When it comes to smaller Floridian amusements
of the past, the stories usually all sound pretty similar. They hope to ride the coattails of Disney
World, only to learn that if too many of them try it, everybody falls off and loses. Well, everybody but Disney. The story of Pirates World is not that story. It wasn’t the victim of Disney. In fact, in a few ways, the park was years
ahead of Disney World. It was a park full of promise. But with one simple change and a seemingly
innocent addition, that park full of promise went up in flames. Bob Minick was no stranger to theme parks. Like many in the industry at the time, Bob
got his start by working at Disneyland during its early years while he was still in college. It was a formative experience that not only
pushed him into a career of park management and design but one that taught him how to
do both of them Disney way. As he later liked to put it, he “got stuck
in the business of making people happy.” He would move on from Disney to work for designer
Randall Duell, and as a result had a hand in the design of everything from Six Flags
Over Texas, to the Texas pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, to the Universal Studios
Tour in California. It was in 1965 that he would get to strike
out on his own as the new General Manager for an upcoming park in Florida called Pirates
World. In December of 1965, Fort Lauderdale financier
and landowner C.T. Robertson planned to build a $4 million amusement park less than 15 miles
north of Miami in the city of Dania. He spent a reported $540,000 for a 101-acre
parcel of land and began to put together a team to design, build, and run the park, which
included Minick as the GM. Paul Groesse, known for his art direction
on films such as ‘Annie Get Your Gun’, ‘The Music Man’, and several episodes
of ‘The Twilight Zone’ was hired as the park’s designer. Just one month earlier, Disney and Florida
Governor Hayden Burns had come together to announce Disney’s plans to come to Florida
to build… something. It would be a few more years before Walt’s
plans for EPCOT would be revealed to the public, but it was generally assumed that whatever
Disney was working on would include another Disneyland. So to many in Florida, the state was about
to see a boom in tourism. It’s what made C.T. Robertson’s initial story a common one. According to Minick, early funding issues
caused Groesse to leave the project and return to MGM, and it was then that Minick grabbed
the opportunity to fill the role of the park’s designer. Calling back to his days at Disneyland, Minick
designed a 30-acre park that would be themed around distinct regions known during the age
of pirates through five distinct lands. It would include The Spanish Main, New Orleans
Harbor, The China Seas, Port Royal, and the Barbary Coast. Due to those same funding issues, the attractions
would be on the lighter side and would primarily be composed of second-hand rides. The original Steeplechase attraction from
Coney Island, introduced in 1897, was shipped down to Florida. The more recent log flume ride of the 1964
World’s Fair was also purchased for the park. Pirates World would also feature a Swiss Skyway,
a carousel, and various other common amusement park rides from the time. All in all, the park would feature 15 attractions. There were also plans for Fort that would
be home to a 375 seat theater where guests could watch pirate-themed shows, along with
street dramas, and period-themed restaurants. And while as much of the park would be as
authentically pirate-themed as possible, it would still be as clean as possible too, borrowing
from Minick’s time at Disneyland. Finally, another Disney staple that Minick
would turn to for the park was the attention and care put into the park’s employees. Everyone working at the Pirates World would
be dressed in era-specific costumes, and the hiring process would put an emphasis on young,
clean-shaven employees who would be held to a high standard of courtesy towards guests. Like Walt in the early days of Disneyland,
Minick was looking to fight against the common belief at the time that amusement parks were
dirty seedy places. It was a fight that he was smart to focus
on because the residents of Dania were not happy with the idea of a theme park in their
backyard. Residents of the city, in particular high-rise
owners near the park, were quick to oppose Pirates World, calling it another Coney Island
and a “haven for undesirables.” Hollywood Inc., the largest landowner in the
area, saw the upcoming park as a threat to their property’s value. To them, Pirates World would be an oversized
carnival that would drag down an up-and-coming city. So they sued the park’s parent company,
the Recreation Corp. of America, for improper zoning. Their hope was that it would put a stop to
Pirates World before it could even open to the public. The city, on the other hand, saw a potential
treasure chest. Besides direct taxes from the park, Pirates
World would mean more tourists spending money in Dania. It was also estimated that the theme park
would introduce 550 new jobs to the city. So they sought to end the lawsuit. Their idea was that with a simple change in
zoning laws, the owners of Pirates World would simply just have to reapply for the new zoning,
which of course would be approved by the city, and then Hollywood Inc.’s lawsuit would
be moot. So in January of 1966, that’s exactly what
they did. As the park approached its opening day in
April of 1967, more details began to fall into place. Stepping ahead of Disney, who wouldn’t adopt
the business model for over another decade, Pirates World would abandon ticket books and
ride tickets for a flat entrance fee. At $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for kids, guests
