With regard to Rita's WWWD comments ("what would Walt do?"), I am less inclined to speculate about the "mind of Walt" in situations like this. When Walt died Disneyland was only 11 years old. He never had to deal with the issue of generations of fans who have grown up with DL attractions. Whether he would have green lighted the POTC updates or not, I couldn't guess, because it pits something we know (his use of the park to promote his movies) against something we don't (how averse he would be to messing with people's childhood memories in the park).

Just my:2

Also, I still think the HM updates involve a slight nod to the movie. Master Gracey is in the HM for the first time. Panther lady is now tiger lady. And Leota can move her ball around. All three of these items jive with the movie. It seems to me they are hedging their bets in case the HM film becomes a campy cult classic or something for a future generation of fans. At any rate, they had to at least acknowledge its existence in some tiny measure.

Another:2

Hey, we're almost up to a nickel.