I was at Disneyland a few days ago, and my friend Dave Cobb pointed out a spelling mistake in the newly-reopened Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough. On every one of the storybook pages on display, Aurora’s Prince is named “Phillip”…except on one (I think it’s the one near the mirrored display of floating spinning wheels) where he’s referred to as “Philip.” Unfortunate, but I guess it’s not too hard to imagine how it happened.
I was surprised, however, when I later uncovered an even bigger spelling inconsistency at Disneyland. Every Disney fan knows that the dock from which you sail the seas of the Caribbean…
…and many who’ve visited the brand-new Pirate’s Lair know that the new pirate hangout (and home of the Fantasmic show) is…
Wikipedia notes that Lafitte’s name has been spelled both ways. If I’m being generous, maybe I could blame it on rich theming: perhaps the timeframes depicted in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (the timeframe of the “swamp” area, specifically) is a different one from that depicted on Pirate’s Lair, and maybe different spellings of the name were in vogue at the different times?
Or, more likely, the “Laffite” of Laffite’s Landing isn’t really Jean Laffite the pirate (why would he have a “landing” in the swamps
of New Orleans?), but rather one of his descendants, and perhaps the name is more commonly spelled with two F’s by modern Louisiana residents?
Yes…yes…that must be it. The detail those Imagineers put into those attractions is amazing!