Medieval Times

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Medieval Times location in Schaumburg, Illinois.

This is the article on the Medieval Times dinner theater chain. For the historical time period, see Middle Ages.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament is a chain of dinner theaters which stage tournaments in the style of the chivalric contests of the High Middle Ages. The company is privately held and headquartered in Irving, Texas.

The original Medieval Times opened in Majorca, Spain in 1973, and was a huge success. In December 1983 the first American Medieval Times opened in Kissimmee, Florida. Since then eight additional North American locations have opened. The Andalusian horses featured in the shows are raised and trained at the company's own Chapel Creek Ranch in Sanger, Texas.

[edit] The show

The show consists of a dinner and a show. The guests arrive to the castle an hour and a half before the show. They get table cards, which assign them to their seats. They then proceed to get a crown for their section, a picture with the king, princess, or an ambassador, and then they enter the hall of arms. They are able to shop in the gift shops and visit the king's brewery. Fans are able to be knighted in celebration, get their photos taken, and they can explore the dungeon of torture. In some castles, such as the one in Florida, they can visit a medieval village.

CHARACTERS

King Phillipe: After years of war and sacrifice, King Phillipe finally secured the peace of his ancient enemy, the King of Leone. As a young man, the glory of battle drove the King, but as the day approaches when his son will inherit the crown, the good King desires only peace.

Prince Tristan:

On a mission for his father the King, Prince Tristan must leave his bride in the King’s care and ride to Leone. With hope for peace in the realm, he travels to sign a treaty that will free the two kingdoms from the harness of war.

Princess Leonore:

Princess Leonore, radiant in her noble beauty. Newly wed, she longs for the return of her husband, the Prince. Alone at the ramparts, she seeks news of his return and remembers their bittersweet parting.

Royal Falconer:

The Royal Falconer performs wonders with his mighty birds of prey. The tournament includes a live flight of the royal falcon, soaring over the heads of the King’s guests.

Lord Chancellor:

Introduces the Tournament of Knights where the guests of the King will behold incredible feats of skill and daring, performed by the brave champions who hail from every corner of King Philippe’s realm.

Herald of Leone:

Amid the grand celebration a message from the King of Leone is delivered by this brave horseman who has prepared a special stallion presentation for the King and his guests.

Master of Horse:

The Kingdom is home to a prized collection of magnificent Andalusian stallions. Throughout the evening the Master of Horse and his team will present the King, Princess and their guests several dazzling displays of superior horsemanship.

[edit] Pop culture

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In the 1996 movie The Cable Guy, Jim Carrey's character Chip, takes Steven, Matthew Broderick to a Medieval Times Restaurant. The scene was filmed at the Medieval Times location in Buena Park, California near Knott's Berry Farm.^[1]^[2]

In addition, Medieval Times has been featured in many television programs including The Simpsons, MTV's The Osbournes, The Ashlee Simpson Show and Date My Mom, VH1's Flavor of Love, TBS's Minding the Store (starring Pauly Shore), The WB's Survival of the Richest, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition CBS's Walker, Texas Ranger.^[1]

The film Garden State features a character who works at Medieval Times.

A fall 2006 episode of Rick Mercer Report featured Rick Mercer taking Gerard Kennedy, then a leadership candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada, to Mercer's "favourite restaurant" – the Medieval Times location in Toronto.

On the Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants, in the episode Dunces and Dragons (a.k.a. Lost in Time), SpongeBob and Patrick visit a dinner theater called Medieval Moments which is very similar to Medieval Times.

A competition during Season 5 of NBC's Last Comic Standing took place at the Los Angeles Medieval Times location, in which the comedians dressed as jesters and told medieval jokes. The crowd in attendance acted as judges for the competition by waving different colored flags.