Pirates of the Caribbean (ride)

"And then, in here, we have a special attraction. We call it the 'Blue Bayou Lagoon'. People are gonna get on a boat here, and ride through the lagoon. And then as they get around here, we're gonna take them down a waterfall and take them back into the past into the days of the pirates, you know, where the whole Caribbean area was full of pirates and they were always sacking towns and things."

- Walt Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean is a dark ride that opened at Disneyland in March 18, 1967. It would be opened in other Disney parks, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the world's most popular and well-loved Disney attractions. The ride inspired the film series of the same name.

This was the last attraction that Walt Disney himself participated in designing; with it opening three months after his death. He was instrumental in bringing this attraction to life, and was involved with the project until the end of his life. Walt's theme park design division (known as WED) created a remarkable world for the pirates to live in, relying on the talents of some of the best creative minds in the entertainment field, such as Marc Davis, X Atencio, Claude Coats, Yale Gracey, Blain Gibson and others. With the help of his Imagineers, Disney created a boat ride featuring thrills, chills, and space-age robotics known as "Audio-Animatronics" to bring life to the multitude of salty characters that make the Pirates of the Caribbean the fascinating experience that it is.

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
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 Indigenous peoples of the Americas, or "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.

The original ride
The following is what appears in the original versions of the ride, from 1967-2006.

Starting the adventure
"Ye come seekin' adventure with salty ol' 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."

- Talking skull and crossbones

The ride begins in a bayou amid glimmering fireflies and an evening abuzz with the croaking of bullfrogs. Daring adventurers board their boats at Laffite's Landing, and are at once afloat in the heart of bayou country. After entering your boat, it drifts off placidly through the misty waters, past a lolling houseboat in the Blue Bayou. Crickets, frogs, toads and all sorts of waterfowl, hidden behind the mangroves, sing their eerie songs quietly throughout the swamp as you drift slowly past several rickety houseboats. The soft strumming of a banjo melody 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 upon turning a final corner in the brick channel, guests find a talking skull and crossbones mounted on the bricks above the boat's pathway. The talking skull provides this taunting warning:
 * Psst! Avast there! It be too late to alter course, mateys. And there be plundering pirates lurking in every cove, waitin' to board. Sit closer together and keep your ruddy hands inboard. 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 ol' 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. There be squalls ahead, and Davy Jones waiting for them that don't obey.

The Grotto of Lost Souls
"Dead men tell no tales!"

- An eerie voice



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 hear the frightening echo of "Dead men tell no tales!" 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. Through the ominous stone walls of the caverns, and the eerie moonlit scenery, visitors come across a grim tableau: three skeletons that appear to have been seeking treasure in a small cove have reaped their reward: two have been run through with their blades, and the remaining body lies dead next to the now-empty treasure chest. All three skeletons apparently being victims of another band of treachorous villains, or victims of fighting amongst themselves. Moving through the grotto, the crusty skeletons become more animated, as noted by each of their actions.

A skeleton can be seen at the helm of a shipwreck, the rotting boards smashed on the rocky grotto shore as we see through the rocky walls of the grotto out into the stormy night sky. Shredded sails and old cargo remains scattered throughout the site of the wreck as the lone skeleton captain is doomed to eternally pilot the ship through a thunderstorm to a long forgotten destination.

Moving onward, guests pass the "Crew's Quarters," a salty hangout where two pirates appear to have died enjoying their rum; in which rum trickles through one pirate's exposed rib cage. Pirates seem to have once used this old inn as a homestead, as signs hanging nearby read "Stow yer weapons" and "Thar Be No Place Like Home!" Decorated with remnants from old ships and vessels, this hideaway is adorned with liquor, glassware, and lush artwork. Drifting onward, the guests' boat passes the "Captain's Quarters", rigged with the finest furnishin's money did not buy, where they see the captain himself. The captain, who is nothing more than a bony corpse propped up in his lush bed, can be seen studying a treasure map while his harpsichord plays a melancholy melody.

Going past the Captain's Quarters, visitors come across the "cursed treasure"; "Pretty baubles&mdash;and a king's ransom in gold. Aye, blood money and cursed it be." The treasure cavern itself is filled edge to edge with sparkling jewels, piles of gold, and all types of trinkets and art. Seated atop this giant cache of plundered wealth is a final skeletal pirate&mdash;to remind guests that even the finest riches and wealth are no match for death, which is the only reward any of these pirates could count on. As the boat continues past the treasure, the grotto narrows into a tunnel shrouded in mist as ghostly voices tell passengers about their fates and the treasure's curse, with echoes of "Dead men tell no tales!" in the background:


 * No fear have ye of evil curses says you? Arrrgh...Properly be warned ye be, says I. Who knows when that evil curse will strike the greedy beholders of this bewitched treasure?


 * Perhaps ye knows too much...Ye've seen the cursed treasure, you know where it be hidden. Now proceed at your own risk. These be the last 'friendly' words ye'll hear. Ye may not survive to pass this way again...

The Wicked Wench
"Strike yer colors, ya bloomin' cockroachers! By thunder, we'll see ya to Davy Jones! They needs persuasion, mates...Fire at will!"

