The ride's story is based on Captain Willem van der Decken. The story is that he set sail on Easter 1678 despite a bad storm. It is said that he exclaimed, "I will sail, storm or not, Easter or not, prohibited or not. I will sail, even into eternity!" (Or in Dutch, "Ik zal vaeren, storm of gheen storm, Paesen of gheen Paesen, verbod of gheen verbod. Ik zal vaeren, al is het tot in den eeuwigheid!")
A picture of van der Decken, and a ghostly recitation of this phrase, can be witnessed while waiting in the early portion of the waiting queue.
©2014 Joel A. Rogers.