More Disney History Stories

Things You Might Not Know About Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Park

Erin Glover

by , Director, Publicity, Walt Disney Animation Studios

“Pirates

Pirates of the Caribbean recently celebrated its 45th anniversary here at Disneyland park, but thar be mysteries afloat in this historic attraction. Here be some things ye landlubbers might not know…

  • Pirates of the Caribbean was the last Disneyland attraction personally supervised by Walt Disney.
  • The attraction was originally envisioned as a New Orleans-themed Blue Bayou Mart featuring a Pirate Wax Museum, housed in a 70-foot deep basement. The basement now serves as the grotto section of the attraction.
  • The fire effects in the Burning Town scene were so realistic that prior to the attraction’s grand opening, the Anaheim Fire Chief asked that the effects automatically shut off in the event of a real fire.
  • It cost $15 million to build New Orleans Square ($8 million of which was spent on Pirates of the Caribbean). This is equal to the amount the United States paid for the real New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
  • The façade of the attraction was partly inspired by the Cabildo building in Jackson Square in New Orleans, which served as the seat of the Spanish colonial government in 1799. It is also noted for being the site where the Louisiana Purchase was signed in 1803.

Destinations: Things You Might Not Know About Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Park

Topics: Disney History

Comments

  • As one of my favorite rides, I love love love these bits of trivia. So fun. 🙂

  • I love Pirates of the Caribbean but it still feels like the adventures of Jack Sparrow after the last update, and dead men do NOT tell tales, undead men do 🙂

  • Pirates was the first Disneyland ride I ever rode, and it is still the first ride my family and I go on when we are at Disneyland.

  • Very cool!

  • This is the ride we end every day at the park with. I love reading about the history and trivia about the rides. It is always fun to tell my kids in the line before going on the ride and then other people hear and then it starts a conversation with people from all over the world.

  • This is the ride we end every day at the park with. We go on it a few times during the day, but always is the last one. I didn’t know any of the facts accept that it was the last one Walt Disney did. I love this trivia about rides. I love telling stories in the line ups to other people about the ride they are about to go on.

  • I knew that Pirates was the last attraction overseen by Walt, but the rest were all new to me. (A “Pirate Wax Museum”? Really!)

    Fun trivia! Thanks for sharing!

  • This is the first attraction ride I go to first, right after my round trip ride on the Railroad Train.

Comments are closed.