I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’ve wanted to attend a Medieval Times show seemingly forever. I can’t provide a reason why beyond thinking my family might really like it, one being a fan of horses, one being the fan of Lord of the Rings, and one being a fan of Assassin’s Creed.
I, myself, am not really a fan of any of those things. I’m no history buff. I don’t religiously binge watch fantasy material. I don’t immerse myself in weekend-long DND games. And I don’t bemoan George R. R. Martin’s writing habits. Mostly, I’m just curious.
I finally tested my thesis and scratched that curiosity itch last Christmas when we treated ourselves to an evening at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Toronto. That’s one of ten current locations, actually. Yeah, Medieval Times is a chain. Who knew? And the location in Toronto is the only one outside the USA.
Getting to Medieval Times in Toronto
You will find the Toronto location in a former Government Building, and later Arts & Crafts Building, at the historic Exhibition Place along Toronto’s Waterfront. Fronting Dufferin Street, it’s a bit west of the core tourist hub. The 3.6km trek from the CN Tower will take about fifty minutes on foot.
We went to an evening show and took an Uber from our hotel next to Allan Gardens Conservatory. Ride share or taxi are ideal options depending on your group size and location of departure. Or if you just prefer not to drive.
You can certainly drive there yourself, however. There is limited parking in the vicinity that ranges from $15-$40 depending on time of day, what’s happening on the grounds, and how long you plan to be there. But do be smart if you’re imbibing.
Transit is the other viable option. The Exhibition GO Station is quite close by if you’re coming from further afield. This requires a further ten-minute walk from the station.
Regular transit also goes to this same station, or you can use Dufferin Gate Loop on the north side of the Gardiner Expressway. This latter dropoff is even closer to Medieval Times so from that perspective, it’s the best.
However, transit in Toronto is biased to an east-west orientation. With fewer north-south options, if you’re coming from somewhere other than directly east of Exhibition Place, you’ll need to make some transfers along the way.
Tickets for Medieval Times Dinner & Theatre
Shows occur at 1:00pm, 4:00pm, and/or 7:00pm but number of shows per day varies a fair bit depending on time of week and time of year. A weekday might only offer a 7:00pm show (or no show at all) while a Saturday will offer all three show times. It is best to check the official website for show times and ticket purchases.
Standard ticket prices are $83.95 for adults and $57.95 for children. Note that adults include ages 11 and upwards which will thrill the tweens in your entourage but irritate whomever is paying. Keep an eye out for discount codes. For example, currently the website itself is sharing a 10% discount code.
These prices refer to general admission and you can enjoy the dinner and show just fine with that. However, there are add-on upgrades and packages if you’re looking for an evening that goes above and beyond.
Upgrades and Add-ons for Medieval Times Tickets
There are three available ticket upgrades, each more expensive than the last.
The Royalty Upgrade, at $18 per person, offers priority seating access (you get to go in first), preferred seating (you get to sit closer to the action), and VIP status with cheering banner (you get a special lanyard and something to wave).
The Celebration Upgrade, at $25 per person, offers the same perks as the Royalty Upgrade as well as a slice of cake with your meal and a framed group photo. Note that there is a dessert served with the general admission meal, but it is not a piece of cake. It’s still a tasty treat but not cake.
And finally, the Queen’s Royalty Upgrade, at $32 per person, includes everything in the Celebration Upgrade with the added courtesy of sitting in the best seats in the arena. This means 1st Row VIP in any section other than centre sections where you will earn 2nd Row VIP seating.
In addition to the ticket upgrades, there are multiple add-ons and packages available including special drinks, souvenirs, and/or ceremonial experiences. These range from a Slushy & Souvenir Cup for $17.60 per person to Girls Knight Out that includes a bottle of champagne and four commemorative hurricane glasses costing $56.30 total.
Other add-ons include Queen’s Wine Package ($46.30 for a bottle of wine with two commemorative glasses), Glow Knight Sword & Flag ($39.60 each for a sword and flag in your knight’s colours), and the Knighting Ceremony ($42.00 each to be knighted by the king prior to the show and receive a ceremony photo, scroll, official announcement to all guests, and a choice of selected souvenirs).
Needless to say, a visit to Medieval Times can quickly become an expensive outing. General admission for a family of four with two kids under will cost $320.68 with taxes. If your kids are teens, that jumps to $379.44. Include some drinks, souvenirs, or upgrades and, well, you get the picture. Spending half a grand for a two-hour meal and show is not out of the question. That’s still cheaper than a Leafs game, and far easier to get into, but yikes, that is a lot of money.
