Orlando once had a slew of dinner shows. What happened to them all?

Dinner shows have been part of Orlando’s entertainment scene since before Mickey and Co. arrived in Central Florida. Over the decades, visitors could feast with medieval knights, watch horseback stunts, solve murder mysteries and enjoy Broadway-style productions, all while eating dinner. But time has not been kind to this once-thriving corner of Orlando’s tourism industry.

For decades, dinner shows were as much a part of an Orlando vacation as theme parks, miniature golf and souvenir shops. Elaborate productions filled theaters along International Drive and Highway 192, with everything from jousting knights and Wild West shootouts to murder mysteries and musical performances.

The story stretches back to the late 1960s, when the Orange Blossom Dinner Theater was arguably the first in a long, long line of themed entertainments that included a meal.

Ever since the genre’s heyday, there has been a gradual whittling away of these “old faithfuls” of the tourism world, a slow-motion massacre that has left only a handful of traditional dinner shows in business.

Orlando’s lost dinner shows

The casualties along the way have included several versions of the theater-with-dinner experience, from Broadway-style musicals and Polynesian luaus to Wild West adventures and interactive comedies.

Orange Blossom Dinner Theater

• Location: Orlando area
• Operated: Late 1960s; closing date unconfirmed

The Orange Blossom Dinner Theater is often seen as the first in a long, long line of themed entertainments that included a meal, dating back to before the arrival of Walt Disney World.

Fortune Feast

• Location: Highway 192, Kissimmee
• Operated: Summer 1994, less than one month

The game-show style Fortune Feast on Kissimmee’s Highway 192 set the record for the shortest run, lasting less than a month in summer 1994, as its 1,500-seat theater typically played host to just 250 paying guests and included an accident in its first week when a trapeze artist fell off his swinging rope and landed in the second row of the audience – fittingly, on an empty table.

Asian Adventure

• Location: International Drive, near the former Belz Outlet Mall
• Operated: 1991–1995

Later that year, the Asian Adventure, situated next to the old Belz Outlet Mall on International Drive, joined the ranks of the defunct after just a few years.

The show featured a Far East cultural and musical celebration.

Mardi Gras

• Location: Mercado Mall, International Drive, Orlando
• Operated: Late 1992 – 1995

Mardi Gras brought a New Orleans cabaret vibe to Orlando’s dinner show scene at Mercado Mall on International Drive. Operated by Pleasurama USA, the production featured carnival-themed entertainment and was among the dinner theaters associated with the company behind King Henry’s Feast and Wild Bill’s Wild West Dinner Show, according to a 1992 Washington Post report.

American Gladiators

• Location: Former Fortune Feast theater, Highway 192, Kissimmee
• Operated: 1996–1998

The American Gladiators briefly filled the Fortune Feast location, but that cavernous building is now home to The Rock Church.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Attractions Magazine (@attractionsmagazine)

King Henry’s Feast and Wild Bill’s Wild West Dinner Show

• King Henry’s Feast location: International Drive, Orlando
• King Henry’s Feast operated: 1986–2000
• Wild Bill’s location: Highway 192, Kissimmee
• Wild Bill’s operated: 1987–2000

June 22, 2000, marked a particularly bad day for the genre when both the popular Wild Bill’s (also on Highway 192) and King Henry’s Feast (on International Drive) shut down overnight after parent company On Stage Entertainment (which had acquired the shows in 1998) went bust.

Soulfire Theatre and Dinner Experience

• Location: Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores, 15609 Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando
• Operated: 2002–2003

Another short-lived production was the interactive high school reunion theatrics of Soulfire Theatre and Dinner Experience. Guests attended a fictional 20-year reunion for Herbert Hoover High School, mingling with performers portraying former classmates while enjoying dinner, dancing and karaoke. By February 2003, the venue had switched to Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding, another interactive production.

Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding

• Location: Soulfire Theatre near Lake Buena Vista (2003), Tony and Tina Theater in Kissimmee (2007), and later International Drive in Orlando (2007–2008)
• Operated: 2002–2003 and 2007–2008

The plucky matrimonial celebration of Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding actually had two attempts at turning back the rising tide of casualties with its audience participation approach. The show appeared at Soulfire Theatre in 2003 before returning in 2007 at the Tony and Tina Theater in Kissimmee, with performances also documented on International Drive. But, like several others of that period, it failed to grab the public’s attention for long.

Although its Orlando engagements ended in 2008, “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” continues to be performed elsewhere, with current events advertised on the production’s official website.

Mark Two Dinner Theatre

• Location: 3376 Edgewater Drive, College Park, Orlando
• Operated: 1986–2004 as Mark Two/Orlando Broadway Dinner Theater; reopened as Starlight Theater in 2005

Another casualty was the classical Mark Two Dinner Theatre, which featured Broadway-style musicals and enjoyed an impressive run from 1986 to 2004. Unlike many of Orlando’s tourist-oriented dinner shows, Mark Two catered largely to local theatergoers, with productions including “The King and I,” “South Pacific” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The theater was renamed Orlando Broadway Dinner Theater before closing in late 2004. The venue returned as Starlight Theater in December 2005, but that revival also eventually came to an end.

