Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most famous Disney attractions, with installations around the world and a billion-dollar film franchise that bears its name.
However, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom originally opened without a version of Pirates and *HOT TAKE* the park would have been better off had it stayed that way!
Pirates of the Caribbean holds a special place in Disney lore, as the attraction was the last to have significant creative input from Walt Disney before his death. The concept for the attraction dated back to the early days of Disneyland, with the original idea being a wax museum that would be built under the Park’s under-construction New Orleans Square section. In fact, a large “basement” was dug out of the land in preparation for the walkthrough.
However, after the success of “it’s a small world” at the 1964 World’s Fair, the decision was made to turn the wax museum into a boat ride loaded with animatronic buccaneers. To facilitate this change, a show building which would contain most of the ride, was built outside of Disneyland’s Railroad while the original “basement” became a series of caverns that led to the real attraction. This interesting design led to the addition of flume drops to the ride’s track in order to move guests underneath the park’s railroad tracks.
Imagineer Marc Davis, who added his trademark comedic touch to the attraction, while Xavier Atencio and George Burns penned the earworm theme song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me).” All the while, Walt Disney was heavily involved in the attraction’s development and featured it heavily on episodes of his weekly television series before Disney passed away in December 1966.
Pirates of the Caribbean opened just a few months later in 1967, immediately becoming one of Disneyland’s premier attractions. Guests were wowed by the animatronics and special effects, In addition, the attached Blue Bayou Restaurant was one of the first examples of “fine” dining in Disneyland.
Blue Bayou Restaurant
Services: Table Service
Given that success, it seems like it would a slam dunk to include the attraction in the plans for the then under-construction Walt Disney World’s first theme park right? Well, no. Disney executives and Imagineers believed that Florida residents would be “bored” by pirates since they’re already part of the state’s culture and lore, so he decision was made to omit Pirates from the Magic Kingdom. This was fine by Marc Davis (one of the chief Imagineers behind the Haunted Mansion after Pirates opened), who didn’t want to repeat himself. He instead set his sights higher, designing a magnum opus attraction that was meant to supplant Pirates at the top of the Disney pantheon.
The Western River Expedition was planned to be a massive E-Ticket boat ride featuring hundreds of cowboys, Native Americans, and animals telling the story of the American West in Davis’s style of comedic vignettes. Furthermore, the attraction was meant to housed in a gigantic show building known as Thunder Mesa that would have towered over the park.
The Mesa was scheduled to take up a whole corner of Frontierland and feature a mountain range and mine train roller coaster attraction on its exterior. Due to budget issues, the Thunder Mesa project was moved to Phase 2 of Walt Disney World’s construction, scheduled to open 3-4 years after opening day. The future ride was included in promotional materials about the park, and a preview center of upcoming attractions. However, Davis’s dream project would be crushed… by his previous greatest achievement.
Acting quickly, Disney announced that an East Coast version of the attraction would be built, which opened in 1973. Where did the budget for the ride come from? Why, the stockpile that had been set aside to construct the Western River Expedition and Thunder Mesa. While the mega-attraction wasn’t officially canceled, it would never come closer to being built, crushing Marc Davis.
To add insult to injury, the version of Pirates of the Caribbean that was built at Disney World is significantly shorter than its Disneyland counterpart, lacks several scenes during the early portion of the ride, and is missing some animatronics and other effects. There’s also no attached Blue Bayou, replacing the ambiance of New Orleans Square with a Spanish-style fort in Adventureland.
The Magic Kingdom could have had a massive, unique dark ride all its own, and instead ended up with an inferior version of a California classic. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Disney’s history.
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Do you wish the Magic Kingdom had Western River Expedition instead of its version of Pirates of the Caribbean? Let us know in the comments below!
Nice article. Good points. Thank you.