You know what, I've been wanting to do a Theme Park related thread since the year 2000. I've been toying with the idea of doing this thread all the way back on the first Forum I ever joined. But it never seemed to be the right time or place to start one, in large part because I felt that there wouldn't be any interest or contributions from other members over the years. Well, here I am now, ready to start a thread 13 years in the making. So why now? Well, you have to thank (or cursed) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
for rekindling my affection for Theme Parks. Granted, I haven't been to Disneyland ironically enough, since the year 2000.

Since it's been so long since the last time I set foot on the grounds of "The Happiest Place On Earth", I was curious to know if they updated the Pirates Ride to tie into the movies. I will be posting some of my favorite rides from years past as well as the ones that no longer exist anymore. So, post and share your thoughts on your favorite parks, rides and adventures........

So, since 2000 was the last time I've been on the ride, I had to check out YouTube once finishing my Pirates Of The Caribbean DVD marathon to see if they updated it any way, shape or form. Sure enough, there were a couple of spots that immediately jumped out at me as 'new'. There is a part early in the ride where there is a "waterfall" that is used for rear projection, which includes Davy Jones and Captain Blackbeard. But it's at the very end where they actually upgraded a new addition to the show with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).

Once I got through the video (about a week ago), I've been hitting a lot of YouTube Clips to see what else has changed as well as hitting some of my all time favorite rides from years past.

FYI, if you have any theme park stories and whatnot, they don't have to be the Big 6. Feel free to talk about your local fairs and carnivals. The more the merrier!

This too falls along the lines of 'non-thrill' ride, much like that of People Mover. But Rocket Jets was HUGE with me when I was just a kid riding this for the first time. It was so damn HIGH above Disneyland!!!! Even though I hadn't been on the ride in years, I still like seeing it there. Sucks that too is gone!! Grrr!!!!!! Damn you 'board of directors'!!

Disney World as in Florida? Looking forward to hearing more!

I figured you lived in Cali a lot longer given you association with Licorice Pizza. Anyway, I've never been to any other Disneyland themed parks other than the one in Anaheim. I did however go to Universal Studios in Orlando.

As I mentioned in my initial post, I haven't been to Disneyland since 2000, which also translate to the last time I rode Space Mountain (for the millionth time). But never have gone through the ride with the 'Lights On'. This is just weird. Although it's kinda cool to see what it looks like with the lights on.....once. The ride absolutely belongs in the dark. It loses that charm of total darkness and not knowing where the curves and bends are coming. Well, with the amount of times I've been on the ride since it's original launch, I had it all memorize down to every inch of the track so I would still know when they are coming regardless. I hope this lights on thing was a one-shot deal and not the norm now.

Not a ride, but a very big part of my time at Disneyland none the less. Every time I went to the park, we would ALWAYS eat lunch specifically at Tomorrowland Terrace just so that we would have live music playing as we ate food that was $20 more than it should have been. Inflated prices indeed, but the show usually made up for it. I had to do some research to see if it was still around. Turns out that it has gone through a series of make-overs that were not popular with the crowds and has since returned to the  flavor of the "original" stage.

Okay, back to Disneyland again. I found this site and really dig the time and effort that whoever worked on this did. Everything seems to have been chronicled when retracing the span of a ride, attraction and even Restaurants. I will still post videos and my recollections here as I remember them, but Yesterland is a pretty cool place to go to jog your memory.