Pirates of the Caribbean (theme park ride)

This article is about the Disney theme park attraction. For other uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation).

Pirates of the Caribbean
Locations and Opening Dates
Disneyland	March 18 1967
Magic Kingdom	December 15 1973
Tokyo Disneyland	April 15 1983
Disneyland Paris	April 12 1992

Pirates of the Caribbean is a dark ride at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris theme parks. The last attraction Walt Disney himself oversaw, it is one of the most popular and well-known Disney attractions. During the course of the indoor boat ride, guests float through an immersive, larger-than-life pirate adventure featuring gunshots, cannon blasts, and burning buildings, all set to pirates carousing and pillaging while accompanied by "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" written by George Bruns and Xavier Atencio.

Development

Walt Disney uses a maquette to demonstrate the planned action of an Audio-animatronics pirate, as seen in this screen shot from the "Disneyland 10th Anniversary" episode of the Walt Disney anthology series.

Originally envisioned in the late 1950s as a walk-through wax museum, the attraction evolved into a boat ride through complex show scenes filled with Audio-Animatronics characters after the 1964 New York World's Fair, which brought about several advances in Disney's theme park technologies. Additionally, it was planned to feature real pirates from history. Instead, humorous sketches of fictional pirates by Imagineer Marc Davis inspired the animatronic diorama seen throughout the final attraction.

Opening on March 18 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean was Disneyland's largest Audio-Animatronics project to date and was the last attraction which Walt Disney was involved in designing. The portrait of the female pirate above the bar in the Crews Quarters scene is an original work by Davis. The pirate captain in the scene where captured women are auctioned as brides is a test bed for updates and developments to Audio-Animatronics technology; many innovations are tried on him first. As a result, his movements are far more lifelike and expressive than virtually any other Audio-Animatronics figure in all of Disneyland. The ride never was intended to be part of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort because of concerns that it would not be exotic enough due to Florida's geographic proximity to the Caribbean and New Orleans, the settings of the Disneyland attraction. Instead, Imagineers developed plans for a similar attraction called the Western River Expedition, which would have featured cowboys and Indians instead. After many Walt Disney World guests complained about the lack of Disney's celebrated pirate attraction, an abbreviated version opened in Florida on December 15 1973. The attraction was part of the opening day of Tokyo Disneyland (April 15 1983) and of Disneyland Paris (April 12 1992). There is no Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland, but there are plans to add it in the near future with some Splash Mountain-style elements.

Attraction description

Disneyland version

Entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.

The ride begins amid glimmering fireflies during an evening abuzz with the croaking of a bullfrog in a quaint Louisiana Bayou. Daring adventurers board their boats at Laffite's Landing, and are at once afloat in the heart of bayou country. On one side is an actual working restaurant, The Blue Bayou, made to look like the backyard dinner party of a southern plantation.

Once past several rickety houseboats, the soft strumming of banjo melodies (including "Oh! Susanna" and "Camptown Races") can be heard over the peaceful symphony of nature as guests pass by one houseboat, on the porch of which an old man calmly rocks back and forth in his rocking chair. But then a talking skull and crossbones above an archway provides this taunting warning:

Psst! Avast there! It be too late to alter course, mateys. And there be plundering pirates lurkin' in ev'ry cove, waitin' to board. Sit closer together and keep your ruddy hands in board. That be the best way to repel boarders. And mark well me words, mateys: Dead men tell no tales! Ye come seekin' adventure with salty old pirates, eh? Sure you've come to the proper place. But keep a weather eye open mates, and hold on tight. With both hands, if you please. Thar be squalls ahead, and Davy Jones waiting for them what don't obey.

