Website: www.piratesdinneradventure.com
My family (wife, son age 6 and daughter age 4) went there on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
We were spending 6 full days in Anaheim and were looking for something different to do mid-trip on our day off from visiting the parks. My wife and I had done Medieval Times in the past and while I was looking it up again, I came across Pirates Dinner Adventure.
There were not a ton of official reviews on the place that I could see, just people’s comments. They probably averaged 3/5 stars. That said, pirates are the “in thing” today, so we felt like we would still give it a go.
Booking was very easy to do. You can do it online, which I did or call them, again, which I did to upgrade. Tickets ended up being about $150 total for the four of us. I have learned that you can find them cheaper. If you search a bit more, you should be able to take the same family of 4 for about $125.
There is an option to upgrade to preferred seating, which I did. It was the kids first trip anywhere, so we wanted to ensure we got the best seats we could find (ended up with front row). Once we were there, I would say that pretty much all the seats are fairly good. The upgrade also included pirate beads for us all to wear. Kids loved them.
We were told to be the 90 min prior to the main event so we could have appetizers and watch the pre-show. The apps were okay. Shrimp, meat, cheese, and some pasta thing that tasted great. The main reason for watching the pre-show is that you see the main pirate capture the princess. It sets up the main shows theme, which is pretty much a save-the-princess type adventure.
After the pre-show, we were ushered into the main theatre by section color (we were blue). The first thing you notice is the big pirate ship in the middle, surrounded by a moat. There are 6 colored sections. Blue was on the extreme left side. If you book ahead enough, ask for orange, which is in the middle. Our waiter came by and took our drink and food order (chicken fingers for the kids, chicken and either shrimp/beef for the adults. If you are going here for the food……you will be severely disappointed. It is just not very good. Try to fill up on the appetizers before hand, as they were actually better. I don’t think any of us actually finished our main meal. I will say that the apple desert I picked out was really good.
Before the official show starts, the pirate you are supposed to cheer for comes to the appropriate section to talk to you. Our’s was the blue one. He came right up to my kids and asked them if they would like to be in the show. Both immediately said yes!!! I suppose I should have started out saying that if audience participation isn’t your thing, this experience may not be for you. The main point in to immerse yourself in what’s going on and have some fun.
I won’t give out all the details in the show. Suffice it to say that it’s part stunts, acting, singing mixed with some circus-like tricks. The sound was a little distorted, but nothing too major. The acting and lines were cheesy, but that’s to be expected. The stunts were fairly well done.
The kids both got to go up on the pirate ship to be sworn in as official pirates. My son later in the show got to be a soldier that shot at the pirates (so I guess he ended up being a traitor). I got to help pull up the sails….wow were they actually heavy. In the end, our blue pirate won the night and saved the princess. After the show, the pirate all stood around the exits, so you could get your picture taken with them.
Overall, I really enjoyed it and if you just take into account the price of the regular tickets, it’s not that bad. Where they really get you (and they did us) is all the extras. We bought the picture that they took of us entering the building. My wife and I bought two souvenir glasses with drinks in the pre-show. Then we got a few other things like flags for the kids to wave.
Would I go back? To be honest, probably not. I like to try different things, so I would most likely take the kids to Medieval Times.
Was it worth it? Yes. To see the kids have that much fun always makes these things worthwhile to me.
Overall I give it 3.5 starts (out of 5)
Food – 2
Show – 4
Value – 3
Fun Factor – 5 (for kids anyway)
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Rob (who can be found on the DisneyMouseLinks message boards)