- Pirate Captain

Escaping the eerie grotto, the boats find themselves thrust through a blinding mist into the smoky middle of a fierce battle between a pirate galleon, the Wicked Wench, and a Spanish fort offshore of Isla Tesoro. The pirates aboard the Wicked Wench are firing the cannons across the lagoon at the fort, which the Spanish soldiers are returning fire. Caught in the middle between splashing cannonballs are the innocent guests aboard their boats, proceeding heedlessly through the smoky melee. The Pirate Captain leads the assault from the deck of the Wicked Wench, giving orders to his crew as cannonballs screech towards the fort in the ongoing battle.

Sacking the Town
"Pipe the lubber aloft, matey. Speak up, ya bilge rat! Where be the treasure?" "Do not tell him, Carlos! No, no, no, no..." "No! No! Por favor!"

- A pirate, Carlos' wife, and Carlos

Passing through the gates of the sacked town of Puerto Dorado, guests see the first of a number of incredibly detailed scenes of mayhem. First, the magistrate of the town, Carlos, is seen being tortured by being dunked in a well by a group of pirates asking for the location of the town's treasure. "I weel not talk!" he replies bravely in his Spanish accent, before being dunked yet again. A line of other town captives stand in a line, bound as prisoners, waiting their turn at being questioned; one of them shivering in fear. The captives are being held at the gates of the Mayor's home, which has been battered open and ransacked. Carlos' proud wife occasionally peeks out of an upstairs window, admonishing her husband "Don't tell him, Carlos! Don't be chicken!" A pirate's pot shot at the window sill quickly causes the wife to duck back inside, but she'll peek out again before long. "Weigh anchor now, ya swabbies. What be I offered for this winsome wench? Stout 'arted and corn fed she be..." "Hey, are you selling her by the pound?" "Shift yer cargo, dearie, show 'em your larboard side."

- Auctioneer and a drunk pirate

Floating onward through the town, the next scene that guests come to is an auction, in which drunken pirates are encouraged to bid on the local women, and a banner advises the men to "Take a Wench for a Bride!" While the Auctioneer is trying to sell off a "stout-hearted and cornfed" wench of the town, the bidders cry out for the "redhead" a flirtatious woman waiting in the wings for her turn to go to the highest bidder, with apparent delight. It is then shown, as guest drift forward, that many of the women didn't take kindly to being sold off, as many of them have escaped, and are being chased through town by their pirate suitors. Some pirates chased after food. A "pooped" pirate reminisced about the "lively lassie" he wished to "hoist his colors" upon. Holding her slip as he prattles on, the woman peers out from inside a barrel that sat right behind the pirate's back as he keeps boasting, unaware.

As the boats drift further into the heart of the town, the pirates get more frantic and the mayhem gets more dangerous as the town is set ablaze. Meanwhile, the pirates have become too drunk to care, as they sing A Pirate's Life for Me blissfully and go about their looting of the village, unaware of the threat that the flaming town has become.

Burning the Village, and Your Escape
"We burn up the city, we're really a fright/Drink up me hearties, yo ho!"

- Pirates singing A Pirate's Life for Me

As the flaming town burns brighter, the pirates grow dimmer as the alcohol takes its toll. Pirates continue singing A Pirate's Life for Me as they stand around with their lit torches burning in their hands, unaware of their surroundings. Others wallow in the mud, one pirate in particular sleeping with pigs, and a pirate named Old Bill offering rum to stray cats. The guests' boat drifts directly under a stone archway under the glazed gaze of a stupified pirate.

The boats continue their trip through the melee, drifting into the foundations of the town and passing prison cells that are threatened by the looming flames, as are the captive pirates trapped inside. Some of the prisoners are frantically trying to bribe a prison dog into bringing them the keys to the cell, which the dog holds tauntingly in his jaws. Some prisoners try to get the dog, by either offering a bone or getting his attention, while other prisoners have rope to use to get the dog with. Though the prisoners tried hard to retrieve the dog's keys, the dog never moved from where it was sitting.



Finally drifing into a burning building, guests are suddenly thrust into the midst of burning embers and flaming pillars. From above, ominous creaking sounds echo through the subterranean chamber as the foundations of the buildings above sway and burning beams crack and groan under the pressure. The boats then enter the town's underground arsenal and armory, filled with weapons, cannonballs, and stacked barrels of gunpowder. The drunken pirates are oblivious to the imminent threat, as they take potshots at guests in the boats, the casks of gunpowder, and each other while their shots ricochet off of the walls and armor stored in the room. Before the inebriated salts can blow the arsenal into pieces, the boat takes their guests "up" a waterfall, thereby escaping the pirates. The boats take their visitors back to the safety of the placid Blue Bayou.

Current Disneyland version
The following is what appears in the current version of the ride which is very similar to the original, except with the additions of characters and objects from the films.

Starting the adventure
The ride begins amid glimmering fireflies during an evening abuzz with the croaking of bullfrogs. Daring adventurers board their boats at Laffite's Landing, and are at once afloat in the heart of bayou country. Once past several rickety houseboats, the soft strumming of a banjo melody can be heard over the peaceful symphony of nature. But, then a more chilling sound becomes audible: the thundering of a waterfall, and the frightening echo of "Dead men tell no tales!"

