You’re Not a REAL Disney World Fan If You Don’t Know This Pirates of the Caribbean Secret

Pirates of the Caribbean is a fan-favorite attraction in Magic Kingdom, and for good reason! It’s based on the iconic film series of the same name, and is a boat attraction that takes you through some pretty intriguing scenes.

Now, the attraction has gone through some changes over its multi-decade history. And listen, there are fans of the ride, and then there are FANS of the ride, and we don’t think you can REALLY call yourself a fan of this ride if you don’t know these facts (and if you didn’t before, now you do, and you ARE a true fan)!

It Wasn’t Originally Based on The Movie Franchise!

Back when Pirates of the Caribbean opened in Disneyland in March of 1967, it was just based on pirates in general. And it wasn’t going to be included in Disney World’s opening plans, despite how popular the ride was in the West Coast park.

However, Disney executives changed their minds after Disney World’s opening and people began complaining about the fact that the ride wasn’t in the park (since they’d seen it advertised on television for years). The ride then opened up in December 1973 and was a massive hit.

When the Pirates of the Caribbean film released in 2003, it became a surprising hit. In 2006, multiple Jack Sparrow animatronics and Pirates of the Caribbean film details were added to the Disneyland and Disney World versions of the ride, officially changing the rides to include the film series in its theme!

The Animatronics Are Separate From The Rest of the Ride

Now, this one’s much harder to know about, but I was recently stuck and then evacuated off of Pirates of the Caribbean, which means I got to see how this ride works IN DETAIL. And that’s how I found out firsthand that when the ride goes down, the animatronics are on their own separate system.

When there was first the announcement that the a Cast Member would be there soon to assist us, they announced that the ride would be shutting down immediately. A few moments later, the lights turned on and we felt our boat start to drift backwards as there was nothing pushing us forward anymore, but the animatronics kept going!

It was only until about 5 minutes later when it was announced that the animatronics would also be shutting down that they finally stopped. It was very interesting to see them running with the lights on and all — honestly, a little spooky!

That Iconic Smell

If you’ve ridden Pirates of the Caribbean, you likely know the iconic smell that seems to permeate the ride, but you may not know what it’s caused by. And no, we’re not talking about the “everything’s on fire” scene, although that one does have a distinct smell as well.

It turns out, that iconic smell on the water is from a chemical called bromine that’s used to keep the water sanitary! Even though guests aren’t supposed to touch the water on Disney’s water attractions, it still can splash up onto guests, and Disney can’t stop young children from putting their hands into their mouths, so Disney has to make sure the water is safe.

Seriously please, someone get me a candle of this scent

Bromine happens to have a smell to it, which is what you smell on the ride! I don’t know about you guys, but I need a candle of it ASAP, I absolutely love it.