The Big Apple Circus – Fun for the Whole Family

November 12, 2011 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

We had the wonderful opportunity of going to the Big Apple Circus in New York City for the second time. We went last year to the “Dance On” show and I shared a lot of insight into our experience which you can read here.

Our tickets were for the 12:30pm show on a Sunday so we headed out from our home in Putnam County, NY around 9:30am. The NYC Marathon was on the same day so we wanted to give ourselves enough time in case we ran into traffic. Well, there was NO traffic at all, thank God. It was a straight run and only took a little over an hour to get there. The Big Apple Circus tent is only a few blocks in from the Henry Hudson parkway and there is a parking garage under Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center where the circus tent is. The cost was $36. I think that is for the whole day in case you wanted to make a day out of it.

We got there pretty early so we took a nice stroll around Lincoln Center and some of the side streets. Here are some pictures of us:

This one is my fave. Love the Lincoln Center Fountain. I think this may be the photo I use for our Christmas cards this year. What do you think? I just wish our youngest was looking. LOL

We were so happy to have my mom join us this year. She grew up in NJ only a short distance from the city and has wanted to go to the Big Apple Circus all her life. What a treat to share this experience with her.

So all in all, everything went very smoothly getting to the city, parking, walking around, and then grabbing our tickets. The ticket area had the heat blarring since it was pretty cold outside and we were able to go in and grab some lunch before the show. They have the usual circus food. We got the $10 meals which included 1 hotdog, 1 large soda (coke, sprite, or diet coke), and a box of popcorn or cotton candy. They have a nice seating area with tables so the kids were able to eat before we went into the show. I think this is a must because it winds up being way to messy. I will share more about that in a bit. Here is a photo of us eating before the show:

After eating, the next trip was to the bathroom. A new addition was the new portable potties. They were so cool! We had never seen anything like that before. (wish I had taken a photo) They were like airplane bathrooms, but a little bigger with the sink any everything. Very cool. Funny how the kids get a kick of those things. We made a couple trips there over the course of the afternoon.

This year’s show was called “Dream Big”. I was told that this is the last year that Grandma the Clown will be performing. (sniff sniff) She is retiring after 25 years of service. I was not really sure what to expect for this show – if it would be similar to the last show that we saw or what. But when we first walked in to the Big Apple Circus tent the backdrop was totally different. Here is a shot of it, but my camera really doesn’t give it justice.

If you read my previous post on our first Big Apple Circus experience, you will see that I wrote about the seating options and how the center sections are the best place to sit because that is where all the performers face when they come out and that is the direction they face when performing ( a lot of the time). Well, we got the PERFECT seats. Don’t get me wrong the other seats are totally fine, but it is a much better experience being right in the front.

The show was awesome. It was totally different than the first one we saw. There were different people, different acts, and even different animals. I think that is so great because now I know that since the circus IS different each season then you can go back every year and have a totally different experience. I would definitely make this a yearly event!

I took a couple photos in the tent, but there were a lot of people around us and I did not want to be rude by taking photos with them in the background. And the kids were acting up a lot this time around so I was not as camera happy as I usually am. But here are a few photos of us:

The show was a hit. There were acrobats, trapezers, clowns, magic tricks, animals, lights, music, and so much more. We all had our favorites. My mom’s was the funny clown lady with the wild blonde hair. The show lasted a total of 2 hours including a 15 minute intermission and the tent is heated for all of you worried about coming out in the winter months.

Some suggestions I have for those of you bringing small children are:

Bring a stroller. This really helps to maneuver around the city a little better. They have a stroller check so that was where we kept all of our extra stuff including coats so that way we did not have to bring much to our seats.

Don’t go overboard on the soda. We had a little too much soda left so we decided to bring it into the tent with us. We had 3 large cups as well as the boxes of popcorn and cotton candy. I put the sodas on the floor by our feet and with the kids moving around so much and not a lot of legroom, we wound up spilling TWO of the sodas. UGH. I think having sippy cups of juice might’ve been a better option. It is not a nice feeling having sticky soda under your feet.

Schedule your trip AFTER naptime. We did not have a choice as to the time we could go to the circus this time around. They had a special showing just for bloggers and the only show was at 12:30pm. That is naptime for our 2 youngest children (ages 2 & 3) so I was not sure of how it would be. Our 2 year old slept for a bit in the car on the way to the city, but our 3 year old did not. By around 1:30pm (around intermission time), we had a VERY cranky 3 yr old on our hands who did not want to stay in the show any longer. I wound up having to take him out and walk around with him for a bit. I tried to go back to the show and my husband held him on his lap for the remainder of the show, but he cried the entire time. It was a bit frustrating.

Well that was our experience going to the “Dream Big” Show at the Big Apple Circus. I definitely recommend this for families who are looking for something fun to do with your family. There are a range of dates and ticket prices which you can check out. You can also follow the Big Apple Circus on Facebook and Twitter.

