The circus is HERE!!! I am not sure who was more excited about going to the circus, me or my daughter. We had been talking about the circus all week, and she couldn’t wait to “see all da animals do tricks — da elephants, and lions and the doggies.” (Please circus gods, let there be a dog act I hoped every time she said this. Alas… no doggies! So don’t tell your kids there will be dogs. Luckily, there were LOTS of elephants, so she was pleased. Oh and no lions, just tigers — in case your kids know the difference.)
Since this was her first circus, when we first tried to explain the show, she seemed to confuse it with a zoo because she couldn’t wait to see the giraffes and elephants – her two fav animals. So we had to explain that there wouldn’t be any giraffe (and no goats to pet), so I told her about the tricks the animals would do. She stumped me when she asked what animals would be there, so I said the first thing that came to mind elephants, lions and dogs. Hence her excitement and my hope that there would in fact be trick dogs! (Oppse!)
As a special treat, we would be picking up Mimi to take her with us to the circus, so she was even more excited about the adventure. Oh, and it would be after dark too! Big time!
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This was our first visit to the new Amway Center, and while this post isn’t about the Center, I have to say that the Center does NOT have it’s act together yet. I could write a book on the problems with the Center… very disappointing. But I digress…
The Greatest Show On Earth did not disappoint. It was a fantastic show, and my daughter was enthralled. During the show, Mimi (always a wealth of info) shared these interesting tidbits. At 24 years old, the ringmaster, Brian Crawford Scott, is the youngest ringmaster in the history of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s circus. And the circus is currently being run by sisters Nicole and Alana Feld, the first all-female team to run the show. Kind of cool 🙂
Of course, no circus is complete without a fancy souviener (or two), and this Fully-Charged show had it’s pick of fun trinkets. Mimi couldn’t wait to purchase this light up spinning thing for K, which she loved. But parent warning, the spinning things on this wand are not soft like the Disney ones, they are hard plastic with star points. Good luck keeping it away from faces! Ouch!
Throughout the show, my daughter wanted MORE animals. (It’s kind of a thing she does.) “Where are the elephants? Where did the elephants go? What’s next?” As if the women flying through the air were not exciting enough. LOL! She did seem to love the clowns though.
Another circus must – FOOD. K had her first taste of Cotton Candy, yum. The cotton candy is cute because it comes with it’s own present – a hat. Your choice of a top hat, pink hair or a clown hat. The pink hair was a big hit with K. Even though she had dinner at home and insisted she wasn’t hungry when we arrived, halfway through the first act she announced she was hungry. So intermission meant popcorn. K was a happy girl, but while mom cut her off before eating too much, I totally over ate junk and had a belly ache by the time I got home. Oppse!
Of course K’s favorite act was the elephants, and they didn’t disappoint. So she was a happy girl!
In all, it was a GREAT night! And I totally recommend the show. But be prepared, it isn’t an inexpensive evening. Food and trinkets add up! The good news is that you can still get discounted tickets via my special discount code!
Tickets are still avialble for the show, which runs through Monday at the Amway Center in Orlando. If you want to get tickets, you can use the special promo code MOMMY to score $11 tickets! A friend of mine saved $80 on tickets for her family of four! This exclusive ticket offer is only vaild for select performances – Friday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 pm; Sat. at 11:30 am and 7:30pm; Sunday at 5pm; and Monday at 5pm. And you must purchase a minimum of 4 tickets for the code to work, but its a great deal! To take advantage of TheSuburbanMom discount, use promo code “MOMMY” at ticketmaster.com or at the Arena Box Office.
Someone asked me for advice on where to sit, I recommended as close as you can get in section 106 if possible, or for the less expensive seats 209 or 210. That side of the Center had the best view of the show. We had fantastic seats, in section 109, but the tight-rope walkers were lost on us because we sat directly in line with the rope, so we missed the action.
Don’t miss the Greatest Show on Earth.
Ellie's Mom says
In 2009 a retired Ringling elephant trainer released dozens of photos he took while working at their Center for Elephant Conservation. They show Ringling trainers using a bullhooks to hit, jab and electric prod to shock baby elephants to make them perform circus tricks. Ringling made this statement about these photos of their baby elephants, they say, “our elephants are being trained with food rewards, patience and love.”
http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp