Inside the Berm
Attraction dossier 002 · New Orleans Square

Pirates of the Caribbean

OpenedMar 18, 1967
Ride systemBoats
DropsTwo
Boats50

Loading the 3D model…

N
50 m
1967
Opening day
19551966196719691997200620182026
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · LiDAR: USGS
—show building footprint, outside the bermMeasured from map data
—boat route length in the map dataMeasured from map data
2drops, both before the route passes under the railroadConfirmed
50boats, carrying 23 to 24 riders eachConfirmed
The Illusion Lab

How the magic is done

Every trick in the order you meet it on the ride. Each one has a working model you can take apart yourself, and every explanation is labeled by how sure we are.

Free-licence photos

The real thing

Shared by their photographers under public-domain or Creative Commons licences on Wikimedia Commons, and used as reference for the 3D model.

The pink New Orleans-style building with blue iron balconies that forms the ride entrance
The entrance on the waterfront, 2022. Jeremy Thompson, 2022 · CC BY 2.0, resized
The entrance building with its cupola and iron balconies under a cloudy sky
Cupola and balconies, 2025. Jeremy Thompson, 2025 · CC BY 2.0, resized and cropped

Watch a ride-through

Fans have filmed the whole ride. We link to them instead of copying them, because the show inside belongs to Disney.

Ride-throughs on YouTubeLights-on videos

How accurate is this?

Every piece of the model is marked by where it came from, so you always know what's surveyed and what's our best interpretation.

Surveyed

  • The building outline, split by the railroad into the park side and the show building
  • The roof height of the show building, from the USGS 2011 LiDAR scan
  • The boat route, from OpenStreetMap
  • The railroad, river and every tree around it

Estimated

  • Water levels: the bayou at grade, two drops and a lift hill (their exact heights are not published here)
  • The height of the park-side building
  • Scene zone sizes

Fan-surveyed & interpreted

  • Which stretch of the route each scene occupies, using the order Wikipedia describes
  • Room lighting colors, which are ours and only show what each zone is for

Sources: Wikipedia: Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction) · Wikipedia: New Orleans Square · Wikipedia: Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) · Wikipedia: Claude Coats · Wikipedia: Marc Davis · Wikipedia: Blaine Gibson · Wikipedia: The Haunted Mansion · Wikipedia: Club 33 · Disney Park Nerds: Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland · OpenStreetMap (building outline, boat route, railroad) · USGS 3DEP LiDAR, CA_OrangeCo_2011