travel
connection
A pirate’s
ride for me
A classic is reborn at Disneyland
By T. Foster Jones
DISNEYLAND’S Pirates of the Caribbean ride a classic couldn’t be improved,” says Sprout.
inspired the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The The revised attraction will feature two of
Curse of the Black Pearl. Now the movie—and Hollywood’s most infamous screen bucca-its sequel—are inspiring the attraction. neers, Jack Sparrow and his nemesis, Barbossa.
The classic Disney theme-park adventure The pair add a new twist to the attraction’s
is adding new characters and features from original storyline as they race to be the first to
both movies, debuting in conjunction with claim a cache of plundered treasure.
the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead “We’ve been engaged in this creative
Man’s Chest, on July 7. process since the first movie hit theaters in
The original Pirates of the Caribbean 2003,” says Rogers. “Coming out of that first
ride premiered in 1967 in New Orleans film, we looked at its central theme of the
Square at Disneyland in California. Built ‘curse’ and started dreaming up characters to
under the direct creative supervision of Walt join the mix. But as we headed into the design
Disney and featuring more than 120 audio- process, the film’s enormous success prompted
animatronics characters, lavishly decorated production of the sequels, and we suddenly
sets and special effects, it was, and still is, one had a much broader story to draw from. So we
of the most spectacular and enduring attrac- began looking at the world of Captain Jack and
tions ever created for a theme park, drawing Captain Barbossa in that broader sense, and we
some 500 million visitors since its opening. headed in a different direction.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DISNEY
Making any changes to a ride that has “We’ve incorporated a number of new
such a history is not something that anyone technologies and special effects to tell our
at Disney undertook lightly. story more powerfully,” she continues. “We’ve
“When we approached the Pirates of the hidden this technology throughout the can-Caribbean with the idea of making a change, nons, the moon and clouds, the waterfall, the
we did it with a great deal of reverence,” says audio—all working together to bring the
Michael Sprout, a senior concept writer with story to life in even more compelling ways.”
Walt Disney Imagineering. “This was the last “Successfully adding the popular charac-attraction personally supervised by Walt ters from the Pirates of the Caribbean films
Disney and has been part of Disneyland since with the mythology of our classic attraction
it opened in 1967. It’s the classic Disney is an example of Walt Disney Imagineering
theme-park attraction.” at its finest,” says Jay Rasulo, chairman of
At the same time, members of the Disney Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “These addi-creative group known as Imagineers saw the tions will result in an exciting new chapter
changeasanecessity. for the attraction and an unforgettable
“While the attraction has endured as a experience for our guests.” C
favorite for generations, many fans, particularly young kids, may have experienced the
movie series before the attraction,” says Kathy
Rogers, an Imagineering senior show producer. “So bringing some of the movies’ characters and themes into the attraction helps us
maintain that continuity between these
interconnected worlds.”
“Even Walt himself was
never one to think that even
Disneyland’s updated
attraction proves you
can teach an old dog
new tricks.
T he C ostco C onnection
Costco Travel offers a variety of special benefits
to members who purchase a Disneyland Resort
vacation. For more information, visit costco.com
or call Costco Travel toll-free at 1-877-849-2730.
