If you're looking for a fun way to while away a Sunday get yourself a four year old and a couple of tickets to see the How To Train Your Dragon "Live Spectacular"! It actually is spectacular. No, it really, really is. Minds were blown.
It was supposed to be playing in Cleveland in a few weeks and I was so excited to take Wes on a special date to see it, just the two of us for a little one on one time. Then Friday I got an email letting me know the show was indefinitely postponed and a refund for the tickets. I was SO BUMMED. I called the arena to get details on a new date and they of course had no details or any information on rescheduling. I was afraid they might not reschedule or even if they did, what if it was a day we wouldn't be able to make it for some reason. So, I scrambled and bought last minute tickets for the next closest show - which happened to be this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Wes did great on the two hour drive into PA and he was so excited to see the show, it was all he could talk about. We made our way to the venue, grabbed some (laughably overpriced) snacks and found our seats. That's when Wes started looking around at our surroundings with less a look of excitement and enthusiasm and more a look of get me the f outta here. I think he was a little taken aback by the size and scope of the set, not to mention the lights flashing and music playing. It hadn't even started yet and I could tell he was already getting super nervous.
"Mom, I'm scared. The dragons are going to fly up here and get us."
"No, they're not honey. Remember, they're not real, they're like dragon robots."
"Mom, do dragons like popcorn and skittles?" (which is what we happened to be eating)
"No, they're dragons, they don't eat candy and popcorn."
"What do they eat?"
"Um...meat I guess."
Two minutes later, lip quivering...
"Mom, are we meat?"
That was the exact moment the lights dimmed and the show kicked off with fire explosions, plumes of smoke and, you guessed it, flying dragons.
That's also when Wes burst into tears and started begging to go home.
I can't really blame him. Those dragons were amazingly life-like and also amazingly ENORMOUS.
I pulled him over onto my lap and held him tight and tried to explain it wasn't real, but man they looked REAL.
It all turned out ok though, after a few minutes when he realized they weren't getting any closer to us, he relaxed. He managed to return to his own seat and by intermission he was pretending to fly around the corridors like a dragon.
By the second act he was totally into it, cheering, waving and clapping his hands.
This is what he looked like 5 minutes in to the car ride home and three bites in to his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I'd call that a success.
"are we meat" Oh man - poor guy! What a brain he has - going 100 miles an hour! Glad it was an overall success - very cute!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe dragons DO look scary. Wish I had some Skittles...
ReplyDeleteI know another 4-year-old boy who saw this show... twice! There were nightmares for a couple of nights, but by a few days later he could only remember how awesome it was. Also, he's now trying to teach his younger sister to say the names of all the dragons (which even I can't keep straight).
ReplyDeleteLuckily, no nightmares over here. He's been talking about it ever since though. He was even telling his dentist all about it yesterday. Glad we ended up staying even though he was scared at first, in the end he loved it :)
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