WALT DISNEY’S “living“ legacy, Disneyland at Anaheim, Calif, took another long step last month in fulfilling his promise that it would never be completed, with the unveiling of its newest attraction, “Pirates of the Caribbean." It is part of the $15 million New Orleans Square project, and when six major attractions are revealed next month in the revamped Tomorrowland at a cost of $20 million (AB, April 1), total park investment will top $92 million.
[img]As bateaux travel under bridge, passengers get a saucy wink from gentleman with jug. The town arsenal is ablaze in background.[/img]
“Pirates" was designed by WED Enterprises, Inc., the “imagineering” firm, and features 119 life-size, three-dimensional figures, 64 humans and 55 animals. They are brought to life by “Audio-Animatronics,” WED’s electronic computerized system of animation also seen in the Tiki Room and “It’s a Small World,” the last-named transplanted and improved from the New York World’s Fair.
[img]Auctioneer atop bridge is having trouble getting a bidder for 3OO-pound maiden.[/img]
Guests see the attraction aboard “bateaux,” flat-bottom boats principally used by the Cajuns in southern Louisiana swamps. The trip takes them through the Disneyland Caribbean, created inside two buildings on three levels. Included in the over-all 1 12,826-sq.-ft. area are the Blue Bayou Lagoon and restaurant, 31,216 square feet; two 21-degree cascades 52 and 37 feet long, and a third serving as an up-ramp to Laffite’s Landing, total 1,568 square feet, and the Pirate Grotto and Audio-Animatronic show area, 21,964 square feet. The water averages two feet deep and the 15-minute trip requires about 750,000 gallons.
With a fee of 75 cents for juniors and adults, 60 cents for children age 3 through 11, the ride passes Dead Man’s Cove; the “apartment for the captain” where a ghostly version of the attraction’s theme song, “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” is heard from a player-less organ, a treasure cache and into the crossfire of a battle between a pirate ship and fortress. Other features include a full-size, moonlit Caribbean port, a village where pirates are dunking a local magistrate in the town waterwell, and a bridge used as an auction block for the town’s maidens. Also shown are imprisoned pirates and the town arsenal on fire.
The Blue Bayou Restaurant, a replica of a New Orleans courtyard, offers southern fried chicken and fried shrimp, among other entrees, at $1.95 each. Teddy Buckner and his group are on hand for true Bourbon Street atmosphere, and are expected to remain there for the summer, at least.