The four of us, in full agreement, chose general admission, nothing more. We were attending multiple Toronto attractions over a three-day span and didn’t want to overtax our wallets on any one of them. But I sheepishly marveled at how many people did choose to upgrade their experience. To each their own.
Before the Show
Medieval Times refers to its facility as the castle, and the gates to the castle open sixty minutes ahead of showtime. Having never been before, and being novices at navigating downtown Toronto, we headed to the show well ahead of time. As is often the case when being cautious, the commute went smoothly and we arrived soon after gate opening. As such, there little in the way of lineups or wait to get in. Don’t expect this to remain factual as showtime approaches.
The facility looks nothing like a castle but it’s a cool building, nonetheless. The columned entrance and glass dome do evoke some majesty which is a fitting. Still, I can’t help but think it would be awesome to host this at, say, Casa Loma.
Inside, the main foyer attempts to present a genuine medieval aesthetic with weaponry, suits of armour, and banners on the walls. A zig-zag line takes you to the main check-in booth where you confirm access by proving ticket purchase. I suppose you could also buy in-person if you’re the spontaneous type. Oh, and be prepared for a last-minute attempt to upsell you on packages and upgrades.
The most important step in this portion of your visit is learning which knight you’ll be supporting. There are six knights competing in the tournament and you and your clan get assigned to one of them. Each have a distinct colour pattern (yellow, green, red, blue, black/white, and red/yellow) and all guests are designated to a particular “team”.
We became members of the yellow posse, a designation denoted by the yellow, paper crown we were each given before entering the massive pre-show waiting area. We’re a bashful bunch but eventually chilled enough to join the rest of the peasantry and donned our crowns.
Once inside the waiting area, the true purpose of Medieval Times becomes readily apparent. Selling merchandise! Yes, there are bars selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and a platform where you can be knighted by the “king”. But by far, the pre-show area is one giant gift shop selling literally everything from few-dollar knickknacks to several-hundred-dollar replica swords. You can even buy full suits of armour if you chose to arrive with a bag of gold bullion on your person. It’s both fascinating and disappointing. It feels all too much like being stuck inside a sword and sorcery shopping mall.
With plenty of time on our hands prior to showtime, we wandered around looking at, but not buying, the merchandise. Nor did we have any drinks. If you’re into this stuff, oh boy, there is so much to choose from. I may not be into it personally, but I could appreciate that some of it was cool. I’m sure diehard fans of this genre were in ecstasy.
If, like me, you aren’t interested in shopping, there is another activity available in a smaller enclave near the entrance. This nondescript hall has windows into the stables where the horses live when not performing. It’s admittedly not the most stimulating experience, but it’s something to do. Unfortunately, most of the stables were empty when we were there leaving only a couple horses to view. But, hey, a momentary distraction from the wait.
At the far other end of the space, near the arena entrance, are the bathrooms. Lucky for everyone, the bathrooms are not medieval in any way! These are fully modern facilities with toilet stalls, urinals, sinks with soap and hot water, and a changing station. Tough luck, period purists.
Eventually, the time comes to begin the whole reason for being at Medieval Times. In a balcony above the knighting platform, the king addresses the gathered mases. After an in-character welcome to the tournament and reciting of various rules for the arena, we make our way to the entry doors and eventually inside the arena to finally partake in the tournament and dinner.
The Medieval Times Arena
Everyone enters the arena next to king and queen’s royal box. Each colour has a designated section within the arena and though you’ll be assisted by ushers, solid colour teams won’t find it hard to identify your section thanks to appropriate coloured lighting. Colour-coded banners in front of the tables also point you in the correct direction.
The Medieval Times arena looks kind of like a narrowed hockey rink with sand/dirt where the ice would be and tables accompanying the seating that surrounds it. There is also lots of overhead lighting giving an almost rock concert atmosphere.
Yellow was seated at the far end of the arena requiring a bit of a walk for us to get to our spot. Each ticket has a designated row and seat which makes sense since some folks have purchased VIP spots and groups will want to sit together. Our seats were towards the top and at the end of a row (this will become important later).
Seats weren’t too bad. They’re not hard plastic duckets which is nice. And despite being towards the top the views were fine. No trouble seeing the action anywhere in the arena save for the king and queen which was clear across from us. But even that wasn’t bad.
