Assessment

What is your reaction to the ride:

Its pretty cool, very immersive and has multiple ways of portraying effects. Unlike the Disney World in Orlando, which is mainly animatronics that portray a pirate lifestyle and general way of life, the Shanghai version was much more focused on encompassing the films. I really liked that they used animatronics as well as large projected animations, sound design, and water effects. I would love to experience this ride for you feel more as if you are experiencing the movies rather than any pirate's life. I loved the attention to detail and I really likes Davy Jones' animatronic for having the tentacle beard be made of a rubbery substance was really smart instead of animating the tentacles for you get so much free movement.

What connections did you make with this ride, discuss the elements:

Many of the scenes made me think of moments in the different films. The mermaids, Davy Jones, the giant squid, the raising of the ships from the sea for battle and Jack Sparrow evading Davy Jones and taking the treasure. I connected with the immersion of the riders, at the end many of them (especially one girl) were really into it. When Jack Sparrow blows up/sinks Davy Jones' ship, the entire room starts to crumble, fog blowing, red lights flashing, and then you fall backwards down the river. Overall this ride was true to the films and made sense in having an overall story to the ride making you feel as if you just went through the adventure too.

What changes would you make to adapt this into another medium, what medium would you use and what changes would you make:

I could easily see this as a Virtual Reality game ride. I recently witnessed a horror game recently with some of my friends where you are on a carnival ride coster of sorts and you shoot carnival themed targets, like moving ducks and barrels, but then are attacked by clown zombies and need to shoot them all to survive. The movement of the ride and the interaction was really cool, and when playing you really feel as if you are on a ride (especially if you have a friend point a fan at you). I could see you playing as a pirate and you need to do multiple tasks to help Jack Sparrow get the treasure as his 'first mate'. You would duck under rope, dodge cannon balls, steer the ship, shoot at other pirates and so much more. By interacting you feel even more immersed in the 'ride' and there could be multiple story modes, maybe one for each movie, with different endings depending on how well you do.