Disney Quietly Gave the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride a Tech Upgrade. Fans Revolted

For Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean, which opened in 1976 and has been heralded as one of the all-time greatest theme park accomplishments, annual refurbishments are to be expected. Audio-animatronic figures will be tuned up, costumes will be repaired, faces will be "powdered" (since the characters tend to get "sweaty") and props will be refreshed. But when the park re-opened the ride less than two week ago, fans quickly realized this was a different kind of upgrade - and they weren't happy about it. Walt Disney Imagineering, the arm of the company responsible for the theme . . .