Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction will be celebrating it's 52nd anniversary this month. Today, we'll be taking a look at the "Pirates Arcade Museum," which used to be located at the exit to the attraction. The arcade was home to "Fortune Red" (the fortune telling pirate) and many other coin-operated machines.
One of those machines dispensed sets of postcards, featuring original attraction artwork by legendary Disney Imagineer, Marc Davis. There were two sets altogether, with six bundled postcards in each set. Here are the postcards from both sets.
This information was on the back of all the postcards.
By the way, there was a similar machine in Teddi Barra's Swingin' Arcade in Bear Country. However, it dispensed individual postcards as opposed to the bundled sets. Each of those cards featured Marc Davis' artwork for the Country Bear Jamboree attraction.
The Pirate Arcade closed in 1980 and the space was converted into the "Pieces of Eight" shop (because there weren't already enough shops in Disneyland!)
I bought this black velvet drawstring bag in the shop, back in 1983.
Fortune Red stayed behind in the Pieces of Eight shop. He remained there for many years, but was eventually moved next door, just inside the entrance to the Royal Courtyard.
The photo above, was taken in 2009. These next two pics were taken in 2014. Note that the price of a fortune had actually gone from fifty cents, down to twenty-five cents. Also within that time, Fortune Red got himself a new outfit and took up smoking!
After dropping a quarter in the slot, Fortune Red's finger follows a trail on his treasure map, while "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me" plays in the background. When he gets to the end of the trail, a "fortune card" is dispensed below.
Here are some samples of the cards that used to be dispensed. All of them had this Jolly Roger info on one side.
Various "fortunes" appeared on the reverse side of the cards. I think it's kind of neat how the fortunes all referenced an attraction or an area of the park. I especially like how the pink one below, mentions the "bubblin' wonders o' the Rainbow Caverns in Frontierland."
Today, the fortune cards are a little bit larger. The Jolly Roger info has remained the same, but they have added some new graphics. The cards also have "The Walt Disney Company" printed on them now, instead of "WDP" (Walt Disney Productions).
I'm not sure if all of the "fortunes" have been rewritten or not. I don't have an older copy of this particular fortune and this is the only "new" card that I have.
Incidentally, Fortune Red's outfit used to match the sketch of the pirate on the card a little more closely, but at some point, he was given fancier duds.
To see a pic of the Pirate Arcade from 1971, as well as a vintage pic of Fortune Red, click here for a terrific post from Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog!
Happy 52nd Anniversary to Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean!
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***POST UPDATE*** I'm including this page from the Spring 1975 Disneyland Guide, to show the exact location of the Pirates Arcade Museum. Looking at the map, the exit to Pirates of the Caribbean is just to the left of the arcade (in that small indentation in the building's outline).
Here's a current photo of that "indentation" in the building, where the attraction exit is located. A little bit of trivia here - there used to be two doorways along the exit walkway, which led directly into the Arcade. When the Pieces of Eight shop moved into the former Arcade space, one of those doors was permanently closed and a metal railing was placed across the front of it.
The yellow arrow above, is pointing to the location of the doorway that was permanently closed (just inside that brick archway). The red arrows above and below, point to the second doorway along the exit walkway, which still exists today.
And of course, the "main entrance" doorways still face Royal Street.
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11 comments:
The main thing that I remember about the Pirates Arcade was the machine that had the “piece of eight” (?) that you could stamp your name (or a rude word) on. I have three or four of those from over the years. I wasn’t very creative about what I put on them. “Pirate Dave”. SNORE.
Those postcards are awesome, I managed to get some that were signed by Marc Davis back when I knew a guy who was a good source for attraction posters. I’m glad to have them!
The drawstring bag didn’t have anything in it? Marbles? Crack cocaine? Jelly beans?
I don’t have any of those Fortune Red cards, not sure how I managed to miss out of them. I never really knew what the fortunes were (do you have the whole set?), and definitely didn’t know about the Rainbow Caverns example, that is cool! Maybe I need to just look for that one to start out with.
Major, I remember that machine that let you personalize a souvenir coin. Knott's had a similar one in one of their saloons. I wish I had thought to get one at DL and have something rude put on it!
