The first version of Pirates of the Caribbean opened in Disneyland in 1967 and was the final attraction overseen by Walt Disney before his death in December 1966. Disney’s original concept for the attraction was to feature a walk-through wax museum of pirates and their history and folklore; however this concept soon evolved into the water-based attraction that debuted in California to great success. Despite its popularity in Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean was almost never built in Disney World. Imagineers believed that guests in central Florida would not be interested in the ride as they were already so close in proximity to the Caribbean. However, when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, almost immediately guests began asking where the famed pirate themed ride was located. Imagineers quickly realized that the attraction was in demand and the swashbuckling pirates made their second home in central Florida on December 15, 1973, exactly seven years after Walt Disney’s death.

Since the attraction was added after the original opening of the park, Imagineers had to be creative in how to fit the very large show building in an area of Adventureland that was already developed. The main issue concerned the Walt Disney World Railroad tracks which are located all along the perimeter of the park. The final solution was to work around (or under) the tracks- the small drop during the attraction is actually to have guests move underneath the railroad tracks and be able to access the main show building. Once the issue of fitting the attraction was solved, attention to detail became the focus of the attraction. One of the finest examples of this is the fort in which the attraction is located. The fort is modeled after the Castillo del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the nearby tower which now hosts a skeleton looking to the horizon is aptly named the Torre de Cielo, or Sky Tower. As soon as you catch a glimpse of the impressive fort, you immediately realize that you are about to enter into a serious adventure through the Caribbean with these mischievous pirates!

As you move through the entrance of the fort, you will notice that the queue for the attraction has two options: left or right. As a general rule of thumb, anytime a queue splits I tend to take the left hand side as most people are generally pulled towards the right, making that half slightly more crowded. This rule doesn’t always work, but sometimes you can save yourself a few minutes of waiting by being conscious of your choice. In terms of Pirates of the Caribbean, I find that the left hand side of the queue does tend to be shorter as the right hand queue has to cross over the loading bay, adding distance and thus wait time. The most important part of the queue, as with any attraction, is to be aware of your surroundings while waiting and to take in all of the great detail that has been created by the Imagineers. You will find canons, cannonballs, rifles, barrels of gunpowder, and many other props that truly look as though they were unloaded off of a pirate ship that very morning.

One of my favorite details in all of Pirates of the Caribbean resides in the queue and was thought up by Imagineer Marc Davis. Davis came up with the idea to have two pirate skeletons forever locked in an endless game of chess. He researched former champion chess matches and found a game that was ultimately called a tie as there were no further possible moves. Once the board was set up to match the results of that game, the pirates have been residing over the board endlessly looking for their next move. During a refurbishment the chess board was moved, resulting in a near crisis. At first Imagineers could not figure out how to put the board back so that the pieces were properly placed preventing any further moves. Eventually, someone found an original sketch of what the board was supposed to look like on the back of one of Davis’ other sketches. Be sure to look through all the barred windows along the queue to find this endless chess game!

As you approach the loading dock, you will begin to hear the first notes of “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me” written by F.X. Atencio who also created the classic Haunted Mansion song “Grim Grinning Ghosts.” It is Atencio’s voice that can be heard warning “dead men tell no tales” ominously in the cave sequence of the attraction. In the same cave scene, mermaids from the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie were added in the fall of 2012. They can be heard singing a ghostly tune, seen swimming in the waters on either side of the boat, and also found in skeleton form on the beach. While I was at first skeptical about this addition, the mermaids do look and sound great and blend in really well with the original scene.

As you come out of the drop sequence and enter into the main show building, you will catch your first glimpses of Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise which were added in 2006. It’s great to see how a classic attraction influenced a successful film franchise which in turn influenced minor changes and additions to the original attraction. As you move through the attraction, look for the auction scene where crafty pirates are auctioning women for gold. Unfortunately most of the pirates seem preoccupied with the beautiful redhead located a few women down the line, prompting the classic line “we wants the redhead!” One of the greatest details of the entire attraction comes when one of the pirates on the auctioning side fires his gun leading to a sign on the opposite side of the scene to make a pinging noise and swing back and forth. Also, does the auctioneer’s voice sound familiar to you? He is voiced by Paul Frees, who also loaned his vocal talents as the Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion. His auctioneer character is so important to the attraction that if that one animatronic is not functioning properly, the entire attraction “goes 101” and closes until the auctioneer is back up and running.

Moving further into the attraction be sure to look for a pirate sitting on an overpass with his leg hanging down over your ride vehicle. The parrot perched with him is none other than Peg Legged Pete who used to sit at the main entrance of the attraction and beckon guests inside. Although he is silent now, it is a great homage to all the years he spent attracting guests that he is located inside of the attraction. In the same room, check out the fires burning behind the buildings. Although this effect is created by clever lighting and special effects, it looks so real that the fire marshal who rode for an inspection before the attraction’s opening thought the flames were real!

As your boat moves past the infamous jail scene where pirates are trying to lure the key holding dog to release them, you enter into the treasure room where there are a few great details to take in. First be sure to take note of how amazing the animatronic of Jack Sparrow is. As any fan of the Pirates movies will know, Johnny Depp created quite the unique character in Jack Sparrow featuring many nuances of speech and movement. This animatronic beautifully captures the spirit of Jack Sparrow. Surrounding the treasure room, look for several locks which seem to resemble a certain famous mouse. Finally look for a crest featuring the name “Marco Daviso,” a clever stamp of workmanship left by Marc Davis to commemorate his contributions to the attraction.

