Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage

If you have already experienced the Magic Kingdom Fireworks inside the park, booking a pirate cruise is a fun and new way to enjoy the beauty of the night-time spectacular at Magic Kingdom. There are several fireworks dessert parties throughout the parks. Each offers a fun twist with treats and reserved seating for the show. Most, however, do not offer the entertainment and character interactions that you get from the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage!

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What is the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage?

The Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage is a special viewing party for the Magic Kingdom Fireworks show.  It costs around $75/adult and $45/child and comes with a dessert / snack party where you are joined by some fun Disney characters. After snacking, you’ll head out to a boat to sail over to the Seven Seas Lagoon and watch the fireworks from a perfect view of Magic Kingdom. Spoiler Alert : There is a special surprise at the end of the cruise, so don’t scroll to the bottom unless you want to know!

Getting into the Pirate Spirit

Dressing up for the Pirates and Pals is definitely encouraged, and there are some fun ways to do it:

1. Visiting the Pirate’s League at Magic Kingdom to get a Pirate makeover before Pirates and Pals would be a great way to show your love for pirates! They even do mermaid and empress makeovers too!
2. Book at stay in a Pirate Room at Caribbean Beach Resort. You can find some great deals through Southwest Vacations!
3. Score a Pirates of the Caribbean costume before you arrive
4. Stock up on fun pirate-themed clothing. They even have a Pirates of the Caribbean spirit jersey now!

Booking Pirates and Pals

You can check availability directly from the Walt Disney World website. Just enter your desired date and party size and you’ll instantly know if there are any available time slots. While some dessert parties can book out months in advance, Pirate and Pals usually has some openings during the same month as your trip. We’ve even booked it a few days before in the past.

Pirates and Pals Check-In

One thing that can be stressful with these “magical extra” experiences is knowing the logistics and what to expect.

You’ll arrive at Disney’s Contemporary Resort around 7:45 to check in for the 8pm event. The event begins on the 2nd floor, which also houses several conference room spaces. You are greeted by a check-in area where you receive your Pirates and Pals bandanas. It’s up to you how you choose to wear them. They were so fun that our son actually wore his to the Parks the next day as well. After check-in, the kids can color fun photos or explore the decorations. You can even take a few coloring pages back home for fun later!

If you are staying at any of the Monorail properties (Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian) or Wilderness Lodge, this is a very convenient event. A quick hop on the monorail or boattrip will take you straight to the Contemporary. If arriving by Monorail, you will want to go down two stories to the 2nd floor. If arriving by boat, you’ll go up one flight. We traveled from Wilderness Lodge by boat over to Contemporary, and it was perfect! You can find some amazing deals by renting Disney Vacation Club points for these Deluxe Resorts too!

 The Dessert Party At Pirates and Pals

When the doors open to the party, your meet your friend Pirate Patch and Pirate Patch for the first time! They welcome you, lead some group chants (Yo-ho, Yo-ho!), and bring you into the party room.

You’ll find a variety of snacks set up around the room as well. You can enjoy all of the treats, with Captain Hook and Smee joining the group. There is a dedicated PhotoPass section, with a Disney Photographer so be sure to bring your magic band or ticket so you can get the pictures as well.

The Food

Unfortunately, if you come to the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage party expecting a huge dessert spread, you will be disappointed. Compared to other dessert parties, the Pirates and Pals party has less variety and quantity of desserts. For example, the Magic Kingdom Dessert Party on Tomorrowland Terrace comes complete with a S’mores station, fruit/cheese, and probably 6-8 other types of desserts. This shouldn’t, however, discourage you from attending the party but just set the right exceptions.

You can expect two mini desserts, Key Lime Cheesecake bites and mini cupcakes as an example, along with a cookie and some gold coins. Make sure to stock up on chocolate gold coins as they are unlimited as well!

If you are a Mickey Ice Cream bar fan, you are in luck! One of the stars of the Pirate and Pals Fireworks Voyage party is the freezer full of all-you-can-eat ice cream bars. If you’d rather go for a fruit bar, they have those as well. There are also an assortment of healthier snacks, including apple slices, bananas, carrots, chips/salsa, and chips/hummus.  For beverages, you can enjoy water, tea, or some special pirate punch.

