"Enjoy pirate games and fun machines."
Your Complete Guide to Walt Disney World, 1975
The Caribbean Arcade is one of the Magic Kingdom's
least-discussed extinct attractions, second only perhaps
to the persistently mysterious and extremely short-lived
Safari Club. That Adventureland game room ancestor
probably had a lot in common with its buccaneer
progeny, where any kid's pocket change was readily
converted into a scurvy good time for about six years.
One of the most reasonable explanations for the
arcade's scant coverage is that the average adult would
not have spent more than a minute in this dimly-lit
alcove, which sat off the western end of Caribbean
Plaza's open-air market, Plaza del sol Caribe, directly
across from the highly traveled House of Treasure
shop. So most accounts of the haunt stem from
childhood memories, which despite their warmth are
often less keen than we would prefer.
When Pirates of the Caribbean opened in December
of 1973, much of the surrounding area in Caribbean
Plaza was not yet ready to debut. Most of the shops did
not open until April of 1974. Sometime between April
and the end of the year, the Caribbean Arcade laid
down its gangplanks. It was a direct descendant of
Disneyland's Pirates Arcade Museum, which had been
operating in that park's New Orleans Square since
roughly 1967 (it is now the Pieces of Eight shop).
The photo above shows the entrance to this chamber
as it appeared in 1995, about fifteen years after the
arcade closed. My own recollection of the interior
space was that the room was substantially darker than
in its later years as vendor and merchandise operations.
How much darker I cannot say, nor can I readily identify
what the focal point of the room was, if there was one
besides the games and other machines.
But those games and machines themselves are a little
easier to remember. At least one wall was lined with
old-style mounted rifle games in handsome wood
cabinets, identical to those shown in the adjacent photo
of Disneyland's Pirates Museum Arcade, an image which
I have shamelessly borrowed from Werner K. Weiss's
fantastic Yesterland site. These games offered you the
chance to take aim at pirates for a dime. Some of the
pirate targets were modeled after figures that appeared
in Pirates of the Caribbean. At least one other machine
featured pirates from Peter Pan. |
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The Caribbean Arcade
(Caverna de los Piratas)
Extinct WDW Attraction
Located in:
Caribbean Plaza,
Adventureland,
Magic Kingdom
Opened: c. Summer 1974
Closed: c. Spring 1980
Ticket Required: None
Contributing
Imagineers:
Sam McKim
Descendant of:
Disneyland's Pirate Museum
Arcade
Space later became:
Lafitte's Portrait Deck,
Lafitte's (shop)
Remnants:
Space still exists, although
no longer open to public
Related External Sites:
Yesterland -
Pirate Museum Arcade
Sorcerer's Workshop
Pirates Arcade Museum
Photo of Pirates Museum
Arcade 1997
by Marion Caswell.
Text copyright 2002
Mike Lee
I would like to
acknowledge the
thoughtful assistance of
Dave Applewhite,
Robert Boyd,
Brian Lee
and
Werner K. Weiss
with my research on
the Caribbean Arcade
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A freestanding rectangular
cabinet housed another game,
which I'm certain was called "Make
Captain Bones Dance." It allowed
you to pull the strings of a skeleton
puppet - to the accompaniment of a
sea shanty - by pushing buttons on
a rudimentary control panel. This
machine was essentially the same
as the "Hoofin' Henry" game that
was once found in Disneyland's
Teddi Bara arcade.
Also present in the room:
- A machine where you could
stamp a short message into a
replica of a silver or gold pirate
coin. The doubloons were punched
with a small hole so they could be
worn as necklaces. These same
types of coins were still sold in bags of three at the House of Treasure years after the
arcade closed.
- A machine that vended a selection of postcards, each with a Pirates of the
Caribbean drawing by WED artist / animator Marc Davis and a brief poem. For
example, an illustration of two pirates boozing it up in a rowboat carried these lines:
"Behold these bilge-rats with a feelin' o' sadness; Rum-spongin' be naught but
self-willed madness." These postcards were also later available at the House of
Treasure.
- A fortune teller, similar to Grandma at Main Street's Penny Arcade, except that
this one was hosted by the infamous lady pirate Anne Bonny. For a dime you could
receive some wordly advice from Anne printed on a small card, the back side of
which contained some authentic pirate lore. I have a weak suspicion that Anne's
face or outfit may have been the same as that of Esmerelda, who replaced Grandma
at the Penny Arcade in the early 1990s.
The original version of the Pirate-themed
fortune-telling machine (Fortune Red) still
resides in Disneyland's Pieces Of Eight shop.
The Caribbean Arcade's name changed to
Caverna de los Piratas in 1979. The
following year it closed, underwent a
renovation and opened as Lafitte's Portrait
Deck. Under this name, the venue allowed
guests to don pirate outfits and pose
alongside one of two sculpted pirate figures
(adapted directly from pirates in the nearby
ride) for a photograph. In the late 1980's the
operation was licensed to the PhotoToons
company, and the pirates were removed.
From that point on guests in pirate garb
mugged by themselves and Disney
characters were added to the photographs
when printed.
In December of 1994, PhotoToons vacated
and the space became a merchandise outlet
simply called "Lafitte's," selling pirate hats,
hooks, swords, muskets, etc. By March of
1997 that shop, too, had closed. The
building stills sits at the western end of Caribbean Plaza and is currently a stockroom
for the adjacent plaza's merchandise.
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