Ahoy there, scallywags! We hope you’ve got good sea legs, because in this blog we’re delving into another of Disneyland Paris’ attractions – this time it’s Pirates of the Caribbean! This classic ride is a fan favourite and for good reason, so read on to learn more about this classic attraction.

Making of the attraction

Ever since the first Pirates of the Caribbean was opened in 1967, the attraction has become a Disney classic.

When Walt Disney was planning to expand his original Disneyland park, one of the things he envisioned was a wax museum themed around pirates. But when the Walt Disney Imagineers worked on the 1964 World’s Fair, they invented new technologies that made so much more possible… One thing was a boat ride system that was very efficient at moving guests (originally built for It’s a Small World). And another, very major, advance was the creation of realistic human audio-animatronics. While originally seen embodying the spirit of Abraham Lincoln and depicting a 20th Century family inside Carousel of Progress at the World’s Fair, it wasn’t a big leap for the Imagineers to decide to use the technology for pirates. After all, who wants to see wax figures of pirates when you can see those that move, talk, sing and even lay siege to a town?!

The Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland was one of the last attractions that Walt Disney himself personally worked on and had a major say in its direction, although sadly he passed away before the attraction opened. But from the day it opened, Walt’s Imagineers viewed the original Pirates as the gold-standard that future Disney park attractions would be judged against – immersive, thrilling, and funny by turns with cutting edge technology. Such was the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean with guests that there was an outcry when it wasn’t included at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom when it opened in 1971, leading to Disney hastily building the attraction there. Pirates of the Caribbean also made its presence felt in Tokyo Disneyland. So it was no wonder when thoughts were turning to Disneyland Paris, the inclusion of Pirates of the Caribbean was a given.

Of course, Disney being Disney, this was no straight carbon copy from the other Pirates rides – they wanted the Paris version to have its own unique elements. One was its setting at the back of Adventureland, where visitors reach it either from Adventure Isle and its Pirate theming, or from Fantasyland – but a section of Fantasyland with its own pirate, Captain Hook as the nearest ride is Peter Pan’s Flight! Even the back side of Au Chalet au Marionette, the Fantasyland quick-service restaurant nearby, was given a nautical theme to keep the tone of the area (it’s themed to Gepetto’s shipwreck in Pinocchio which is kinda creepy but there we are).

Also unique was the ride building – it’s themed to to the forts you would find in the Caribbean but from the 16th Century, but with a European influence in its castle-like tower – as the ride, like the entire park, was a blend of American and European ideas.

And within the ride there were differences too. One is that early on in the ride is a lift hill – partly to build suspense, and partly because of the geography in that area! A lift hill was actually envisioned at the beginning of the original Pirates ride in Anaheim but wasn’t possible, and Imagineers never like to waste a good idea… Also very innovative when the ride opened is the scene of the duelling pirates, which involved advance audio-animatronic tech for the time. And the story itself has been rejigged to be more linear – starting with the fort attack and ending with the pirates curse, as opposed to the other way round as found in other Pirate attractions.

Like the other versions of Pirates around the world, the film originally inspired by the ride has now inspired the ride in turn. Which may sound confusing, but essentially it means characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise make an appearance in the ride – in this case notably Jack Sparrow, a spectral Barbossa, and a projection of Davy Jones and Bluebeard. Also like other versions of the ride around the world it’s had updates to make it, well, a bit more PC? The original ride featured brides being auctioned off, but that has now been updated to treasures. (Which in my opinion makes way more sense than the chicken auction in Florida and Anaheim but there you go).

The attraction story

In Pirates of the Caribbean in Paris, the story begins as you enter the queue – rather than going through a main door of the fort facade you’re routed down a secret side entrance and through caves, designed to confuse the guest and make it feel like you’re sneaking in, much as a pirate would.

In the queue you’ll then find features typical of a 16th Century fort (but with 21st century health and safety in mind!), and some hints that pirates and uninvited guests are not welcome. But you continue your way through a caribbean evening in the grounds of the fort, before you board your boat.

Once you’re sailing you journey through a bayou and get glimpses of a waterside tavern – actually the restaurant Captain Jack’s (worth a meal here by the way!). After the bayou you travel up a ramp in a boat, building suspense for what’s ahead – especially as eerie sounds echo, water rushes by and a projected mist face of Davy Jones or Blackbeard warns you of the dangers ahead. Once up the hill you find yourself in the fort, under siege by pirates, and the journey through the jail where other pirates try to free themselves. Before you know it you’re down a slope and thrust in the middle of a battle between a pirate ship and the fort!

To escape the battle your boat journeys into the town, but there’s little respite here as pirates have invaded and are torturing the locals for information, selling the treasures, setting fire to the fort and having a good old sing song while they’re at it. There’s a lot of details in these scenes that’s worth paying attention too! Including glimpses of a certain Captain Jack Sparrow, who’s trying to find the location of the town’s treasure stores…

You escape the town inferno down another slope but then find yourself in creepy catacombs, where a spectral Barbossa warns you off with a sword swipe. You also see what happened to other pirates struck by the curse! But it all ends well as you discover Jack Sparrow has found the treasure and is cheerfully singing surrounded by gold, before your ride ends and you disembark. Into a gift shop, because of course you do. But you can get your ride photo here if you like as a memory of your piratical voyage!

