http://www.medievaltimes.com/baltimore.aspx

This is a special occasion kind of place.  We’ve been here for multiple birthday parties, and it a great way to celebrate a child’s birthday, as long as you don’t mind the price.  You can also pay extra to have your special occasion announced by the king, but we’ve skipped this each time we’ve gone, and the kids were fine with it.

Plan on spending money to buy nerf swords, light up swords, and wooden swords, so your young kids will be able to stab each other while you are waiting for the show to start.  They state on their website that you need to get there 90 minutes ahead of time, but trust me, this is too long for anyone under the age of ten.  You will all be aggravated long before the show starts.  I don’t think there is a bad seat in the house, since you are sitting in an arena, but they do seat you first come first served.

The show is full of lights, smoke, and swordfighting, so any kid is going to enjoy the show.  Be warned however, with the very young…our two year old spent most of the time under the table because he was scared by the flashing lights and loud noises.

The food is ok…kids are going to like all of the unlimited soda they can have, if you let them.  Your drink choices are diet, regular, and iced tea.  They do also provide alcohol for an additional purchase price.  The first meal is soup, which none of my kids would eat, but they are pretty picky.  Next up, you get a huge chunk of chicken, ribs and potatoes.  The kids love that they get to use their hands to eat – no silverware for you!  Finally, there is a dessert.  At some point a photographer also comes by the table to take pictures of your party.  Somehow, I always end up shelling out money for pictures too.

Going to this show once is worth it.  The horses are beautiful, well trained, and jousting is actually Maryland’s state sport.  However, you probably are going to shell out extra money for souvenirs and pictures, so keep this in mind when you are purchasing your tickets.

We have purchased our tickets at http://www.goldstar.com at 50% off, and they also seem to have them at livingsocial.com and groupon.com once in a while, so maybe you’ll be lucky.

All in all:

3 stars entertainment

1 star educational

recommended for ages 5 & up