10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Pirates Of The Caribbean Ride
Fascinating facts behind the ride that inspired the billion-dollar franchise.
Avast, ye scallywags, and prepare to enter the Caribbean, a world of pirates, buried treasure, and, er, wax museums, savvy?
Since it opened way back in 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean has gone on to become one of the biggest rides at all Disney parks around the world. If you're anything like me, it's the first ride you go on when arriving in the park, and the last one before your stay sadly ends.
It takes you back in time to when pirates ruled the seas, as you set sail on a swashbuckling adventure through the Caribbean. It's undoubtedly one of the best rides in the whole park (and the very best, in my opinion), and has delighted millions over the years.
Of course, the name is now far more commonly associated with the eponymous movie franchise, which is inspired by the ride itself. Since The Curse of the Black Pearl opened in 2003 it has spawned four films, with a fifth due in 2017, and taken almost $4bn at the box-office, making it one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time.
However, as anyone who has been on the ride (or just watched the sequels) will know, the park attraction is the far superior version, and these are 10 things you didn't know about it. Read up me 'earties, yo ho!
10. Walt's Last Ride
Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland in March 1967, just three months after the park's founder had passed away. That made it the very last ride that Walt himself actually oversaw the production of.
To ensure that he got to experience the ride before the boats were actually installed, Imagineers digged up a dolly to a chair so that he could be pushed through at around the same speed as the boats would be going.
They apologised to him for the various voices and pieces of music, making it difficult to hear what each pirate was saying, but Walt was actually happy about that, saying: "It's like a cocktail party. You tune into one voice and then another. Each time guests go through, they'll hear something new and different."
Of course, that isn't the only link to Walt the ride has. Part of the popular urban legend about the man, that he had his body cyrogenically frozen, states that his body lies beneath the ride. Talk about buried treasure.