The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (95 page)

Pirates of the Caribbean

[
FastView:
 
Who doesn’t yearn to live a pirate’s life?  Set sail on one of
Disneyland
’s best attractions, which has been frightening and enchanting Guests since 1967.
]

This popular
Disneyland
attraction launched in 1967, after
Walt
’s passing in December of 1966.  From its opening to the present day it’s always at the top of any list of Guests’ favorite park experiences.  According to the
Zagat Disneyland Resort Insider’s Guide
(2010), it’s not only the number-one rated attraction in
Disneyland Park
, it’s the number-one rated attraction at the entire resort.  It appeals to children of all ages, from one to one hundred, and is generally regarded as
Disneyland
’s masterpiece.

Pirates
is replicated in the other
Disney Theme Parks
, but the
Disneyland
version holds a special place in Guests’ heart as the original and the best.  Other parks bring interesting and fresh approaches to
Pirates
; in
Disneyland Paris
, for example, the flume drop occurs during the fierce ship-to-fort battle.  Notwithstanding the appeal of the newer versions, many prefer the
Disneyland
experience, which is lengthier and more elaborate than the
Walt Disney World
iteration.

A
lthough
Walt
didn’t live to see
Pirates
’ opening, he was heavily involved in developing its design and tone.  Originally conceived as a museum of wax pirate figures,
Pirates of the Caribbean
benefitted from the
Imagineers
’ watershed of technical advances at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair which spun the
Pirates
concept in a much richer and more elaborate direction.

Complex
Audio-Animatronics
advances made it possible to scuttle the idea of wax figures in favor of kinetic, engaging
AA
pirates and animals that could talk, laugh, gesture, sing, fight, and fire pistols.

The boat transport system of the World’s Fair’s
“
it’s a small world”
experience was adapted to the
Pirate
s attraction; instead of being a walk-through exhibit,
Pirates
would whisk Guests through the attraction’s caves, canals, battles, bride auction, and infernal port in small boats called
bateaux
.

Just as they encounter
ed with the
Haunted Mansion
, the
Imagineers
had to contend with a wealth of ideas for
Pirates
and a lack of space in which to realize them; there was insufficient room within the park’s
berm
to accommodate all the wonderful things that the
Imagineers
wanted to build for
Pirates
.

So, a
s they would do when building the
Haunted Mansion
, they tunneled under the
Disneyland Railroad
tracks and beyond the
berm
.  They built a massive
Pirates
show building on the site where
Holidayland
once welcomed picnickers from 1957 until 1961 when it was closed due to light attendance.

Guests queue and board their
Pirate
bateaux
inside the park limits, within the shell building that hosts the
Lafitte’s Landing
loading area.  All of the boats are named for women–the
Anabelle
,
Fantine
,
Fleurette
,
Muriel
, and so forth.  The
bateaux
gently drift through a night-shaded Louisiana bayou, past the softly lit plantation garden of the
Blue Bayou
restaurant.  If you enter this attraction on a sunny day, it staggers the mind how
Disneyland
has conjured night within the attraction, so realistic is the nocturnal environment.

There is moon-
glow, and fireflies dance over the bayou waters and among distant, moss-draped trees.  Small water craft bob among rotting logs and cunningly submerged alligators.  Frogs croak and plop into the water, crickets chirp, and a strange bird cries in the night.  You see, faintly, the ruddy, lamp-lit windows of little huts and cottages among the trees.  From time to time a shooting star streaks above the “night sky” high above (although recently this effect seems to have vanished).

A
single banjo slowly twangs an amalgam of Stephen Foster’s American folk classics “Oh, Susanna” and “Camptown Races,” as you approach a small house on the left; an elderly bayou dweller sits on the porch, strumming a banjo.  The music is paradoxically restful
and
menacing in tone.

The bayou vanishes as
your
bateau
floats into a narrow, walled channel, overshot with multiple dark bridges, and Guests are soon confronted by a skeletal pirate head affixed above a stone arch.  The skeleton’s jaw moves as a pirate voice warns Guests to “sit closer together” and keep their “ruddy hands inboard”–excellent advice on this journey, by the way.  (
X. Atencio
, the
Imagineer
who wrote the lyrics for
Grim Grinning Ghosts
and
Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)
provided the skull’s original spooky voice.)

A second or two later, Guests
shriek and scream as their boat plunges down an ink-black flume!  They’re splashed with a mist of water droplets, but not the torrents of
Grizzly River Rapids
(
DCA
) or the head-to-toe drenching of
Splash Mountain
.  The real thrill of the
Pirates
’ flumes are not the splashdowns but the gently giddy descents.

Your
boat cruises through caverns eerily lit with purple-blue lights, and then plunges abruptly down a
second
flume.  Guests see the drop coming this time, which adds to the shrieking and general fun.

Both flumes serve the crucial function of taking Guests
well below the level of the railroad tracks so that eventually the
bateaux
can float beyond the
berm
and into the enormous show building that houses most of the
Pirates
action.