Fiascos

• Location: 7430 Universal Blvd., Orlando
• Operated: Opened Aug. 12, 2004; closing date sometime in 2005

Four years after the demise of Wild Bill’s and King Henry’s Feast, the truly ill-fated Fiascos set the seal on a decade of disaster for the dinner show, closing after little more than a year with a basic premise of things (deliberately) going wrong through a succession of chaotic servers, klutzy circus performers, and a leaky roof.

Those unfortunate enough to witness the “show” also had to run the gauntlet at the exit of an animatronic chef barfing into a garbage can, the “joke” being the guy who had prepared all the meals was stricken by food poisoning. Ho bloody ho, hey?

Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede

• Location: Near Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, Lake Buena Vista
• Operated: 2003–2008

One of the more infamous closures was Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, adjacent to the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets shopping center in Lake Buena Vista. It opened in a blaze of publicity in June 2003 in a purpose-built $28 million, 1,086-seat arena.

The highly elaborate show featured trick horseback riding, barrel racing, animal races (pigs and ostriches), musical numbers, and a friendly North-versus-South competition, all accompanied by a four-course Southern feast.

Attendance didn’t seem to be a problem and the show regularly received rave reviews but, on January 8, 2008, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Dolly’s company had suddenly sold the site to a mystery buyer who turned out to be the owner of the Outlets center.

For the 150-plus employees who were abruptly out of work in the wake of the announcement, Dolly’s accompanying statement was cold comfort.

“We at Dixie Stampede have been blessed, but I am a firm believer in timing and opportunity,” Parton said in a press release. “This was an opportunity we could not pass up. We’re exploring our options now and we will be back better than ever!”

Of course, there was no return for the Stampede, or any other Parton attraction in Orlando.

SeaWorld’s Polynesian Luau

• Location: SeaWorld Orlando
• Operated: 1981–2012

Another long-running casualty was the Polynesian Luau dinner show at SeaWorld, which operated from 1981 to 2012.

Arabian Nights

• Location: Kissimmee
• Operated: 1988–2013

The last 12 years have also put an end to the long-running Arabian Nights show, which Attractions Magazine reported in November 2013.

The equestrian dinner show gave its final performances on Dec. 31, 2013, after 25 years.

Which Orlando dinner shows are still open?

A flicker of hope does remain, though. A handful of Orlando’s traditional dinner shows continue to operate, including some that have entertained visitors for decades. Others have found ways to buck the trend with new productions or, in one case, a surprising comeback.

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue

• Location: Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, Walt Disney World
• Operated: 1974–present

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort still plays host to the timeless Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, which opened in 1974.

Medieval Times

• Location: Kissimmee
• Operated: 1983–present

Medieval Times remains one of Orlando’s most elaborate dinner shows, with knights on horseback competing in jousting tournaments and other medieval challenges while guests enjoy a multi-course feast. The production has survived decades of changes in Orlando’s tourism industry.

Pirates Dinner Adventure

• Location: Carrier Drive, Orlando
• Operated: 1996–present

Pirates Dinner Adventure continues to entertain guests with sword fights, acrobatics and pirate-themed theatrics aboard an elaborate indoor pirate ship. The large-scale production is one of the few remaining examples of the kind of spectacular dinner shows that once flourished around Orlando.

Outta Control Magic Dinner Show

• Location: WonderWorks, International Drive, Orlando
• Operated: Opening date to be confirmed–present

The Outta Control Magic Dinner Show at WonderWorks on I-Drive takes a different approach, combining comedy, magic and audience participation with pizza and other refreshments. Its smaller-scale format offers an alternative to the elaborate productions at Medieval Times and Pirates.

Capone’s Dinner & Show

• Location: Originally Kissimmee; now International Drive, Orlando
• Operated: 1992–2024; reopened in 2025

While Capone’s initially shut down in 2024 after 32 years at its original Kissimmee location, it was surprisingly reborn on I-Drive last year.

Teatro Martini

• Location: Pirates Dinner Adventure venue, Carrier Drive, Orlando
• Operated: 2021–present

The Pirates venue also manages to buck the trend somewhat, with the creation in 2021 of its separate Teatro Martini and the Speakeasy Murder Mystery dinner show in the Teatro space on select nights.

The big, high-maintenance shows like Pirates and Medieval Times continue to be highly vulnerable to changing financial patterns, though.

The end of an Orlando entertainment era?

Having seen 17 of these shows – several of them multiple times – we can only mourn the passing of a large part of this big-time Orlando attraction phenomenon.

But, as Ben Hecht, the Shakespeare of Hollywood, once said: “Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.” And this particular circus is definitely, sadly, on the move.