Disney Dining Serving up the latest Disney Eats, Treats, News, and More!
A brand-new, state-of-the-art theme park inspired by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is coming in 2025, and fans of the swashbuckling series will feel like they’re right there where the action from the films took place–because they will be.
Credit: Disney/Canva
The Scurvy Possibilities Are Endless
Imagine a place unlike any you’ve ever experienced–one where you might just have the chance to capture Captain Jack Sparrow yourself–or become part of his swashbuckling crew as they navigate the dangerous waters of the Caribbean Sea in search of sunken treasure. In a magical place where all the stories from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films come to life, anything is possible.
Perhaps you and your fellow crew members will pilfer the enemy’s abandoned ship–one that resembles the ship in Disney’s theme park attraction, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Credit: Disney
You might choose to persuade a small band of fellow unscrupulous and riotous pirates to do your bidding and deliver chests of rare jewels to the Black Pearl as she waits near the shore. Test your skills and challenge Davy Jones to a duel, find buried treasure, or perhaps prove yourself worthy of being Captain Jack Sparrow’s second-in-command with your fearless and reckless approach to the pirate life.
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Again, in a place where Captain Jack and the adventures in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films come to life, the possibilities are endless. So far, there’s never been such a place, but plans for an all-new Pirates of the Caribbean theme park have been announced.
Though the park isn’t slated to open to the public until 2025, the excitement over the new experience is already building.
Disney’s Epic ‘Pirates’ Films
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl debuted in 2003 and served as the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Jonathan Pryce, Keira Knightley, and Jack Davenport, the first movie also sets the stage for future films in the franchise.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)/Credit: Disney
Set in the 18th century, The Curse of the Black Pearl tells the story of Captain Jack Sparrow, played by the ever-debonair and uber-talented Johnny Depp, who lives an idyllic life on the high seas of the Western tropics until his hopes and dreams are sunk by his nemesis, Captain Barbossa, who steals Sparrow’s beloved Black Pearl and attacks the town of Port Royal, taking the governor’s daughter captive.
What ensues is pure adventure and surprises around every turn as Captain Jack and his faithful friend, Will Turner, stop at nothing to rescue the maiden and regain the Black Pearl.
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Between 2006 and 2017, Walt Disney Pictures released four additional films in the series about Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew. Of all the Pirates films released, the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, was the most lucrative, grossing more than $423 million. In all, the five films have grossed more than $1.5 billion since their respective debuts.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)/Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
But despite Disney’s delay in producing a sixth film in the series, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise retains a massive fan following–one that seems to only grow stronger with the passing of time.
Now, one entity has plans to capitalize on that fan following by developing a brand-new theme park based and located on–the islands on which The Curse of the Black Pearl was filmed in 2002–St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A New Theme Park Inspired by Disney’s “Pirates” Films
The Minister of Tourism for St. Vincent, an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea where parts of Disney’s first Pirates movie were filmed, shared the news that a brand-new state-of-the-art theme park inspired by the films is being developed on the island.
Wallilabou Bay, the site of filming for “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003) /Credit: Flickr/Andrew/Canva
Minister of Tourism Carlos James said that tourism in St. Vincent would soon get a huge boost because of the new Pirates of the Caribbean theme park, which will be built at Wallilabou on the main island of St. Vincent. Construction is set to begin later this year.
“We are looking at scouting lands closest to the beach to accommodate the state-of-the-art theme park, which will include a restaurant, pool, and more,” James explained. “This year, we will also explore and conceptualize designs for a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed park at Wallilabou. It is important that we look at how we can further develop our tourism product offering.”
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
James also said that the design concept for the theme park will include the Pirates of the Caribbean movie motif.
“We’re looking at scouting lands closest to the beach where we can look at further developing to accommodate a state-of-the-art themed park, restaurant, a full-on area, a pool, and, naturally, beach access for [people] coming by sea,” James said.
Filming in the Caribbean for Disney’s Pirates films took place on the west of the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, at Wallilabou Bay. Other locations included the picturesque islands of Saint Vincent and Grenadine, as well as St. Lucia, and the remote isles in Tobago Cays.
Sets From Disney’s “Pirates” Films Are Still on the Island
Credit: Travel & Leisure Magazine
Many of the sets and fixtures used on the island during filming are still in place today, just waiting for fans to visit and see for themselves.
The new Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired theme park will be located at Wallilabou, on St. Vincent, allowing guests to literally step into a part of Disney’s swashbuckling films, and both tourists and island residents alike are likely to finally become familiar with the sets once used by Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Per The St. Vincent Times, the sets in Wallilabou were built around the town’s hotel and restaurant. The hotel rooms on the island were used as “green rooms” for actors like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. Further, the hotel, shops, and customs office on the island were transformed into the village of Port Royal, the famous pirate town in Jamaica that is referenced in the first Pirates film from Disney.
The set was built around our hotel and restaurant, and the hotel rooms were used as ‘green rooms” for the actors. Our hotel, restaurant, shops, and customs office were made into the village of Port Royal, which was the famous pirate town in Jamaica.
Port Royal in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)/Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Tourists and locals alike are expected to get a sense of the set used by Captain Jack Sparrow in the iconic Pirates of the Caribbean films when the state-of-the-art theme park, inspired by Disney’s swashbuckling films, opens to guests in 2025.
Are you adding a visit to this Pirates of the Caribbean theme park to your 2025 bucket list? Let us know in the comments!
