Johnny Depp Shows Up at Disneyland's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Ride Dressed as Jack Sparrow

Jackie Willis
Updated

Nobody loves portraying a pirate more than Johnny Depp.

On Wednesday night, the 53-year-old actor surprised Disneyland visitors in Anaheim, California, when he showed up on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride -- which inspired the movie franchise -- dressed as his character, Captain Jack Sparrow. Just like in the films, Depp rambled on at guests while swinging about his sword.

WATCH: Johnny Depp Can't Find His Pants in Action-Packed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Trailer

Some ridegoers who witnessed the performance captured the moment on their phones, and shared it on social media. "You know those little Disney Myths like...Johnny Depp will dress up as Jack Sparrow and sit in the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride? Well..." one person captioned a video of Depp.

"Johnny Depp spent his day at Disneyland surprising guests on Pirates. I could die," read another tweet.

ET spoke with 19-year-old Madeleine Silva, a Disney passholder who was on the ride, about being "in shock" upon witnessing Depp's portrayal of Jack Sparrow firsthand. "My roommate and I joked that Johnny Depp would be on the ride. My friends and I all have passes and hear rumors about him sometimes showing up on the ride, but we never actually thought it would happen," Silva exclaimed. "At first, when the boat turned the corner and we saw him, we weren't positive if it was him. As we got a little closer and he started talking to us and playing the role of Jack Sparrow, that's when we realized it was him."

WATCH: When Han Solo Met Jack Sparrow -- Harrison Ford and Johnny Depp Hug It Out

Bailey Nielson was also on the ride and admitted that it took her "a bit to realize it was actually [Depp]."

"They had turned off most of the fog machines and had huge spotlights on him. After putting that all together, I clued in that it was really Johnny Depp," Nielson recalled, adding that she was in "disbelief" upon seeing the star.

"The 'Happiest Place on Earth' just became a lot more magical!" she exclaimed. "No one at Disney told us he would be in the ride but they did hint at something. We knew they were filming for something that day in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride but we had no idea what it was."

The A-lister's appearance at the theme park seems to be a thinly-veiled promotional stunt to build hype for the upcoming sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which hits theaters on May 26.

This also isn't the first time Depp has dressed up as Jack Sparrow in his free time. While filming Dead Men Tell No Tales in July 2015, he assumed his alter ego while visiting the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Check it out:

Reporting by Brendon Geoffrion.

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