Finding the attraction

Pirates of the Caribbean is found right at the back of Adventureland, very close to where the land joins on to Fantasyland.

From other parts of Adventureland you can reach the ride by either cutting through Adventure Isle, or following the path round the edge. From Fantasyland, just head past Peter Pan’s Flight and the ride is on your right. Fortunately with its massive stone fort facade it’s not hard to spot!

Notes for the differently-abled

Pirates of the Caribbean is a seated boat-ride. It has no height limit and is pretty suitable for most people.

To board you do need to step down into the boat. Unfortunately there’s no wheelchair-accessible boats for this attractions so guests do need to be able to transfer. However those in wheelchairs or with mobility differences can access the ride via the ride exit, to allow more space for boarding and to prevent having to nagivate some of the uneven surfaces in the main queue.

While the ride itself on Pirates is mostly gentle, going up the lift hills can be a bit jerky and there’s two drops, so it’s recommended the expectant mothers do not ride. As someone with painful joints I’ve never really found Pirates a problem, but it can feel a little jarring at times.

Other reasons you may want to skip this ride:

• You have someone in your group who gets spooked by skeletons and other spooky sights – the caverns scenes can be a bit creepy. (So can the queue!)
• Some parts of the attraction are also quite dark, so folks sensitive to that may want to avoid it. On the flip side, the fire scenes also have a lot of flickering light so those sensitive to flashing lights may want to take that into consideration.
• This ride tends to get pretty warm and humid. It’s to add to the Caribbean theming and can feel amazing on chilly winter days! But if you’re very sensitive to heat and humidity you might want to consider that. (Although Ken’s very sensitive to heat and humidity and he’s mostly been fine).
• The two drops can be a surprise if you’re not expecting them, and you can get slightly splashed. You’re unlikely to get soaked though and most people seem to take it in their stride!

Hidden details and cool facts

There’s so much detail in Pirates of the Caribbean that it would take an age to list them all, but here’s some of my favourites:

• In the queue in the armoury there’s a genuine 18th Century cannon. There’s also a torture chamber with an iron maiden – designed to show that the Pirate’s life is not for the faint of heart!
• The landscaping around the round features plants from the Caribbean – or at least those that could survive the temperature changes in Paris!
• In the storyline the restaurant Captain Jack’s was won by Jack Sparrow in a bet with Blackbeard’s daughter! There’s a lot of pirates theming in the waiting area and restaurant itself, including original concept art for the first attraction
• A comedic map was created for the attraction when it first opened in 1992. As well as featuring cartoons of scenes of the attraction it also featured a caricature of Disney Imagineer Marc Davis who was a leading figure behind the original Pirates ride. The map can still be found in the waiting area of Captain Jack’s.
• There are 35 boats in Pirates, and each can hold 23 guests. That means that in theory 805 guests could be experiencing the ride at one given time! (Although some of those would be in the load on / offload areas of course).
• The pirate ship attacking the fort is called the Inferno, thought to be apt because that’s what the town becomes later in the ride!
• While I talk about the town being on fire a lot, of course it’s all just special effects. In the original versions of pirates this was achieved by scenery painting and flickering lights on moving cloth. It was enough to convince some folks there was a real fire! In the Paris version the ride was staged more like a theatre production, so more of the special effects are achieved through the lighting, as well as smoke effects and more.
• The scene of the duelling pirates in this ride inspired the sword-fight between Will Turner and Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. The scene on the ride has since been updated and now features a lady pirate battling one of the towns-folk.
• There are about 100 characters in the Paris Pirates of the Caribbean. Many are based on the original sculpts by artist Blaine Gibson.
• Jack Sparrow at the end is sitting on over 30,000 pieces of treasure!
• The look of the ride’s gift shop is actually themed to Disney’s live-action film Treasure Island – another Disney and pirate link!

When to visit

While wait times can get long in the middle of the day, the very efficient ride system tends to stop queue times for Pirates getting too long. If you avoid the peak hours of around 11am – 3pm you’ll probably be able to get on Pirates without too much of a wait, unless it’s a peak season.

If the queues are too long you can buy the single Premier Pass to skip the line. This ride is also featured on the Ultimate Premier Pass.

Some final thoughts

Here’s some final things to consider about riding Pirates of the Caribbean:

• The ride is about 10 minutes long, but expect it to take at least 5 minutes just to walk through the queue even if no-one is in it! If it’s showing a longer wait, there are restrooms nearby in Fantasyland (although they get very busy)
• Look out for Captain Jack Sparrow in the area, he sometimes hangs out near his restaurant or the ride’s gift shop. Also not too far away you can often meet Peter Pan, Wendy and Captain Hook!
• If you’re eating in Captain Jack’s, you might get a few shouts of ‘Bon Appetite’ from people on the ride! Next to the water in the restaurant is an amazing view, but it does have the dimmest lighting – you might need a torch to read the menu!
• Riding Pirates directly after having a couple of very strong cocktails in the restaurant next door can be both hilarious and a terrible idea. Don’t ask us how we know.

So that’s our look at Pirates of the Caribbean! We personally love this ride and think it’s a must-do for anyone who can ride it. What attraction do you think we should cover on the blog next? (And if you’d like more information on the making of the ride the book Pirates of the Caribbean – Un tresor d’attraction is great!)