Widen Your World – The Caribbean Arcade

The
Caribbean Arcade

Extinct WDW Attraction

Opened: c. Summer 1974
Closed: c. Spring 1980

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

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

Last Update to this page: June 8, 2009

The Caribbean Arcade is one of the Magic Kingdom’s least-discussed extinct attractions, second only perhaps to the short-lived Safari Club Arcade.  That Adventureland game room ancestor had a lot in common with its buccaneer progeny, where any kid’s pocket change could be readily converted into a scurvy good time for a period of roughly six years.

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 later became the Pieces of Eight shop).

The above left photo shows the entrance to this chamber as it appeared in 1993, about thirteen years after the arcade closed.  My own recollection of the interior space was that the room was substantially darker than in its later years when it served 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.

The games and machines themselves are a little easier for me to remember.  At least one wall was lined with old-style mounted rifle games in handsome wood cabinets, identical to those shown in the above center photo of Disneyland’s Pirates Museum Arcade, an image 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.  WED artist Sam McKim led the design effort on these customized games.  One of his designs is shown at above right.  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 and a “Pinocchio” game from DL also.

Also present in the room:

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 Auction Scene figure in the nearby ride) for a photograph.  One was the Auctioneer standing at a ship’s wheel, the other was the pirate who holds the redhead’s rope sitting atop a pile of treasure.  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 to the best of my knowledge is currently a stockroom for the adjacent plaza’s merchandise.