Being a huge Disneyland fan, I love making lists of my favorite things at the park. The following is the list of my top five favorite Pirates from my favorite attraction “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
5. The Pirate with the Hairy Leg
4. The Pirate Over the Bridge
3. The Pirate on the Canon
2. The Talking Skull
1. The Auctioneer
This is the list of my favorite pirates as they currently appear. If we were talking about the original version of the attraction, it would be a totally different list. My favorite would be the guy sitting on the barrels in the arsenal scene followed closely by the Pooped Pirate.
So these are my favorite Pirates from “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Which pirate is your favorite?
And once again, a special thanks to Daveland for use of their pictures!
Hey everyone! Robert here. September 9, 2011 was a big day for us at Remain Seated Please. David got hitched! Yes, David married his beautiful bride, Suzi. After the wedding, what does a Disney fan do, but visit the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland!
We got to Disneyland around 3pm and visited one of my favorite attractions: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It is rare that I visit Lincoln as most of my friends find it boring. I am always fascinated with it. I am a huge fan of Lincoln and love learning everything about the man. But the real treat for me is the amazing lifelike animatronic of our 16th President. I can’t get over how wonderful his facial features are. Every syllable and breath is animated to great precision on this great audio animatronic.
After our visit with Honest Abe, we found a nice shady spot to view Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. A friend of mine just got a part in the parade as a dancer in the Little Mermaid section. While waiting for the parade to start, the Disneyland band entertained us and just by coincidence, some guests dressed in get ups right out of an old gangster movie passed by and started to dance. They were really great. They did some swing dancing, which was very fun to watch. The parade was very enjoyable and my friend Jessica did a great job. Her dance routine went perfectly! During the parade, King Louie appeared and he came right up to me and touched me! It was great, but scary at the same time! It was quite the thrill! I had a fun time watching the parade, but I wish there was a bigger climax. The final scene with Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweeps is great, but it’s not the huge elaborate ending I would have predicted for a highly anticipated Disney parade.
Our large group then met up at Sleeping Beauty Castle to take a photo. It was a beautiful day and that made the photo look even more amazing. Take a look below:
Since we had such a large group, we thought a perfect attraction for us to visit would be Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. After getting our delicious Dole Whips, we entered the World of Enchantment and Maynard was once again our host. He did his usual wonderful introduction, full of various voices and goofy faces. He then tossed it over to Jose who took it from there. The Tiki Room looked and sounded great.
It was then time for Star Tours! It was the first time for some people in our group and everyone loved it. We went Pod Racing and entered the Death Star. In between the two scenes, a hologram of Princess Leia appeared and talked to us. It was my first time seeing her and I was amazed! I couldn’t figure out if it was a great look alike or excellent CGI. I assume it was CGI because it looked exactly like the Carrie Fisher of 35 years ago. How did they do it so well? It was really one of those great Disney moments that makes you wonder.
After Star Tours, most of the group went and had dinner at Tortilla Joe’s in Downtown Disney, but I wasn’t hungry. So I stayed behind with my uncle and we rode the Disneyland Railroad. The T-Rex vs. Stegasaurus scene is back from refurbishment and it looks wonderful. It looks like they both got a new coat of paint. The rest of the Railroad was excellent. It is one of my favorite things at Disneyland, especially at night.
We then headed over to Disney California Adventure, which has its new entrance. It was strange walking through the main gate and making an immediate right and actually entering the park near Soarin’ Over California. It’s something I will have to get used to for the next year. I noticed that the top of Carthay Circle Theatre was finished and boy does it look amazing. With Buena Vista Street under construction, you can really get close to the theatre and it’s huge! I am so excited to see it finished. It will really be a great icon for the park.
The first ride we went to was The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. Again, it was the first time for some people and it was excellent. Everyone really loved it, including myself.
After our group finished their dinner at Tortilla Joe’s, we met up again at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was a great ride and the drops felt wonderful. I noticed that the gift shop now has Halloween decorations, which I really like. I wish that the Tower did their Halloween overlay that they did a few years ago. It was really great. I also noticed that there is a television set now in the gift shop. It was on and nothing was playing. I was really curious as to why it was there. After doing some research online, I found out that it’s part of a Disney Scavenger Hunt that they are testing. I wonder what could possibly play on the TV. It would be neat if they played old Twilight Zone episodes! One other thing I noticed in the Tower was that the typewriter under your on ride photo has a different piece of paper sticking out of it. It usually says “Get out of here Finchley”, which is a reference to a Twilight Zone episode called “A Thing About Machines”. Now the paper is ripped on top and has a poem on it. I wonder if this is also part of the scavenger hunt…
Since David and Suzi got married the day before, they celebrated by staying over night at the Grand Californian. We all went to hang out in the room after the Tower and it was wonderful. It was a nice big room and it has an excellent view of the monorail. The monorail passed right underneath the room! It was a unique sight! After relaxing and having some delicious cake, we headed back to Disneyland.
