Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament Chicago Review

Thanks to Medieval Times for my samples used in this review. Opinions are honest. Personal photos used in this post are the property of My Springfield Mommy and may not be used in any form without written permission from My Springfield Mommy.  

My family and I were in Chicago a few weeks ago for the Disney Social Media Moms on the Road Conference and while there we had the opportunity to head back to Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago, and visit Medieval Times for an evening of dinner and entertainment. I say back because this is the second time we have gone, the first being a little over two years ago. My husband, daughter and I were really looking forward to it because we had such a great time on our first visit. If you are not familiar, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament takes place in an 11th century style castle in Medieval Spain. Six knights battle against one another in a very exciting jousting tournament.

We got to the castle about an hour and 15 minutes before the show and dinner began. There is a plenty to do and see before the show ever begins, so I would encourage you to get there early. We got to interact with the players and get our pictures taken as well as visit the horses involved in the performance.  There are a lot of exhibits to look at including the weapons used and souvenirs to see as well.  My advice for you is to go into your visit to Medieval Times in the mindset to have fun and suspend disbelief and imagine you are in 11th century Spain and your experience will be even more enjoyable. 

The skills of the Knights and other performers is very evident as they ride their horses, joust and fight with swords and other weapons.  There is even a demonstration of falconry at the beginning of the show. Plus, they use very beautiful and skilled Adalusian horses throughout. As I mentioned above, six knights take part in the tournament and the seating is set up so that each section of the arena roots for a particular knight, in our case we cheered for the Black and White Knight.

Throughout the show dinner is served.  Since it was the 11th Century, silverware was not available so all of the guests get to enjoy the food with their hands.  The menu includes:

A vegetarian meal is also available. The food was very good and not too difficult to eat with your hands.  We did not feel at all rushed while we ate and the courses were spaced out nicely.  Plus, if you choose to drink something other than soda or coffee, someone from the bar comes around and takes drink orders. 

Throughout the tournament, when your section's Knight wins he is given flowers to throw to his fans and my daughter was fortunate to receive one. As luck would have it, on the night we went, our Knight won the entire tournament which made the evening even more exciting.  

After the performance there was an opportunity to meet the actors in person.  The gentleman in the picture above is the Black and White Knight who my daughter had to meet in person because she wanted to thank him for tossing a flower to her. He as well as the other performers could not have been any more friendly and interactive with our daughter. They all took the time to pose for pictures and to sign autographs. They really made this another special evening for her as well as my husband and I.  My daughter can not stop looking at her souvenirs including the pictures we took as well as her program and flags. I am sure the next time we are in the Chicago area we will make it a point to return to Medieval Times.

For more information I encourage you to visit the Medieval Times Chicago site and on Facebook.  They have some really good ticket promotions all of the time. Right now and lasting through July 31st kids are FREE with the purchase of an adult admission!

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