Here it is, finally! The first of two reviews of very fun, family-friendly places to visit while you are in Orlando. It's a very popular destination for Atlantans - several people I know are planning trips there this winter & spring! As a child, I was fortunate enough to have grandparents living in Orlando, so I grew up visiting lots of fun places there. Sadly, most of those attractions (Circus World, Mystery Fun House, Stars Hall of Fame, and more) have disappeared. But there is much more to Orlando than just Disney & Universal - just drive down International Drive to find a variety of fun places to check out on your next visit!
The night we visited Pirates Dinner Adventure was the "most fun night of our trip" according to my kiddos. Considering one is almost 17 and one is 7 that is saying a lot! It takes a really great experience for them to both feel entertained! Pirates Dinner Adventure offers just that.
First thing you should know: you'll want to get there an hour before your show starts. Otherwise you will miss food, shopping and lots of entertainment! You will pay for parking (I believe it was $3 per car). When you get to the box office you are given the opportunity to upgrade your meal. This is one thing I wish we would have done. The standard dinner is ok, but I wouldn't have minded an upgrade! To be honest though, though, we didn't go for the food, we went for the show! So when you buy your ticket, you can choose to upgrade to filet mignon, salmon and other choices. You will be given a certain color on your ticket - that is the section you will be seated in. Then it's time to head inside the big domed building.
Once inside, you can have your photo taken by the friendly staff. If you choose to do this, they will bring the pictures to you inside the theater for you to purchase prior to the show. Instead, we headed to the cash beverage bar where Katie & I chose pina colada smoothies in a souvenir glass, plus an orange juice for David. Then we checked out all the things you could do ~ Katie got her face painted (beautiful!), and David shopped in the gift shop. There's even a VIP lounge you can upgrade to which offers more food and interaction with the Pirates!
We went with a group of friends, and there were 11 of us all together - 5 adults, 6 kids. While we waited for the show to start, we were treated to a mini buffet: pasta, fresh fruit, and veggies with dip. Suddenly, there were performers up on and behind the bar! This event is called the King's Festival, there is a lot to see! The beautiful Princess Anita even came out to watch the show from her throne. There was Raddo the Gypsy King, The Magical Gypsy, plus the Magic of Raddo and the Gypsy Wizard. An amazing acrobat performed incredible stunts, including "walking in the clouds" upside down across the ceiling.
Another performer is "shot" from a cannon into a tank of water across the room. Soon, roguish pirates led by Sebastian the Black, came out and took Princess Anita hostage and led all of us into the theater! Our party was seated in the orange section. In front of us, surrounded by water, was a giant pirate ship! There were six seating sections of theater-in-the-round style seating.
Pitchers of soft drinks were waiting on the table, and our fantastic server brought us a pitcher of diet soda when I requested it. If you prefer, you can get a pitcher of beer instead. As other sections were being seated, our pirate came out to introduce himself and show us how important it was to cheer appropriately for him whenever he was on stage during the show.
We were to stand and yell! My kids LOVED this! They sell princess wands and pirate swords that light up and make sounds ~ they were a big hit with the kids. If you don't want to spend the money on those, you can always bring those light up bracelets from the dollar store and your kids will have just as much fun showing off their glow-in-the-dark jewelry!
Soup or salad was served first. Katie had the tossed salad and I chose the creamy vegetable soup. The show began with lots of fanfare. The time passed quickly - there was always something going onstage, so you were constantly entertained! Our main course was chicken & pork with potatoes and rice. For kids, the entree was chicken fingers with potatoes. Dessert was the final course and it was a delicious Apple Cobbler a la mode drizzled with chocolate.
The show consists of dancing, music, swashbuckling pirates, a love story, acrobatic feats, and a gorgeous finale! It's truly so much fun to watch, but don't forget to cheer for your pirate!
Since we were visiting the last week of December, we were able to see the Christmas show which featured a beautiful Christmas tree lighting plus a lovely "snow" fall during the sparkling finale.
We attended the early (6 pm) show, so when we left, we exited right into the parking lot. If you attend the last show of the evening, there is a Buccaneer's Bash after the show that is included in your ticket price. It's suitable for all ages.
In closing, this dinner and show are so much fun and very entertaining for the entire family. Almost a month later, my kids are still talking about it! If you need something to fill an evening, this show is worth the drive from wherever you are staying. (it's only a few minutes from both theme parks, by the way!)
There are coupons available in a variety of publications available in Orlando, and the website offers discounts, too. There is even an option to just see the show, without purchasing a meal, for even more savings.
You can check them out for yourself at the links I've included, or join their email club for more discounts and news. Pirates Dinner Adventure is on Facebook and Twitter. Pirates Dinner Adventure is located at 6400 Carrier Drive Orlando, FL 32819 (right off International Drive), and their phone number is 800.866.2469.
