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Note from Laurie: My friend Jamie recently took her family to Medieval Times, and offered to share a review of her experience. I think this looks like such a fun night for the family, and am so glad she took the time to share! I'd love to hear your reviews on Medieval Times too ~ leave a comment to share.
UPDATE: The plot to the Medieval Times dinner show used to be one of knights jousting in an entertaining tournament – and (in a nutshell) a “bad” knight came to visit and started a ruckus. Some knights got hurt (booo) and some knights saved the day (yay!)
Recently the plot has changed – there is a Queen instead of a King running the tournament, and the story plays out a bit differently. Just a heads up!
When I was in 8th grade my class went on a field trip to Chicago, and while we were there we went to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. It was such a thrill for me – easily my favorite part of the trip.
From the moment we arrived, I was wowed by the castle exterior. (I have easily 8 pictures of my friends and I in front of the drawbridge). I remembered jousting and cheering for our section's champion – go Green Knight!! And I recoiled in squealing-girl-horror while walking through the “Torture Dungeon” (ewww)
Fast forward to my mid-thirties and 4 kids (all boys!) and I decided it was time for a return trip. I did some research and discovered there was a castle in Atlanta attached to a mall. My husband and I didn't tell the kids where we were going, we just took a two hour drive one day and parked in front of a castle and said – surprise! The boys were BEYOND EXCITED guys. Picture beyond – and then go ahead and run an extra mile past that. 🙂
They couldn't believe how incredibly realistic the castle was. They explored the dungeon with the same excited horror. We watched a falconer with his bird walk through the great hall. And then when it was time to enter the arena – we were seated up front (what a thrill!) where we had a perfect view of the tourney field below. We were seated in the Black & White Knight's section – and we soon learned which knights were our allies (Huzzah!) and which ones were our foes (Boooo!)
While we sat and had a scrumptious feast brought by the castle serf (garlic bread and tomato bisque! a whole roasted chicken and buttered corn! soft drinks and pastry!) we learned more about our knight. I cheered when he rode out on his steed – but my kids completely drowned me out. I don't think anyone feels the tiniest bit silly cheering, booing and waving their penants – the atmosphere and excitement is really that contagious!
As the story played out before our eyes, we met the King and Princess, watched the knights entertain us with feats of (very cool) horsemanship and jousts, and witnessed the falconer release his trained falcon over and over on a live flight through the arena.
When greed and betrayal enter the plot (duh-duh-duh), the result is a series of very realistic battles. Swords clash and give off sparks! Battle axes and maces are wielded fiercely! Knights are “wounded” and then come back (huzzah!) for a final blow. It's pretty awesome, and just plain fun to watch.
After we'd collected a sufficient number of souveniers, had our pictures taken with the black and white knight, and exited the castle, I asked the kids about their favorite parts.
16 year old – “the atmosphere, and the excitement”
14 year old – “the feeling that you are really in a tournament”
12 year old – “when the black and white knight was like SWOOP (insert imaginary sword) and the Green Knight was like OOOF and fell back three feet!”
10 year old – “that they all were using real weapons!”
My husband and I?
We were just thrilled to have a solid block of time to spend with our kids watching a live show, seeing their faces light up with excitement and genuine awe (how rare is that these days?) and making some unforgettable memories. 🙂
Medieval Times Deals
If you're interested in a trip to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament – there are a couple nice deals going on right now!
- FREE Admission on your Brithday (with Paid Adult Admission)
- FREE Admission for Mom May 8 – 14 (with Paid Adult Admission)
- Kids & Students only $30.95, Adults $38.95 each with code SB18 (through April)
- FREE Royalty Upgrade with full priced admission with code FRWEB
Also check Groupon because I've spotted them there a couple times as well 🙂
Thanks to Laurie for letting me tell everyone about my love for Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament – and to Medieval Times for providing tickets to my family this time around!
It is advertised as a FAMILY SHOW. Appropriate to children of all ages. Faq section says and I quote” Children under the age of 3 are admitted free as long as they sit on adults’ laps and eat from their plate.” Call me naive but I was sure that the plot will be happy knights, experts in what they do have some strength and skill contest.At the end they all are happy because they all proven capable fighters. Not a scratch on anybody. The moral could be exercise, eat healthy obey government and maybe you will be as happy as one of those knights.
The plot of the show I got was about:
1) The queen was told that two knights hate each other and want to fight to the death. Instead of trying to solve the problem trough diplomacy, trying to save the life of one of her knights she just agreed to host a duel to the death. One knight was killed.
2) A knight attacked another knight without a warning making it a fight to the death. The queen instead of making her royal guard arrest the attacker and put him to jail for the rest of his life she just kept the unscheduled fight to the death continue until the attacker killed the defender. Only after the kill she punished the attacker but with something mild like being forbidden to be in or around the royal castle.
3) The attacker later rebelled and he needed to be killed for his rebellion. Again the queen instead of using all royal guard at once she allowed another duel to the death.
The audience was encouraged to cheer and clap at it. 80% of the audience went like “What the -beep-?”
I think the subjects mentioned here are beyond PG-18 or even NC-17. The queen is shown as either extremely evil (for allowing dueling to the death if she can prevent it) or extremely weak(she is afraid to order the royal guard to arrest a champion knight for fear that they will like the knight better and kill her instead). Do we want our children to view the government as such. Who do we raise trough this show? Criminals.
Audience members are sitting very close together and given pennants on a plastic stick to cheer with. A 5 years old kid almost took my eye out with it. I literally watched the show in safety glasses and ear plugs (the speakers were so loud).
P.S. I know that people were not hurt in REAL LIFE but I still hated the show.
Jamie here!
Mickey – I’m so sorry you had a negative experience, mine was much different! Medieval Times very recently unveiled a new show plot, one which I have not seen. It sounds like it was quite a bit different than the show we saw. I will say that sitting close together and waving flags around was a part of the experience we didn’t particularly mind, but it definitely could be unpleasant for some. Thank you so much for your feedback!