Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament Review

While away on a family vacation, a fellow blogger, Jenn Perry, from That Jenn Perry, and her family went to a blogger event at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament on my behalf. Here’s her thoughts on their experience.

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These days, finding activities that are exciting enough to tear the kiddos away from their electronics and movies can be tough. Add in activities that are also enjoyable for the entire family: practically impossible – or so we thought!

We recently had a fantastic afternoon of family fun in Toronto which involved action, battles and a little bit of ‘ole fashioned chivalry. No, it wasn’t the release of the newest video game or movie! This afternoon was spent watching an unforgettable, live-action theater performance.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament provides audiences with a unique live theater performance that transports guests back to the Middle Ages. A time of kingdoms, knighthood and epic tournaments meant to entertain all in attendance and they do not disappoint. The show, the food, the atmosphere – not only did my 5 and 9 year old children have a blast, even my 34 year old husband was cheering on our knight!

If you ask my kids about what they loved most about the show, at the top of their list will definitely be the Junior Knight Training Program. This brand new initiative is included with the purchase of a child admission for kids aged 5-12. The training starts 45 minutes before the show, when the kids are invited down to the arena floor to participate in weapon’s training and a battle demonstration by the knights, after which they all participate in a group knighting ceremony. What a cool experience!

When the training was completed, it was about time to call tables in for the show to begin. The anticipation was killer after getting a sneak peak of what was to come.

The live action-packed show at Medieval Times was an experience we will never forget. Horse dancing, a falconer and of course, skilled knights competing on horseback were just some of the fantastic features of this approximately 2 hour long performance.

But how was the food?  I was a little worried with one picky child and another who has a gluten sensitivity but was pleasantly surprised to find the feast to be quite good. My 5 year old daughter loved the soup and garlic bread served for the first course and while she looked at her “baby dragon” with the most worried look on her face, one test bite was all it took for her to see how tasty it was. The best part of the meal for her was that there are zero utensils and that you use your hands for everything. What kid wouldn’t love that?

I had informed them ahead of time that my son was gluten free and they gave us a special card to let the server wench know. She discussed the food with us, offered me an ingredients list and advised what he could definitely eat and what would be substituted with another option. He was pretty thrilled that they were able to accommodate him – and he gobbled up not only every bite of his own meal but half of his sisters as well!

While you are gobbling up your meal, the show is continuing right in front of you. Every guest is seated in one of 6 coloured sections, which determines the knight you will be cheering for during the tournament. The stadium can get quite loud as each section cheers for their knight amid the boo’s from the other sections. This is fantastic for kids – being told that being loud is actually a good thing! What a great change of pace for them. Hubby and I were cheering just as loud I’m sure!

For my little girl, one of her highlights of the evening was receiving a rose from our knight. She was pretty smitten after that and held that rose tightly for the rest of the show, only putting it down to eat. After receiving the rose, the server wench began referring to her as “princess” for the rest of the evening which anyone who knows my daughter would understand how that just made her entire day.

Overall, our experience at Medieval Times was a solid 10. It was a unique activity, the food was great and the entire family enjoyed the experience. We highly recommend it, especially if your kids are in the age range to attend the Junior Knight Training (ages 5-12).

You can check out Medieval Times online for tickets and show times. In addition to the Toronto Castle, there are locations in Orlando, Florida, Buena Park, California, Lyndhurst, New Jersey, Schaumburg, Illinois, Dallas, Texas, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and Atlanta Georgia.