Is Pirates Dinner Show Worth It?

[Harryo]

My family(DW, DD- 11 yrs, and 2 DS 8and 7 yrs) have reservations for the Pirates Dinner Show Our first night in Orlando 7/12. Is this show worth it? Is it entertaining especially for the kids? And is the food any good? Would rather do something else if it won't be worth our while. We will be staying at Marriott Cypess Harbour the first week and Marriott Horizons the second.

 

[mum4jenn]

We enjoyed the show. The food was OK. Not great but all the dinner shows are like that. My dd who was 3 1/2 liked the show and she was running a fever and could have enjoyed it even more. Since you have two boys they should LOVE it. Be prepared to yell and scream for you Pirate. They put on a good show.

 

[Harryo]

Bump ! Any more reviews? Would like some more feedback. Thanks. Harry O

 

[kellymonaghan]

Here's what I had to say in the new edition of "The Other Orlando: What To Do When You've Done Disney & Universal"

Pirates Dinner Adventure
6400 Carrier Drive, Orlando 32819
(800) 866-2469; (407) 248-0590
www.orlandopirates.com

Prices: Adults $46.47, children (3 to 11) $28.03. Prices include tax but not gratuity.

Times: Nightly at 7:30 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Directions: From I-4 Exit 29, drive east on Sand Lake Road, one block past International Drive to Canada Drive and turn left. Entrance to parking is on Canada.

If there were Academy Awards for Orlando dinner shows, Pirates Dinner Adventure would have to get the best set award. This cheerful melange of old-time Technicolor pirate movie, Broadway musical, and big top circus unfolds in a fog-shrouded domed arena dominated by a towering and ghostly pirate vessel a-sail on the watery deep (into which not a few of the performers take some spectacular falls).

The fun starts in a large antechamber where a Festival, celebrating the arrival of Princess Anita, welcomes arriving guests with Gypsy fortune tellers, face painting for kids, hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar. There’s even a tiny arcade for die-hard video game freaks. The show proper gets under way with the explosive entrance of a band of oddly friendly pirates who kidnap the princess and a comely gypsy wench. For good measure, they shanghai the entire audience, shepherding us to their outlaw realm.

We know these pirates can’t be all bad when they announce that they will serve us a sumptuous meal, just to prepare us for the torture, maiming, and certain death that will follow shortly. The meal, served by the pirate crew, is a hearty one. Yellow rice with sliced beef and spicy chicken barbecued to a turn on pirate swords.

Then we settle back for a celebration of swashbuckling derring do on the high seas. In a plot that defies rational explication, we find ourselves caught up in a story that involves crew rivalries, the love of a young pirate lad for a princess, long dead pirates, trampolines, basketball, and — would you believe? — a circus aerial act. There is also a delightfully droll and smarmy pirate captain, complete with black beard and a wig of cascading ringlets; his wife is a brassy blonde with a voice like cannon fire. They make a highly entertaining couple.

Punctuated by song, the fast and furious action moves left and right, up and down, comes from behind us, and soars high over our heads. The “Golden Gypsy” dances high above, the pirates compete in wacky games of skill, and kids from the audience are taken aboard to be sworn in as swashbuckling buccaneers. All too soon it seems, the King’s army arrives to save the day. There will probably be times during all this when you don’t know what the heck is going on, but you’ll probably be enjoying yourself too much to care.

All of this cheerfully chaotic mayhem is carried forward by a game and talented young cast. The male pirate chorus is especially fine. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing along to the refrain of “Drink, Drink, Drink.” And speaking of drinking, beer, wine, and soda flow freely during the meal and afterwards.

For those who care to linger after the show, there is a “Pirates’ Buccaneer Bash” where crew members lead the crowd (kids mostly) in silly song and dance routines.