![]() ![]() We decided to celebrate her birthday at Medieval Times, a first for our family. Every year, I make a concerted effort to ensure her birthday does not get lost in the busyness of the season. Medieval Times Dinner & TournamentĬelebrating my daughter’s birthday is always tricky, given that she was born right before Christmas. Whether you are celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, or any number of significant life events, Medieval Times is the perfect place to celebrate like royalty. My parents showed me how special birthdays are and I have adopted some of those traditions with my own friends and family members, specifically my kids. But we have a realistic expection of wages that would allow some of our guys to afford their rent.Every year on my birthday, I would wake up to a room full of balloons and an ice cream cake giving new meaning to the phrase cake for breakfast. “I don’t expect to get what people at Disney are making because that’s a major corporation. “There is no doubt that we’re underpaid,” he said. The performers and Medieval Times management have multiple meetings scheduled next week, Bowmand said, and the sessions are expected to continue until a union vote is passed. “But that was a little awkward because we had already made our decision.” “They sent someone from the corporate office to talk to us about what a union does, and encouraged us to make the best decision for ourselves,” he said. These people could go work at In-N-Out and make $25 without hurting their bodies.”īowman said management has been vague in addressing the unionization drive. “It’s a fun place to work and we all really love our jobs, but I feel like they’ve been getting away with paying low wages. “I’ve seen a lot of knights get carried away in an ambulance,” she said. McCurdie said new hires, referred to as squires, are making near minimum wage. Meanwhile, our knights are doing two-hour shows, two to three times a day and throwing themselves off of moving horses. “I also work at Disneyland and I see stunt performers there with no horseback riding skills who are making $33 to $35 an hour doing stunt shows that are five minutes long. Julia McCurdie, who also plays a queen at Medieval Times, agreed. Zapcic earns $21.50 an hour but said that’s far less than the $30 to $35 an hour similar performers make at Universal Studios and other Southern California theme parks. “We’ve had some employees tell us that there’s no way they can afford to live by themselves on the money they’re earning, and others say they can’t afford a car for transportation. “We just want them to be paid for the skills they have,” she said. “I was very lucky because I just bruised my thigh, but I had to be off the horse for a couple weeks and was not allowed to ride,” she said.Įmployees at Medieval Times just received a $1 an hour raise, but many are still scraping by, according to Susanne Doris, secretary treasurer at AGVA’s national office. Zapcic fell from her horse last year just as she entered the tunnel that brought her onstage. “And when we’re short on stable hands they don’t have time to do all of the safety checks that are needed, like ensuring that the saddles are tight.” “We do 16 shows a week, so the knights don’t have time to properly rest,” the 39-year-old Los Angeles resident said. The theater has been operating with limited staff since it reopened in June 2021 after a COVID-19 shutdown, Zapcic said, and it’s left the door open for potential injuries. Her primary concerns center around safety. The performers notified management of their intention to unionize but received no response, so they filed the petition. (File photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Įrin Zapcic, who portrays a queen at the Buena Park castle, said the employees gathered signatures with a supermajority expressing support for a union. The theater has been operating with limited staff since it reopened in June 2021 after a COVID-19 shutdown, one performer said, and it’s left the door open for potential injuries. On Friday, the venue’s 50 knights, queens, squires, horsemen and stablehands submitted a petition for a union election to the National Labor Relations Board that calls for a vote on whether to join the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). In an effort to address safety concerns and secure higher wages, performers at the Buena Park castle are looking to unionize. During his pervious tenure at Medieval Times in Dallas, he was kicked in the back by a horse and suffered a hairline fracture to the spine in his lower back. “I had a sword in both hands and my opponent’s sword came down right at the joint of my thumb. “I fractured my thumb last month,” the 33-year-old Anaheim resident said. Jake Bowman, like most of his fellow performers, loves his job.īut playing the part of a swashbuckling knight at the Medieval Times dinner theater in Buena Park comes with risks. ![]()
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