Pirates of the Caribbean

The poster for Disneyland's version of the attraction

**Pirates of the Caribbean** is a classic Disneyland attraction found in numerous Disney Parks. Since its release it has spawned several spin-off attractions and a successful movie franchise with many elements from said spin-off being retconned into the attraction.

## Summary

### Disneyland

Guests access Pirates of the Caribbean via a grand estate in the French quarters of New Orleans on Royal Street in New Orleans Square. Entering they pass by a fountain with a plaque of the skeletal Captain X and two mermaids.

Guests through the building which is decorated with artwork of famous pirates such as: Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Ned Low, Charles Gibbs, Sir Henry Mainwaring, Sir Francis Verney, Hector Barbossa, and Captain Jack Sparrow. In the centre of the chamber is a sandbar with a treasure map of Isla Tesoro, wooden chests, a jolly Roger and a shovel. As boats pass through a canal, Cotton's Parrot from the films squawks and sings atop the shovel.

After passing through the Royal Street gallery, guests find themselves on the serene Blue Bayou of the Louisiana parish on the ramshackle docks of Laffite's Landing; named for 19th century New Orleans pirate and smuggler Jean Lafitte who used bayous to smuggle contraband to Louisiana from the Caribbean. Guests board one of Laffite's Landing's boats and pass through the Blue Bayou which has alligators, houseboats, a plaza restaurant, and an old man on the porch of his shack listening to banjo music.

Following this the guests' boats enter a brick canal deep in the bayou which contains the undead skull of the Irish pirate "Captain X". X gives guests an ominous warning before they are sucked down a dark passage over a waterfall and are mystically transported to the subterranean Dead Man's Cove on the island of Isla Tesoro. A ghostly voice echoes the message of, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" as the boats pass by a full moon with clouds forming a Jolly Roger over it and rocks which resemble skulls staring at guests.

After this the boats float by a subterranean beach littered with the skeletons of pirates who appear to have all killed one another or been killed for an absentee buried treasure. Some of the skeletons are prodded at by large crabs while one impaled on a rock has its head being used as a seagull's nest. The boats continue and pass by the dark silhouette of a ship sailing through a storm only for lighting to flash and reveal it to be beached in Hurricane Lagoon and helmed by a long dead skeleton.

After this, the guests find themselves in the remains of a secret lair which housed the pirates of the Wicked Wench, the wildest crew to sack the Spanish Main. Ghostly voices cackle from out of sight passages as guests see many pirate skeletons of the cursed crew within their quarters, drinking and playing chess. After this the captain's quarters are witnessed with the Wench's skeletal captain in his ornate bed studying a map nearby the remains of his pet parrot and a harpsichord being played by the cove's spirits. The treasure room is passed through next with it containing a king's ransom in gold, jewels, silk, artwork, and a stone chest of Aztec gold. Finally the boats enter a grotto where ghosts warn them of the treasure's curse and pirates fate before transporting them back in time to the golden age of piracy when the pirates ransacked the island.

The boats exit the cove where the Wicked Wench captained by Captain Barbossa is seen engaged in combat with a Spanish fort belonging to Isla Tesoro's colony of Puerto Dorado. Within the town, several pirates are torturing officials to learn the location of the isle's treasure and the whereabouts of rival pirate Captain Jack Sparrow; unaware that Sparrow is eavesdropping nearby. Another group of pirates is seen having rounded up townsfolk with an auctioneer bartering their stolen goods as his rebellious enforcer Redd drunkenly riles up the crowd to disobey him and demand rum. Deeper in the town, several pirates are robbing households while a pompous buccaneer tries to study a treasure map while mocking Captain Jack Sparrow. Behind him however is Sparrow hiding in a barrel, studying the map over his shoulder and trying to steal the keys to the island's armoury. Further on it is seen that the pirates of the Wicked Wench have set the town on fire in a drunken stupor with them all drunk and partaking in hedonistic delights while singing a shanty of, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)".

Guests proceed to enter the 17th century fortress of Castillo Del Morro where prisoners attempt to lure away a prison dog holding keys so they can escape the oncoming fire. Much to their dismay, the dog refuses to move at-all while the fortress burns around them. Within the fort's armoury, several pirates engage in a drunken shootout blissfully unaware that they are surrounded by kegs of gunpowder. After this, the town treasury of Marci Daviso is passed by with Jack Sparrow and a parrot within, drunk and singing about a pirate's life. The boats then proceed to travel up a waterfall as glowing eyes stare at them for darkness and the voice of Davy Jones makes a comment on the treasure's curse while bringing them back to the Blue Bayou in present day.

