Pirates overrun Tom Sawyer Island

Like dozens of children before him, Porter Oglesby waited his turn before stepping up to the wooden pump. With his aunt on one end, they cranked it, draining water until the pirate treasure chest appeared from the briny deep.

“Look at the gold!” he yelled.

The 4-year-old from Iowa and his family joined thousands of visitors to Disneyland and hunted for buried treasure on the old Tom Sawyer Island, which reopened Friday with a Pirates of the Caribbean theme.

On the raft ride over to the island, the staff greets visitors with an “Arrrrgh me hearties.”

The island now boasts a grotto with ghostly apparitions, mysterious voices, skeletons, and lots of working features, such as pumps that shoot water and pulleys that hoist treasure chests.

A tip: While in Dead Man’s Grotto, put your hand on the ornate chest and feel the thump of the heart of the villainous Davy Jones.

“We still have the original rope bridge that’s been there 50 years,” said Chris Runco, a Disneyland designer for nearly 34 years.

“So with the new things we’ve added it’s got a lot to offer, both old and new.”

Even for not-so-young people who still have plenty of imagination.

“They’ve done a good job,” said Steve Shisley, 21, of Woodland Hills. “The shipwreck was pretty cool.”

Kevin Keech, 48, from Sunnyvale, visited the island with daughter, Jenna, 13. “Everything is so neat,” he said.

“They have bilge pumps that work when you pump them, water that shoots out. It’s really a lot of fun.”

For 50 years, Sawyer’s island had been a staple for playing hide-and-seek and letting imaginations roam. But in recent years the attraction began to show its age.

A year ago, Disneyland executives asked designers to work on a new concept, Pirate’s Lair, that would make its debut on the same weekend as the release of the movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

It’s the third in the popular movie series that stars Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow.

For full effect, Disneyland has added staff members garbed in pirate regalia who attempt to recruit island visitors into their quest for hidden treasure.

Of course matey, it’s for an even, 90 to 10 split. Ninety fer me of course. Arrgh.

The attraction offers several shows daily, with a cannon battle and pirates taking prisoners and dueling with swords -- all part of the hunt for treasure.

Since the first Pirates movie came out, the world of treasure islands has become extremely popular, said John Baur, 52, of Oregon.

Baur and his friend, Mark Summers, 42, are better known by their online monikers of Ol’ Chumbucket and Cap’n Slappy respectively.

They and their website, www.talklikeapirate.com grew in popularity after columnist Dave Barry wrote about them.

Baur, who grew up in Southern California, said the thing he recalled most about Sawyer’s island had nothing to do with Disney.

“It was enjoying grad night at Disneyland and how security would patrol the island checking whether any date-groping was going on,” he said.

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david.reyes@latimes.com