Theme Park Insider

Pirates of the Caribbean reviews

Theme Park Insider readers offer their ratings and reviews for Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.

Written by
Theme Park Insider Editor
Posted: February 18, 2010

Pirates of the Caribbean debuted in the then-new New Orleans Square section of Disneyland in March 1967 and since then has spawned a multi-billion-dollar entertainment empire. The simply story of a pirate raid on a Spanish port has grown into three (soon to be four) movies, video games and theme park rides around the world.

Pirates takes riders on a 15-minute trip from New Orleans Square's Blue Bayou down two waterfalls into a misty realm where Davy Jones challenges you with a pirate's curse and "dead men tell no tales." Disney's Imagineers have tweaked the ride several times since its 1967 debut, most recently in 2007, with the addition of characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean films, including Davy Jones and Johnny Depp's Capt. Jack Sparrow.

The show's burning city finale features the rousing theme "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me" by X. Atencio and George Bruns, followed by a coda in the city's crumbling prison, where the pirates face their comeuppance. (Except for Jack Sparrow, of course.)

Pirates offers the highest capacity of any ride in the park, meaning its line moves swiftly even during the busiest times of the day.

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Readers' rating:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
61 votes, so far

I cannot put my finger on it, but something about this ride just grabs you. I like both this one AND the one in Orlando (which I went on 8 times in 4 days once). No matter how old you are, just ride is really fun. I am not even a big Pirate's of the Caribbean (movie) fan and liked this ride! - Alicia Pearce

Unfortunately I feel that there will never be a ride made on the scale and brilliance ever again. - Skipper Adam

As all New Orleans Square attractions (i know there's only two), this one surpasses other Disneyland attractions. I'd give it a 10. I usually give disneyland attractions 9s. - Reggie Templeton

I don't consider any attraction to be perfect, but Pirates comes as close as any, at least in its Disneyland incarnation. The loading of the boats in the bayou, the lazy ride past the Blue Bayou Restaurant and finally into the tunnels and waterfalls leading to the actual ride building, all are essential elements of the Disneyland PotC experience, and the WDW version pales by comparison. I remember peering into the building as a kid, while it was still under construction, and seeing the concept artwork of several pirates huddled over a treasure map, thinking to myself that this was going to be great! And here, 44 years later, I'm still right! - Randall Peek

A must do at Disneyland. A great experience. - nick .

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