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.
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