Pirates of the Caribbean

Description

Pirates of the Caribbean is a water ride that takes you on an adventure into the pirate infested waters of the Caribbean. Along the way you will see pirates ships battling entrenched fortresses, looting, pillaging, and mayhem.

Entrance

The entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean is across from the Enchanted Tiki Room and next to the Jungle Cruise. There are two lines for entry, one for normal entry and the other for FastPass holders. There is also space to park your baby carriages if you need to, as there is a substantial baby carriage farm located here.

Disneyland

At Disneyland the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean is across the water from the mill on Tom Sawyer Island.

Line

The line zigzags through the outer area which is cordoned off with chains. As a note, there are rings attached to the walls and pylons used to hook up the chains that make a great clinking sound when they are lifted and dropped. Kids seem to love doing this, much to the consternation of those administering the ride outside, as it tends to drive them nuts after a couple of hours of hearing them ring. Once you are inside, the line splits into two different lines. This is also where FastPass tickets are taken, so using FastPass on this ride is not necessarily the best thing in the world for the simple reason that generally, the longest portion of the line is inside.

The line inside takes you through a dungeon setting, or at least the lower regions of a fort. There are cannon and prison cells (like the one holding two skeletons playing chess) along the way for people to look at. Eventually you will get to the place where you get on the boats. Each boat has five rows of seats, each row capable of holding two adults or three children, or a possible mix of both.

Each line is different, so if you want to see everything in the lines you have to ensure that you go on each side.

Disneyland

The line at Disneyland is somewhat different. It first takes you underneath a thoroughfare, then up to a building which you sort of weave back and forth in front of. Once inside you make your way to the landing area of the ride. Both lines are pretty much the same, so pick on or the other, as it won't matter. When you are getting close to the landing area, you will get to see the boats as the pull around a U-bend before entering the landing area. When they are doing this, pay attention to the boats as they each have different names.

Riding the Ride

The ride starts off by entering a tunnel. Be sure to wave at the control folks above the entrance to the tunnel. They like to feel acknowledged. Once inside the tunnel, the first thing that happens is a ghostly image of Davey Jones appears before you, which you must pass through. Then some caverns appear with storm-torn shipwrecks and skeletons still doing their ghostly watches. A small drop then occurs (the only one on the ride), after which you enter a full-blown sea battle between Captain Barbosa's ship and a fortress at the mouth of a river. As you go up the river, you get to see the pirates as the ransack the township, then you enter the caverns under the town and see some prisoners. Through the ride, if you keep your eye out, you can also see a couple of instances of Captain Jack Sparrow from the movies. At the end Jack is sitting upon a pile of treasure and basically ushers you out the door, at which point it is time to unload from the ride.

While on the ride, if you pay attention when you enter the first town scene where you can hear the "Yo-ho Yo-ho" song, if you listen to the three caballeros on the left side just past the tunnel, you can make out their individual voices. Each of them has a different speaker and voice track.

Exiting the Ride

You exit the ride from a different place than where you enter the ride. Once you exit, you get onto a moving walkway (one of three in the park... the other two are at Space Mountain and the Transit Authority) which eventually spits you out into the gift shop. If you exit the gift shop and turn left on the main thoroughfaire you will be at the entrance to the ride again.

Opinion

This is a great ride, as it ties in very well with the movies. Historically there have been very few changes to the ride. Apparently originally the men were chasing the women in some of the pillaging scenes instead of the other way around, and Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbosa, and Davey Jones were added in 2006 after the second movie came out. Some of the cast really get into handling the ride, and will go into accents and stuff all the time.

Trivia

• Apparently in the manual for employees, in the morning they are required to greet a ghost named George that apparently haunts the ride, and at night say goodnight to it as well. If they do not, it is said that the ride will break down continuously throughout the day. It is also said that if a patron denies the existence of the ghost, the same thing will happen.
• Hidden Mickey - The lamp hanging down in the final treasure room scene with Jack Sparrow has a Hidden Mickey from certain angles. This is a confirmed Hidden Mickey.
• There are five critical items on the ride that will shut it down until fixed:
  • The image of Davy Jones at the beginning of the ride goes down.
  • The pirate pulling on the rope in the village well scene stops pulling.
  • Any of the Jack Sparrows stop working. (This counts for three!)
• There is a sixth critical item that will shut down the ride, but it requires two that two out of the three singing pirates go down.
• In the scene where there are three skeletons lying dead on a beach, the one that is pinned to the wall by a sword is dressed in an old costume from the Jungle Cruise.
• In the same scene, the skeleton that is half buried in a hole in the sand is dressed in one of the original costumes from the Pirates of the Caribbean.
• Possible Hidden Mickey - This is an unconfirmed Hidden Mickey. In the battle scene between Barbosa and the fort, the fort on the left of the scene has a long chain hanging down from a ring, which goes into the water. To the left of this chain is an indentation in the wall that looks somewhat like a head wearing a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. It stands about three feet tall.