That's pretty cool that you have some of those postcards signed by Marc Davis! I love all of his attraction artwork for the park.
The drawstring bag was empty when I bought it. However, I believe at some point, that shop sold fake gem stones that you could fill a bag with. I actually like some of your suggestions better! Today, they could probably sell bags of Johnny Depp's toe nail clippings.
I don't know if I have a full set of fortune cards or not, because I don't know how many there were altogether. Do you have any of "Esmeralda's" fortune cards from the Penny Arcade on Main Street? I also have some of those cards, but I'm not sure how many of those there were, or if they have changed them over the years.
Looking online, it looks like the complete set consisted of 24 cards. Van Eaton had some in an auction and they said they were from the 1990's, which is clearly wrong.
I also don't have any of Esmerelda's cards! What era are those from?
I have a number of brass Knott's tokens, but didn't know they had one that you could personalize.
Major, wow....24 different cards! I wonder if they were stacked in consecutive order in the machines. If so, I guess one could have gotten a full set just by continuing to insert coins. Oh, and I think when I was getting these cards as a kid, that they were even cheaper than 25 cents. I want to say that they were a dime, but I'm not sure. And I do wonder how many are in the current set of larger fortune cards.
The Esmeralda fortune cards that I have, are all from the seventies and maybe the early eighties. They are all just generic white cards with no special graphics. Esmeralda's name does appear at the top of the card, but I don't remember the fortunes being specific about anything within the park, like Fortune Red's cards were. I'll have to get those out and do a vintage "Main Street Penny Arcade" post. By the way, the last time I was at the park, Esmeralda was still sitting there at the entrance to the Penny Arcade/Candy Palace. I hate that they got rid of so many of the Penny Arcade machines in exchange for more retail space! They ruin everything, don't they?
I only have one of the Knott's personalized coins/tokens. A coworker gave it to me. It's "pre-stamped" with "Roaring 20's" in the very center of the coin and then my friend tried to put my name around the perimeter, but he misspelled it! Oh well, it's the thought that counts.
How do I miss these posts? You're on my reading list. Oh well. Better late to the party than never.
I remember the "Pirates Arcade Museum". I loved that place. I seem to remember custom made pirate themed pinball machines too or maybe that was a false memory? It's why I loved "Teddi Barra's Swingin' Arcade" as well. Custom made arcade games which exhibited much creativity and craftsmanship. What happened to Disneyland?
I have the complete 12 postcard set of Marc Davis POTC art postcards. I also have the 4 postcard set of Marc Davis POTC art postcards that were released and sold in later years for one of the POTC anniversaries. I assume that brings the Marc Davis POTC art postcard collection to a total of 16 cards at this time.
Crack cocaine-?! Jelly beans-?! And here I thought the black velvet drawstring bag was a sack to put your nuts in. Let me see. I have a couple of Brazilian nuts, some cashews, almonds and a few hazelnuts and pecans.
I do have a couple of Fortune Red cards, but definitely not a complete set. I do like them a lot. Speaking of metal coins, I do have one of those stamped silver pirate doubloons from "Pieces of Eight". Also have a "Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship at Disneyland" coin which I believe is from the 1950's.
Another fun post as always. Thanks, TM!
Major, you POTC art cards signed my Marc Davis? That is awesome!
Aye, TokyoMagic!, this be a SUPER article! When I were a seapup I loved the Pirates Arcade Museum: the Blue Bayou aromas wafting through, those Marc Davis paintings above, the grandly gruesome games --remember the one with severed hands holding candles?--and of course Fortune Red. I did prefer his earlier incarnation, when he looked as roughly carved as the characters in Knott's peek-ins. Also his vulgar furry chest heaving as he drew breath. Like his cousins in prophecy Esmeralda, Grandmother, and Zoltar, his predictions were as fun as a fortune cookie's; whatever the message was, you could apply it to your own life.
The Santa Monica Pier Arcade is a pleasant reminder of the PAM, with mostly old-fashioned games, in the best sense, and TWO Zoltars to welcome you, at each entrance edge.