***I did receive discounted tickets for our entire party to attend Pirates Dinner Adventure. The opinions in this review are completely my own, and I was not compensated in any other way by Pirates Dinner Adventure. ***
If this is your first time here on the blog, I invite you to follow it via email, facebook, twitter and Google Friend Connect - all linked on the right sidebar. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! I've also got a sweet Thirty-One gifts giveaway below - you can add a comment on that post if you follow my blog and that will get you an entry in the contest!! Thanks so much for stopping by, and check back here later this month, I've got reviews coming very soon for Orlando's Ripley's and Titanic The Experience!
The night we visited Pirates Dinner Adventure was the "most fun night of our trip" according to my kiddos. Considering one is almost 17 and one is 7 that is saying a lot! It takes a really great experience for them to both feel entertained! Pirates Dinner Adventure offers just that.
Once inside, you can have your photo taken by the friendly staff. If you choose to do this, they will bring the pictures to you inside the theater for you to purchase prior to the show. Instead, we headed to the cash beverage bar where Katie & I chose pina colada smoothies in a souvenir glass, plus an orange juice for David. Then we checked out all the things you could do ~ Katie got her face painted (beautiful!), and David shopped in the gift shop. There's even a VIP lounge you can upgrade to which offers more food and interaction with the Pirates!
Another performer is "shot" from a cannon into a tank of water across the room. Soon, roguish pirates led by Sebastian the Black, came out and took Princess Anita hostage and led all of us into the theater! Our party was seated in the orange section. In front of us, surrounded by water, was a giant pirate ship! There were six seating sections of theater-in-the-round style seating.
Pitchers of soft drinks were waiting on the table, and our fantastic server brought us a pitcher of diet soda when I requested it. If you prefer, you can get a pitcher of beer instead. As other sections were being seated, our pirate came out to introduce himself and show us how important it was to cheer appropriately for him whenever he was on stage during the show.
We were to stand and yell! My kids LOVED this! They sell princess wands and pirate swords that light up and make sounds ~ they were a big hit with the kids. If you don't want to spend the money on those, you can always bring those light up bracelets from the dollar store and your kids will have just as much fun showing off their glow-in-the-dark jewelry!
Soup or salad was served first. Katie had the tossed salad and I chose the creamy vegetable soup. The show began with lots of fanfare. The time passed quickly - there was always something going onstage, so you were constantly entertained! Our main course was chicken & pork with potatoes and rice. For kids, the entree was chicken fingers with potatoes. Dessert was the final course and it was a delicious Apple Cobbler a la mode drizzled with chocolate.
Since we were visiting the last week of December, we were able to see the Christmas show which featured a beautiful Christmas tree lighting plus a lovely "snow" fall during the sparkling finale.
We attended the early (6 pm) show, so when we left, we exited right into the parking lot. If you attend the last show of the evening, there is a Buccaneer's Bash after the show that is included in your ticket price. It's suitable for all ages.
In closing, this dinner and show are so much fun and very entertaining for the entire family. Almost a month later, my kids are still talking about it! If you need something to fill an evening, this show is worth the drive from wherever you are staying. (it's only a few minutes from both theme parks, by the way!)
There are coupons available in a variety of publications available in Orlando, and the website offers discounts, too. There is even an option to just see the show, without purchasing a meal, for even more savings.
You can check them out for yourself at the links I've included, or join their email club for more discounts and news. Pirates Dinner Adventure is on Facebook and Twitter. Pirates Dinner Adventure is located at 6400 Carrier Drive Orlando, FL 32819 (right off International Drive), and their phone number is 800.866.2469.
***I did receive discounted tickets for our entire party to attend Pirates Dinner Adventure. The opinions in this review are completely my own, and I was not compensated in any other way by Pirates Dinner Adventure. ***
If this is your first time here on the blog, I invite you to follow it via email, facebook, twitter and Google Friend Connect - all linked on the right sidebar. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! I've also got a sweet Thirty-One gifts giveaway below - you can add a comment on that post if you follow my blog and that will get you an entry in the contest!! Thanks so much for stopping by, and check back here later this month, I've got reviews coming very soon for Orlando's Ripley's and Titanic The Experience!
This totally is something my boys would adore...sadly, we live a bit far to attend!
ReplyDeleteThanks for following me...I am now following right back and added a 'like' to your fb page.
Blessings,
Alison
as a mama of 3 boys, this looks Fabulous!
ReplyDeletefollowing you back, thanks for stopping by
This looks like fun! My 8 year old would love it! Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteMy girls would love that! Thanks for stopping by and following, I am following you back :)
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Looks so fun!!
ReplyDelete