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Today, we're going back to the Dark Ages with the history of medieval times
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In the 1960s, José Montaner, an entrepreneur who claimed to have been a direct descendant
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of Charlemagne, operated a barbecue restaurant on his family's farm located on the Spanish
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island of Mallorca. One day, he overheard some British tourists talking about their love of medieval fairs
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And he got to thinking, what if he replicated the medieval fair experience right at his
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own barbecue restaurant? In its first full year in America, Medieval Times Kissimmee location saw 183,000 peasants
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tourists, come through its doors. Within a decade, that number would increase threefold
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In 1986, they opened a second location in Buena Park, California. And in 1990
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they opened their third location in Lindhurst, New Jersey. In its entire history
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Medieval Times has entertained over 70 million guests, and each location is capable of hosting
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over 1,000 people per show. And for anyone who hasn't been in a while, you're in luck
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The show is overhauled every four to six years, giving past audience members ample reason to come
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back. The 2018 overhaul, for instance, required the creation of over 700 new costume pieces
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200 suits of armor 500 lighting cues 300 music cues and an entirely new musical score Those are Game of Thrones numbers It likewise forced the cast into overdrive as they had to continue to perform while simultaneously undergoing a three
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rehearsal process for a seamless transition from the old show to the new one. That sounds pretty
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grueling, and the performers apparently agreed. In 2022, the employees at the New Jersey Medieval
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Times location filed for a union election in an attempt to form a union with the American
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Guild of Variety Artists. What ensued was a vicious battle that saw multiple lawsuits filed
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against the unionizing hopefuls, along with an attempt by the Buena Park workers to unionize as
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well later that year. Medieval times thereafter gave out raises to non-unionizing castles
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successfully got the burgeoning union's TikTok banned, and attempted, but failed, to sue the American Guild of Variety Artists for trademark infringement
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In response, many at the Buena Park location went on strike in early 2023
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but the show went on without them. Many of the striking employees were quickly finding themselves
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jobless, and the strike came to an end in November, just nine months after it started
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That same month, officials with the National Labor Regulations Board began looking into
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Medieval Times' response to the burgeoning unions, and many accused Medieval Times of
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illegal union busting. Regardless, in March of 2024, all efforts to unionize ultimately collapsed
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leaving those who tried to unionize either jobless or otherwise without any of their desired gains
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It's the kind of response you'd expect from a ruthless king, so you can't accuse medieval times of not sticking with a theme
