E-Tickets Series ~ By TMSM Member Ariel1236
My next couple articles are about all the E-Ticket rides. For those of us too young to remember, the E-Ticket was the most coveted ticket in the ticket book a guest would buy. E-Tickets were for the biggest and best rides in the park. In June 1982 the ‘ticket’ system was replaced with the current system. As a start I am only doing the Disney World E-ticket rides, I may expand and do the Disneyland rides later.
E-Ticket: I got a jar of dirt!
As a little boy, Peter, walks under the great stone arches in Adventureland he is greeted by a group of pirates. As he walks through the maze of tunnels he comes across an alcove and far down below he sees two skeletons playing a game of chess that ended in a stalemate. What Peter doesn’t know is that once, during a renovation the chessboard was moved and the cast members didn’t know where the pieces went so they had to search Marc Davis’ original notes to find where the pieces went.
As Peter boards the boat, he begins the 8:30 minute ride, and eagerly waits for the 14 foot drop that will take him under the Disney World Railroad line. Originally Peter would have been walking through a wax museum, but that was changed after the World’s Fair that transformed the world of auto-animatronics. Peter hears the famous song “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life For Me” written by George Bruns and X. Atencio, as the floating boat takes off.
As the ride goes through the many scenes Peter recognizes the famous pirate Jack Sparrow, or Captain Jack Sparrow as he likes to be called. These figures were added in the big 2006 renovations, other things that were changed include the large outdoor sign and the Barker Bird was removed. It was later that Davie Jones and Blackbeard were added, we well as the mermaids.
When Peter rounds the last bend and sees the famous dog with the keys in his mouth, he notices that it is the same dog we see in the Carousel of Progress. As Peter gets off the ride he asks his mom, “Is it true Walt Disney is frozen under here?” and his mom replies “Sweetie that is just a myth.” Walt Disney did pass away just 3 months before the Disneyland ride opened. This is also one of the few ride at several of the Disney parks; Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland. Always “Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.”
Next: Crusin’ Down the Rivers with Peter’s brother, Matt.
- Discovery Island and River Country - February 5, 2014
- Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus….. - October 11, 2013
- My Hollywood Studios (stress on the ‘my’) - September 27, 2013