UPDATE: Pirate Battle NOT Returning to Vegas Strip
Posted on: November 10, 2025, 06:15h.
Last updated on: November 10, 2025, 06:32h.
UPDATE:Ten days after the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the pirate show would return to Treasure Island for one night only in 2026, the resort is calling the report false.
“While Treasure Island Hotel & Casino is pleased with the energy and excitement surrounding the story that the original pirate show will return in 2026, there is no truth to those rumors,” the resort said in a statement. “The resort remains committed to keeping the public and media informed of any future entertainment developments through official channels and announcements.”
The original newspaper report quoted Kelly Warnell, a Las Vegas-based talent agent for stuntpersons, claiming that Treasure Island had already green-lighted the project, and stating that she was also in talks with MGM Resorts about bringing the dragon battle show back to the Excalibur.
Since our story about the R-J‘s report first ran on October 30, MGM stated it has no knowledge of that project.
Casino.org‘s own “Vital Vegas” called the R-J‘s report out as “misinformation” later that same day.
EARLIER: The Treasure Island’s pirate ship battle show may be returning to the Las Vegas Strip, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday. If all goes according to Kelly Warnell’s plan, however, it will only be for one night next year.
Warnell — whose Vegas-based talent agency, Stunt Alliance, represents former cast members of the original pirate show staged in the moat outside the Strip casino — told the newspaper that “we’ve already agreed” on October 2, 2026, for the encore performance.
“The Battle of Buccaneer Bay,” which ran up to four times nightly from 1993 to 2003, was the most popular free show on the Las Vegas Strip. It featured two full-scale pirate ships firing simulated cannons at each other, as pirates swung from the rigging, battled with swords, and dove into the water.
When the Strip universally de-themed itself in the aughts, it was replaced with a more adult show in which the pirates fired upon a ship manned by female dancers clad in leather and high heels. “Sirens of TI,” universally considered a downgrade, was mercifully made to walk the plank in October 2013.
Warnell told the R-J that she’s hired stunt coordinator Simon Rhee (“Presumed Innocent,” “Naked Gun”) for the reboot.
But That’s Not All…
Warnell also claimed to be bringing back the Excalibur dragon. She told the R-J that she’s “speaking to MGM about bringing the dragon back up out of the moat for the first time in 22 years.”
When Excalibur opened in June 1990, a 71-foot-long animatronic dragon battled an animatronic Merlin the Magician multiple times a day in the shallow water that once surrounded the casino’s faux castle.
As guests watched from a drawbridge, Merlin lobbed fireballs at the dragon, which spit fire back at him, until Merlin won and the scaly beast retreated.
Due to its high maintenance cost and frequent breakdowns, “Merlin v Dragon” was scrapped in 2001. But while the moat lasted until a 2010 renovation, the dragon is still in its original lair — off limits to the public, but still there. (This was confirmed by YouTuber Freddy Trap, who documented discovering the dragon in 2023.)
Don’t get too excited, though. Warnell also mentioned bringing back the Rio’s “Show in the Sky.” However, when the newspaper asked Rio president Patrick Miller to comment on the collaboration, he said he was not aware of it.
No comments yet