Waitless Pirates

We turn left at the hub and encounter a PhotoPass photographer on the way to Adventureland. He’s taking pictures with the castle (from the side, more or less) in the background. And, since we decided in advance that we were going to get the all-inclusive CD-ROM of all of our PhotoPass pictures, we stop to have him get us.

(Another advantage of buying the PhotoPass CD-ROM – they include a copyright release so that you own the pictures and can post them to, say, a trip report!)

The photographer poses us as a group, and then takes shots of me and Becky with the boys, and then just Bob and Linda together. Is it awkward to say your in-laws still make a cute couple?

We have reservations for the Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch at 11:30. Before that, our one goal is to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It’s been on our must-do list on both of our previous family trips, but it never quite worked into our schedule either time. This actually should be a good day to ride it.

Still, we’re open to other opportunities as we head back into the park, and we spot that the Pirates of the Caribbean Standby wait time is… non-existent? There is no number showing at all. Does that mean “zero,” we hope? This is another attraction that has had recent additions, including Captain Jack Sparrow audio-animatronics, and we like the ride anyway, so off we go.

When we step through the doors, the queue stretches before us, and it looks like quite a substantial wait. But… hang on… just as we step in, a cast member is opening a line to the right which leads to a second boarding area. Maybe this is normally the FastPass side of the line? We are able to turn into this second, completely empty queue and walk past everyone else waiting directly to the load zone!

Wait time zero. So the sign was accurate, at least for us!

Pirates is awesome as always, and the added effects are great. We are especially awed by the “waterfall” we sail under that has Davy Jones projected onto it. It’s spooky and cool. We spot all three Jack Sparrow additions, as well as Captain Barbossa on board the ship (which, sadly, is neither the Flying Dutchman nor the Black Pearl, for copyright reasons as I recall).

An incredible attraction, improved by the additional characters, and made even better by the fact that we didn’t have to wait to ride it!