Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey: Dragons

You guys. DRAGONS. We had *so* much fun at the circus last night!

A few weeks ago, I received a pitch in my inbox about partnering with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey for a giveaway and review for their local performances – I pretty much saw the word “circus,” and was ready to sign up!  I was SO bummed to have missed out on Cole’s first circus experience because I was on bed rest with Squishy Lulu, so this was such a great opportunity!

SOME people may have viewed a 2+ hour performance straddling bedtime on a school night over an hour from home with a toddler and a preschooler in tow as something of a suicide mission, but I was way too excited to see the circus to be worried. I did have a moment’s pause when Grammy Boo had to drop out of the trip because of a scheduling conflict, but I was ecstatic to have Coach along – especially since her drove – and off we went.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents DRAGONS is playing at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport from October 23-27, and we were lucky enough to receive ticket for Thursday night’s performance. (Get YOUR tickets HERE.)  We had hoped to get there in time for the included All Access Preshow, but we hit *loads* of traffic AND needed TWO potty stops, so we slid into our seats just as the show was beginning. Poor Lulu is such a trooper; she fell asleep in the car on the way up, and was a bit overwhelmed to be awakened to the sights and sounds of the first act! My iPhone is ill equipped to handle low lighting conditions, and the stunts happened so quickly that I’m going to have to just use my words here, rather than have you try to squint at my blurry shots.

Lucky for Lu, the first act was crazy awesome horseback riders – this troupe hopped on and off horses while the animals were running at full speed! They even sat on each other’s shoulders while riding. Lulu *loves* horsies so she was transfixed.

Each act was more exciting than the last, and the first half of the show flew by in a blur of martial artists, a motorcycle high wire act, and the big cats.  I love watching the animal acts, but am always relieved when they leave the arena and no one has been mauled in front of my small children… I also appreciated the fact that there was educational audio about the importance of conservation at the beginning of intermission.

The intermission was long enough for everyone to grab snacks and souvenirs (a mini cannon with a daredevil for Cole, and a glow wand for Lulu),  but not so long that the kids got antsy. One of the ushers/security guards came around towards the end of the break and gave both kids their very own clown noses. Intermission ended with a brief dance party that got both Lulu and Cole up and boogeying down – they had SO much fun!

The second act started with trapeze artists, and continued with the elephants (“EFFANTS!” Lulu was really excited.), The pachyderm parade is Coach’s and my favorite part of the circus, and it was followed by an act of very entertaining dogs. Cole does not believe Henry has a future as a circus performer.

One of the final acts of the night was the “Globe of Steel,” a 16 foot ball in which EIGHT motorcycle riders avoid crashing into each other at 65 miles per hour. This act, even more than the others, makes me very anxious – it feels like there is such a slim margin of error between “Globe of Steel Filled with Motorcycling Daredevils” and “Globe of Horrific and Fiery Death.”

DRAGONS is a special presentation by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey that combines classic circus performances with a few surprises. Ask Lulu what she saw at the circus and she will enthusiastically chirps “dragons! effants! ‘orsies!” All four of us had an amazing evening – and both kids were fast asleep by the time we got back on the highway.

Our tickets were given to us in exchange for our review, but we covered parking and souvenirs all on our own. Our opinions cannot be bought… well, maybe they could be, but it would cost WAY more than circus tickets!