Now this is probably the first time I have ever been to Disneyland when Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion were both closed. It was tough for me. One thing that I must do every time I go to Disneyland is ride Pirates and it was so sad to see it closed. It doesn’t reopen until late November. I might go through Pirate withdrawals…
We did walk over to the Haunted Mansion which is being re-dressed for its holiday overlay. It looks as though it is nearly complete from the outside. It all looks great and I’m very excited to see what’s in store this year.
And with that, we ended our night at the Disneyland Resort. Congratulations to David and Suzi on their marriage. They are in Hawaii right now and I hope they are having a wonderful time!
Oh! One more thing… As I was walking by Astro Orbiter, I noticed that a dog was going for a ride! How amazing is that!?!?!
Also a big thank you to Daveland for their help with pictures in this report!
Disneyland shows up in my daily life all the time. While driving through Hollywood, I passed by Amoeba Music and noticed that they have a new display in the window.
Look at that sun! Does it look familiar?
Obviously the designer of this window display was influenced by Disneyland’s It’s a Small World. The sun looks very similar to the giant clock on the attraction’s facade. I love finding things like this. It makes the real world seem a little more magical.
Last Sunday, we made our way to Disneyland and arrived on a splendid summer evening. Our first stop was DCA. This would be the last day that the entrance, as we know it, will be in operation. Starting the next day, guests to DCA will enter next to Soarin’ Over California. It was nice to give a final goodbye to what was a not so exciting entrance to a theme park. I am very much looking forward to Buena Vista Street and I am happy to see the Greeting’s From California entrance go!
The first attraction we headed to was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was a great ride and everything worked great. The mirror ghost effect worked perfectly. I did notice a small difference in a certain prop in the library, however. In the library on the left, there is an envelope with the name Rod Serling printed on it. This prop is from a Twilight Zone episode entitled “A World of His Own”. I noticed that the printing on the envelope is now thicker and a slightly different font from before. Is it ridiculous that I bother noticing these things? I love these details!
We then went over the The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. The ride was great, but I did notice that the rubber on Ariel’s floating hair is starting to crack. I hope it’s a quick and easy fix. I still love the new DCA attraction and I don’t see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
It was then time for Disneyland. After passing through the magical turnstiles, we decided to get a bite to eat at the Plaza Inn. I love the Plaza Inn. It may be my favorite restaurant in the park. The main reason I have love for this restaurant is the wonderful Cobb Salad. I think it’s the best Cobb Salad I have ever had, but then again, I never did get a chance to have one at the original Brown Derby. While sitting outside and enjoying our meals, the fireworks started. We had a nice view of the works and once again I got emotional when Dumbo appeared from beyond the trees.
Before the Fireworks ended, we made our way through Fantasyland between the Castle and the Matterhorn. The fireworks are so close and loud in that area. It was a perspective that I’m not used to, but it was really neat. I really want to watch the entire show from the view point one of these days and have Tinkerbell fly right over our heads. I think it will be really neat.
We then made a quick stop at Casey Jr. Circus Train. Our entire group of seven squeezed into the Wild Animals cage. It was really a funny sight. The ride was excellent. Everyone really enjoyed it. As much fun as it is in the cage, the caboose is still my favorite spot.
We then walked over to New Orleans Square to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates is closing Sept. 7 – Nov. 23, so this was my last chance to ride my favorite ride for 3 months! I’m going to go crazy without it! The ride was spectacular except a new pirate was missing! The fella with all the hats who has one foot on the dock and one foot on a rocky boat was gone! Perhaps he is buying a new set of hats. The guy waiting to be dunked is still missing too. Even with the absence of those classic pirates, it is still the best ride ever created.
