Last week I headed down to Walt Disney World for the Mouse House’s Play ‘n’ Preview media event. It was a chance to experience recent additions to the Orlando parks while learning about upcoming additions. While there was plenty of playing and preview…ing, one incredible sneak peak combined both. Nerdist was among the very first ever inside The Beak and Barrel, the new Pirates of the Caribbean-themed tavern opening on August 29 at Magic Kingdom.
What was it like being at the iconic park’s first bar? What will fans of Disney, drinking, and pirates think? And what, if any, improvements would we like to see to this immersive experience? Here’s everything you need to know about The Beak and Barrel from someone who set sail there.
Inside Magic Kingdom’s New PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Tavern The Beak and Barrel_1
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What Is The Beak and Barrel at Magic Kingdom?
The Beak and Barrel is the first ever tavern at the Magic Kingdom. Guests of all ages can visit the immersive, themed bar for 45 minutes. There’s a two drink maximum and they offer both adult and non-alcoholic beverages. (You’ll need an ID to get a wristband for alcohol. They invited me down and I still had to show mine.) The space also serves small shareable plates and one drink-dessert combo.
The project’s lead Imagineers, Ken Ricci and Chris Weck, say the bar exists between the worlds of the legendary ride and the movies. It’s physically located between the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the attraction’s gift shop in Adventureland. It’s where the old Pirate League salon stood until closing in 2020.
Did The Beak and Barrel Really Shut Down Walt Disney World’s Entire Dining Reservation System?
The skull shaped bar inside The Beak and Barrel tavern at magic Kingdom
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The Beak and Barrel will begin welcoming regular park visitor’s on August 29. Reservations originally opened on August 14. Or at least that was the plan. So many people tried to book a spot, the second they went live, the entire dining reservation system for Walt Disney World shut down. Plans to re-open reservations to the next day were quickly changed to the following week. Disney isn’t taking them more than 60 days in advance and every spot is already completely booked until then.
Since visitors will be stalking cancellations, getting a walk-in seems nearly impossible for the foreseeable future.
What’s It Like Inside The Beak and Barrel?
The short answer – “incredible.”
The Beak and Barrel is completely immersive. It’s also really cool. It would be the best bar in a lot of cities, a destination location for those looking to have more than just a drink.
It’s lit just enough so you can see and appreciate everything while still feeling as though you’re hanging out in an authentic and lively pirate bar. And that’s good because it’s so loaded with buccaneer decor it’s hard to know where to look. Every nook and cranny, from floor to ceiling—where a pirate sleeps with his leg hanging out of a cot—-contains something fun to check out. You can spend your entire 45 minute visit solely admiring the giant skull-shaped bar. It’s home to the Enchanted Rum Bottle, an enchantress gift to owner Captain Merry Goldwyn that assures the rum will never run out.
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If The Beak and Barrel were simply a waiting area for an attraction, rather than a fully functioning themed bar with waiters who perform, it would be worth spending an hour in just to stare at everything. For Walt Disney World fans, it’s as though the incredible, immersive queues for Everest and Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom got together with Trader Sam’s tavern at the Polynesian for a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon.
I can’t imagine anyone who loves the ride, the films, pirates in general, Disney, or themed bars won’t love this place. I was inside twice (once for pictures and interviews and then as a guest) and I want to go back a hundred times. There’s simply too much to appreciate and there’s no way to get it all in just a couple visits.
How Many Rooms Does The Beak and Barrel Have?
The Mess Roominside The Beak and Barrel at magic Kingdom
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The Beak and Barrel has three main rooms. You enter into the primary space called the Mess. It’s named for the mess hall where Spanish soldiers ate before pirates took over the space. Like the entire bar, it’s jam-packed with fun decorations, including a ship’s bell and sleeping cat over the door. The Mess has long communal tables down the middle and is located near the gorgeous Cursed Bar which is filled with fun props and liquor. There’s also a small jail cell at the back, but the former brig is now open and home to a table for thirsty patrons.
Near the front left when you enter is the small but impressive Mapmaker’s Room. Inside is a massive carved wooden table* where customers can gather to eat and drink. Atlases, maps, and other artifacts fill the space, which also show signs of its mapmaker’s descent into madness.
*Note: How soon is Disney opting to open this bar after finishing it? Well, a week before its official opening we couldn’t go into the Mapmaker’s Room. They’d applied the lacquer to the wooden table so recently it hadn’t dried yet.
The Captains’ Quarter’s rounds out The Beak and Barrel. Imagineer Ken Ricci told me this area wasn’t even part of the bar’s original plans, but they kept pushing what the space could be.** It’s a good thing they did, because in addition to providing way more opportunities for guests to visit, this room is incredible. It features a fireplace whose mantle has ships in glass bottles that go to war with one another. It’s also home to the Captains’ Booths, seating areas adorned with custom, hand-carved wooden reliefs. Each booth depicts the exploits of a different captain. Jack Sparrow’s is located at the far end of the tavern. Fans of the films will recognize many of his most famous moments in those carvings.
Inside Magic Kingdom’s New PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Tavern The Beak and Barrel_2
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**Rather than Disney telling its Imagineers to tone down The Beak and Barrel or limit what they did, they were encouraged to just keep adding more and more stuff. There’s nothing Ricci wanted to include but couldn’t. It shows in the best way.
Does The Beak and Barrel Have Easter Eggs and Props from the Movies?
