Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament

Hey Neighbors!

Remember I mentioned I would be visiting a couple of special places for our anniversary?  Well, here is one of them!  We went to Medieval Times last night for dinner and to watch the tournament.  If you have never been, this is definitely something to put on your to do list.  We were actually able to take a some friends with us who live in the Chicago area and have never gone.  We visited the Castle in Chicago.

We arrived about one hour before the scheduled show time.  You will want to arrive early yourself, because it will give you time to explore their torture chamber and to see the horses. Both husbands took the tour!  Of course there are several small shops set up where you can purchase t-shirts, swords, costumes, knight figures, and much more.  Personally I would like to get one of their chess sets!

Before the show actually opens they have a knighting ceremony.  This is done in a central hall where you or your child can be knighted by the king.  This does cost extra, but what a memory that would make for a child!

Every person is given a colored crown upon entry and this signifies where they will be seated and which knight they will be cheering on throughout the evening.  We were with the black and white knight and had front row seats!  Throughout the evening your dinner will be served by either a wench or a serf.  You are seated at a long table and she/he will wait on you.  Oh, there is no silverware, you eat with your hands!  We were served tomato bisque soup, oven roasted chicken, spare rib, herb roasted potato, garlic bread, and a dinner pastry for dessert.  The soup is in a bowl with a handle and you just pick it up and drink your soup.  There is a vegetarian alternative available.  You also can have water, lemonade, or Pepsi products to drink and when your pastry is served, they offer a cup of coffee.

Now to the exciting part. While all of this is going on you get to watch the show and cheer on your knight.  The king and princess are up on a balcony at one end of the arena and the knights are down below.  There is a story line to the whole program, but I am not going to give any of that away.  You will get to watch the horses perform and I am talking gorgeous horses.  You will get to see the falconer and his falcon on a practice hunt.  And of course you will enjoy watching the knights in authentic armor jousting and fighting with swords, spears, broad axe, flails (a spiked ball and chain) and even their shields).  The knights will show their skills first competing at spearing rings as they ride around the arena, throwing spears into a target while racing on horseback, and even having a sort of relay race on horseback.

During this time you shout and cheer your knight on.  Each knight who successfully completes his task will receive carnations from the princess and he then chooses someone in the audience to receive them.  The King's Champion (the winning knight for the evening) awards a young lady in the audience a crown and ribbon.

 The show and dinner are well worth the cost of the ticket and Medieval Times is always running some kind of special either on their website or on the Medieval Times/Chicago Facebook page.  You will definitely want to like their page to stay up to date on happenings in the castle.  Sometimes they offer free ticket giveaways on the Facebook page!  You will really enjoy your visit to Medieval Times.  You can use Instagram - @medieval_chicago.

The very best news is, we get to giveaway 4 tickets to the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament in Schaumburg IL, right near Chicago.  Anyone planning a trip to Chicago?  You could also win them and then give them to someone you know!


Disclosure:I received no monetary compensation for this post.  I did receive complimentary tickets for this review.  All quotes in red are taken from the sponsor's email or website.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.



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