Why Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland is so great at 50 years old – The Mercury News

Why is Disneylands Pirates of the Caribbean still a must-see for theme park fans, 50 years after its debut?

Not even the most dominant sports teams enjoy a 50-year winning streak. No movie or Broadway show has played to paying audiences in one place nearly every day for 50 years, much less to packed crowds for almost all of those days. And no other theme park ride has spawned a multi-billion-dollar movie franchise. Pirates success is unique.

But why? Its a boat ride past a bunch of singing pirates. Why would it become one of the greatest hits in the history of the entertainment business?

Pirates continues to amaze millions of fans each year because its not that simple. A writer trying to analyze this ride is like a dentist trying to fix a pirate crews teeth its a never-ending, possibly impossible, task.

In one sentence, Disneylands Pirates of the Caribbean is a mild thrill ride that offers a family-friendly view of some of the most brutal criminals in history, who are all fake but look, act and sound real, in a series of outdoor scenes all staged indoors.

Thats a lot of contradictions. And thats why fans keep lining up to ride. There are a couple of drops for thrill fans, but the drops arent long enough to scare anyone, or even get you very wet, which makes the ride accessible to a wide audience. The use of audio-animatronic characters in richly detailed and convincingly lit sets makes the experience seem real, but of course its all totally fake. That means that even though you feel like youre in the middle of a pirate raid, you always feel happy and safe.

As Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park, If Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates dont eat the tourists. Hows that for a show of respect from Disneys archrival Universal in its Jurassic Park movie.

The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction isnt just influencing writers and moviemakers. Among theme park designers and fans, it provides the standard by which all new projects are judged. You know a new ride might actually be pretty good if you ask Is it as good as Disneylands Pirates? and the people youre asking dont roll their eyes or laugh in your face.

Even today, few rides offer the immersive scenery, memorable song and engaging story that Pirates delivers.

And Pirates of the Caribbean sucks up people like the crew of the Black Pearl going through barrels of rum. The ride is famous among Disneys cast members for its huge hourly capacity.

When I worked on the East Coast version at Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom, we routinely put through 2,400 people an hour, more than double the capacity of many of the other popular rides in the park. That kept our wait time under an hour on all but the busiest days of the year. So enjoyment of the ride isnt compromised by having to endure a long wait for it.

Ultimately, Pirates of the Caribbean satisfies our need to not be simple. Sure, people want to simplify their lives by eliminating, or at least reducing, the debt, stress, clutter, chores and long commutes that make our lives miserable. But what if you actually did that? Simple is boring.

We want excitement in our lives. We want to see something so elaborate it confounds us. We want to sense danger without feeling risk. We want to experience something thats special, that we dont see, and cant see, every day.

And thats when its time to go ride with the Pirates of the Caribbean again.

.Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThemePark

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Why Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland is so great at 50 years old - The Mercury News