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Welcome to the Pirates Arcade Museum.
You say it looks more like an arcade than a museum?
You’re right.
These are one-of-kind, pirate-themed Disney games
in beautiful wooden cabinets with rope edges.
Pull a dime from your pocket, and try your skill at an
electro-mechanical shooting gallery machine.
Try such favorites as:
- “Freebooter Shooter”—Take pot shots at drunken pirates teetering on
top of kegs, like those in the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Earn ratings such as “spifflicated” and “cupshotten.”
- “Cap’n Black”—Aim carefully when you play this very dark, spooky, and
challenging machine.
- “Captain Hook”—Blast away, as the machine plays “A Pirate’s Life
Is a Wonderful Life” from Peter Pan.
Don’t leave without buying a postcard from the special
postcard vending machine.
These cards feature concept drawings for the Pirates of the Caribbean
by Marc Davis, the creative genius behind many of Disneyland’s
greatest attractions.
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In Disneyland, New Orleans Square opened in July 1966, but its major
attraction, The Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t open until March 1967.
The Pirates Arcade Museum, located next to the exit from Pirates
of the Caribbean, opened in the same time frame.
Despite its name, it was never really a museum.
But if these one-of-a-kind devices were still around today,
what great museum pieces they would make.
The space previously occupied by the Pirates Arcade Museum is now
the Pieces of Eight shop.
A few of the old devices from the Pirates Arcade Museum survive
in the shop, including a large pirate fortune teller and a dubloon impression
machine—but not the old shooting gallery games.
In a nicely themed environment, the Pieces of Eight shop sells
pirate souvenirs, such a skull mugs, and, of course, the ubiquitous
plush toys.
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The
Pieces of Eight shop in 1998
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© 2007 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks
Updated September 25, 2006.
Photograph of Pirates Arcade Museum: 1977 by Marion Caswell.
Photograph of the Pieces of Eight Shop: 1998 by Werner Weiss.
Special thanks to Dennis Caswell for the names and descriptions of
devices.
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