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The first attraction encountered in New Orleans Square is Pirates of the Caribbean, a boat ride through the era of pirates. This cruise, features scenes of pirates attacking a fort and raiding a town, takes place almost entirely outside of the berm surrounding Disneyland; however, due to its clever layout, most guests do not realize this fact. Pirates of the Caribbean was the last attraction to be supervised by Walt Disney before his death, and although he never saw it completed, it definitely bears his personal stamp. When designers were worrying about guests not being able to hear all of the dialogue in the ride or see all of the details, Walt said that it would be like a cocktail party in which you overhear little bits and pieces of conversations; Walt felt that this would keep people coming back to try to see and hear everything. He wanted the attractions designed so that guests would discover something new each time they visited, and Pirates of the Caribbean, along with several other Disneyland attractions and the park as a whole, is an excellent example of this principle. The ride system, which involves boats propelled by underwater currents, is a slight variation of the system originally used in It's a Small World at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The main difference in the systems is that while It's a Small World has boats which travel in a narrow trough, Pirates of the Caribbean has boats which travel through areas of water which extend all the way to the sets; the secret is that the boats still travel in a trough which is located below the surface of the water. Guests board the ride at Laffite's Landing, which resembles the Louisiana bayou. From there, they sail past the Blue Bayou restaurant and a cabin where the owner sits rocking on the porch with his dog beside him. From there it is down a waterfall and into the world of the pirates. All of the dialoge for the characters was written in loops, so that there is never an obvious beginning or end; therefore, every guest feels gets a complete show and does not feel that he is missing part of the dialogue. An explosion finally sends the guests back up to Laffite's Landing. The Blue Bayou Restaurant, located next to the entrance of Pirates of the Caribbean, resembles a small village in the Mississippi River delta at twilight, no matter what time of day it is outside. Guests seem to be sitting on an outdoor patio, watching the boats pass by on the river. The river seems lazy and wandering, quite different from the waterfalls and pirate battles that lie ahead for its passengers. Fireflies can be seen around the cypress trees, and a banjo is heard in the distance. This unique Disneyland experience is one of the most popular restaurants in the park, and reservations are often difficult to get. Above the Pirates of the Caribbean is the Disney Gallery. This area, originally designed by Disney designer Emile Kuri as an apartment for Walt and Roy Disney and their families, was never used and remained vacant for many years after their deaths. When a new entrance was designed for Pirates of the Caribbean, two curving staircases were added up to this second level, which was remodeled as an art gallery. The decor of the gallery is based on the original designs for the apartment; the exterior iron railings have the initials WD and RD woven into them for Walt and Roy Disney. The Disney Gallery showcases concept art, including drawings, paintings and models, used for different attractions designed by Walt Disney Imagineering. Exhibits have focused on Euro Disney, the Indiana Jones Adventure, and attractions that were never built; the permanent exhibit features art from the creation of Disneyland itself, including the original model for Sleeping Beauty Castle complete with a tiny figure of Walt Disney walking through the archway. At night, the Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet is served on the main balcony overlooking the river; guests with reservations can watch Fantasmic! from premium seats after eating a light snack.
The Haunted Mansion is full of special effects to make the ghosts seem "real." Like other attractions mentioned previously, the actual building which houses the ride is outside of the railroad boundary; guests pass under the tracks while walking through the portrait hallway between the stretching room and the loading area. The stretching room is actually an elevator which lowers guests from the Disneyland street area to the level of the tunnel, although most guests never realize they are going down. The tunnel contains portraits in which the images slowly change, such as a sailing ship that becomes a sinking ship. These images once changed instantly when the lightning would flash outside the windows. In the ballroom scene, the organ being played by a ghost was originally played by Captain Nemo in the Disney film "20,000 Leagues under the Sea". Also in the ballroom scene, there is a spider web painted on one of the panes of glass to hide a hole in the glass. The dust and cobwebs found in the attraction actually have to be placed there; nature alone could not make the place spooky enough for the Imagineers. The original story called for the master of the mansion to be a sea captain, which accounts for the spyglass weather vane on the roof. The voice of the Ghost Host belongs to Paul Frees, a veteran radio announcer who can also be heard in Pirates of the Caribbean as the voice of several of the pirates; he is also known to Disney fans as the voice of Ludwig von Drake. At night, guests can see a light carried by one of the ghosts passing by the upper windows of the mansion. At each of the Disney parks, this attraction is in a different themed land; while it is in New Orleans Square here, it is in Liberty Square at Walt Disney World, in Frontierland at Disneyland Paris, and in Fantasyland at Tokyo Disneyland.  |
Leaving Adventureland past the Swiss Family Treehouse, one
passes into New Orleans Square. Opened in 1966, this area of
the park was the first new land added to Disneyland after its
opening, and also the last to be supervised personally by Walt
Disney. New Orleans Square features all the charm of the French
Quarter condensed into one area, and has many unique shops and
restaurants, as well as two of Disneyland's most popular
attractions. One former shop, the One-of-a-Kind shop, was
created because of Lillian Disney's love of antiques; another
shop features merchandise related to Pirates of the Caribbean.