### Walt Disney World

In Walt Disney World, the attraction is accessed from the ruins of the fortress Castillo Del Morro which is littered with skeletons of pirates and implications of Puerto Dorado having served as a pirate haven following its ransacking. Within a cavern of the fort, guests board a ramshackle boat and pass by a window overlooking the sea where a pirate ship sails in the horizon. The boats enter Dead Man's Cove where a ghostly voice echoes the message of, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" as the boats pass by a full moon with clouds forming a Jolly Roger over it and rocks which resemble skulls staring at guests.

After this the boats float by a subterranean beach littered with the skeletons of pirates who appear to have all killed one another or been killed for an absentee buried treasure. Some of the skeletons are prodded at by large crabs while one impaled on a rock has its head being used as a seagull's nest. The boats continue and pass by the dark silhouette of a ship sailing through a storm only for lighting to flash and reveal it to be beached in Hurricane Lagoon and helmed by a long dead skeleton. The boats continue to approach a cavern with the skull of the undead Captain X nearby, cackling about the guests' boats and fate of pirates before his eyes glow and send them over the edge of a waterfall.

Due to Captain X's dark powers, the guests are transported to the golden age of piracy where the Wicked Wench captained by Captain Barbossa is seen engaged in combat with a Spanish fort belonging to Isla Tesoro's colony of Puerto Dorado. Within the town, several pirates are torturing officials to learn the location of the isle's treasure and the whereabouts of rival pirate Captain Jack Sparrow; unaware that Sparrow is eavesdropping nearby. Another group of pirates is seen having rounded up townsfolk with an auctioneer bartering off their stolen goods as his rebellious enforcer Redd drunkenly riles up the crowd to disobey him and demand rum. Deeper in the town, several pirates are robbing households while a pompous buccaneer tries to study a treasure map while mocking Captain Jack Sparrow. Behind him however is Sparrow hiding in a barrel, studying the map over his shoulder and trying to steal the keys to the island's armoury. Further on it is seen that the pirates of the Wicked Wench have set the town on fire in a drunken stupor with them all drunk and partaking in hedonistic delights while singing a shanty of, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)".

Guests proceed to enter the 17th century fortress of Castillo Del Morro where prisoners attempt to lure away a prison dog holding keys so they can escape the oncoming fire. Much to their dismay, the dog refuses to move at-all while the fortress burns around them. After this, the town treasury of Marci Daviso is passed by with Jack Sparrow and a parrot within, drunk and singing about a pirate's life. The boats then proceed to travel up a waterfall as they are brought back to the present day ruins of Isla Tesoro.

### Disneyland Paris

In Disneyland Paris, the attraction is accessed from the overgrown ruins of the seaside Spanish fortress which is littered with skeletons of pirates, Spanish soldiers, and tortured prisoners. After passing through the fortress, guests find themselves on the serene and tropical lagoon of Isa Tesoro where they board a boat. These boats pass by a restaurant and tavern inherited by Jack Sparrow after winning it from his ex-lover Angelica Teach and then pass through a graveyard of ships. The boats then begin to go up a waterfall within the flooded Spanish fortress, seemingly caused by a supernatural waterfall. Said waterfall has the apparitions of Davy Jones and Blackbeard's ghost materialize on them, giving warnings of Isla Tesoro's curse before guests pass under them and are transported back to the golden age of piracy.

The boats traverse the flooded Spanish fortress as prisoners attempt to escape while the Wicked Wench attacks from nearby. Several pirates jump onto the fortress from ropes and Blackbeard is seen in command of the Wench, leading the assault of Puerto Dorado. The boats then proceed to pass through the town where several pirates are torturing officials to learn the location of the isle's treasure and the whereabouts of rival pirate Captain Jack Sparrow; unaware that Sparrow is eavesdropping nearby.

Another group of pirates is seen having rounded up townsfolk with an auctioneer and his enforcer Redd are bartering off their stolen goods to a drunken crowd. Deeper in the town, several pirates are robbing households as nearby, a swashbuckling citizen of Puerto Dorado is engaged in a sword fight with a woman pirate as the man attempts to defend a maiden. In this crowd, a pompous buccaneer tries to study a treasure map while mocking Captain Jack Sparrow, unaware that behind him however is Sparrow hiding in a barrel, studying the map over his shoulder and trying to steal the keys to the island's armoury. Further on it is seen that the pirates of the Wicked Wench have set the town on fire in a drunken stupor with them all drunk and partaking in hedonistic delights while singing a shanty of, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)".

Guests' boats then enter Castillo Del Morro where several pirates engage in a drunken shootout blissfully unaware that they are surrounded by kegs of gunpowder. As guests are about to make their exit, one of the pirates makes the inevitable mistake of igniting the powder resulting in a large explosion which send guests barreling down a waterfall and back to the time-period they started in. The boats find themselves within the Dead Man's Cove of Isla Tesoro as ghostly voice echoes the message of, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" as the boats pass by rocks which resemble skulls staring at guests.

