Pirates of the Caribbean opens at Disneyland March 18, 1967

The popular Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland in California is a ride based on a darker theme than some of the other rides are. This attraction was the last ride that had Walt Disney's hand in the design process.

Located in the New Orleans section of Disneyland, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is a must-see attraction. New Oleans Square is very cool, modeled after its namesake during the the antebellum period. A United States flag with 31 stars on it, circa 1850s, flies over the area.

As you line up for the ride, you'll see that the boat dock's sign overhead has the name of Jean Lafitte (spelled incorrectly though as "Laffite"), a famous pirate who fought in the "Battle of New Orleans" and in the "War of 1812".

This pirate adventure is a boat ride that takes place indoors and is complete with cannon blasts, burning buildings, and gunshots. The animatronic pirates pillage and cavort around to the tune of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" which was composed by Xavier Atencio and George Bruns.

The original plans drafted for the ride in the 1950s had this attraction as just a wax museum to walk through and view pirates throughout history. After the 1064 World's Fair in New York, the attraction then changed to a boat ride involving various elaborate scenarios highlighted with audio-animatronically operated characters. The audio-animatronics greatly enhanced Disneyland's features. Marc Davis then created amusing skits with fictional pirates for the final version of the attraction.

Pirates of the Caribbean opened in 1967 on March 18th. It was the largest of the audio-animatronic attraction at Disneyland at that time.


Interesting Facts

Hanging over the bar located in the scene of the crew's quarters, is a portrait of a woman pirate; this is Marc Davis' original creation. There is also a scene with a pirate captain along with some captured women being sold for brides that is used for testing any developments or updates as far as the audio-animatronics go. Most of the new ideas are tested on the Captain before being added to any other character. This means that his actions are more expressive and lifelike than all the other figures run by this method at Disneyland.

One scene in this attraction shows pirates chasing women in a circle. Over the years, this particular scene has changed many times, due to public opinion happening at the time. This was modified a few times through various ways. The last modification just has pirates chasing each other both holding onto a treasure chest in order to promote the 2006 movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." This was the second of the films inspired by this attraction. If you take a close look, you'll also discover animatronic Cap'n Jack Sparrow roaming the area, too.

This ride became so popular that the visitors to the Florida Walt Disney World complained it was not there. Due to popular demand, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was added to Disney World, though it was never part of the original plans to include.

This ride may not be suitable for young children due to some of the special effects. It's a dark ride with a lot of noise and fire. At the start, your boat drops down over two small waterfalls, so be prepared to get a little wet. It took me a couple years to get my kids to ride this, now it is one of their favorites! I recommend if you plan on taking young children on rides like Pirates or Haunted Mansion to have them watch it on YouTube a few times first so that they will be prepared and have a more enjoyable experience. I know with mine, they always worry more that they need to about the unknown and then after the experience tell me that it really was more fun than they expected!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTQ5eWBlApY