at the park would be able to ride as many rides as they wanted as many times as they
wanted. The opening of Pirates World was a tumultuous
one. Just weeks before opening, it was discovered
that the contractors building the park, who extended the city’s sewer system and connected
it to the theme park, had done so without any authorization or oversight from city officials. Beyond just wanting to find out who was at
fault for the mixup, the city commission decided to postpone granting the park its certificate
of occupancy until the park could undergo a complete inspection. It would include not only testing every attraction
for safety but also reviewing the park’s entire utility plan, as well as testing their
water system’s pressure and safety to ensure that the unauthorized work wouldn’t pose
a risk to guests. The process ended up pushing back the park’s
opening by a few days, and even then it was down to the wire. City officials were at the opening of Pirates
World on the morning of April 7th, but not to celebrate. They had orders to cut off the park’s water
and electricity in the event that the testing wasn’t completed by the 9:45 am ribbon-cutting
ceremony. The tests, luckily, did end up being completed
in time and a reported 1,800 park guests were on hand to celebrate the opening of Pirates
World. The initial reception of the park was fairly
positive. The rides weren’t cutting edge or on the
level of Disney, but they were seen as fun, and by the end of the year it was touted as
the 4th largest amusement center in the United States. The park was also praised for its cleanliness,
and the staff was commended by local media for their energy and courtesy. Thanks to Bob Minick, Pirates World was able
to capture some of that Disney magic that was starting to sway the public’s perception
of amusement parks. It was beginning to look like the city of
Dania would come around to having Pirates World in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last for long. In 1968, with the launch of Pirates World
under his belt, Minick would move on to larger projects. He would be one of the first employees hired
during the planning and design phase of California’s Magic Mountain. That left an opening for the General Manager
position, a role that would be filled by 26-year-old Bob Hall. With that change, and the loss of Minick’s
vision and experience, the park would start to change along with it. In 1969, in addition to adding a handful of
carnival rides, Recreation Corp. would build a hangar bay-like auditorium for a concert
space. Stuffy Executive: I’ll never understand
why these kids spend as much money as they do to see a bunch of characters play some
god-awful music that’s so loud you can’t even hear it. Well, who cares? Remember son, the first rule of business is
to make a profit. The venue allowed for concerts that summer
that ranged from 8,000 guests to as many as 13,000. These weren’t for small local bands
either. Acts like The Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull,
Joe Cocker, and Led Zeppelin all took to the stage at Pirates World. The city of Dania was initially resistant
to Pirates World, but the allure of tax revenue and the reality of a simple clean theme park
changed their mind. Rock concerts in the early 70s, however? That was a different story. Over the following three years, residents
of Dania grew increasingly upset at the summer concerts, complaining about the noise levels,
the crowds, and the drugs. The city tried to combat the concerts with
ordinances that limited noise pollution, and at one point the state even entertained the
idea of a concert ban in the city, though it never passed. As the acts grew more popular, the crowds
following them also grew, and incidents started to become commonplace. During one show in March of 1971, concertgoers
who couldn’t get into the park by the time the show started began to hurl rocks over
the fence at those who were already in the park. The crowd inside, in turn, started throwing
rocks back, prompting an hour-long exchange. By the end of the incident, five people had
to be taken to the hospital, an estimated 50-100 cars were damaged, and one firebomb
was thrown into a ticket booth. While the theme park continued to do well
for itself, with annual attendance averaging around 600,000, it was starting to become
clear that the owners of Pirates World were losing city officials as allies. The city of Dania felt that this wasn’t
what they were signing up for when they OK’d the building of a Pirate-themed amusement
park. Shutdowns were threatened that same summer
over safety concerns, and inspectors would try to look for any little infraction that
could give them grounds to end the shows. CT Robertson, the park’s owner, would fight
back and try to have inspectors ejected from the park, claiming they needed a warrant to
enter. They didn’t. Meanwhile, homeowners in the city began petitions
to flat-out close Pirates World altogether. Rather than end the shows and focus on the
park, the owners spitefully did everything in their power to keep the concerts going,
fueling a contentious relationship with the city. In fact, they would add to the lineup by also
hosting wrestling matches as well as roller derbys. By 1972, a park that was once praised for
cleanliness, fun rides, and friendly staff was now regularly making headlines for drug
busts, large fights, and petty crime. Ironically, the park was probably closer than
it would ever be to capturing the spirit of pirates, but like real pirates, it was them
against the world. But oftentimes in the world of business, profits
take priority over principle. Perhaps reaching a tipping point at which
