Walt Disney World has revealed first look footage from inside Beak & Barrel, the new Pirates of the Caribbean tavern coming to Adventureland in Magic Kingdom in late 2025. This shares the video and what we know so far, plus when this new lounge is likely to open and why we’re excited for it.
According to Disney, the Beak and Barrel bar will extend the story of Pirates of the Caribbean. As you can see from the footage below, construction on the new bar is well underway in Magic Kingdom, and Walt Disney World still expects the tavern to open later in 2025. That’s been the timeline for a while, until an accidental website update suggested something more specific (more on that in a minute).
Established by the legendary pirate rumrunner, Captain Meridian “Merry” Goldwyn, and her talkative first mate, Rummy, this lively pirate pub will soon welcome bandits and buccaneers of all ages from every corner of the seven seas. The Beak and Barrel is a haven for all pirate-kind—from seasoned scoundrels to small swashbucklers. While you sip and snack, you’ll be immersed in the Tortuga world through sing-alongs, storytelling and surprises.
Prior to this, it had been over two months since our last update on Beak and Barrel, which is a decent amount of time by Walt Disney World project standards. Since then, we’ve gotten an opening date for Disney Starlight Night Parade as well as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party dates and details. Magic Kingdom also recently had the closures of Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Liberty Square Riverboat.
Over at EPCOT, the reimagined Test Track has received an opening date (among other things). Cool Kid Summer has kicked off, both of the new stage shows at DHS have debuted, and more. In other lounge news, GEO-82 has since opened inside Spaceship Earth. Beak and Barrel is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for this year at Walt Disney World. The only other big thing about which we haven’t heard much is Zootopia: Better Zoogether.
The latest development on Beak & Barrel is that Walt Disney Imagineering shared a sneak peek video inside the upcoming bar inspired by (and adjacent to) Pirates of the Caribbean in Magic Kingdom. The video offers a look inside the Captain’s Quarters and Mapmaker’s Room, with Imagineers noting that the spaces are still works in progress, but that details are starting to take shape and give life to the rooms.
Watch for yourself:
Inside the Captain’s Quarters, Imagineers highlight the booths–each of which tells a different story about the pirate lords. These seating areas are intricately hand-carved, with graphic and interior designers working together to bring the booths to life.
The tour then moves just left of the main bar to a space known as the Mapmaker’s Room. Approaching the entrance to this room, guests will find cannonball damage in the walls, with the backstory being that the pirates had to blast their way into the previously-locked Mapmaker’s Room. Cleaning up after themselves apparently violates the Pirate Code, so there’s still damage, destruction, and even cannonballs still smashed into the walls.
The video wraps up with a brief look at the tavern’s back bar, which is the feature of the space. The skull shape of this back bar is very apparent in the video, but we expect that to be more subtle once it and the rest of the area is installed and properly illuminated with show lighting. As it stands, the design is a bit on the nose…or lack of nose? Whatever way you’d describe the nose-hole-area of a skeleton, I guess.
All in all, the Beak and Barrel is shaping up nicely. It reminds me a decent amount of Skipper’s Canteen, also in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom. The carving is what stands out positively at this point, and I’m reluctant to judge much else since it’s so unfinished and because the harsh construction lighting is very different from the subdued show lighting that’ll be used in this space.
While it looks like there’s a lot of work to be done–more than could conceivably be accomplished in the span of a single month–we also don’t know when this video was shot. It could’ve been filmed weeks ago, and work could be proceeding briskly to hit a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party opening date target.
Personally, I’m skeptical of that. As you might recall, Walt Disney World’s official website was updated back in May to indicate that Advance Dining Reservations for the Beak and Barrel during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party would open on June 12.
That never happened. The website was corrected the next day (back in May) to remove that banner, strongly suggesting it was added to Beak and Barrel by mistake, when updating other restaurant pages for MNSSHP.
Our best guess at this point is that internally, Beak and Barrel was flagged as a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party offering. That the intent is to operate the lounge at some point during MNSSHP, but not necessarily as early as the first party on August 15, 2025.
By Walt Disney World season standards, August 15 is not late 2025. But any date in October is! It’s also worth noting that in some places, Walt Disney World says Beak and Barrel will open “later in 2025” as opposed to “late 2025.” Later means pretty much any day after today. Late would typically mean October and beyond.
There’s no reason to believe Disney is dragging its feet on this project. The Pirates of the Caribbean tavern is a license to print money. This will be the first bar in Magic Kingdom, and will be hugely popular with fans. It will be hugely profitable for the company, so there’s no reason to not have it open ASAP.