On the other hand, the arena itself was a bit chilly. This I didn’t expect, even in winter, considering all the people and lighting. Having only worn a t-shirt under my winter jacket, I was stuck between being too cool (no jacket) or too warm (with jacket). A hoodie would have been convenient. Your mileage may vary.
The Medieval Times Meal
Medieval Times promises a four-course meal with the show, but that terminology is a bit of a stretch. You receive a slice of garlic bread which constitutes your appetizer, or first course. This is best eaten with the second course, a simple tomato soup. The third course entrée is more robust, consisting of a roasted half of a chicken, half a cob of corn, and a potato wedge. The final course is dessert and on the day we were there, it was a cream-filled, chocolate-topped pastry. A tankard of pop (Pepsi or 7Up) is included though you can also purchase alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, or cocktails. All are served on/in faux-metallic dinnerware that, while obviously fake, fit with the evening’s theme. Oh, and no utensils, of course!
This is what I thought of the meal. The garlic bread was fine. Kind of hard to mess that up but I’d certainly have wished for a bigger piece.
The tomato soup was surprisingly good. When I recognized what it was my first reaction was disappointment. First, because tomato soup isn’t a personal favourite and second because it’s about as simple a soup as you can create. But shame on me for my cynicism because I quite liked it. I even finished my one kid’s serving because they didn’t enjoy it.
The main course was a mixed bag. The half chicken was tolerable but not especially flavourful. It had modest seasoning on the skin but none of that tepid flavour seeped down into the flesh. It was edible, don’t get me wrong, just nothing to rave about.
The potato wedge was similarly fine but unimpressive in flavour.
The corn on the cob was awful. Cold and flavourless. I just couldn’t bother finishing it which is saying something considering it was only half of a cob and I love corn on the cob.
Thankfully, the dessert finished our meal on a high note. Yeah, I’ve got an addictive sweet tooth, so I was likely to enjoy any pastry, but this cream-filled number was quite tasty. Getting two of them was icing on the cake. More on that in a moment.
I suppose feeding an arena full of people, presumably of varied ages and cultures, requires catering to a lowest palate and that means timid flavouring. I get it as I too was terribly picky as a kid and even still, I struggle with super spicy food. But this stuff was bland with only the soup triggering any noticeable reaction from my tastebuds. The contrast to the meal we got at Famous People Players was cavernous. I would have to describe the dinner at Medieval Times as underwhelming.
Shout Out to Our Server
The meal may have been disappointing, but I must give a sincere shout out to our server.
As mentioned earlier, our seats were nearer the top and at the end of a row which made us the final four patrons in our server’s section. An otherwise unimportant detail except that on this night the kitchen kept undersupplying the final tray destined for our section.
It began with the garlic bread which ended up being one piece shy. Being the good dad, I took the hit and went without. Or so I thought. Our server, after apologies, returned a few minutes later with more garlic bread. One piece to fulfill the ticket obligation and another to make amends. Awesome. One can never have too much garlic bread.
Strangely, or maybe not, this kept happening with each successive course. The roast chicken was unique in that there were actually enough servings for everyone except that the final piece was not a complete half of a chicken. No matter, off the server went and returned with a full serving which resulted in me having three-quarters of a chicken.
When it came time for dessert, my favourite of all meal courses anytime and anywhere, once again the tray was … wait a minute. What the hell? It had the perfect number of desserts on it. Noooooooo!
Recognizing what this meant, I shifted to a slightly panicked charm offensive and lobbed a Hail Mary asking our server if we would be getting an extra pastry as well. He smirked but said nothing and scurried off (servers are busy folk at this place). I figured that was the end of it until a few minutes later he returned with not one, but two extra cream-filled delights. My hero!
All this attentive service proved advantageous later. The servers are tasked with asking all patrons in their section for tips. This begging for tips routine annoys the hell out of me and I think it’s garbage that some entertainment venues demand it of their employees.
It felt even more egregious at Medieval Times where every step of the way from ticket purchase to being seated in the arena is an onslaught of salesmanship from upgrades to packages to merchandise.
Besides, the meal itself was rather pedestrian. Why would I tip that? But our server truly was great as evidenced by all the extra pedestrian food he provided as compensation for nothing more than his tray being short one item upon initial delivery. Normally I bristle at such brazen extortion, but our server earned a tip this night, so I ponied up.
The Medieval Times Show
Alright, now on to the show, the whole reason for being at Medieval Times.
Not unlike the meal, the tournament was a mixed bag for me with some of it being great fun while other parts were a bit meh. This dichotomy is more a reflection of my personal preferences than anything outwardly bad about the show. Each visitor surely enjoys some parts better than others and your experience will likely differ than mine. C’est la vie.