The Grotto of Lost Souls
"Aye, tales there be a plenty in this cursed place..."

- Davy Jones

After a hair-raising plunge 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. A waterfall with a projection of Davy Jones or Blackbeard then appears, and the riders seem to float through without getting wet. Both pirates invite guests to proceed if "they be brave or fool enough to face a pirate's curse". Passing through the waterfall, riders find themselves exiting the grotto.

The Wicked Wench
"Strike your colours you bloomin' cockroaches. Surrender Captain Jack Sparrow or by thunder we'll burn this city to the ground!"

- Hector Barbossa

Suddenly, cannonballs whistle overhead and explosions throw water into the air—a fierce battle between a marauding pirate galleon, the Wicked Wench, and a Spanish fortress is in full swing. Captain Barbossa leads the assault while The Medallion Calls plays in the background. Barbossa leads the assault from the deck of the Wicked Wench, giving orders to his crew as cannonballs screech towards the fort in the ongoing battle.

Sacking the Town
"Where be Captain Jack Sparrow? Speak up! Or do you fancy a swim with Davy Jones?" "Don't tell him Carlos! Don't be chicken!"

- A pirate and Carlos' wife to Carlos

The village on the Isla Tesoro beyond is overrun with pirates in search of Captain Jack Sparrow, while the notorious pirate hides in between two mannequins as the mayor is tortured. The Auctioneer led an auction on the town's women are being sold as "brides" to the invading pirates. Meanwhile, the pirates continue ravaging the town and setting it aflame. Just beyond is the infamous "pooped pirate" drunkenly waving a map and key to the 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.

Burning the Village, and Your Escape
"I shall take this paltry sum as a stipend to cover my expenses, and a chest of jewels. Drink up me hearties, yo ho!"

- Jack Sparrow

Carefree, tipsy pirates succeed in ravaging the town and setting it aflame, filling the night air with an orange glow. Pirates sing A Pirate's Life for Me as they continue to burn the city to the ground. 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.

Finally, Jack Sparrow is seen in a room full of the hidden treasure the pirates tried so hard to keep from him. 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!". Leaving the scene, the taunting voices of Davy Jones and Blackbeard are heard again, warning guests that the next time they set sail, they may not survive to pass again. Riders then return to the sleepy bayou where the journey began.

Pre-2006 revamp
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, though 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."

2006 revamp
In 2006, Walt Disney Imagineering debuted refurbishments at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean 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 Captain Barbossa (who replaced the original captain of the Wicked Wench), along with new special effects, improved lighting and audio, and an appearance by the second and third films' supernatural character Davy Jones, all voiced by the original actors. The skeleton beach and hurricane scenes are now accompanied by a quiet, melancholic instrumental version of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)". The Disneyland attraction 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 the release of Dead Man's Chest. In the first treasure room, in the pirate's grotto, the stone chest from Pirates of the Caribbean: The 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. The "Pooped Pirate" is now holding the key to the town's Treasure Room.

2011 revamp
In 2011, to coincide with the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the waterfall projection of Davy Jones was replaced by Blackbeard. Disney announced that it would only be a temporary replacement. On November 2011, the waterfall projection was modified to where both Blackbeard and Davy Jones appeared.

Appearances
The following are appearances in all versions of the ride since its opening in 1967.

Individuals

 * Pirate Captain
 * Magistrate Carlos
 * Carlos' Wife
 * Auctioneer
 * Tiny
 * Pooped Pirate
 * Old Bill
 * Woman in barrel
 * Billie How
 * Coote
 * Jack Sparrow
 * Hector Barbossa
 * Davy Jones
 * Blackbeard

Creatures

 * Cat
 * Donkey
 * Goat
 * Parrot
 * Pig
 * Prison Dog

Objects

 * Sword
 * Cannon
 * Flintlock pistol

Locations

 * Blue Bayou
 * Laffite's Landing
 * Isla Tesoro
 * Dead Man's Cove
 * Puerto Dorado
 * Castillo del Morro
 * La Cantina
 * Mercado

Organizations and groups

 * Pirates
 * Spanish Army

Ships

 * Wicked Wench

Disneyland

 * Grand opening: March 18, 1967
 * Ride time: 14.5 minutes
 * Capacity: 3400 guests per hour
 * Audio-Animatronics: 66 humans; 57 animals
 * Total amount of water: 750,000 gallons
 * Main lift pumps: Pump number one is rated at a maximum of 20,000 gallons per minute, while Pump number two is rated at a maximum of 18,000 gallons per minute
 * First drop length: 52'
 * First drop angle: 21 degrees
 * Second drop length: 37'
 * Second drop angle: 21 degrees
 * Length of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing: 90'
 * Angle of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing: - 16 degrees
 * Number of show buildings: 2 (112,826 square feet)
 * Number of levels: 3 (Blue Bayou, upper caverns and main show in basement)
 * Canal length: 1,838 feet
 * Maximum ceiling height: 40'
 * Required ticket: "E" (discontinued)
 * Ride system: Flume