Medieval Times dinner theater set to open Phoenix-area castle in 2019
Garrett Mitchell
Hear ye, hear ye: Step back to the days of chivalry and crusades as the Medieval Times dinner theater begins construction on its first Arizona castle this spring.
The announcement of the 11th century-inspired kingdom coming to the Phoenix area originated in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" hosted by Atlas Obscura with the "dinner and a tournament" venue's creative director, Leigh Cordner.
"I can announce right here, that we are about to break ground on a brand new Medieval Times in Phoenix, which we hope to have open in early 2019!" Cordner wrote on Monday.
The Medieval Times experience
Medieval Times will present its four-course feast accompanied by two-hour jousting tournament beginning in 2019. ABC 15 reported the location as being in the Talking Stick Entertainment District on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa reservation near Loop 101 and Via de Ventura.
Lords and ladies eat utensil-less as six knights battle in a Dark Ages spectacular that includes hand-to-hand combat, falconry and horsemanship in addition to jousting. Each location has a bar, gift shop and displays of artifacts from the bygone era.
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Medieval Times, purportedly based on the real-life tale of a European noble family, lowered its first North American drawbridge in December 1983 in Kissimmee, Florida. The Irving, Texas, company has since expanded its empire to Dallas, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago and Toronto. The Arizona location will be the company's 10th.
Earlier this year, all the venues rebooted their scripts and introduced a queen at the helm of the drama.
"This is quite a departure for us," Cordner told NorthJersey.com. "After 34 years of having a king in charge, we decided it was time to let a woman try and run the kingdom. … The girls have always been three-dimensional characters, but they've never been the focus of the show. They're getting to ride a horse for the first time in the history of the company. It's involved getting the girls in in the daytime in order to teach them the fundamentals of riding."
The Arizona Republic has reached out to Medieval Times for further details on the upcoming development.
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