If not, they’ll face the wrath of the cruel sea – alone.
And here's how we described the game last year, from the plans we saw:
Using RFID-enabled tap points, participating Disney World guests will be able to shoot the cannons on top of the Pirates of the Caribbean fortress queue, interact with animatronic idols, parrots and snakes, and search for and open a treasure chest which has been left somewhere in Adventureland.The adventure will take place in newly decorated scenes throughout the land, including sites inside merchandise shops, along walkways and near attraction queues. A fountain in Caribbean Plaza that was long ago converted to a planter would be restored - and stocked with animatronic piranhas, poised to attack upon your request.
The scale is intimate, much like the new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, so that guests who aren't playing - and who haven't memorized every decoration detail in the park - probably won't notice any of the interactive elements. Unless someone's there activating them, of course.
It's Disney's latest step to utilize those "magic wristbands" to transform the Walt Disney World Resort into an Easter Egg-filled video game-like interactive adventure that spills over from attractions themselves into their queues and the rest of the parks themselves.
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I'm wondering if this portends to better upkeep of the rides. It will be very obvious if they don't fix the interactive items when there is a breakdown.
I partly agree with the anonymous poster. Innovating rides isn't enough to keep a theme park fresh. Transformers: The Ride and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey won the 2012 and 2010, respectively, Best New Attractions on this site, but I have little desire to ride either since they're just rehashes of Spiderman. The technology was cool 5 years ago, but now its commonplace.
Herding for traditional attractions has been the norm for a century. Interactivity is a step in the right direction for innovating the park.
It is common only at Universal. Disney has no equivalent and nowhere else either.
I Respond: Excellent point!
Can't wait to get on Magic Kingdom's first new ride in 20 years: a kiddie mine train. Disney fans are really running out of ways to hide their jealousy.
BTW This excites me way more than New Fantasyland. I keep hearing the biggest GP complaint is that for an incredibly popular franchise like Pirates (billions of dollars) the biggest representation is the POTC ride. Even with the impressive additions the rides still doesn't have much story or excitement.
I'm not a Disney fanboy and I'm not envious of Universal. I'd visit the Universal parks before just about any Disney park. The Universal attractions are generally more impressive. I'm not defending Disney's cheap excuse for a Fantasyland layover, either. I am, however, applauding them for trying something new for theme parks, something beyond the standard queued attractions.
You can argue that Harry Potter and Spiderman are completely different attractions, but I don't see it that way: both are, albeit impressively executed, track-guided simulators with 3D film technology. Meanwhile, Disney is implementing an inexpensive, innovative feature, which earns them business and technology points.
Both Disney and Universal do great work, and when I visit my brother in the USA (from Australia) my wife and I visit both in California, and on one occasion Orlando. With a 2 year old and a 9 week old, however, I think in the near future Disneyland will have more to offer. Good family fun is where it is at for me now folks. This kind of technology has a he potential to be incredible fun and I look forward to having more enjoyment between attractions with my children.
Wondering what qualified, informed source has estimated Disney NextGen's cost to reach $2.5 billion.
And just so everyone is clear it's not "Congressman Edward Marley." It's "Congressman Edward Markey." But then accuracy is not always a priority for some of our regular TPI posters. Even those who complain about the (alleged) need for context.
(Chuckle)
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Start with Adventureland, next comes Frontierland, followed by Tomorrowland ... VERY EXCITING!