With that said, we can still speculate a bit more about when is the most opportune timing for an opening, as Walt Disney World might be inclined to throw more resources at this project if that means having the money-printer online earlier.
From that perspective, the obvious candidate is October 1, 2025. If it ends up being that date, Walt Disney World will claim it’s in honor of the Magic Kingdom’s anniversary. Technically true, but the real reason is that it’s the start of a new fiscal year, and a new bar will help juice revenue numbers for the coming year, making management look better in the process.
If I had to bet right now without knowing anything else, I’d go with October 1, 2025 for the opening date of the Pirates of the Caribbean tavern in Magic Kingdom. It’s the most logical date that checks the most boxes. It also looks like a realistic target in light of where progress currently (?) appears to stand based on the new video.
If the Beak & Barrel can’t make that opening date, we’re really just looking at any date from October through December. Pick a dart and throw it at the calendar. It would be optimal to get it open before any big holidays: Columbus Day/Fall Break, Jersey Week/Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Week.
Timing-wise, Walt Disney World might want to coordinate the opening with Zootopia: Better Zoogether, or kickoff of Christmas to roll them into some marketing package. That seems like overthinking it. Again, Beak & Barrel is not like a new attraction. This thing is going to be booked solid whenever it does debut, and generate lots of revenue. It’ll open as soon as it possibly can.
From that perspective, there’s also the possibility that it opens earlier. Based on what we’ve seen, it seems unlikely that Beak & Barrel will be ready in time for the first MNSSHP in mid-August. But Labor Day is within the realm of possibility, especially if Walt Disney World is throwing a lot of resources at getting it finished.
Honestly, this is really difficult to predict–and we’re hesitant to do so after hearing/seeing that Test Track 3.o was running behind schedule for a while. We had expected that to miss its late summer target and debut around October 1, 2025. Instead, its finishing touches came together fast, and the attraction is currently in previews. So perhaps late August 2025 for Beak and Barrel is plausible. I suppose we shall see!
In the meantime, here’s what else we know about the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean tavern in Magic Kingdom…
The menu at Beak and Barrel features tasty options for pirates of all ages—as well as refreshing cocktails for Guests ages 21 and up. Check back later for menu details.
This is Walt Disney World’s way of saying that, unlike GEO-82, kids will be allowed at Beak and Barrel.
Advance Dining Reservations are strongly recommended. Because space is extremely limited, the Beak and Barrel is limited to 45 minutes per party. Check back later for details about making reservations.
Even before this announcement, it was widely expected that the Pirates of the Caribbean bar would be all-ages and serve alcohol. Honestly, I’m not sure which would be more controversial here: a pirates bar with the rum actually being always gone, or more alcohol in Magic Kingdom? As it turns out, Disney chose to do Jack Sparrow proud.
As you’re likely aware, Walt Disney World long ago crossed the rubicon with alcohol in Magic Kingdom. It had only been in table service restaurants, and limited to a two drink maximum, until now. This is a lounge, so not quite the same, but we’d expect the drink limit to persist-in addition to the 45 minute stay limit.
All of this positions the Beak and Barrel as a Magic Kingdom and pirates-themed counterpart to Oga’s Cantina at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That Star Wars bar has a similar time constraint due to space, and for many guests, it’s a one and done due to the rushed nature of the experience. The big question is whether they’ll have more substantive food options–that might be tough with the 45 minute time limit, but we sure hope so given the sorry state of Magic Kingdom dining!
Ultimately, the Pirates of the Caribbean lounge has a lot of standalone potential and could also bring new life to neglected areas of Caribbean Plaza. This whole area used to be a purpose-built Pirates of the Caribbean mini-land, but has been diluted and lost to time over the years, with a variety of spaces converted to storage, abandoned fountains, and more.
Is it really too much to ask for live pirate performers and a steel drum band, retail revival, as well as a full transformation of Tortuga Tavern and the addition of this Pirates of the Caribbean lounge? Okay, perhaps so. But this is a good step in the right direction, especially given everything on the horizon for this side of Magic Kingdom.
This sleepy corner of Adventureland could soon become much busier. Investing in Caribbean Plaza to improve its capacity and utilization would be a savvy forward-thinking, but still relatively low-cost move for the company. It would also make sense to do this sooner rather than later, as Piston Peak is going to make this corner of the park much more popular. We assume that’ll also mean overhauling Pecos Bill–so getting Tortuga Tavern redone ahead of that makes sense. Perhaps that’ll be a 2025 Destination D23 announcement?!
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Your Thoughts
When do you think the new Pirates of the Caribbean tavern will open? Are you excited to experience the Beak & Barrel? What do you think about Magic Kingdom getting a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed lounge? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