Naturally the Haunted Mansion was up next. They tried sending us into the stretching room when the foyer narration had already finished. I hate when that happens. I want to experience the whole attraction and the foyer is a big part of it to me. So we stayed back and waited for the next group. The ride looked and sounded great. If you remember a few trips ago, I said that an owl was missing in the graveyard and returned with real feathers unlike his plastic counterpart. Well that counterpart is now missing and I’m assuming he’s being tarred and feathered to match. Madame Leota was floating again. She has been floating so much lately, I don’t think I have to mention it in the reports anymore.
When we exited the Mansion, we caught my favorite part of Fantasmic!: The climactic ending with the Dragon. Every time I see it, it is equally as thrilling.
Our group then decided to go on the wildest ride in the wilderness, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Thunder is so great at night. I love it. It was kind of scary this time too because we were sitting in the back and we were really pulled through the whole ride. It seemed extra fast. As we all know, the big finale of Big Thunder involves a huge earthquake in the mine. Unfortunately, none of the rocks were moving and shaking this trip. I still loved it, however. It’s my favorite Disney roller coaster.
The last attraction we visited for the night was Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. We had a jeep to ourselves and it was really thrilling. It all looked wonderful. The projected rat effect wasn’t there but I don’t really mind that as I’m not a huge fan of that scene. My favorite part of Indy is the queue though. I could spend all day in that temple looking at every prop and ancient carving.
Walking down Main Street on our way home, we noticed a few things. We looked at the construction walls for the Jolly Holiday Bakery and noticed that there were Halloween decorations in the windows of the Emporium. It’s a great feeling when Halloween time nears. They also had the Fortuosity Shop decorated with tons of Ravens. It looked like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. It was really neat!
I hope you all enjoyed the report! Till next time!
By the way, we were also at Disneyland last week during D23. I didn’t have time to make a report, but there were a couple things I wanted to mention. We went on Splash Mountain, which we don’t do very often. I love Splash so much. It’s one of my favorite rides. We got so wet. It was as if someone poured a gallon of water all over our feet. It was very fun. We also went to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and our cast member introducing the show was Maynard! He really is the best and does such a great introduction to the show. If you see him out in front of the Tiki Room, be sure to stop by. You won’t be disappointed!
This past weekend was the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center. Although lots and lots of people showed up, fun was still had. The Expo was full of Disney Magic in the form of films, television, parks, and resorts to just name a few. Since there is so much to see and do at the Expo, I obviously was not able to attend everything. The following is what I experienced.
Day 1:
After waiting in a huge line to enter the Expo, we first made our way to the Carousel of Projects. This area displayed props, models, and artifacts from upcoming Walt Disney Imagineering attractions. When entering the area, you are treated to a nice little video projected on Semi-Circle 180! A montage of WDI’s past is shown and finally Tinker Bell finds our way out as she splits the screen open. Once the doors open, we are greeted by a huge replica of the Disney Cruise Line ship. As we walk past the giant vessel, its fog horn blasts a familiar tune. Try and guess what the tune is….
Inside the exhibit, we find things from the new Fantasyland coming to Walt Disney World, the new Seven Dwarfs mine ride, Cars Land and its attractions, DCA’s Buena Vista Street, and my favorite: The Amazing Destini! The Amazing Destini is the first animatronic to have 100% artificial intelligence. It was really amazing to see in person. The little fortune teller really interacts well with guests. We were treated to a look at the program running the animatronic and I must admit that it is kind of scary. It was like the Terminator come true. Destini’s program can sense your emotions and react with it. It also counts blinks, nods, smiles, and anything else that can give it clues as to what you are feeling. It was remarkable.
After our tour of the Carousel of Projects, we walked the floor for a bit and bought some collectibles. The amount of Disney things to buy was overwhelming. It is quite the site to see all the Disney geeks scrambling for their favorite Disney pin. I must admit that I was one of them.