The boats continue and pass by the dark silhouette of a beached ship sailing through a storm in Hurricane Lagoon while being helmed by a long dead skeleton. On the wreckage is the evil pirate Captain Hector Barbossa, holding a lantern in one hand and a lantern in the other. When the lighting shifts, Barbossa is revealed to be a cursed undead corpse who cackles maniacally as he swipes his cutlas to try and attack the guests. After this, the guests find themselves in the remains of a secret lair which housed the crew of the Wicked Wench, now all cursed and undead with their corpses littered about. In the lair's treasure room Jack Sparrow sits atop a mountain of gold with his parrot, drunkenly singing while enjoying his victory. The boats then exit the caverns and find themselves back in the Spanish fortress where they are met by Captain X.

## Spin-offs

### Attractions

#### A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas

This is an interactive game attraction in the Adventureland of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. In the attraction, guests join Captain Jack Sparrow's crew to hunt down the seven different enchanted treasures of the sea goddess Calypso.

#### Fortune Red

Fortune Red is a fortune-telling machine in Disneyland's New Orleans Square, formerly located in the defunct *Pirate's Arcade* but now outside the gift-shop *Pieces of Eight*. He is shown to be an original Pirates of the Caribbean character who makes references to different Disney attractions in his fortunes and who is one of three fortune-telling machines in Disneyland Park along with the Great Esmeralda in the Main Street Penny Arcade and Shrunken Ned in Bengal Barbecue.

#### Jungle River Cruise: Pirate Takeover

This was a Hong Kong Disneyland overlay of the Jungle Cruise themed to Pirates of the Caribbean.

#### Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island

This Disneyland attraction is a re-theming of the Frontierland attraction *Tom Sawyer Island*, based on the Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn stories of Sam Clemens. Leaning on Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Joe Harper's adventures playing pirate on Jackson Island, which the St. Petersburg Journal describes as having been a lair used by the historic New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte for his smuggling operation and later during the War of 1812 to hold a fort with his ally-of-circumstance, the infamous president Andrew Jackson. Leaning on this history, the vivid imagination of the three boys has turned the island's caves and bridges into an adventurous landscape inspired by the legendary adventures of Jack Sparrow, William Turner and Elizabeth Swann, with the spirit of Davy Jones and various undead pirates afflicted by the cursed Aztec Gold, including Pintel & Ragetti and a man chained to a dungeon wall lurking in the caves.

#### Tortuga Tavern

This Adventureland restaurant in the Magic Kingdom is themed to being a tavern on the island of Tortuga run by Jack Sparrow's old crew-mate Arabella Smith.

#### Treasure Cove

The, "Land" of Treasure Cove in Shanghai Disneyland is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It is set on the pirate-have of Treasure Cove, originally a Spanish colony which was conquered by the British and later reclaimed by pirates in the golden-age of piracy.

##### Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure

This attraction is a reimagining of the original Disneyland *Pirates of the Caribbean* which revolves around the characters, aesthetics and themes of the film-franchise. In its story, guests traverse Treasure Cove's Fort Snobbish and Voodoo Alley to find the dwellings of Captain Jack Sparrow who is pursuing the sunken treasure of Davy Jones off the coast of Treasure Cove (of which it is likely the namesake). Guests board a boat and pass under Captain X who mentions Sparrow's operations before the boats enter the Caves of Misfortune where they will apparently meet Jack.

Within the caves, the boats pass by skeletons of several pirates, prisoners, and members of the Brethren Court before finding the skeleton of Jack Sparrow which springs to life and recruits the guests. The beached wreck of which Jack is at the helm of then turns into a sea-worthy vessel as the boats of the guests travel deep under the water to the sea-floor where they pass by the kraken, undead pirates, and mermaids. The boats go on to pass through a coral reef where Davy Jones stashes his gold where they encounter coral guards of his and his first-mate Maccus who orders them to meet with Jones in their ship *The Flying Dutchman*. Within the captain's quarters of the Dutchman they meet Jones who threatens the guests before learning Jack has used them as a distraction while he stole the treasure.

Davy Jones goes on to surface the Dutchman and a fleet of sunken ships to attack Jack's vessel and reclaim his stolen treasure with the guests' boats passing between the boats firing cannon-balls at one another. The boat goes on to enter the sinking hull of Jack's ship as he abandons ship and crew with a rowboat of treasure. Davy Jones briefly engages in a sword-fight with Jack before Jack fires a cannon into the hull of a ship, flooding the vessel and defeating Jones as he makes off with his gold. Just before finally being able to indulge in the treasure, Davy Jones curses it to turn into kelp and waste which Jack is disappointed in.

