Schaumburg Tourist Traps

My young nephew enjoyed this place so much the first time that when we asked him where he wanted to go for his birthday, he wanted to go again. So I looked up the website and after I got over the initial shock of the price, $47.95 for adults, $33.95 for children, I booked the tickets for a Sunday afternoon when I could use the coupons in the paper for a discount. But then the fine wench on the phone asked me if I wanted the Royalty package for an additional $7 per person and how could I say no seeing as it was his birthday?

The phone wench said the doors opened at 2:30 and the festivities at 3:00, by festivities I can only presume she meant shopping opportunities for cheap plastic knight gear made in China, souvenir glasses, damsel hair ornament, etc. since the doors to the arena didn't open until almost 4:00. Everything at this place is a money making opportunity.

The Royalty package got us better seats but on a Sunday afternoon it really only got us a few rows closer. It also included a banner ($1 at the gift shop) and a pretty crappy brochure that wasn't even unique to this location.

Dinner is served throughout the performance (the waiter wasn't at all subtle about tipping) and wasn't bad, of course, you have to eat with your fingers. They give you plenty of food, too much actually.

The performance itself was fun to watch, even if it is predetermined who will win, especially at the end where they are jousting and sword fighting, each section gets a knight to cheer for during the tournament and the kids really seemed to enjoy that.

I probably would have loved this place when I was younger, I loved King Richard's Faire up in Wisconsin and it's kind of the same sort of thing. In retrospect, maybe I would have enoyed it more if I had just bought that $20 mug shaped like a horse head and sampled some of that medieval glog :-)

Unique Suggestions: Find a coupon on the internet or in the local paper. I found one in the Friday section of the Chicago Tribune.

They take souvenir pictures there and will sell them to you for the bargain price of $20. I brought my digital camera and took some shots instead.