Pirates Of The Caribbean Is Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary!

December 15, 2023

Pirates Of The Caribbean Is Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary!

Today Pirates Of The Caribbean at Walt Disney World is celebrating 50 years! So in honor of this iconic attraction, we want to share with you some classic photos and facts to learn a bit more its journey since it opened back 1973.

Pirates of the Caribbean debuted at Florida’s Magic Kingdom Park in 1973 and was one of the park’s first major additions after its 1971 opening. After the big success at Disneyland, guests were begging to bring the attraction to Florida, a thing that Imagineers refused to do at first but after lots of demands, they gave in and gave the people what they wanted.

In this picture from the Walt Disney Archives, you can see what guests back in the day saw previous to its big opening.

Behind the walls in the image above, history was in the making at the spot where riders would board a weathered barge for a treacherous voyage to the 17th century when rowdy rogues and rapscallions ransacked Caribbean seaport towns. Who knew that even that water smell in that attraction will become so popular as well!

Once the attraction opened, Disney World guests were able to set sail past Dead Man’s Cove, navigating cannon fire between a Caribbean fort, singing along with pirates to their anthem, “Yo Ho, Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” and enjoying other unforgettable pirate experiences, including, the smell. Seriously, its iconic!

The first Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opened at Disneyland park in 1967 and was one of the last attraction Walt Disney personally oversaw back in the 60´s and it remains one of the most immersive attractions ever created for a theme park! He was a visionary for sure.

If you enjoy Disney history and how attractions work at the parks, we highly recommend checking out the Pirates of the Caribbean episode on Behind The Attraction on Disney+! You will love it.

The Disney+ episode explores how Walt loved adventure stories, especially those that featured swashbuckling pirates. It features interesting stories like a look at how the attraction was initially conceived as a wax museum but technological advances convinced Walt that a more sophisticated attraction could be created using state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics figures.

Also, there’s more to come at Disney World with a first-of-its-kind experience that’ll extend the story of Pirates of the Caribbean. At Destination D23, we shared the exciting update that a special Pirates of the Caribbean-themed lounge is coming to Adventureland at Magic Kingdom Park, we can’t wait!

Credit: Disney Parks

Pirates Of The Caribbean Is Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary! 1

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Ana Leal

Former Walt Disney World Cast Member (Tomorrowland attractions and Guest Relations)
Disney is my biggest passion, i love fashion and photography so if are looking for the latest Disney Style trends im your girl!..Instagram: @ana_leal