We then got in line to enter the Arena where we would see a presentation on Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Tom Staggs hosted the event and although we were treated to great pieces of concept art, most of the information was already made public by the Disney Parks blog. There were two things that really excited me however. The first was a piece of concept art that showed the E Ticket Cars Land attraction. The art showed that there will be a scene inside of a cavern called Taillight Caverns. The stalagmites will be glowing red and resemble different tail lights of classic cars. I for one love Disney caves and I’m sure this will be a welcomed addition. The other exciting piece of news was the Castle coming to Shanghai Disneyland. The Castle will represent all the different Disney princesses and it will have a restaurant inside. What was most exciting was that an attraction would be inside the Castle! There will be a boat ride beginning in Fantasyland and it will make its way underneath the Castle where you will disembark. The concept art of this attraction looked amazing even though it was just one scene. I can’t wait to see what this turns out to be! They also announced that the Carnation Plaza Gardens will soon be leaving Disneyland and replaced with a little extension of Fantasyland which will house some Disney princesses. I’m sure it will look neat, but I’m going to miss the Gardens…
We then made our way to the last Panel Discussion for the day: Voices of the Parks. There we met Disney’s best vocal talents and they showed off their pipes. It was amazing to see how many of them love Disneyland and how talented they all really are. The panel had many vocal talents including the voice of Disneyland Bill Rogers, Mark Silverman who does the voice of Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Corey Burton who is our Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was really the most entertaining part of the entire Expo. We heard everyone do some of their Disney voices live! If you closed your eyes, it felt like you were at the park.
Day 2:
We began the day with visiting the things being auctioned off in the silent auction. In that room, they had the Hitchhiking Ghosts from Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion. These were the ghosts that appeared in the mirrors. It was amazing to see them up close. It was so strange to see them that close and under house lighting. There was something really special about viewing these masterpieces of Walt Disney Imagineering. Some other neat things that we saw being auctioned off included a canon from Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean and a replica of the barker bird from Walt Disney World’s Pirates.
After the auction, we visited the Archive Treasures Museum. We saw incredible props, wardrobe, and pieces of art from classic Disney productions. The highlights included the Sleeping Beauty Storybook, maquettes from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, wardrobe from the Pirates films, a Mickey animatronic from Walt Disney World, and fan art from “101 Dalmatians”. It was a great display that was a must see.
After our tour through the treasures, we got in line for the presentation on Buena Vista Street. It was great seeing the concept art for DCA’s new main street. I really loved that amount of detail that will be represented. Carthay Circle Theatre looks great and I love the fountain which is being built out front. But the biggest reveal was the new Partners statue coming to DCA. It depicts Walt in 1923 along with his suitcase and Mickey Mouse on top. It is a great sculpt that really shows in detail what Walt looked like early in life. Imagineers decided to place the statue on the ground and not on a pedestal for an important reason. In 1923, Walt was just like us. He had dreams. He worked hard for those dreams to come true. So since Buena Vista street is supposed to take place in the 1920s when Walt was pursuing his dream, Imagineers decided that he should not be above the crowd, but within the crowd. Any one of us can have our dreams come true if we work hard for it. I thought it was a great idea.
Day 3:
The final day we just looked around the main show floor. Some highlights included people dressed up in costumes including an amazing Red Head from Pirates, a wonderful Tinker Bell, and The Bride, Caretaker, Hatbox Ghost, and Tightrope Girl from the Haunted Mansion. Everyone did a great job with the detail in their costumes. Also on the floor were some neat props including a Zebra from the Jungle Cruise, Walt Disney’s Limo, an Autopia car, and a goose from It’s a Small World, just to name a few. We decided not to go to any presentations that day as the lines were incredibly long. To view a presentation, you had to get in line about 3 hours ahead of time. It was ridiculous. So many people showed up for the D23 Expo, but it just goes to show you how much people love Disney. The next Disney Expo will be held in 2013. I’m already looking forward to it.
A while back, I posted a video of Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa promoting “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. You can see that original post by clicking here. In that video, Barbossa was sitting on a bed that was very reminiscent of the Captain’s Quarter’s scene in the attraction. I thought it was an obvious reference and I had hoped it made the final cut of the film. If you saw the movie, then you will know that an important scene takes place at this location! It is a great attraction reference.
Below is a photo of that scene from the film followed by a photo of how it appears in the attraction:
On August 9, 1969, The Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland. The exterior of the Mansion had been finished for many years and people had been waiting patiently for the creaking doors to open. When they finally did, no one was let down. It was and remains one of Disney’s finest attractions.
Over the years, versions of the Haunted Mansion has opened at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris (As the Phantom Manor), and soon to be Hong Kong Disneyland (As Mystic Manor).
In 2001, Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas took over the Haunted Mansion to begin a very successful annual Halloween/Christmas overlay.
The Mansion has also been turned into a not so successful movie starring Eddie Murphy and it has also been announced that a new Mansion movie will be made with Guillermo Del Toro at the helm.