Pirates of the Caribbean is 52; in its original version I don't think it has been topped. Aarrggh, and a BLACK SPOT on every bilge rat who tampered with this classic. If they wanted to refresh and add things, for ideas couldn't they have gone to the dozens of unused Davis sketches? Like the postcard here of the rowboat revelers, which did make it into model form. Now that the wenching has been expunged, they should just go all the way to pablum: have the guys sitting around knitting tea cosies and reading "Pilgrim's Progress'.
Ken, I also remember a lot of those arcade games being custom made. I wonder what happened to all of them? They haven't turned up in auctions, as far as I know. Do you think they could just be stored away in some warehouse, gathering dust? I miss Teddi Barra's Arcade and the Pirate Arcade.....and the old Penny Arcade on Main Street!
I never got the additional four postcards that were released for the anniversary, but I have seen them for sale on ebay.
I'm not touching that nut comment with a ten inch pole! ;-)
I had no idea there was a "Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship" coin! I want one! I have a small collection of souvenir coins from the park and I'm planning to include them in a future post. I don't think they make anything like that anymore. I guess today, it's all about the pins and the popcorn buckets. Oh, and the light sabers!
Stefano, thanks! And now you are making me think that maybe I should have posted this on "Talk Like A Pirate Day"! ;-)
The game with the severed hands and candles, sounds vaguely familiar. I wish there were more photos available of the old games. And speaking of those Marc Davis paintings on the wall, if you read Mike Cozart's comment on Major Pepperidge's arcade post, he said that one of those paintings still hangs on the wall of the Pieces of Eight shop. I could have sworn that I had taken at least one photo inside that shop over the years, but unfortunately, I couldn't find one anywhere!
I didn't know that the Santa Monica Pier had an arcade with old arcade games.....and TWO Zoltars! I will have to go check that out. And you just reminded me of something. I remember seeing a "Grandma" fortune telling machine in Tokyo Disneyland's Penny Arcade. And I know that I took a pic of her. I'll have to include that when I do a post on DL's Penny Arcade and "Esmeralda."
Knitting tea cozies.....HA, HA! I do wish they would stop tinkering with these classic attractions. And I agree with you, if they have to add something new, I wish they would stick with some of the original ideas or artwork. Usually when they add something, it sticks out like a sore thumb because it doesn't match or fit in with the original design.....like when they added EPCOT figures to POTC back in 1997. (I've done a couple posts about those horrible additions in the past!) Now that they've destroyed the original auction scene, I can totally see the people in charge at Disney, removing all the guns and all the bottles of alcohol from the animatronic figures, and saying "We had to do it, because it promotes drinking and violence." :-(
Wow, this is a terrific post, Tokyo. Makes me wish I had bought some of these postcards, I do remember the machine.
I definitely had some of the Fortune Red cards, but these are probably lost like so much else. I remember the descriptions of the various Jolly Rogers, which is somewhat similar to the descriptions in the Pirates of the Caribbean souvenir book. I had that one too, but can't find it either. Hard to believe I would have tossed that knowingly.
I wish I had the courage to get a personalized coin with a rude inscription. If I had known how rotten I would be when I grew up, I wouldn't have tried so hard to be good as a kid (JK).
@Stefano, YES I remember the hands clutching the candles. Those were such great games.
All of you would enjoy the Musee' Mecanique in San Francisco. http://museemecaniquesf.com/
Also I found a picture from the 1990's of me holding my small son up to one of those wood cabinet peep show machines from Main Street in that arcade. So sad those are all gone too.
Thank you, Tokyo.
JG
JG, yeah....as a kid, I would have never even thought to make a coin like that, but it's totally something I would do today! Hee, hee!
I need to go check out that Musee' Mecanique in person!
And I believe a few of those old machines from the Penny Arcade, are still sprinkled throughout the expanded Candy Parlor. At least, there were still some in there when I last visited the park.
Hi Tokyo, thanks for the response. I will look for the Arcade machines, although now I am usually just wanting to get out and skip the insides of all the West Main Street buildings since they are just a big Disney Store now.
BTW, I visited the Queen Mary in 2018 and stayed on board in one of the suites. Would you be interested in seeing the pictures? You can reach me through Major Pepperidge.
JG
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