Then a more chilling sound becomes audible: the thundering of a waterfall, down which guests plunge. When they reach the bottom of the waterfall guests then get to enjoy the theme for the ride briefly. Then they hear the frightening echo of: "Dead men tell no tales!" After a second hair-raising plunge further into the depths of an underground grotto, guests behold the skeletal remains of an unfortunate band of pirates, guarding their loot and treasure with macabre delight. The boats glide gently past a thunderstorm tossing an old pirate ship about, though the captain driving the ship is nothing more than a skeleton. The boats pass through the Crews Quarters, complete with skeletal pirates playing chess, the captain looking up treasure on his map, an old Harpsichord playing the theme, and a huge amount of treasure being guarded by another skeleton pirate. The Aztec chest from Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl sits in the corner of the Treasure Room and is the last thing guests see before entering a dark tunnel. A waterfall with a projection of Davy Jones then appears, and the riders seem to float through without getting wet. He invites guests to proceed if "they be brave or fool enough to face a pirate's curse". Suddenly, cannonballs whistle overhead and explosions throw water into the air — a fierce battle between a marauding pirate galleon and a Caribbean fortress is in full swing. Captain Barbossa leads the assault from the deck of a pirate vessel named the Wicked Wench, while The Medallion Calls also used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies plays. From the deck of the Wicked Wench Barbossa yells: "Strike yer colors ye bloomin cockroachers. By thunder we'll see you to Davy Jones. They need persuasion mates. Fire at will! Pound 'em lads! Pound em'!" When a cannon is shot, guests may feel a powerful blast of air coming from the cannon. The village on the Isla Tesoro beyond is overrun with pirates in search of Captain Jack Sparrow, wenches to auction, rum to drink, and treasure. One pirate is even offering cats some rum. Jack is first seen in the mayor-dunking scene, hiding behind some dresses, peeking out every so often. As the ride progresses, the town's women are being sold as "brides" to the invading pirates. Just beyond is the infamous "pooped pirate" drunkenly waving a map and key to a treasure vault, boasting that Jack Sparrow will never see it. Little does he know, Jack is hiding in a barrel just behind him, popping out and getting a good look at the map over the pirate's shoulder.

A skeleton at the helm of a ship

Carefree, tipsy pirates succeed in ravaging the town and setting it aflame, filling the night air with an orange glow. Riders next float past a jail where imprisoned pirates are doing their best to escape as flames draw near. A small dog just out of the prisoners' reach holds the key to their escape in his teeth; he seems all but immune to the pleas of the pirates trying to coax him closer. Timbers are smoldering and cracking overhead as riders sail through a storage room filled with gunpowder, cannon balls and whiskey-filled, gun-shooting pirates that are singing "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me". A shootout between the inebriated crew and captain of the pirate ship in a flaming ammunition warehouse threatens to demolish the entire village. Finally, Jack Sparrow is seen in a room full of the hidden treasure the pirates tried so hard to keep from him. Slightly drunk (as usual), he is draped over a large throne-like chair and waves his new treasures around happily while chattering to himself (and passing guests). Every once in a while he will sing "Drink up me hearties yo ho!". Riders then return to the sleepy bayou where the journey began.

Modifications

The "auction" scene in which women are offered for sale by the invading pirates has remained largely intact since the attraction opened, though the "Take A Wench For A Bride" banner comes and goes with some refurbishments.

In its original form, the Disneyland attraction contained a scene in which pirates were shown chasing attractive females in circles (achieved by simply placing figures on rotating platforms hidden below guests' view), along with a comical reversal in which an overweight woman was seen chasing a pirate. Some guests were offended by this depiction, and in response Disney initially changed the woman chasing the pirate by having her try to hit him with a rolling pin. In 1997, this sequence was changed so that the pirates pursued women holding pies, and the large woman is chasing a pirate with a stolen ham. Originally, one overweight pirate (sometimes known as the "Pooped Pirate") was shown exhausted from his pursuit of an unwilling female. He brandished a petticoat as guests floated past, and uttered suggestive dialogue, including: "It's sore I be to hoist me colors upon the likes of that shy little wench," and "I be willing to share, I be." Behind him, the woman he had been pursuing would peer out from her hiding place inside a barrel. This scene was altered in the American parks, but it remains unchanged in the versions at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

In the 1997 refurbishment, the "Pooped Pirate" was recast as the Gluttonous Pirate, a rogue in search of food. His dialogue included lines such as: "Me belly be feeling like galleon with a load of treasure," and "I be looking for a fine pork loin, I be." The woman hiding in the barrel was replaced by a cat.