Happy Birthday Haunted Mansion! Enjoy some pictures of our beloved Mansion!
Editor’s Note: An interesting fact that many people may not realize is that the Haunted Mansion opened the same day as the infamous Charles Manson Murders.
I’m not the biggest fan of Vinylmation, but I love this set that Disney has just come out with!
Most Pirate merchandise Disney puts out is based on the films these days, so it is really refreshing to see a line of figures based on Pirates from the attraction. Yes there is a Jack Sparrow, but at least he’s in a barrel to make him unique to the animatronic figure in the ride. My favorite of these Vinylmation figures has to be the Pooped Pirate. See below:
Let’s hope more Attraction based Pirates of the Caribbean collectibles come out in the future!
We made an unusual weekday trip to Disneyland on Wednesday for a special occasion. A friend of ours is moving to England and we had a going away party at Club 33! What could be a better send off?
When we got to the park, we realized we had time for one ride on this very busy day. So we waited 20 minutes for the World Famous Jungle Cruise! It was a great ride through the rivers of adventure. A while ago, I posted a video about how Disney airlifted the elephant’s mother in law out of the park. Well she is still on her extended leave unfortunately. I will have to give her a big hello when she comes home.
After the Jungle Cruise, we headed to Club 33. It was incredible. I am not going to go into detail about Club 33 right now as we are still working on our original Club 33 review. This trip’s visit to the Club will be included in that post as well. Look for it soon!
After the Club, we went over to the Haunted Mansion. It was another amazing ride and everything looked great. Madame Leota was floating again. I’m glad she seems to be doing that more often these days. I did notice that a couple of the singing busts in the graveyard scene were out of sync. I hope Disney realizes this soon and fixes it. It’s really upsetting when that happens. But even with the out of sync Mellowmen, the Haunted Mansion is still the best.
We then headed over to DCA and the first thing I noticed is that the Golden Gate Bridge is gone! Take a look below:
Then we got in line for Soarin’ Over California. It has been a couple of years since I have been on Soarin’. Now don’t get me wrong. I love the ride. I just can’t stand the Soarin’ queue. There is not much to it and it lasts forever. This time I had to do it though since we were with people that don’t go very often. So I waited 60 minutes to get in my hang glider. It was a great ride that is very magical. I love so many things about it from the corny preshow video with our chief flight attendant, Patrick Warburton to the smell of orange groves in the California country side. The only problem I have with the ride is a personal issue where I get a bit dizzy in the Downtown Los Angeles section. Other than that, it is one of Disney’s best!
Then we went over to the Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. It was a great ride once again. It did stop a few times on this particular trip, most likely to accomidate handicapped people. Other than that, everything seemed the same and I loved it.
We then walked through A Bug’s Land to make our way to the Hollywood Tower Hotel or as it’s more commonly known: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We went with a couple of people who had never experienced the ride before and they ended up loving it. I love seeing my favorite attractions through new eyeballs. The mirror ghost effect wasn’t working this time. Instead of our reflected bodies turning into ghosts, a blue blob just appeared. Even when that effect isn’t working, it still is an amazing attraction.
We then headed over to Disneyland and while walking on Main Street, I saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. It was great seeing them as it’s rare when I do. I love seeing minor characters from Disney animated features. There is something really special about it.
We then rode one final attraction, which also happens to be my favorite. If you have been reading our trip reports, then you won’t be surprised to hear that the attraction I am talking about is Pirates of the Caribbean. When we arrived to New Orleans Square, the ride had just closed. We saw security escorting someone out of the attraction in a wheel chair, so I assume someone fell. We waited for about a half hour for Pirates to reopen and when it finally did, I was ecstatic! I ran to the entrance like a little boy running down the stairs on Christmas morning. We ended up getting the first row, which I always love. The guy waiting to be dunked is still missing and I also noticed something else on this trip. In the burning city scene, there is a singing trio with a dog. Well the guy all the way to the right usually has a bushy goatee, but it looks like he had a shave. He only had a little patch of beard under his chin. No mustache at all! I know I’m crazy writing about animatronic facial hair, but that is why I love Pirates and Disneyland. It’s all about the details!
After Pirates, we caught the climax of Fantasmic! and saw the amazing Dragon scene. That is really one of the best things Disney has ever done. I get chills when that Dragon comes out!
Then we made our way to the Mickey & Friends Tram and Disneyland was soon behind us. We will be back soon!