Even as you are exiting your ride vehicle and heading up the moving ramp to the gift shop, there are still small details all around you. Note the flickering lights mounted on the walls, and if you look carefully at the moving ramp there appears to be footprints with a peg leg. As you exit back into Adventureland, you are sure to be humming “Yo Ho Yo Ho” and wanting to return to the attraction to sail with these pirates again and again.

What is your favorite part of Pirates of the Caribbean? Do you love the small attention to detail located throughout the ride? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear from you!

Caitlin Corsello was born and raised in New York. She graduated from Adelphi University with a Masters in Mental Health Counseling in 2012. Her love for Disney started as an infant and has continued to grow with family vacations to Disney parks almost every year since. She holds a particular interest in WDW’s parks and attractions, never passing up an opportunity to visit. She looks forward to continuing to explore and learn about all things Disney and to share that passion with readers.

The post Disney From The Twenty-Something: Pirates of the Caribbean appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

by Don Myers

There’s a lot of exciting things going on at The Florida Project right now, so let’s waste no time and dive right into the latest edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…..

Fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean films are going to rejoice over this first bit of news, as Disney has just announced that a brand-new attraction entitled The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow will be debuting at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this Fall! The attraction will make its home in the location formerly occupied by Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian. The space has been dark since the Narnia attraction closed up shop on September 10th 2011, which means that about one year will have passed between the last chronicle in Narnia and the first spoils for ol’ Captain Jack. Details are still a bit sketchy right now, but this should be quite a different experience compared to the old Narnia attraction, which was actually more like an exhibit than an attraction. This new attraction won’t be a simple walk-through featuring some movie props, as all indications point to this experience being a completely immersive/interactive journey into Captain Jack’s world from a “first-person” point of view. No official opening date has been confirmed, as Disney has simply said that the attraction will be opening up in the “Fall of 2012.” So as soon as a solid opening date is in place, I’ll be sure to post it here in the Newswire.

For more news out of Hollywood Studios, let’s venture over to the set of Lights, Motors, Action, where a brief closure put the excitement on hold for a few days last week. Minor refurb work took place at the site from Sunday April 29th to Wednesday May 2nd. But the popular stunt show is burning up the pavement once again, as normal operations resumed as of Thursday May 3rd.

Now it’s time to Park-Hop over to Epcot, where the Italy pavilion just saw the Grand Opening of the Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar, as well as the re-opening of the Tutto Italia Ristorante. The wine cellar adds a completely new element to the pavilion’s dining experience, which now offers up three delicious choices (Via Napoli rounds out the trio). Work had been ongoing at the site since the first week of January, so the total refurb/construction time was just about four months.

Unfortunately for World Showcase diners, the openings in Italy are accompanied by news of an upcoming closure in France. A three month refurb has been scheduled for Bistro de Paris, with construction slated to begin on Sunday July 1st. This means that if plans stay on track, the restaurant will be back in business on WDW’s 41st Birthday: Monday October 1st.

The weather is just starting to heat up around most of the Country, but it’s never too early to start thinking about the Holidays! Relax, I’m not talking about shopping, I’m talking about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! The “Hard-Ticket” Events have been a staple at Magic Kingdom for quite some time now, and the 2012 dates have just been officially announced. Let’s first take a look at the Halloween Party, which kicks off on September 11th and wraps up on November 2nd. Here’s a complete look at the dates:

September: 11th (Tues), 14th (Fri), 18th (Tues), 21st (Fri), 25th (Tues), 28th (Fri), and 30th (Sun).

October: 4th (Thurs), 5th (Fri), 8th (Mon), 11th (Thurs), 12th (Fri), 14th (Sun) 16th (Tues), 18th (Thurs), 21st (Sun) 23th (Tues), 25th (Thurs) 26th (Fri) 28th (Sun), 30th (Tues), 31st (Wed) and November 2nd (Fri).

Tickets are on sale now, and as in year’s past, advance purchase discounts are available. Select discounts are also available for Annual Passholders, as well as for members of the Disney Vacation Club. Certain dates are blacked out as far as advance purchase and Passholder/DVC discounts go, as has been the case in years past as well. For more info (including complete pricing details and a full list of blackout dates for discounts), or to purchase tickets, visit:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/special-events/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party/

Now let’s shift our attention over to the Christmas Party dates, which begin on Friday November 9th and conclude on Friday December 21st. Here is a list of the complete dates:

November: 9th (Fri), 12th (Mon), 15th (Thurs), 16th (Fri),  25th (Sun), 27th (Tues), 29th (Thurs), 30th (Fri).

December: 2nd (Sun), 4th (Tues), 6th (Thurs), 7th (Fri), 9th (Sun), 11th (Tues), 13th (Thurs), 14th (Fri), 16th (Sun), 18th (Tues), 20th (Thurs) and 21st (Fri).

Tickets are on sale now, and just like the Halloween Party, advance purchase discounts are available for select dates. Discounts are also available for Annual Passholders and/or DVC members, although certain dates are blacked out here as well. For more info on the Christmas Party festivities (including complete pricing details and a full list of blackout dates for discounts), or to purchase tickets, visit:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/special-events/mickeys-very-merry-christmas-party/

Well, that’s gonna do it for today’s update, but I’ll be back again soon with another edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…..

Don Myers covers news and recent events in Walt Disney World.  He has been enamored with the World of Disney since his first trip to WDW in 1986. As they say, the rest is history!  Don also has been a contributing writer for Celebrations magazine since 2009.

The post WDW Radio Newswire: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow Officially On Tap For an Autumn Debut at The Studios appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.