First and foremost, much effort is made to create an exuberant, competitive atmosphere in the arena. You are encouraged to vocally support your knight and equally jeer all the competing knights. This includes spirited cheering between the sections trying to prove that yours is the best.
This can be quite fun and as you can imagine, with a few alcoholic beverages added to the mix, can get boisterous. It’s hard not to get caught up in it even if you’re otherwise reserved. It’s without a doubt a great outing for groups of friends.
The tournament begins with a proper welcoming from the king and queen. The knights are introduced individually and enter the arena on horseback with both knight and horse adorned in their colours and carrying a flag. The knight circles the arena finding their section of supporters and acknowledges them to great applause.
When all the knights are in the arena along with the king, queen, and guards all dressed in regalia it’s actually quite the sight.
That said, I found the early portion of the show a bit slow. There is a dressage demonstration which, for me, was rather boring. I can appreciate the training required to get horses to prance around like that but it’s not a demonstration I’m interested in watching. It also dampens the competitive atmosphere a bit.
There’s also a falconry segment which is cool with the caveat that a falcon looks quite small in the big arena. If your seat is near the falconer, you’ll probably enjoy this demonstration more than folks further afield. Birds of prey are awesome creatures, and I’ve enjoyed similar presentations previously, usually outside. From our seats at the far end coupled with the lighting, not to mention the speed of the beast, it was hard to properly see the falcon. Hence the lack of pictures or video in this blog post.
The last warm-up event is basically a skills competition where the knights capture hoops on their lances while galloping around the arena. Again, this isn’t riveting entertainment but it’s slowly building to the main event. And if you’re really into horses, it likely hits differently.
During these events, your knight will often ride over to their supporter section and toss single, long-stem roses to any ladies in the audience deemed worthy. This is typically indicated by an energetic display of support from said lady but being a cute kid also helps. I … did not earn a rose.
This all brings us to the grand finale which more than makes up for anything that may not have turned your butter churn. This is the “real” tournament and it’s both the longest portion of the show and the most fun. And it’s what makes the whole evening worthwhile, something you might be surprised to read considering how tempered my account has been thus far.
I’ve long wondered how fake jousting is performed. How do they make it look plausible without actually hurting each other. Breakaway, light-weight lances is the answer, and it looks impressive most of the time. Unless you were hoping for blood and guts, then you’d be disappointed.
At its core, the jousting tournament is a round robin competition leading to the crowning of an overall champion. What takes it up a notch is all complimentary action that accompanies it. And these upgrades are free. Yay!
In addition to the actual jousting, the knights engage is wildly choreographed sword battles on foot. There is back-stabbing and cheating with seemingly “good” knights turning bad and injured knights returning from apparent death to avenge their enemies. It’s all good fun even if it’s ridiculously campy.
All of this accompanies a story woven by the king and queen up in their regal box overlooking the tournament. Combined this gives the tournament a genuine dinner theatre vibe. It’s like you’re at a real show rather than a demonstration, if that makes any sense.
Ultimately, the event ends when a winner is crowned. Sadly, our yellow knight was not the champion but rather the victim of devious sore-loser.
I presume the winner, the backstabber, and the valiant victim are different every show. And while it would have been icing on the cake to have our knight win, him not doing so didn’t take away from our enjoyment of the show.
Conclusion
When all was said and done, I’d say my curiosity itch was soothed though I doubt I’ll itch it again. Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament is something that kids and fans of this genre of pop culture will enjoy. Particularly if in groups. Extroverted types will revel in the interactive atmosphere of the arena show while introverted types might find it a bit much.
The food served at dinner was bland with only the soup and the dessert truly tickling my tongue. And you’re unlikely to receive the additional servings we were privy to. I assume that was nothing more than a fluke that night and not a regular quirk of the dinner service.
The cost of it all is a bit steep in my opinion. More so if you’re purchasing add-ons, packages, and/or souvenirs and drinks. I’m too frugal for that nonsense. I would say the value of the show for the base ticket price was tolerable only because everything seems expensive these days. Thankfully the finale, the actual jousting tournament, made up for my misgivings.
Do I regret going? Not at all. Would I recommend others go? Yup. Gotta try everything at least once. It’s novel and there is pleasure in parts of the event. And, yeah, some of you will love it if your hobbies/interests meld with this type of historical fiction. Would I go again? Unlikely. But I wouldn’t turn down an invite should a group of my friends suggest it.