Tag Archives: Pirates of the Caribbean

Lee Toombs applying detail to a Pirates of the Caribbean figure’s face.

It’s hard to imagine in a way, but Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is now 48 years old. In today’s world of high-tech attractions and digital wizardry creating media-based effects and ride experiences, Pirates of the Caribbean stands out as one of the greatest ever created. In my own opinion, Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean remains the single greatest attraction ever designed and built, hands down. The fact that Pirates stands up to all other rides and attractions nearly five decades later, is a testament to the vision of Walt Disney and his talented team of designers that he assembled at WED in Glendale, California, to take on this huge project.

Even as a child, I had an affinity for Pirates of the Caribbean. Woe be my family if we arrived at Disneyland to find Pirates listed on the “Attractions Not Operating” board at the ticket booths! In later years, my love of Pirates would grow by leaps and bounds, as that was my first attraction to work on when I became a Disneyland Cast Member in 1988. When you’re brought into the theme park fold at Disney, you’re warned that becoming an employee will likely ruin the “magic”, since you’re about to learn the gritty ins and outs of the operation. Pirates training then was a two day process. Not only did I have to learn the ride system competently, I had to become familiar with the labyrinthine footprint of Pirates itself, which is comprised of two very large multi-level show buildings. It’s very easy to get completely turned around and lost wandering through the Pirates show buildings – so it is essential that Cast Members assigned to working it be very familiar with all aspects of it.