Medieval Times - Don't get historical! (Medieval Times Florida)

Member Name: adambrown400

Product:	Medieval Times Florida
Date:	19/04/09 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jousting knights

Disadvantages: historical inaccuracies (Pepsi?)

Medieval Times is a dinner and show experience that could only happen in America.

Medieval Times is about the cheesiest evening you can ever imagine, but also the most fun! Set in a mock castle straight out of 'First Knight', Medieval Times sticks out of the shiny Florida Landscape like a sore thumb, but is one of the selling points of this ingenious enterprise.

Its America's idea of what a medieval castle would look like, complete with flagons of Pepsi. When you step into the castle you are greeted with a large chamber decked out with swords and shields on the walls along with suits of armour and a gift shop. It was certainly buzzing when my girlfriend and I stepped in, the bar was open and people were purchasing their booze for the evening. Large goblets of Bud were the order of the evening. If I can recall it was something like $29 for a Medieval Times goblet full of Bud, with $7 refills. This seemed a bit steep to me, but people were buying them along with their Medieval Times shirts and other such paraphernalia.

Upon entry you are given a colour knight to root for, you are given a cardboard crown with the colour of that knight on it (just in case you forget). While we milled about the hall waiting to go in for the show and food we took in the ambience of mock-medieval life and were quite shaken when we were ordered to our seats by one of the 'cast' members.

I really recommend getting your tickets before going to America, as you can save quite a bit. We got our tickets for about £13 each online at Attractions Direct. If you want to get them there on the night they were on sale for about $69, what ever that is now - around $50?

The main atrium in basically a large arena similar to a football stadium. Each coloured knight has their own area to sit in, and being 'blue' we were ushered to the far end of the arena. Our table was a long bar table with a pew to sit on. We were quite surprised to begin with because although there was a plate and presumably a soup cup, there was no cutlery! Our server informed us that there was no cutlery, as it hadn't been invented yet. Glancing at the menu we saw that there may be a problem with that, as we were to be served half a chicken and ribs! We soon settled into the guise of medieval lords and ladies, and sat back to enjoy the evenings entertainment.

The Show

The show began with a prince being captured by an evil lord whilst out riding. The whole show is based around knights and their horses and the whole show used the entire stage very well. The show is also overseen by the King and his daughter, the princess (whose husband has gone missing).

We were the assorted guests at their 'feast' and there was to be entertainment. There was some horse racing and more importantly some good old fashioned jousting. This really got the crowd going, especially the kids (but also some drunken adults, who should know better) to scream and shout for their chosen knights. Once they had been knocked off their horses, the knights went into hand to hand combat which included some shield smashing and sparking swords.

The less interesting stuff, including a visit from an Arab sheik and his dancing horse, happily happened when were grappling with our dinner. But the more interesting stuff with the jousting was good, post-dinner entertainment.

The actors, obviously relishing their mock-English accents were pretty good. In fact we got a picture with them all afterwards and they were glad to oblige, even thought they go through the same stuff every evening like a Medieval Groundhog Day.

The costumes were excellent and the horses behaved themselves well. It just made me wonder whether the horses were treated well, I would hate it if they were being maltreated - I'm sure they aren't, but after seeing 'Shamu' at Sea World it made me wonder.

All in all the show was great fun.

The Food

The food was served by a spotty long haired kid straight out of the Simpsons, who informed us that we could get beer from the 'serving-wench' (yes really), which I did. He poured us out our tomato soup, which we had to drink from our bowls by hand. We got two free Pepsi refills throughout the show, any other drinks we would have to buy. The soup was good, no probs there.

The main course was half a chicken and a rib. This was a bit more tricky to handle, being unused to eating bare-handed. The chicken was well cooked and had an authentic medieval taste. The rib was good as well. We were then served an apple strudel for pud, which warm and well made. All in all, the food was excellent.

Conclusion

Upon entering Medieval Times, I had my doubts about the evening ahead. I was really surprised how much fun it was. The chivalry and sword fighting was excellent entertainment, with the jousting looking authentic. OK, it will obviously annoy the hardy history experts, but it was a great slab of American entertainment.

It was perfect for the kids there, who obviously really enjoyed it. It would also be a great starter to a Stag evening as well as its 'Boys Own' entertainment through and through.

I heartily recommend Medieval Times to anyone going to Orlando as its really good fun, but buy your tickets online as you will save a buck.

Summary: A fantastic knights (geddit) entertainment