So last Sunday, I got to go on a trip to Medieval Times, which I’ve wanted to see for a while. The trip was actually a Christmas gift from my sister that she planned to take me in January, but we waited a bit longer for COVID-19 to go back down, and it was definitely worth the wait. Anyway, here is my recap of the day and review of the Medieval Times show.
So, the day started with my sister and her boyfriend picking me up at noon. We drove to the Medieval Times in Virginia, which took us about half an hour to get there from where I was. The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the front of Medieval Times, which looks like a castle. We had some bumps in the road trying to find somewhere to be dropped off while my sister parked and found the entrance. The exciting thing is the interior of the venue is set up like a box seat at an Arena, which I didn’t think to expect. After we got our tickets, we found our way to the seats, which were conveniently just a couple of steps down from the main floor (I walk with crutches, in case you did not know).
The dining experience was one of the most exciting parts of the whole thing. When you first sit down, the menu is served on top of a napkin, and the server starts telling you about the show. We were served shortly after the show began, and I got tomato soup to start with a slice of garlic bread to dip in the soup. The main course was a large piece of chicken with corn on the side. Of course, they had the standard assortment of drinks to offer, so I chose Pepsi. I will say that I thought they would have had creative names for the food items they offer, like wench water or something for soda.
The show takes place in Spain in what I believe would be the 10th century, and they did a great job setting that stage with all the props and ambiance. The show's characters were the queen, someone who facilitated the sequence of the display, who also showed up on a horse, and, of course, the knights (red, green, blue, and black & white), who contained a traitor. The knights fought in a tournament style, and they also sword-fought on the ground after one got knocked off from jousting. I thoroughly enjoyed the acting from the cast, but also the showmanship from the horses was outstanding, too. They could do tricks like bowing to the crowd and standing on their hind legs. Side note: I also wondered where the horses were, if they were kept in a nearby stable or something, and how they got into the arena. The other thing that I wondered about how long it took them to train was horses to learn all those tricks.
Anyhow, we ended up sitting in the section for the black-and-white knight. The Green Knight team had the most energetic group out of the whole arena, and he won. I think my knight won one of his duels, but I, of course, had to use the bathroom mid-show. I also missed out on who the traitor was, which is a bummer. The other incredible animal they brought was a falcon, which they had to fly around. I had to have my glasses on for this part, mainly because I wanted to, of course, see everything, and that bird was just so small in a big arena. The one downside of a lot of action was that it was hard to multitask and follow the underlying story or even eat because your brain is mesmerized by the sights, and you don’t want to miss anything. I was very impressed with their fight and wondered who would win if they were dueling for real. There was a funny joke about Valencia oranges because the queen’s uncle was the Duke of Valencia, a famous region for Orange Grove, so one of the characters kept asking for oranges.
The show was about 2-3 hours long, so I got home around 5. I thought everything was fantastic—I did feel like I got to that period. I wish they had speakers in their bathroom, though, so I could hear what was happening. But the show, acting, animals, and food were all fantastic. I recommend going to Medieval Times if you can, especially if you’re a fan of history like me!