Los Piratas, the lost fort that shaped Bellewaerde

An ambitious response to the arrival of Disneyland

In the late 1980s, construction of Euro Disneyland changed the ambitions of Europe’s major parks. Luc, Éric and Carlo Florizoone decided that Bellewaerde needed an attraction capable of holding an important place in this new landscape. They chose a large indoor scenic boat ride inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, but telling its own adventure in the Spanish Caribbean. During the summer of 1990, visitors watched the fort rise under the provisional name Los Piratos. The investment, valued at 150 million Belgian francs, or about €3.75 million, made it the most expensive project in the park’s history at the time.

A Spanish fort built around a river

Bellewaerde entrusted the scenic design to the British company Golding Leisure Design, later known as Space Leisure, while Mack Rides supplied the transport system. The building covered about 3,805 square metres and rose nine metres high. A covered queue gradually led to the boarding station on the first floor, where twelve boats entered a 250-metre course divided between two basins. Around two million litres of water and thirty pumps created the current. The fort was therefore much more than a façade: it contained a complete two-level attraction designed to separate visitors from the rest of Mexico.

Nine scenes telling the story of the Yucatán treasure

The journey begins with the governor of Mexico and the privateer John Speedy plotting to seize Maya treasure. After the gold-smelting scene, the boat drops into a storm of wrecked ships, lightning and an erupting volcano. The fortified town of Cabo Real appears in flames before pirates invade a temple filled with sarcophagi, idols and treasure. Maya spirits rise to drive them away, leading the voyage into its great naval battle. In the final cave, a skeleton still mocks the passengers while three pirate musicians celebrate victory. This continuity gave Los Piratas the strength of a complete story rather than a simple succession of sets.

Hidden effects behind the scenery

Around fifty-five animated figures, joined by many moving objects, brought the nine scenes to life. Compressed air operated much of the animation and effects, while sound was controlled digitally. Inside the temple, a diagonal sheet of glass created the ghosts through the Pepper’s ghost principle: real figures were lit in a hidden space and their reflections seemed to appear among the pirates. Cannon fire combined light, sound, air and bursts of water. For more than seven minutes, most of this machinery remained hidden so that visitors saw only the fort, the storm and the characters.

Twenty-one seasons, followed by a second life for the building

Los Piratas carried its final passengers on 1 September 2012 after twenty-one seasons. The scenes were dismantled within a few weeks, although several props and animatronics were retained for future use, particularly during seasonal events. On 14 September, Bellewaerde announced that the fort would house Huracan. The new roller coaster opened on 30 March 2013 in the same building, whose exterior became a Maya temple. The conversion removed the water ride without erasing its entire structure. Los Piratas therefore remains a major chapter in the park’s history: a large-scale attraction told as a complete story and still visible in the architecture that outlived it.