The Tip Board Newsletter by James Grosch

Disney Intelligence for Smarter Vacations

🏴‍☠️ The Rope Drop

Fans typically beg for exactly what Disney just did at Pirates of the Caribbean: replace a static figure with an advanced animatronic.

And many fans responded by absolutely hating it.

In case you've been trapped in a cursed treasure cave for the past few weeks, Walt Disney Imagineering replaced the evocative skeleton that had been sitting at Disneyland's Pirates for 59 years with a very advanced, very animated animatronic.

This response probably shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. I was in Orlando for an event when I saw the news about Anaheim's Pirates. So I made a video explaining the change and the tech, basically saying "I think it's neat."

Then I drove home to a flood of comments ferociously dunking on it (and dunking on me for thinking like a new Pirate robot).

I've been inundated with so many hot takes, I think that's what's caused the recent heat wave. But I also saw a lot of people that I genuinely respect bump up against this new animatronic.

So I did what any reasonable theme park sicko would do: I put the animatronic on trial. Four charges, a real verdict based on the history of the ride and the merits of the art/tech, and a "binding" sentence.

I appointed myself judge, jury, and executioner. And I'll be honest: I did not expect to land where I landed.

⚖️ The Analysis: What makes Pirates special is also what's causing this backlash

I went into making this video ready to argue about screen faces. But what surprised me most in the research was how little this is about the tech, and how much it comes down to Claude Coats and Marc Davis.

Two brilliant collaborators with completely different sensibilities: Coats, the master of moody, atmospheric, still spaces, and Davis, the animator legendary for character and over-the-top gags. That push-pull is the secret engine under Pirates and Haunted Mansion. How much you like this animatronic comes down where you fall on grim vs. grinning.

Fun fact I unearthed during research: the skeleton curse was an invention of the ride, not the movies. The idea was the result of a brainstorming session between Coats, Davis, and writer X Atencio. They came up with the idea that the pirates couldn't take the treasure out of the grotto because it was cursed.

🎢 Theme Park Intel

The Disney Springs transportation change: what's actually true. As of June 28, boarding a bus or boat from Disney Springs to a resort now requires a resort or dining reservation. A lot of people are claiming Disney killed resort hopping. Not true. This policy only affects boarding at Disney Springs. Everything at the parks and resorts has the same official policy as before. But many fans are wondering if Disney is clamping down on resort hopping because of other factors, such as...
Grand Floridian will not have a giant gingerbread house this year. The disappointing ending of this holiday tradition (and language on Disney Parks Blog implying the gingerbread houses at resorts are meant just for resort guests or guests with ADRs) has a lot of people wondering what Disney's policy on visiting the resorts actually is. Right now only one thing is very clear: if you have a resort reservation or ADR, you're good. As for edge cases (like what if you want to go to Trader Sam's for a drink), the official policy still hasn't changed. But I'll be keeping an eye on this.
Level99 is now open at Disney Springs. I got an early look at this one: 63 life-sized mini-games with no instructions (by default), where figuring out the game is the game. It's a fascinating design philosophy of challenge/fun, which I dug into with Founder/CEO Matt DuPlessie. Overall, I really loved my time at Level99 - it has an amazing amount of variety, and it's a great activity for a group of friends to get together and play, without wanting to reach for your phone at any point.

✅ The Recommendation

Here's the smart-vacation read on your summer trip: Disney just dropped nine major updates within a few weeks of each other. My three favorite updates: Millennium Falcon, Buzz Lightyear, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.

Seriously, don't sleep on Millennium Falcon, those updates are much bigger than just adding Mandalorian and Grogu. It's like a completely new ride.