the money wasn’t worth the headache after years of feuding, Robertson finally offered
a deal to Dania city officials. If they were willing to rezone the land the
park sat on, he would be willing to close Pirates World, move it elsewhere, and build
apartment complexes in that space. Most importantly, he promised that if the
zoning change went through, he would cease all future concerts within 90 days. As a threat, however, he also proclaimed that
“In the event we aren’t rezoned, we’re going ahead with a full season of wrestling,
roller derby, and concerts.” In a bizarre act of defiance, on the same
day as that proposal, Robertson also announced that Recreation Corp would not authorize payment
for any occupational licenses levied against the park. City manager, Woodward Hampton, retaliated
by asking the city commission to take the company to court over the $10,000 in-licenses
that were due. So they did. Making good on his threat, concerts at the
park continued as the battle crossed over into 1973. And as the concerts continued arrests at the
park kept rising. It ended up being a popular spot in the city
for the recently initiated war on drugs. The theme park itself saw annual attendance
drop to 500,000, perhaps as a result of not only the changing reputation but as a ripple
effect of Walt Disney World, which had opened in Orlando a little over a year earlier. It certainly didn’t help the company but
it also wasn’t the death blow that so many other amusement parks in the state would face
in that same era. For a time, it seemed like the war between
the city and the Pirates would never end. The park kept holding concerts regardless
of the arrests or pressure, and the city dragged their feet with giving Robertson his rezoning
as well as an easy way out. Then, in June of 1973, the city got the ammunition
it needed to turn the tide of battle, albeit embarrassing ammunition. As it had turned out, the city never granted
a municipal certificate of occupancy for the concert venue. Legally speaking, the area was never cleared
to open to begin with. With that revelation, the auditorium was ordered
closed. Of course, the park applied for that certificate
in order to resume concerts, but during a safety inspection is was found that the entire
hangar structure wasn’t built to code. In order to hold concerts in the space, they
would have the tear the entire thing down and start over. And with that, the concerts at Pirates World
came to an end. Recreation Corp, seeing the writing on the
wall, and realizing that they had lost any leverage with the city as well as any goodwill,
decided to sell the land to an outside developer. So in December of 1973 Pirates World was permanently
closed, citing the imminent sale. Now whether it was slow government bureaucracy
or malicious punitive action, the city of Dania was in no rush to rezone the area. They had gotten what they wanted. The concerts were over. So as the rezoning dragged into 1974, the
defunct Pirates World started to fall into disrepair. Recreation Corp claimed that for every month
the rezoning wasn’t approved, it was costing them $25,000 in interest and taxes. Dania city officials didn’t see it as their
problem. For the following two years, the park became
a popular spot for teenagers looking for fun. They were often spotted breaking into the
park to climb on old attractions, vandalize the place, and set the occasional fire. That included one fire that would burn down
the very concert auditorium that had been the center of so much strife for Dania. The state of the park got bad enough that
the city began the motions needed to have the park demolished. In January of 1975, 13 months after the park
had closed its doors to the public, Recreation Corp filed for voluntary bankruptcy. The hope was that by listing the park and
its buildings as assets, the city would be barred from demolishing them. Even after they had lost the war, Pirates
World was finding ways to spite the city. Of course, their plan didn’t work. So that September demolition proceedings began
for Pirates World. By the following summer the park would be
gone and the land, as part of the bankruptcy, was foreclosed and sold to Fidelco Growth
Investors, who years later would build condos on the site. Pirates World was so unique. At a time in which amusements left and right
were financially failing due to the arrival of Disney World, Pirates World wasn’t one
of them. Sure their attendance dropped like everyone
else’s, but not by enough to kill the business. In fact, by being built upon some of the ideals
of Disneyland, the park potentially stood a chance at a longer life. Maybe not on the level of Universal Studios
or Busch Gardens, but at the very least it could have been something like a pirate-themed
Fun Spot USA. But that’s not how it turned out. Perhaps fitting to the pirate theme, the park
leaned into easier money even if it caused problems with the authorities and drew the
ire of the local government. It was an ire that they proudly fought back
against. A rebellious existence that was popular in
its own right. However, like that of the very pirates they
were paying homage to, it was an existence that was bound to end poorly. I want to thank you all for watching. I hope you enjoyed the video and I hope if
you want to see more just like it, you stick around. I also want to take a moment to thank my Patreons. Your backing on Patreon allows me to make
videos like this without having to turn to sponsorships which usually cram ads in the
front or middle of the video. Instead, you just get this annoying plug at
the end here! So if you want to learn more about the Patreon
campaign and all of the behind-the-scenes perks it has to offer, check out Patreon.com/RobPlays
