Circus Survival Guide
We just went to our fourth Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. In the spirit of my "World Famous" Wiggle's Concert Survival Guide, I decided to create a "Circus Survival Guide". This year we saw the Blue Tour which is called "Over the Top". This show, like all of them that we've been to was at the BiLo Center in Greenville. It's not my favorite location but we know it well and as always, we learned something new.
To start off with, I screwed up. We DID NOT get there early as I suggested in the Wiggle's Concert Survival Guide and I can confirm the importance of getting to the show early. ...BIG, HUGE MISTAKE!
We also decided to try and shop on the way in. We did this because of our seats. We didn't have isle seats and we were on the very first row. We always try to get the Circus Celebrity tickets (more on that later) and I didn't think I could nor should try to work my way out of the first row after the show started. This didn't work out too bad. We had our stuffed elephants (Momma and baby set), twirly light thing and DVD in no time and were off to our seats.
The seats, right, there's a bit of a problem here. Apparently the ticketing agent (the guilty party's name will be filled in after I look them up!) booked people, well wrong. I really can't describe what they did wrong because I could hear nor did I care, I just wanted our seats. The circus people were nice enough to get us isle seats at the other end which wasn't bad but we were at the curtain end of the arena. This brings me to my next point: Get seats at the opposite end from the curtain. I'll call this the "rounded" end because it always ends in a short rounded wall. This is where the majority of the performing takes place. At the curtain end, you see everything go past but they are going to the rounded end to do their bit. That's not to say that the curtain end is bad. There are certainly things that go on in front of the curtain end too but if there is one point of attention, it happens at the rounded end.
One other point I'd like to make is bring cash. You can use plastic but if you flag down a cotton candy vendor in the stands, you really need CASH!
Get good seats. I highly recommend the Circus Celebrity tickets if you have children. With the Circus Celebrity tickets, they will send some of the circus performers out to get you. You will get in a line on the side of the circus floor and several "trains" will be brought out for you to get into. These are not trains in the purest sense, they look more like a train in a Disney ride. Our train was like a giant motor cycle and the others were like a tea cup ride if I remember correctly. You will then be pulled around the circus floor while various performances are going on. This year the 'Globe of Steel' was right beside us which was cool for me but a bit scary of Jessica. She is not fond of loud noises. These tickets are not cheap but for me to see her eyes light up as all of this happens right around her is worth twice the price.
Now I'd like to bring up our major lesson for the year. Don't park in the parking garage. Park in one of the many side lots that most arenas have. Since we got there late and we parked in the garage, we were on the 6th floor and so we were the last to leave.
Good luck and enjoy the show!