A Pirate’s Adventure

Elizabeth Caran, of Outlander Travel and Take The Monorail, stops by today to break down her play-testing experience with the newest game to wash ashore in Adventureland! A Pirate's Adventure: Treasure of the Seven Seas puts guests in the middle of their own adventure with Captain Jack Sparrow and... well, perhaps I should let Elizabeth fill you in on the rest!

Ahoy there, Mateys!

Captain Jack Sparrow has been making acquaintances all over the Caribbean, and now YOU get to work with the famous pirate as he takes on treasure hunts all over Adventure Land.

On our visit to Florida last week, my traveling party had the fantastic opportunity to play test the newest interactive game at Walt Disney World. A Pirate’s Adventure: Treasure of the Seven Seas combines the interactions with statues and other realia in Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure with the key card idea in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. After getting briefed in the Enlistment Quarters near Pecos Bill and obtaining a talisman (key card), you grab a map corresponding to your assigned mission and head out to find clues and defeat enemies throughout Adventure Land. (We were discouraged from taking pictures inside the Enlistment Quarters, so I am sorry I cannot show you what it looks like on the inside here.)

Only two adventures were running when we played, and our first was The Guardian’s Curse. One of our party then played through The King’s Ransom while the others carried on to other fun in the park. However, because we are the curious sort, we also checked out the maps for three other adventures: Heads You Lose, Haven Defense, and Blackbeard. Each adventure has a unique map to help you find hot spots that you will need to complete your particular adventure. Each adventure also has you seeking a different treasure for a different friend, enemy, or ally. The stations for the game are small but detailed and very cool with moving parts and engaging details. Instructions are simple and the whole family can play. As you follow the directions on the map and at the various stations, you trigger actions on items around you, usually by placing your Talisman over a specified mark on the station. Each adventure really only takes about fifteen minutes, so in the time it takes you to move through a queue and ride an attraction, you can complete one or two adventures!

When we finished playing, we were asked how we liked the game, how easy the maps were to read (the maps are styled like treasure maps and have a similar look to the Sorcerer map), and whether we would play again. We were told that the maps are not final and very well may change before the final adventures are released. We also have no idea how close to release they are. There was one key station that appears on all the maps that is not yet functioning. I am hoping from the look of it that it will dispense some sort of token, dubloon, or other collectible to prove you completed that mission.

Our whole party found it engaging and fun. The only thing I would want to add is a collectible element as I mentioned above. Coins or dubloons would be the perfect little souvenir, and let’s face it... people love free stuff. I believe the talismans are all the same and would imagine that they will not let you play the same adventure twice on the same talisman, although that is pure supposition on my part. We don’t know how long the play test will go on, and I know it is not every day, as we walked by on the weekend and the Enlistment Quarters were closed. We also saw that many people passed it by as the pirate tried to lure them in to try the game. So if you have a chance, be sure to seize the opportunity to play!

This article can also be found at Take The Monorail, along with a different assortment of photographs to assist with your pirating documentation! All photographs in this article are credited to Elizabeth Caran.