Jason Cochran
North America / USA / Florida / Orlando / Walt Disney World / Magic Kingdom / Best Restaurants

The Beak & Barrel

Magic Kingdom’s hottest ticket, opened in 2025, is a noisy pirate-themed bar with an Audio-Animatronic parrot host. The tavern itself has been beautifully executed by Imagineers—carved wood, melted wax, hammocks suspended from the ceiling—but greed and the assembly-line detachment of its operations sap much of the fun. Before you’re even allowed to enter, you’re lectured about your 2-drink minimum and 45-minute time limit, then you’re seated with strangers (you may even be placed between them and be told you can’t switch, as we were).

The menu lists extortionate prices (2-ounce pours of rum are close to $50) but no non-alcoholic options, and if you want the souvenir mug (a gorgeous pirate skull with a gold tooth), you must spend nearly $50 on a (strong) drink; you can’t get the mug without the booze. There are a few bites, but food isn’t great. Despite all that, it’s a tough reservation to get, so try 60 days ahead. Adventureland. Kids permitted.