This post is sponsored by Fanta – King Of The Park
Pirates Of The Caribbean may now be an enormous, multi-billion dollar movie franchise (the four films have grossed $3.66 billion and counting), but if youd ever been on the ride its based on before The Curse Of The Black Pearl arrived in cinemas in 2003, youd never have guessed it could inspire something so popular.
Ive been on three different versions of the ride, at Disneyland, Disney World and Disneyland Paris, all built at very different times, but nevertheless fairly similar. Its also true that when I went on them, it was before recent changes that brought in characters and objects from the film series, such as Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones.
In many ways, the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride seemed an odd thing in the Disney parks back then. Like Its A Small World, it wasnt related to any specific Disney movie or character, and mainly seemed to be there because it was famous for being at Disney parks. It also holds a special place in the parks history, as it was the last attraction overseen by Walt Disney himself before his death (the original ride, at Californias Disneyland, opened three months after Walts death in 1967).
It meant that in the late 90s and early 2000s, it was there mainly for nostalgia reasons; a ride people expected to see at Disney, but which few actually bothered to go on. While you could be waiting for hours for Space Mountain or Big Thunder Railroad, you could pretty much get on Pirates immediately.
Thats a shame, as if you did venture into its murky depths, you were in for a treat. Admittedly the whole thing was a little hokey. You got onto boats which sailed along an indoor water track past scenes of Pirates and Jolly Rogers. It was almost consciously a little old-fashioned, with animatronic characters that were a little rougher than the rest of the park and an air of nostalgia that pervaded the whole thing. It was also odd that there wasnt really any sort of plot just slightly random yo-ho, rum-swigging scenes of ye-olde Caribbean pirate life. It was an exercise in creating humour and a feel for a time that never was.
At Disney World at the age of 10 it initially all seemed a bit rubbish, but slowly the charm of it spread over me. At the time I wasnt sure why I liked it so much. There was the jolly Pirates Life For Me song, a rather festive atmosphere, a couple of nice moments (such as the boat sliding from one level to another, along with some funny and surprisingly clever tableaux), but even then I knew I should be thinking it was naff. After all, compared to all the super-sophisticated things around the Disney parks, this was way behind the times.
It was only when I got to Disneyland Paris a few years later that I realised it was this old-fashioned feel that made the ride so special. The French resort had only been opened a few years before, and it was largely very modern, with even the things that were meant to look old seeming very shiny and new. However going aboard Pirates Of The Caribbean was to step back in time, not really to the age of Pirates, but to the 50s and 60s, when Disney and his Imagineers were turning amusements parks in the modern theme park and doing things nobody had done before. It was indeed hokey, but it was nevertheless a very special experience, allowing visitors to travel back to a time when theme parks were being invented, and seeing the ideas and imagination that went into things back then. It genuinely did feel more like travelling back in time 40 years than 200.
To be honest the Paris ride was a little too sleek, but the rough edges of Disney World and Disneylands version were a great reminder that these rides were created at a time when no one really knew how to do things like this. And the whole thing must have been at least a little convincing, as during one tableau in the Disney World version, which involved cannons and shooting, my little brother ducked down, in case he was hit by a stray bullet.
In many respects, the first Pirates movie came about because Disney realised the ride was reaching the end of its life and they were trying to find a way to extend it and a movie might just help with that. However as the ride had little plot and was by then very hokey and old-fashioned not to mention the fact Pirates were seen as box office poison most expected the movie to fail miserably. It was seen by most as a very expensive folly, with many feeling it was a bit of a desperate play by Disney and a sign theyd run out of ideas. That soon changed though when Curse Of The Black Pearl became a truly gigantic hit!
Its almost a shame it was. After Johnny Depp conquered the world as Jack Sparrow, it massively upped peoples expectations of what the ride should be like. The attraction was sedate, charming and nostalgic, while the movie suggested it should be big, brash and action-packed. As a result its been extensively revamped and updated at all the parks, not just adding in the movie characters but taking out the hokey, rough-round-the-edges feel and making it a lot more slick and modern. Its still fun, but has lost something not least the fact that while 10 years you didnt really have to wait to ride, now the queues are now enormous.
However if you cant get to Disney, Fanta is giving you the chance to create your own Theme Park, although not quite as Walt Disney did (partly because you can do it from your own home and partly because its on Facebook). Fantas launched a new Facebook game called King of the Park! Battle your mates in the Park in classic arcade games, have a chat and best of all be in with a chance to win some brilliant prizes for taking part, perfect for summer! It’s certainly worth spending some time with.
Take a look at the fun Fanta King Of The Park video below, and then head over to http://FantaURL.com/kotpbloggb to create your own park!