Okay, guys! I haven't been this excited to do a review in a long time! I just woke up and I am still on my "circus high" from last night! We were lucky enough to get a chance to attend the opening night of Ringling Brothers Fully Charged at Rupp Arena last night, and, oh my gosh, we had a blast! I was really excited to take the boys to the circus since none of them ( My hubs included!) had ever been, but really, honestly, I was surprised at just how much fun my family had!
The boys had no idea where we were going, I had planned to surprise them, and surprise them I did... Even after we walked through the lobby of Rupp with all of the vendors set up for the circus, neither one of them had any clue what was going on. It wasn't until we went outside for the
Animal Open House that Tater finally saw the elephants and asked: "Are you taking us to the circus!?!?!" I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look on his face when we told him, yes, we were going to the circus! He was thrilled!
The Animal Open house starts 90 minutes before the show, and takes place outside in the parking lot. It is a really fun time, where you get to walk around and see all of the animals, learn about them, and talk to the people who care for them every day. Tater really, REALLY enjoyed this, and talked one of the girl's head off, asking her question after question about the elephants. She was so super sweet though, and took the time to answer every single one of them, and explain everything about the elephants to him, from what they ate to where they slept, to how they got to the circus in the first place! He was so happy after that we could have just left and he would have been fine! :)
But, no, the fun was only just getting started! We stayed outside at the Animal Open House for about 30 minutes, and then we went inside to wait to get into the show. This is where the real fun (for me at least!) began! It was time for the
All Access Pre Show! This was so much fun! An hour before the show starts, you get to actually go down onto the arena floor and hang out with the performers! There were clowns, and acrobats, and even an elephant that did a painting, that was raffled off later! This was one of the coolest things I have ever gotten to experience, and they gave the kids free circus tattoos and free clown noses, which was great! There was even a wardrobe station where you could try on performer clothes!
We loved the Pre-Show! It was so much fun, and the boys really enjoyed being able to get up close and personal with the performers. It was something that they will really remember forever!
As the pre show began to wrap up, we went to our seats, which were wonderful and perfect! We were right in the middle of the action, and I was so thrilled that we got seats where I wouldn't have to worry about little Bean being able to see! I got some really cute pictures of them right as the show was starting, but then my phone died, of course!
Funniest part of the whole show? Hubs got chosen by a clown to help him with his act, and it was hilarious! It was so funny and embarrassing (for him!) I am going to try to upload the video and share it with you guys in a few minutes, but please know, it was good times! Tater, had a lot of fun, but Bean.. oh my God. . I don't even know how to put it into words... Can babies have a calling? If babies can have a calling, I think Bean's is the circus... seriously. I have never seen him so happy in his entire life, not on Christmas, not Trick or Treating, not his birthday, EVER... I kept looking around at other kids his age to see if they were acting the same way, but they weren't... I mean, they were acting happy and excited and all.. but, my Bean... He was absolutely ecstatic! He screamed and yelled and cheered and jumped and clapped like I have never seen. Fact: his tiny little hands are blood red this morning from clapping so much and so hard last night. It seriously brings tears to my eyes to think about how much JOY that he got out of the circus. I really didn't know it was possible for a baby to love something so much.. We carried him to the car last night at around 11pm, he was so tired he couldn't walk, and he was almost asleep, but he said "Mommy, I love the circus. I had... fun... at... that.. circus!" It was so cute to see him try so hard to put his words together like that!
The show itself was, simply amazing. I felt like a little kid again, all I was thinking the whole time was just "Wow!" It was wonderful! I feel so bad for not bringing my kids sooner, but I honestly didn't think our family would enjoy it so much! The show that is in Lexington right now is Fully Charged, and it was so exciting! They really know how to keep your interest the whole time, it doesn't ever get "boring" at all! My favorite part was of course, the tigers, but I will admit that I did thoroughly enjoy their very handsome trainer as well!
My sweet little Bean was obsessed with the animal parts, especially the elephants, and he is playing with his zoo animals right now, pretending they are at the circus! Tater loved all the action parts, but, without a doubt, The Human Fuse was his favorite! They seriously light this guy on fire and shoot him across the arena.
CRAZY! It was awesome, but it made me nervous LOL! My hubs? It's so funny, he is such a "tough guy", and he doesn't get excited about anything, but last night, every time I would look over at him, he was clapping and smiling like a little kid! So, umm, yeah.. our family had a freaking blast at the circus! Honest to God truth? I am thinking seriously about taking them back tonight. That is how much fun we had. More honest to God truth? We are leaving for vacation on Sunday, and this morning the hubs and I were talking.. I seriously doubt that they will have as much fun on our vacation as they had last night at the circus....
Bottom Line? If you are reading this, and trying to decide if you should take your kids to the circus, just do it. Go. You won't regret it. This was the most fun my family has had, well...ever.. together, no joke, and I am considering going back for a second night...
You can get tickets for the Lexington Fully Charged Shows by calling the box office at (859) 233-3535 (if you are like me, you have had that number memorized for many years now!), or you can follow
this link to go directly to the Ticketmaster page for this show! There is one show tonight (Friday) at 7pm, and there are THREE shows on Saturday, at 11am, 3pm, and 7pm. Sunday is when the circus wraps up with a show at 1pm and another show at 5pm. Tickets are super affordable too, so don't be worried about that. Want more info on the show? Check out this video below! And go on, have some fun at the circus! Finally, A big, giant, humongous thank you to the lovely folks at Feld Entertainment and also the PR company who were kind enough to provide this experience for my family!
My family received complimentary tickets in order to attend this show and write a fair and honest review. Although complimentary tickets were received, all opinions, like always, are 100% my own and were not affected by any outside source.