Medieval Times
Here in Southern California the entertainment options are vast and certainly go beyond the theme parks that reside here. Among those other options is Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament in Buena Park, CA. This dinner and show format is wonderfully themed to medieval times with elaborate costumes, horses and story. Guests are treated to a tournament including jousting and hand-to-hand combat using weapons of the time period.
Shows run daily throughout the year and the number of shows varies depending on the time of year so check their website at www.medievaltimes.com prior to planning your trip.
If you book online, you may download your tickets onto your smart phone and use that as your ticket(s) and they can scan your phone at the entrance.
Once your tickets have been scanned you will be assigned a dining section which corresponds with the knight in which you'll be cheering for during the show. There are six potential sections/knights: red, blue, green, yellow, black and white, and red and yellow. You will assigned to your section and given a corresponding paper crown and once seated a matching banner which you may wave around to help cheer on your knight.
There are plenty of picture opportunities prior to entering the show arena. Many of them are organized by the venue and they do charge for those pictures. However, once inside the main building, but before you enter the arena, there are many places to take pictures on your own. This area is where the bars, restrooms, gift shops, guest services and a viewing area of the horse that will be in the show are located.
At guest services, for a small fee, you may have someone's name(s) be recognized for a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary or a "just because" and the name(s) will be read out during the show.
There is no obligation to purchase anything once inside the building, but the bars are available serving beer, wine and some mixed drinks. There are two areas to purchase merchandise, one of them being more kid-friendly and the other for collectible replica swords and armor.
The viewing area of the horses is fun and includes a falcon or two, one of which will be used in the show to demonstrate falconry.
I recommend using the restroom prior to entering the arena because once your are seated, it is fairly difficult to get out of the row due to the tight seating formation and how close the seat is to the counter top. So unless you're seated on the end, which you will not know until you are about to be seated, it will be a challenge to get out.
The show begins right away with an introduction that sets up the story, then they introduce all of the knights and explain the tournament. While this is going on they begin to serve your drinks and food. Included with your ticket is a non-alcoholic beverage and coffee at the end of the meal. You may purchase an alcoholic beverage for an additional fee from the bar server which will come by your seat twice during the show. If you are with a large group, you may each pay for alcoholic beverages individually so no worrying about splitting a bill.
You are served a 4-course meal beginning with tomato soup, followed by garlic bread, a half chicken with half a baked potato and a quarter corn on the cob, and lastly dessert which is usually a slice of pound cake. If you have any dietary restrictions they can accommodate you but make sure you let your server know. Gratuity is not automatically included, they give you an opportunity to add this at the end of the meal.
The show generally lasts about 2 hours and that includes the dinner, but one thing to keep in mind if you are a slow eater, they bring the food out and pick up the empty dishes in a very systematic way. The soup is piping hot when they give it to you, but seemed to cool down after just a few minutes since it is rather cool inside the arena. But once it is at a comfortable temperature, I recommend you drink it.
Yes, I said drink it because you will not have a spoon. You are expected to pick it up and drink it from the bowl. You will not be receiving any utensils the entire evening, all of the food you are served can and is expected for you, to be eaten with your hands. It's a fun way to help you get into the theming of being in medieval times.
Back to the timing of eating, the server will bring you food and come by to take it away every 10-15 minutes or so; perhaps every 20 minutes? But no longer than that. If you are not finished eating when they come to remove that dish, they will of course allow you to finish, but that's not to say it won't make you feel anxious because you'll get that feeling of being behind.
Speaking of not finishing your food, should you be unable to finish your food, you can request a to-go bag. They will provide you with a medium sized bag that has an aluminum foil lining to the inside to keep your food warm. I can definitely say they provide a good amount of food and I was quite full when we left the show.
I think Medieval Times is a fun place to visit and worth checking out if you have never been before. They do have other locations throughout the country, although I've only been to the one in Buena Park, CA. I find the show to be fun and entertaining. I wish they would keep the pace a bit faster for the show, they definitely slow it down in several spots during the 2 hours, but other than that I find it to be fun. As for the food, I think the food is very good. I realize they're preparing and cooking food for hundreds all at once, but however they do it, I find the food to be quite good. The chicken was juicy and tender, I enjoyed the potato and corn. The soup wasn't great, definitely from a can, but I don't blame them since they have to serve so many for dinner and often there are multiple shows on the same day/evening. The dessert is also made with the quantity of guests per show and number of shows per night in mind because it is a simple pound cake that they slice, but again, it tastes good for pound cake and after all of the food they give you prior to that, that slice of cake seems like a lot of food at the end.
Prices range depending on the season and they do offer different dining packages, some include photos as mentioned above. I recommend checking online for discounts including through the Medieval Times website. If you find yourself looking for other things to do in the area, Knott's Berry Farm is just a block or two away and along Beach Blvd. are a couple other dinner and show businesses as well as a wax museum and hotels.