A wall with pirate flyers at The beak and Barrel taven in Magic Kingdom
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Not only are there tons of Easter eggs and nods to both the film and the ride, The Beak and Barrel boasts many on-screen props from the movies. Ricci and Weck had trouble even coming up with a lot of them because there are too many to name. Guests will be finding them for years.
A few notable Easter eggs to look out for include one of Ponce de Leon’s chalices from On Stranger Tides. It’s near a knife high above the colorful and spooky bar. One of the cannons from the ship of the Pirate Lord Sao Feng seen in At World’s End rests on the entrance wall. And nearly every painting save for just a few are straight from the films. Turns out the company’s storage center in Atlanta likes to clear space so it was easy getting real Pirates of the Caribbean props for The Beak and Barrel.
How Immersive Is The Beak and Barrel Experience?
During the preview portion of my sneak peek, I already felt utterly immersed inside The Beak and Barrel. It was early in the morning at the Magic Kingdom, but all sense of time and place quickly disappeared inside the tavern. It also really does exist between the ride and the movies, as it feels like a part of both worlds. Captain Jack Sparrow is a big presence in the bar without actually being present, but the supernatural elements of the movie aren’t. It feels like a tavern you might visit on Tortuga without any ghosts ruining your night. Just drunk and rowdy pirates, like on the ride.
During the guest experience portion that afternoon we got to witness firsthand how the bar’s theatrical elements work. Servers are also performers in costumes who speak like pirates at all times. That will get old quickly for some while others will love bantering back and forth like a grizzled seaman. At random intervals a storm will hit the bar. Lightning will flash, thunder will crash, and the servers will rush to “batten down the hatches” as they pretend to sway while taking electrical lanterns off tables for safety.
The bar owner’s talking parrot, Rummy, also randomly appears above the Cursed Bar with a story or joke. Rummy is based on the old Pirates of the Caribbean ride mascot, the Barker Bird. The animatronic is fantastic as it waddles in and out from behind its curtain. There’s as much kinetic energy in The Beak and Barrel as there is static energy.
How Are the Food and Drinks at The Beak and Barrel?
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With so much to cover with this pirate-themed bar we didn’t want the rum-soaked tales of…well, rum…to get lost in the shuffle. So you can read all about everything we ate and drank here.
How Does The Beak and Barrel Compare to Oga’s Cantina at Galaxy’s Edge?
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The Beak and Barrel is a big upgrade over Oga’s Cantina. In addition to looking better and feeling far more immersive, simply having more room is a huge upgrade. Unlike Oga’s, most patrons will have their own table. Those who don’t won’t be stuck next to a stranger. Even communal spots have space to enjoy yourself and your party. Imagineers told me they learned a lot about the acoustics issues found at Oga’s, from which The Beak and Barrel does not suffer.
I wouldn’t care if I skipped Oga’s on my next Disney trip. Not snagging a spot at The Beak and Barrel would be a huge disappointment.
What Improvements Can The Beak and Barrel Make?
With so much to look at, so many food and drink options worth trying, and the theatrical elements that take up a lot of your attention, 45 minutes simply isn’t long enough. If you want to hit your two drink maximum without wasting either beverage you’re going to have to down them quickly. That’s easier said than done since the drinks are good-sized and filling. If you’re eating as well, it’s going to be even tougher.
There’s also a little too much Rummy. I loved when he appeared the first couple of times. By the third or fourth (I lost count), I was eager for something else to happen. The ships in the glass bottles fighting is a great bit of theming, I just wish there was one more thing like that so The Beak and Barrel didn’t have to rely on Rummy popping in so much. It’s like if Andy showed up every ten minutes at Roundup Rodeo BBQ at Hollywood Studios. It’s fun to freeze like a toy when that happens at that restaurant, but it would be less fun if it kept happening again and again and again.
Rummy’s frequent appearances might not have grown as tiresome, though, if I could have seen them all. I was seated at a table in the middle of the Captains’ Quarters, a perfect spot to witness the ships in bottles battle. (Those in booths had to get up.) But there was a big glass window blocking my view of Rummy and much of the raging storm elements. If you hear him coming, you can jump up into the archway to see, but when everyone tries to do that at the same time it’s tough. Removing those glass windows would make a big difference to a majority of people in the Captains’ Quarters. Those situated in the Mapmaker’s Room will have an even tougher time seeing everything without moving.
Is The Beak and Barrel Worth Visiting?
Inside Magic Kingdom’s New PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Tavern The Beak and Barrel_5
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At this point I think it’s pretty obvious I’m a huge fan of The Beak and Barrel. I went in with high expectations and yet it somehow totally exceeded them. It’s wholly immersive, wildly entertaining, a great bar unto itself, and an even better tribute to Pirates of the Caribbean. This is the work of Imagineers untethered by limits but inspired by past Disney greatness to make something new and wonderful. As usual that’s the recipe for something special.
While it’s not a cheap place to visit, it’s really not out of line with the kinds of prices you’d expect from a Disney dining experience, either. When you factor in the storytelling elements it’s like paying for a dinner show. And even if I wish some tables had better sight lines for those who only get to go once, experiencing The Beak and Barrel from different vantage points will be a huge selling point in why you’ll want to return again and again like a pirate looking for safe port.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He talked like a pirate for just two minutes at The Beak and Barrel. (Even though he was really good at it.) You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.