New Orleans Square also has a stop on the Disneyland Railroad;
this station was originally considered the Frontierland Station
before New Orleans Square was added. The Depot seen across the
tracks from the station is a copy of the train station in the Disney
film "So Dear to My Heart;" the actual station from the movie is in
animator Ward Kimball's backyard. A clicking sound can be heard
from the Depot; this
sound is Walt's opening day address in land-line telegraphy, not
Morse code as is often suspected. The tunnel which the train
passes through just before arriving at the New Orleans Square
Station passes over the Indiana Jones Adventure and Pirates of
the Caribbean. The tunnel which it goes through just after
leaving the station crosses over the Haunted Mansion and
through Splash Mountain in Critter Country. The masts of a
ship can be seen over the rooftops of the New Orleans Square
buildings; this prop actually hides some of the nighttime
lighting.
The theming in this area is so convincing that
many people get the impression that the actual New Orleans is
just like New Orleans Square; however, this is only how New
Orleans should be.
Located above much of New Orleans Square is Club 33, an exclusive,
members-only club. Walt Disney wanted a place in Disneyland where he
could entertain corporate executives away from all the crowds, and this
idea was the genesis for Club 33, although Walt never saw it completed.
Club members and their guests enter at 33 Rue Royale, one of the doors
on a street in New Orleans Square. From the ground level, they can
either climb a staircase or ride in an ornate elevator to the second
floor, where the restaurant is located. At the top of the stairs sits
a Victorian phone booth used in the movie "The Happiest Millionaire"
starring Fred MacMurray; a harpsichord is found in one room. The
rooms are decorated in Victorian style, matching the New Orleans
Square theme. The Trophy Room, the smaller of the dining rooms, once
contained stuffed animals mounted on the walls; hidden operators in
another room could listen in on conversations using microphones placed
in the lighting fixtures and have the animals, actually Audio-Animatronic
figures, participate in the conversations. Apparently some guests
objected to this practice, and now all that remains are the microphones
and one vulture. The main kitchen for Club 33, as well as the other
restaurants in New Orleans Square, is located underground, next to
part of Pirates of the Caribbean. Because space was limited when this
area of the park was added, the Imagineers had to find imaginative
ways to fit everything in. For example, in Pirates of the Caribbean,
after guests have gone down the second waterfall, they are directly
below the loading area; the Disney Gallery is directly above the
loading area, making it actually the third level instead of the
second level as it appears. The current waiting list for membership
to join Club 33 is about two years long.
Another popular attraction found in New Orleans Square is the Haunted
Mansion. This attraction, one of the most popular of all attractions
in all Disney Parks, was originally designed as a walk-through show,
where guests could take their own time exploring the Mansion. The
Imagineers were planning it even during the early days of Disneyland.
The building which houses the entrance to the attraction was built
around 1963, but the attraction itself was put on hold while the Imagineers
worked on the shows for the 1964 New York World's fair. As with Pirates
of the Caribbean, Walt Disney decided that they had learned too much
about moving people through a show to make this a walk-through attraction,
so he ordered the concept changed to a ride. The Imagineers decided to
use the Omnimover system, which had first been used in Adventure Thru
Inner Space in Tomorrowland. This ride system consists of a continuous
chain of vehicles, called "doom buggies" in this attraction, which move
throughout the ride at a continuous speed. These vehicles can be
programmed by the designers to turn and face the different scenes.
After Walt Disney died, there was some discussion on whether to make
the ride scary or funny; the funny side won out, although the suspenseful
buildup is more than enough to frighten some children and adults alike.