An unfortunate incident on Walt Disney World Resort’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride recently captured attention on social media.
Pirates of the Caribbean opened in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom Park more than 51 years ago, six years after its Disneyland Park counterpart. Later, Walt Disney Imagineers reimagined the attraction for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. The classic dark ride also inspired the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise starring Johnny Depp–In the 2000s, Imagineering retrofitted animatronics of Depp’s character, Captain Jack Sparrow, into the attraction.
In the late 2010s, Walt Disney Imagineering announced another change to Pirates of the Caribbean. They transformed female animatronics from brides-for-auction to independent female pirates. The change was controversial. Some nostalgic Disney Parks fans believed Pirates of the Caribbean should remain untouched, while others agreed with updating classic attractions to be more inclusive to all guests.
Still, a small contingent of Disney Park guests thought Walt Disney Imagineering didn’t change Pirates of the Caribbean enough. In 2023, a TikToker went viral after stating that she felt gawked at by male animatronics on the Adventureland attraction.
“I just think this is kind of a weird ride,” she said. “I don’t know… It’s just a little bit rapey.”
Other female Disney Park guests agreed.
“It feels like we’re the entertainment for them and I do not like it,” one wrote.
“I always felt violated on this ride,” said another.
Despite the criticism, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort haven’t announced further cultural sensitivity updates to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. But like most Disney Park attractions, the ride requires regular maintenance and occasionally breaks down.
On February 20, Redditor u/AffectionateHouse120 shared this photo of Pirates of the Caribbean with the lights on. Guests were trapped on the broken-down ride, waiting for Disney cast members to evacuate them.
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Although the incident was unfortunate for guests trapped on the ride, Disney Parks fans loved the behind-the-scenes look at Pirates of the Caribbean. The post amassed more than 1,600 upvotes and hundreds of comments.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever see Pirates with the lights on,” said u/SabotTheCat. “…Why did I always imagine the water beneath the boat was AT LEAST waist high?”
“I never imagined the water was that clear,” u/Cirrus-Startus replied.
As fascinating as the photo appeared, the Disney Park guest said the novelty wore off after five minutes inside the small ride vehicle.
“Have to admit I also wanted this to happen at some point but gotta say.. sitting for 30min the back of that boat got old kinda fast,” they wrote. “…Novel for about 5min and then you’re over it.”
Walt Disney World Resort rarely releases statements on temporary ride closures, and this instance was no different. However, Pirates of the Caribbean eventually reopened and was operating normally at the time of this article’s publication.
Have you ever gotten stuck on a ride at Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort? Share your experience with Disney Dining in the comments.
My son and I once got stuck on Space Mountain. We were stuck for what seemed like a life time but was only about 10 minutes. Anyone who goes to an amusement park can experience this sort of thing. It can be fun if you play games by making up your own story about the situation.