### Films

#### Pirates of the Caribbean (film-series)

The Pirates of the Caribbean film-series is a highly successful series of action blockbusters based on the Disney Parks attraction (with other elements of pirate and nautical lore) which have in-turn inspired different elements of the attractions.

* **Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl**:
* **Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest**:
* **Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End**:
* **Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides**:
* **Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales**:

## Connections

### Adventure Trading Company

The Skull Juju mission for the Adventure Trading Company involved going to Tom Sawyer Island where a sign was put up reading, "Seek W. Turner".

### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

In the Magic Kingdom version of this attraction, outside of Tumbleweed there is a cavern called, "Dave V. Jones' Mine". The naming of this cavern is a reference to Davy Jones who notably appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

The character of Beacon Joe who appears in Disneyland Paris' Rivers of the Far West and Tokyo Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad originates from Pirates of the Caribbean with the Magic Kingdom's Rivers of America further identifying them together by referencing the Blue Bayou.

### Disney Springs

The Fountain of Youth which brought Indiana Jones to Disney Springs is notably featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise where it was featured on the Mao Kun map and sought after by Captain Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard. In the marketplace, there is a reference to airlines connecting the town of Disney Springs with Tortuga, an island in Haiti featured as a pirate-haven in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In the World of Disney, one of the etchings in the animator's table has an illustration of historic pirate Ned Low as drawn by Marc Davis for Pirates of the Caribbean.

### Fortress Explorations

The honorary S.E.A. member Sir Francis Drake is a historic pirate of the Caribbean who is featured in Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off materials, having obtained a treasure sought after by Captain Jack Sparrow.

### Haunted Mansion

Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion are considered to be sister attractions. In Disneyland, both attractions are located within the French Quarters of New Orleans in large estates.

They were originally planned to be directly interconnected via the pirate Bartholomew/Gideon "Captain Gore" Gorelieu having been the mansion's original owner (some scripts even having had him be historic pirate Bartholomew Roberts). They are also both subject to a mega-theme in the form of historic 19th century pirate Jean Lafitte.

### Jungle Cruise

In 2007, Hong Kong Disneyland temporarily themed their Jungle Cruise to Pirates of the Caribbean as, "Jungle River Cruise: Pirate Takeover!".

The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction*A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas* has a mission in-which Barbossa and Jack Sparrow compete for the goddess Calypso's Treasure of the Pacific. Said mission has the pirates face against the Umbala Headhunters from the Jungle Cruise.

#### Trader Sam's

Multiple allusions to Pirates of the Caribbean are featured within the Trader Sam bars. Both bars contain miniatures of the Wicked Wench within bottles and when the drink Shipwreck on the Rocks is ordered, they will sink in a storm.

In Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar there is also a photograph of Trader Sam on Isla de Pelegostos from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest alongside Jack Sparrow and a Pelegostos warrior. A note from Jack Sparrow is also in the bar asking Sam to care for his mother's shrunken head due to her having loved Sam's pub. A further reference to Pirates of the Caribbean is on one of the shelves of the Tiki Bar where Sam is in possession of a pirate's cannon. A note from Sam on the cannon infers that he obtained it from Blackbeard and that he had affections for Blackbeard's daughter Angelica. Sam additionally is in possession with a musical locket which belonged to either Davy Jones or Calypso.

### Oceaneer Lab

The S.E.A. member Captain Mary Oceaneer was a lover of pirates and the golden age of piracy. Amongst her excavated goods were the Dead Man's Chest and crates identifying her as performed excavations in Shipwreck Cove from *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End*. She also has crates identified as containing the cursed Aztec gold of Isla de Muerta.

### Phantom Manor

In Phantom Manor there is a portrait of the Flying Dutchman as it appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This is likely due to the original Haunted Mansion featuring a similar changing portrait which was made to portray the Flying Dutchman from nautical folklore.

### Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

Up until 2006, Walt Disney World's incarnation of Pirates of the Caribbean featured a bird called the Barker Bird. This was a green parrot macaw who advertised the attraction while singing and quoting the ride. The bird's appearance, function and moniker was recycled from the Tiki Room bird known as Juan the Barker Bird whose popularity inspired the installation of his piratical counterpart.

### Other

* The Fountain of Youth is a common motif for stories in the Disney Parks, including Pirates of the Caribbean.
* In an unused script for Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Blackbeard would have been revealed to be an ancestor of Milo Thatch.

## References

1. ↑ https://davelandblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/tell-no-tales-thursdays-entrance-queue.html
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=871442451367&set=oa.1903682069948046
3. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2017/10/gate-change.html
4. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFriday.aspx
5. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFridayDisneyMagic1.aspx