Disney World vs. Disneyland Paris: Which Pirates of the Caribbean Ride Is Better?

One of the best parts about going to Disney Parks around the world is that you can ride the same attraction you’d find at Disney World, but get a completely new experience!

Pirates of the Caribbean is an all-time classic attraction, and one that we never skip every time we go to the Magic Kingdom. So, when we went to Disneyland Paris, we HAD to make sure we rode it. We really enjoyed the ride, and even though it’s the same attraction, there were quite a few notable differences and unique details. We made a list of the ones that stood out to us the most, and now we’re sharing it with you.

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The Queue

Let’s start with what makes the most sense…the beginning. The queue at Paris’ Pirates attraction is similar to Disney World’s — the outside is a little different, but the vibe is the same. One thing we liked is that the Pirates of the Caribbean movie music plays in the queue, and it’s not just the main theme — tons of niche songs from the score play as well.

The Beginning

The vibe of the beginning of the ride here feels COMPLETELY different from Disney World’s. Unlike starting in a cave, you’re out on “open waters.” Land is on your right with trees at first, before you start riding through shipwrecks. The restaurant is to your left, and honestly, sailing past the restaurant is such a fun experience!

They have the Davy Jones mist screen projection on a lift hill at the beginning — our lift hill is at the end, and there is no Davy for us at Disney World, unfortunately (not anymore, anyway). Also, the lift hill plays DOPE organ music like Davy Jones plays. After that, you go through even more sequences of dead pirates (kind of like the cave at the start of Disney World). Oh, and the dog with the keys and the prisoners is at this earlier part of the ride, not the end.

Pirate Redd

Pirate Redd was a newer addition to the classic Disney World attraction, and she is on this version of the ride as well. Pirate Redd IS Pirate Redd, but it’s a much simpler animatronic, and she does not have speaking lines. Which means there’s no, “the gentlemen want the rum, DON’T YA BOYS!”

Um…Where’s Captain Jack and Captain Barbosa?

Once you go down the drop at Disney World, you first see Captain Barbosa firing at the town of Tortuga. However, on Disneyland Paris’ version, you realize the captain on the ship at the beginning, right when you come down the hill, is not Barbossa, it’s just a generic pirate. What was even more shocking was that they didn’t have the first Jack Sparrow animatronic peering around the mannequins when he was being looked for by the well.

Special Unique Details

There were a few other details that we thought were really neat. They have a pirate swinging on a rope at the beginning of the ride. In the scene where the women are chasing the pirates around, one of the scenes has two animatronics sword-fighting, which is very cool. Toward the end, before the cave, you see an animatronic Barbossa as a human, and then lightning strikes, which turns him into a skeleton — a very cool effect! Lastly, Captain Jack is at the end like Disney World, but he’s seated in a big treasure room.

All in all, the Disneyland Paris version is a touch longer — by two minutes. They have some of the cave and pirate remains scenes that Disneyland has, but they are at the end instead of the beginning. Also, it’s pretty obvious, but the ride is in a combo of English and French, like all the rides here.

While we can’t say which one we like BETTER, the Paris version of the ride seemed a bit more intense, plus we liked that it was longer and had a view of the restaurant. But, we’ll always live Pirates at Disney World!

The uniqueness of the attractions across the Disney Parks across the world very much encourages seeing them all at some point. Each one has a different type of magic. For more Disney news and updates, be sure to stay tuned to AllEars.

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Have you ever been to Disneyland Paris? Let us know in the comments!

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