Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Skull Rock

After seeing the deplorable state of Captain Hook's pirate ship at the beautiful but crumbling Disneyland Paris, I thought I'd take a look in my files for something to remind us of what it should be like. Various websites have posted photos of the ship falling part in full view of guests- you can search for yourself. But on to the fun stuff...

Of course, the original ship was in Disneyland's Fantasyland, and like many early additions to the wildly successful park, it was sponsored by corporate America. In this case, Chicken of the Sea tuna. I last remember seeing it just prior to demolition to build the new Fantasyland of 1982.

The concept art (shown above) was very well done, but in this case, the execution was even better! (See the photograph below, by an unknown source). Click for the larger version of the photo.

Skull Rock was also destroyed along with the ship to make way for the new European styled Fantasyland and later reimagined and recreated as part of Adventureland in EuroDisney aka Disneyland Paris.

In Paris, Tony Baxter's team for Adventureland had Chris Tietz at the helm. The end result was quite different than all the previous Adventureland incarnartions. And very successful! Take one part Tom Sawyer Island, add in Skull Rock, Hook's Pirate Ship, plant the Swiss Family Treehouse, stir in tropical vegitation, and viola! Adventure Isle was born.

Anchored by Pirates of the Caribbean on one side, Indiana Jones on the other, this island paradise was destined to be a smash. Last visit, we spent well over an hour exploring the island's caves and trails as we were searching out the highest vantage points for some incredible views- and photos of our own.

Speaking of searching, if you do a little bit of it on this blog, you'll find several more posts about Adventure Isle, our trip reports, and even a map of the island itself. It is worth the search!
(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)