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King Henry's Feast Orlando
From 1986 until it closed on June 22nd 2000 King Henry's Feast was one of the most popular dining and entertainment attractions in Orlando, and all of Florida. Millions visited the attraction and it was voted the best entertainment venue again and again. Not a Las Vegas multi million dollar spectacular with fireworks, laser light shown and feathered dancers, but good traditional entertainment for all of the family. The concept was surprisingly simple, and Max Burton, the talented Jester interacted with the audience, especially the young. Often criticised for it's lack of blasting noise, pyrotechnics and lazer lights it provided a quiet evening of entertainment. It could have been improved, and expanded, yet it played to packed houses, even at the end. It was part of a string of themed Dinner Theaters around Orlando and Kissimmee developed by the British Mecca company. Sadly a Las Vegas company, best known for their Legends rock and roll impersonator shows took over these family entertainment venues, and as their shows began to fail the profitable King Henry's Feast was pulled down as well. After Bank Foreclosure, King Henry's Feast and the other traditional dinner theaters around Orlando and Kissimmee, once owned by Orlando Entertains, Inc. went out of business. The land on which the King Henry's castle facade sat was more important to the Bean Counters than the entertainment venue. So after 17 years the actors were dumped on the unemployment lines, and the land was sold to Olive Garden as yet another restaurant for the visitors. After the building was demolished all that remains are memories in the hearts of millions, and old photographs. I was fortunate to cover all of these Dinner Theaters for the British Media and became good friends with the good people at King Henry's. Their story provides a good case study of live entertainment in the United States. So Why do they still advertise King Henry's Feast on International Drive?
Sadly Orlando, including such sites as Disney, and the many entertainment guides, do not update their websites and keep their visitors aware of developments. Their goal is to get buyers on the phone and sell them something! My issue is that if it takes over 8 years to delete old information, how reliable can the other information be when they still include venues long closed down and demolished. Let's hope the buyers get their money back! Remember if they have wasted your time in planning your vacation let them know! From Orlando Biz Journal, May 26th 2000: Layoffs at I-Drive attraction, Kissimmee's Fort Liberty planned. KISSIMMEE -- Owners of King Henry's Feast and the Kissimmee Fort Liberty retail complex have notified the state they will be closing next month and laying off 256 employees. "We felt a moral obligation to tell our employees that they possibly won't have a job after June," says Gary Panter, senior vice president of On Stage Entertainment. Even though the papers were filed, Panter expresses hope that a buyer will materialize who can keep the attractions open. "We have someone at the table for King Henry's," Panter says. "We're hoping and praying that we can find someone for Fort Liberty." King Henry's Feast opened in 1986 on International Drive, offering visitors to Orlando a chance to watch medieval-themed entertainment while eating dinner. Fort Liberty opened a year later with a western-themed show, Wild Bill's, serving as the centerpiece to a retail center on U.S. Highway 192. The layoffs cap a shaky two years. Shortly after buying the venues from a group headed by Church Street Station president Gerard O'Riordan for $14 million, Las Vegas-based On Stage announced a major change in direction. Rather than own the buildings, it wanted to focus only on presenting shows. The company quit making debt payments on the buildings, and, last November, mortgage holder Imperial Credit Commercial Mortgage Investment Corp. foreclosed in what Panter says was a "friendly manner." Imperial, which says it was owed $6 million for King Henry's Feast and $7.5 million for Fort Liberty property, bought back both facilities in foreclosure auction earlier this month for $1,000 each. Now, both the bank and On Stage are frantically looking for a buyer for the buildings.."
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Eight years after King Henry's closed it's doorstickets are still being offered for sale on many Florida websites.