Pirates of the Caribbean

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Pirates of the Caribbean Overview

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Following its debut at Disneyland in California in 1967, the "Wildest crew to ever sack the Spanish Main" created an outpost of buccaneer fun in 1973 in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Like its predecessor, the Orlando version of the attraction has become a classic Disney entertainment experience beloved by guests from around the world.

This ride has some of the best Audio-animatronics that Disney has to offer. The details found on the pirates include realistic costuming, unique facial features and even hairy legs on the pirate swinging his leg atop the bridge.

Disney talent veterans Paul Frees and Thurl Ravenscroft provided the voice for many of the attraction's colorful characters.

Pirates of the Caribbean History

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Walt Disney originally intended Pirates of The Caribbean to be a walk through attraction. The current attraction evolved out of the technological advances made by Disney imagineers and the ingenuity of Walt Disney himself. A new expansion was being designed for Disneyland, it would be called New Orleans Square. A sophisticated themed land to complement the high energy of fantasy land and tomorrow land.

The plans called for two attractions and a restaurant within a very limited space. The attractions included The Haunted House (later to be named the Haunted Mansion) and The Rouge's Gallery. The Rouge's Gallery was a wax museum planned to utilize "basement" space underneath New Orleans Square. Visitors would walk through a self guided tour viewing various pirates and scenes.

Pirates of the Caribbean The Adventure Continues LE Pin

Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Poster

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End [Blu-ray]

What wasn't considered in the planning was the growth factor that Disneyland was experiencing. A walk through attraction would be limiting in that it would only accommodate a small number of guests at any given time. In addition the park would have no control over the speed at which these guests would view the attraction leaving the possibility for congestions to occur. A new vision called for an attraction that steadily carried guests through the attraction by some mode of transport. In the early 1960's Walt Disney and company took venture at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair contributing to 4 attractions: Progressland (Now called The Carousel of Progress found in WDW's tommorowland), The sets and scenes for The Magic Highway (a Ford sponsored ride through), Great moments with Mr. Lincoln, and of course It's a Small World. Then answer to the guest transport problem would be found by using the same boats used for It's a Small World. These boats propelled by air cannon propulsion and roller system.

The Pirates of The Caribbean attration opened in Adventureland on Dec 15,1973. Though slightly altered from Disneyland, it still maintains Walt Disney's orginial vision.

Pirates of The Caribbean Trivia

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• Inside the fortress guests wander through its arsenals and dungeons. One distinctive scene features two skeletons playing chess and seemingly locked in an eternal state of check. Legendary Disney Imagineer Marc Davis created the sight gag and sharp-eyed guests will notice that the skeletons are literally deadlocked in a tie game.
• When Pirates was going to open in Disneyland,Imagineer Yale Gracey's burning city effect was too real for the fire department cheif, who almost closed the ride before it opened because he thought they where actual flames.
• A coat of arms hanging over the entrance to the attraction's finale scene - the Treasure Room - reads "Marco Daviso." This is a sly tribute to Disney imaginer Marc Davis, who designed virtually all of the attraction's characters and comical sight gags.
• Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't included in the original plans for the Magic Kingdom® at Walt Disney World Resort® - the Disney Imagineers thought that since Florida sits in the middle of the real Caribbean there would be little interest in a Pirates-themed adventure. Soon after opening in the fall of 1971, Walt Disney World Resort® was inundated with guest comments expressing disappointment that the renowned Disneyland attraction was no where to be found in the Magic Kingdom®. By fall of 1972 Pirates of the Caribbean was under construction in Florida.
• To accommodate the unexpected addition of Pirates of the Caribbean inside the Magic Kingdom, a portion of Adventureland was dubbed Caribbean Plaza, borrowing its theme from the 18th century English and Spanish colonies found in the West Indies.
• The façade of the attraction is an impressive Spanish fort dubbed El Castillo (The Castle) and is based on the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• The Florida version differs from its California counterpart by featuring a shortened sequence of haunted grotto scenes but is highlighted by an entirely different finale featuring the sacked village's Treasure Room.
• Ride Duration: 9 minutes
• Amount of water: 750,000 gallons

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Pirates of the Caribbean Hidden Mickeys

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• In the final scene of the ride, there are several lamps hanging on the walls and columns of the room displaying a flickering candle effect. The iron works at the bottom of all of these lamps are twisted to show the traditional Hidden Mickey. Best place to view is right before you make the left-hand turn to the unload dock, look to the column on your left. The are actually the smallest hidden Mickey in the park. There is one other one of the same size at Epcot. However, there is a smaller one at Animal Kingdom.
• In the right queue when you are almost to the boats there is a metallic Mickey embedded in the floor in the pavement.
• Right after you load onto the boats, you go straight ahead. Right before you make the first right turn, look straight ahead at the wall. It seems as if the entire center of the wall is carved with a giant tri-circle Mickey. The shadows make it hard to see, but also the shadows also help to form the Hidden Mickey. It is clearly visible just as your boat begins the ride before the first right hand turn. It is created from shadows as well as the wall itself.
• In the pirate ship scene right after the drop. In the background in back of the ship, there is a set of clouds that clearly resembles Mickey Mouse.