At the Magic Kingdom, the chase scene was altered to show the pirates making off with various treasure as the formerly "chased" ladies attempt to thwart them. The "Pooped Pirate" here holds a treasure map in his lap and a magnifying glass in one hand. His lines include: "This map says X marks the spot, but I be seein' no X's afore me." The woman in the barrel remains, although this time she is hiding a small treasure chest in the barrel with her.

These modifications garnered criticism from longtime fans and some of the attraction's original Imagineers; in Jason Surrell's book Pirates of the Caribbean: From The Magic Kingdom to the Movies, showwriter Francis Xavier "X" Atencio referred to these "softening" touches as "Boy Scouts of the Caribbean".

A closeup of Disneyland's newest audio-animatronic figure based on Johnny Depp's character Captain Jack Sparrow from the popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy.

In 2006, Walt Disney Imagineering debuted refurbishments at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean feature films to coincide with the release of the second movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. With the recent revisions of the ride to incorporate features from the movie, Disney has completely done away with the sequence of women being chased by pirates. Instead, one turntable features two pirates running in a circle, each holding one end of a treasure chest (taken from the aforementioned Magic Kingdom modification). In another, a woman is chasing a pirate who is making off with some stolen pies. In the third, a woman is chasing a pirate while menacing him with a weapon. The "Pooped Pirate" character is now brandishing a map and the key to the town's Treasure Room, while Captain Jack Sparrow stealthily observes him from inside the barrel. The refurbishments also included other Audio-Animatronic figures of Captain Jack Sparrow, and one of Hector Barbossa (who replaced the original captain of the Wicked Wench ship), along with new special effects, improved lighting and audio, and an appearance by the films' supernatural character Davy Jones, all voiced by the original actors (Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, and Bill Nighy). The skeleton beach and hurricane scenes are now accompanied by a quiet, mysterious instrumental version of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)". George Bruns' original "Scare Me Music", a louder instrumental version of "Yo Ho", has been replaced by a different (although similar) music track in the various skeleton scenes in the Disneyland attraction's skeleton scenes. Later in the ride, the battle between the Wicked Wench and the town has been scored with a re-recorded part of a cue from Klaus Badelt's score to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The Disneyland version also features a new final "lift scene". When the boats are being lifted back to ground level, guests pass by an Audio-Animatronic figure of a tipsy Jack Sparrow relaxing and humming bits of the theme song amongst a collection of treasure. A similar scene replaces the Treasure Room scene at the end of Magic Kingdom version of the ride. Smaller modifications have been made to coincide with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. In the first treasure room, in the pirate's grotto, the chest of cursed Aztec gold from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl can be seen at the far right. In the skeletal bar room, in the very back of the room, Elizabeth Swann's discarded dress from Dead Man's Chest is visible. In addition, the original outdoor queue has been substantially changed since the attraction's opening. The queue was originally all indoors, beginning at the doors that enter the ride's first show building. Lines of people frequently spread out into the entire walkway, creating a human barrier between New Orleans Square and the intersection of Frontierland and Adventureland. In about 1988, Disney decided that the ride's popularity necessitated an organized collection of switchbacks outside. A hole was dug in the original walkway, forming a lower patio for the queue's switchbacks. A bridge was then built over the patio so that passersby could continue past the attraction without having to fight their way through people in line on crowded days. Today, guests in line for the attraction walk beneath the bridge, wait in the patio, and eventually continue up curved staircases that lead up to ground level and the building entrance itself. Severe crowding can result in the queue being rerouted into the small courtyard east of the main entrance, adjacent to the jungles of Adventureland.