Be
yond the second flume, Guests’ boats navigate a series of darkly amusing and eerie sets that speak to the wages of pirates’ sins, from the skeletal sailor steadfastly piloting a wrecked and rotting ship through a lightning storm; a greedy captain, long deceased but still studying his treasure map; bony crew members still trying to play an unwinnable chess match; and a hapless rascal who found the mother-lode of all treasures, but died before could enjoy it!

After passing these cautionary tales,
Guests proceed down a long cavern that finally funnels them beyond the
berm
and into the vast show building.  You pass through a misty waterfall on which the image of
Blackbeard
(previously
Davy Jones
) is projected, then emerge from a narrow, almost claustrophobic cave in a panoramic view of a seaport battle, hazy with smoke and booming with the thunder of firing cannons.  Infamous
Captain Barbossa
demands that the town surrender
Captain Jack Sparrow
, a request met with cannon fire.  These elements from the
Disney
films were added during the 2006 and 2011 refurbs so that Guests who saw the movies before experiencing the attraction will have familiar landmarks and characters to enjoy.

Even classic attractions like
Pirates of the Caribbean
are frequently refreshed and upgraded by
Imagineers
, who don’t tamper with the core of the attraction, but improve the technology and enrich the story.  In this battle scene, where Guests’
bateaux
cruise between
Barbossa
’s ship and the town’s fort, the most recent
Pirates
refurb was particularly potent.

The can
non booms are louder and crisper, with bright red muzzle flashes, and there are now powerful air blasts that make it feel as if cannon balls are whizzing right past Guests.  There are bigger splashes in the water where cannon balls are supposed to be landing; the spray from the phantom cannon balls rises high in the air, and even Guests who weren’t splashed during the two flume drops might get a few droplets on them during this part of the adventure!

You can hear the dialog
ue better now, and even the shadows of two battling figures cast on the tower wall seem crisper, as are the clangs of their clashing blades.

Guests’
bateaux
turn rather sharply right, the battle still raging behind them, and cruise into the port, where the local mayor
Carlos
is being interrogated by pirates.  Where is
Captain Jack Sparrow
?  That seems to be the question on everyone’s minds.  Guests can see
Captain Jack
, their first glimpse of him in this attraction, as he hides behind a dressmaker’s dummy and spies on the proceedings.

The
Audio-Animatronic
figures of the
Pirates
attraction are impressive, the originals like
Carlos
no less than newer additions like
Captain Jack Sparrow
, who looks so uncannily real that for a moment you wonder how
Disneyland
persuaded actor
Johnny Depp
to give up his big movie career to work on the
Disneyland
Pirate
s attraction!  It looks like him,
really
him, portraying
Captain Jack
, down to the beaded braids and the mischievous eyes set in their exotically kohl-rimmed sockets.  But it’s just a beautifully rendered
AA
version of
Depp
as
Captain Jack
.

The next scenario, near the
cantina
, is a
Bride Auction
, and one of the attraction’s most famous set pieces.  This is tricky material, the kind that made
Walt
question initially whether an attraction about pirates belonged at
Disneyland
.  But
Marc Davis
’ trademark humor permeates these scenes and tones them down enough for a family audience.  Elements like the
AA
chickens and other animals add a comical, pastoral flavor that softens the scene as well.

The
Auctioneer
, voiced by
Disney
’s
Paul Frees
(also the
Ghost Host
at the
Haunted Mansion
) extols the fine qualities of a certain “corn-fed” lady, but the rogues and scallywags on the bridge and across the river don’t want the “stout-hearted lass”–they “wants the
Red-head
!”  There’s cantankerous disagreement and some pistol shots, but Guests are unscathed as they leave this scene behind.

Next is a scene of wanton debauchery, pirates collapsed or lolling in the midst of rum barrels that have been pierced by bullets and are leaking arcs of the sweet stuff. 
Here a mustachioed character brags that he has the treasure map and key that
Captain Jack
is seeking, and wouldn’t he love to see
Jack
’s face if he knew!  What Mr. Mustache doesn’t realize is that clever
Jack
is hiding in a barrel right behind him, and sees everything.  A familiar little dog notices
Jack
and barks a warning, but the mustached man is oblivious.

Nearby, irritated women chase pirates who are stealing platters of food. 
For most of the attraction’s history, the pirates were chasing the women.  This was the only contentious aspect of an otherwise beloved attraction; throughout its lifetime,
Pirates
drew criticism from some quarters, complaints that the wench-chasing scenes were either sexist or inappropriate for children or both.  In 1997, the tables were turned, so to speak; after that refurb, the pirates began chasing platters of food and irate women began chasing the gluttonous pirates.

Next along the watery route is a drunken, collapsed figure who’s talking to a coterie of alley c
ats (“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty”).  He refers to himself as
Old Bill
and offers the cats some rum.  This is one of many potentially unsavory aspects of
Pirates
that is saved by the comical character designs and voice characterizations.