Example of a full listing of available treats at the Pirates and Pals party:

• Sweets
  • Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bars
  • Strawberry Fruit Bars
  • Orange Creme Ice Cream Bars
  • Key Lime Cheesecake Bites
  • Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Chocolate Gold Coins
• Healthier Snacks
  • Apple Slices
  • Bananas
  • Popcorn
  • Sabra Chips and Hummus
  • Tortilla Chips and Salsa
  • Carrots and Ranch Dip
• Drinks
  • Water
  • Tea
  • Pirate Fruit Punch

The Pirates and Pals Characters

The characters are the reason that you book the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage, but you might be surprised that the best interaction doesn’t come from Captain Hook or Smee. Your Pirate guides, both named Patch, are with you from the minute the doors open to dropping you off to enjoy time with Peter Pan at the end. They tell jokes, interact with the guests, and lead all of the activities aboard the boats. The kids loved Pirate Patch so much that they asked for his autograph, which he’s happy to do, at the end of our ride.

Captain Hook and Smee

Meeting Captain Hook and Smee together is usually an experience reserved for special events, like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Pirates and Pals, however, lets you snag photos and autographs with both in a small group atmosphere. After entering the room, you’ll spend some time getting snacks, and then Captain Hook and Smee will make a visit! You have about an hour with the characters before you take off on your voyage. This is plenty of time to make it through the line, enjoy delicious treats and hang out with the characters. You get a lot more time for interaction with the characters, without having to wait in a long line.

The Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage

After finishing snack time, the Pirates Patch split the group into “Team Smee” and “Team Captain Hook.” If you look at he ticket you get a check-in, you’ll have a sneak peek at which group you’ll end up in! They also pull out a name for the flag bearers who will get to carry the Smee or Captain Hook flags down to the boats. This part of the program also has a ton of jokes and fun.

Once the groups are split, you head down to the dock. Each character, Smee and Captain Hook, leads their group. This really is a special part of the Voyage. Who would think you could get a personal escort by Captain Hook to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom?

The Boatride

The boats will be waiting at the Contemporary dock and are slightly larger than the normal transportation boats. Smee and Captain Hook si the ave goodbye, and Pirate Patch takes over the entertainment for the rest of the night.

The ride from Bay Lake to Seven Seas Lagoon goes by really quickly as Pirate Patch tells jokes and engages with the audience. Be prepared to be the butt of some of his jokes! He asked each group to introduce themselves and tell something fun about where they are from. If you don’t have anything ready, expect him to ask everyone else to help you.

Pirate Patch also leads a fun game of trivia, complete with prizes! You may want to brush up on your Pirates of the Caribbean knowledge if you want to win a Pirate eye patch or cutlass. Once docked, Pirate Patch does give a gift to everyone as they get off the boat if they’d like one as well.

Fireworks Viewing

Once you make it to Seven Seas Lagoon, your Captain will get the boat in position directly in front of Magic Kingdom so you watch the fireworks. It’s an excellent view, lined up right with Main Street.

One pro-tip is that the Pirates and Pals fireworks voyage is best for those that have already seen the Happily Ever After! Show from inside Magic Kingdom. While you have a good view of the fireworks, you won’t be able to see the different overlays on Cinderella’s Castle that make this show extra special.

For those of you that live the music of Happily Ever After, you are in luck! They pipe the music into the boat so you can hear that as well.

The weather can have an impact on your fireworks viewing. The night of our Pirates and Pals cruise, it was lightly raining which kept much of the smoke from the fireworks down. It resulted in a foggy view of some of the fireworks. It was still a great time, but you should be aware that weather can have an impact.

Pirates and Pals Surprise Guest : Peter Pan

When you check in, the crew hints that a surprise might be waiting for you when you get back from your voyage.  As you pull back into the dock at Contemporary, you’ll see Peter Pan waiting to welcome you back! He will walk back to the same room in Contemporary with you and pose for photos and autographs. The line for Peter Pan in Magic Kingdom can get very long, so this is a super special interaction as well. The small group means that you get more time with him as well as less time waiting in a line!

Summary : Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage

This dessert party might be the exact thing you’ve been looking for to add some more fun to your next Walt Disney World trip. Book it now:

1. If you’ve already seen the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, Pirates and Pals is a fun way to see it from a different perspective. If you haven’t seen the fireworks yet, it’s worth watching them in the park first so you can see the overlay on Cinderella’s Castle.
2. Access to rare Characters like Captain Hook and Smee are a big plus for this event. You would typically have to wait in long lines at a Halloween or Christmas party to meet both, and the Pirates and Pals voyage lets you skip that line and spend more time with them!
3. The time spent with Pirate Patch makes this a real family-friendly, entertaining event. The boat ride, jokes, and trivia games are worth the money by themselves.
4. If you are looking for a great way to spend a non-park night with the family, this is it! The Pirates and Pals show handles all your transportation to view the fireworks, and takes you right back to the resort afterwards. You don’t have to fight through a crowd of people leaving the park.
5. The Monorail Resorts and Wilderness Lodge are the perfect resorts for the Pirates and Pals cruise. You’ll have a super quick boat or monorail ride to the party.