Arrrggghhh Matey! “Pirates of the Caribbean” has reopened at Disneyland after a few months of refurbishment.
Lines were long for the attraction at rope drop yesterday, July 1, compounded by a few hiccups in opening.
The Closure
“Pirates of the Caribbean” first closed on March 14 of this year for the refurbishment.
The reopen date was listed as “Summer 2022” for the longest time before the park decided the attraction was ready to open July 1.
Bumps in the Road
The reopening yesterday was not without a few issues, though.
It didn’t open until almost an hour past its scheduled time, which caused the line to grow.
There were also two temporary closures noted by the park’s app, though fans online reported four closures.
By mid-afternoon, the line reportedly went back through New Orleans Square toward the “Haunted Mansion,” and then back across to the other side of “Pirates” in front of the Riverboat Terrace dining area.
But What About Johnny?
For those worried recent legal events might have caused the removal of Captain Sparrow, played by actor Johnny Depp, guests say he is still there.
In fact, it appears to be the general consensus among those who rode “Pirates” yesterday that little has changed beyond some small sound improvements and a bit of cleanup.
Blue Bayou
Blue Bayou Restaurant, which has a view of the beginning of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” reopened with construction walls inside a few weeks ago.
The walls came down this week as the ride was tested before its reopening.
It originally closed on April 21, 2022, for its own refurbishment, but reopened before “Pirates” on June 4.
History
“Pirates of the Caribbean,” and Blue Bayou, were among the last projects Walt Disney personally oversaw.
Walt Disney originally designed the attraction in the 1950s, but he imagined it as a wax museum with a walk-through adventure.
After the success of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Disney and his team of Imagineers decided that Walt’s latest animation technology, called Audio-Animatronics, was the best way to tell a rousing pirate story.
Both the attraction and the restaurant originally opened on March 18, 1967, three months after Walt passed.