Adaptations

In 2003, Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a feature film inspired by the attraction that stars Johnny Depp in an Oscar-nominated performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. Two sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, opened on July 7 2006 and May 25 2007, respectively. Dead Man's Chest won an Oscar for Best Special Effects in 2007. As of 2007, the trilogy has grossed over US$2.6 billion worldwide. At Walt Disney World, the Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial is a special event that takes place daily in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. The character of Captain Jack Sparrow holds court in enlisting budding pirates to join his crew. Alongside Captain Jack is Mack, his faithful crewman. Together they teach the audience how to be a pirate. The time of the performances can be found on the Magic Kingdom's schedule. A computer game (by Akella), loosely connected to the first movie's plot, was released to coincide with the film. Port Royal, a world based on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, appears in the Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II. In 2000, , opened at DisneyQuest at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort. On this attraction, up to five players board a virtual pirate ship to sail around a small 3-D world. Players may fire cannons at other virtual pirate ships; if opposing ships are sunk, their treasure will be "stolen". Video game developer Ron Gilbert has often said that the ambience for the Monkey Island computer game series was partially inspired by the Disney attraction. One obvious homage is the prison scene in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, in which a key-carrying dog is named Walt after Walt Disney.

Attraction facts

Disneyland

• Grand opening: March 18 1967
• Ride capacity: 3400 guests per hour
• Audio-Animatronics: 122
  • 68 humans
  • 54 animals
• Total amount of water: 750,000 gallons (2,840,000 liters)
• Main lift pumps:
  • Pump number one is rated at a maximum of 20,000 gallons per minute (75,700 liters per minute)
  • Pump number two is rated at a maximum of 18,000 gallons per minute (68,100 liters per minute)
• First drop length: 52 ft (15.8 m)
  • First drop angle: 21°
• Second drop length: 37 ft (11.3 m)
  • Second drop angle: 21°
• Length of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing: 90 ft (27.4 m)
  • Angle of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing: - 16 degrees
• Number of show buildings: 2 (112,826 square feet; 1.05 ha)
• Number of levels: 3
  • Blue Bayou
  • Upper caverns
  • Main show in basement
• Canal length: 1,838 ft (560 m)
• Maximum ceiling height: 40 ft (12.2 m)
• Show length: 16:30 min
• Required ticket: "E" (discontinued)
• Ride system: Flume

Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World

• Grand opening: December 15 1973
• Audio-Animatronics: 125
  • 65 pirates & villagers
  • 60 animals
• Total amount of water: 155,000 gallons
• Drop length: 52'
• Drop height: 14'
• Drops: 1
• Show length: 8:30
• Required ticket: "E" (discontinued)
• Ride system: Flume

Tokyo Disneyland

• Grand opening: April 15 1983
• Audio-Animatronics:123
  • 66 humans
  • 57 animals
• Drops: 1
• Number of levels: 3
  • Blue Bayou
  • Upper caverns
  • Main show in basement

Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort Paris

• Grand opening: April 12 1992
• Audio-Animatronics: 119
  • 64 humans
  • 55 animals
• Drops: 2
• Number of levels: 3
  • Blue Lagoon
  • Main show on second floor
  • caverns (ground level)
• Show length: 10 minutes
• Ride system: Flume

Soundtrack

Releases

• The Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World (1991) "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)"
• Classic Disney Volume 5
• Walt Disney World Resort: The Official Album (1999) "Overture" & "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)"
• Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album (2000) "Overture" & "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)"
• Pirates of the Caribbean (2000) 16 minute "float through," many audio elements from the attraction, plus unused music and dialogue
• Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic (2001) "Overture" & "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)"
• A Musical History of Disneyland (2005) 16 minute "float through"

A version of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" can be heard in several Disney theme park fireworks shows:

• Fantasy in the Sky
• Remember... Dreams Come True

See also

• List of current Disneyland attractions
• Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
• Tokyo Disneyland attraction and entertainment history

References

• Surrell, Jason. (2005). Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies. New York: Disney Editions. ISBN 0-7868-5630-0. Describes the origins of the attraction, its incarnations at Disney parks around the world, and the first two films inspired by it.

External links

• Pirates of the Caribbean (theme park ride) on the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki
• Pirates of the Caribbean Official Website for Disneyland and Walt Disney World
• DisneyQuest: The Official Website
• Tell No Tales: A tribute fan website to the Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction