The Pirates Cave Haunt: 2019 Review
The Pirates Cave, Orange, CA
We're going to bounce around haunt reviews as we catch up on all the final week home haunt destinations we visited but just couldn't post about in time. This update is another follow-up from an Orange County haunt we visited for the first time last year, the Pirates Cave. The inspiration o Dave Larson, this family friendly front yard haunt in Orange offers light scares under a buccaneer theme and has grown over the years to become a beloved and expected Halloween tradition. This year, like the last, we stopped by on Halloween night to take in the street ambiance and see what new offerings Dave(y) Lars had in store.
The neighborhood on Garfield Avenue is a bustling thoroughfare on Halloween night, with hundreds of trick-or-treaters moving from house to house to collect sweets. Many houses on the block are dressed up for the autumn holiday, with doors open all night, awaiting a constant line of children and their chaperones decked out in all sorts of costumes. And in front of the Pirates Cave, the sidewalk is packed so full that pedestrians often spill out onto the street. This creates a bit of a perilous condition for drivers idling through but does make for a vibrant and festive Halloween atmosphere.
This be a warning for all who seek the cursed pirate treasure.
The Pirates Cave isn't one of those haunts that completely reinvents itself each year. Instead, it adds and tweaks its scenes, providing a mix of returning favorite moments and new content to pique the curiosity of return visitors.
This year, a stunning new scene featuring a sea monster highlights a seafaring adventure in search of treasure. Guests first duck into a spooky chamber, where a skeleton rises up from a treasure chest to warn those in search of the loot. The skull recalls the talking Jolly Roger from Pirates of the Caribbean, but then, the lights go out, revealing a ghoul lurking in a flickering tunnel. Another round of darkness, and the ghoul reveals itself as one of the undead pirates here to protect the treasure!
Guests hurry into the next room, where a foggy ocean scene unfolds, bathed in eerie green. A large tentacled creature lurks in the distance, but it quickly moves forward, ambushing them with a salty spray! The ensuing chamber bring guests face to face with the treasure, which lies tantalizingly out of reach. More undead pirates spring, driving guests out and back into the safety of suburban Orange County through a boggy wood.
The pirates loom from hidden crannies in the Pirates Cave.
Though its layout is more brief than many other home haunts, the Pirates Cave provides a fun, charming, family-friendly haunt that is just scary enough to echo the spirit of Halloween without being so intense or graphic as to limit the audience. As a result, neighbors of all ages line up each night of operation to revel in the pirate adventure and the Halloween screams. And since the haunt's inclusion on the SoCal Haunt List, that demographic now includes haunt fans from further away as well. The Pirates Cave is also a family operation--a way for Dave to share his passion for Halloween with his son. And this commitment shows in the quality and details of the haunt, and it's focus on providing an attraction that children and adults can enjoy. The haunt will surely be back next year, and it should be a can't-miss part of any haunt fan's itinerary!
This be the fate of those who try to seek the treasure!
The Pirates Cave is located at 2548 E Garfield Ave., Orange, CA 92867. It ran the Saturday and Sunday before Halloween this year, plus Halloween night and the evening after. Admission is free, but donations are welcome to help fund the haunt continue to improve each year.
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