Here is a final picture of me and my family outside of the circus tent after the show:

Our Big Apple Circus Experience / Review

October 25, 2010 by Painter Mommy 4 Comments

I was a bit leary when I first got the email from Monique of American Pop Social Media Marketing about the offer of free tickets for me and my family for the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center. I have had many offers and opportunities because of being a mom blogger, but never for anything this big before. I was probably making Monique crazy with all the back and forth and wanting to confirm things, etc. I just did not want to get all the way down to the city and be turned away leaving 4 devastated little children. Well, everything was confirmed and we were set to go. YAY!

Our trip to the city was easy. We are only about 90 minutes away and since there was no traffic, we actually got there much faster. There is parking right under the circus so that was very convenient. It cost us $33. The circus started at 4:30pm and we got there around 2:30pm, ao I went and picked up our tickets and then we got to walk around a little bit in the area which was nice. There is a really nice courtyard outside the circus entrance that connects a lot of the buildings and theaters that are a part of Lincoln Center.

Here we are walking around.

And here I am with my older 2 at the beautiful fountain in the Lincoln Center courtyard.

Here we are getting ready to walk inside.

Growing up in New Jersey and now living in upstate New York, I have always wanted to go to the Big Apple Circus. But now that we are a family of 6, it is harder for us to be able to get out and enjoy things like this just because of the expense. I actually did not realize that The Big Apple Circus has several different ticket price options ranging from $25 to $175. Yes, that is a huge price difference, but honestly the tent is not all that large and you can enjoy the circus from pretty much any seat.

We were in the section with the red X in the picture below – definitely great seats, but if you had a choice of what seats to go with, I would suggest any seats in the green circle in the picture below. Most of the performances are facing that direction and with many of the choreographed dances and such, it would be nice to see them head on so that you can get the full affect. They do move around the ring so that all can see, but they are facing more towards the center section. Really not a big deal, but I thought I would share just in case.

Along with our free tickets we also received free meal vouchers that provided a hotdog, drink, and popcorn or cotton candy. What a blessing that was! We decided to go into the circus a little early and eat before we went into the actual circus tent. With 4 little ones, you gotta do what is easiest if ya know what I mean. 🙂

Well, there was a nice large entry area where the food was being sold. There were tables and chairs and benches. We grabbed our food and a table and it worked out perfect. Here is a quick shot of everyone eating.

After we finished eating, we checked the stroller (yes they have a stroller check – NICE!) We then went in to get our seats and man was I grateful that we ate ahead of time. The seats are a bit tight, just enough leg room, but not quite enough to deal with 4 active children and food. We did bring our leftover drinks and popcorn in, but you really have to be careful because they spill easily. That is one thing I noticed a lot even with the people seated around us. EVERYONE seemed like they were spilling their drinks. And if you have a bag that you are keeping on the floor at your feet – you may consider keeping it on your lap. I would suggest being very careful and not bringing in too much food especially if you are juggling small children.

The kids were sooooo excited about the cotton candy. I was not so much in the beginning until the kids had just a few bites of theirs and I wound up eating the rest. Way too sweet, but definitely love the texture! Here are my sweeties eating cotton candy at the circus for the first time.

When the circus started the kids were mesmerized. Here is a picture of the ring from our seats. I took this BEFORE they had said there was no flash photography or video aloud. The funny thing though, is that no one really listened to this. Oh well…

The performances were great! There were unicylcists, twirlers, contortionists, a juggler, 12 beautiful miniature white horses, and of course my kid’s favorite was the funny guy with the hat who carried around the suitcase of goodies. My kids were laughing hysterically that even the people in front of us turned around and laughed just because they were laughing so hard.

During the intermission we had asked someone to take a picture of us. I did a little Photoshop magic on it to fade out the people in the background. Came out nice right?

So, all in all, we had an AWESOME Big Apple Circus experience. I definitely recommend that you go, no matter how old you are. We saw people of all ages, even one very elderly couple who was behind us. It really was the perfect day. The kids were very entertained. Even our 2 yr old made it through the entire 2 hour performance without any terrible breakdowns.

But now for the GOOD part! I am offering an AWESOME discount for those of you who want to go to the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center from now until the season closes on January 9th.

You can save up to $25 per ticket! Just follow these instructions:

Online: http://bigapplecircus.org/mommy11LC.aspx and submit the code MOMMY11 in the Promotional Codes box in the lower left of the page.

By Phone: Call 888-541-3750 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 888-541-3750 end_of_the_skype_highlighting and mention code MOMMY11

If you have gone to the Big Apple Circus or plan on going, I would love to hear from you! What was your experience like?

Awesome Discount for the BIG APPLE CIRCUS at Lincoln Center!

By Painter Mommy on October 18, 2010 | Edit

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The Circus is back in town!

The spectacular Big Apple Circus is starting it’s 33rd Season with a thrilling all-new show called Dance On! The World’s Greatest Circus artists swing into action in the spotlight under the Big Top, where no seat is more than 50 feet from the ring! This year the show will be running from October 21st to January 9th.

Some of the circus acts include:

Troupe of Unicyclists
Lasso Twirlers from China!
Group of Mongolian Contortionists!
Kenyan Athletes
Herd of hoofers (twelve miniature horses)
Ethiopian Juggler

The Big Apple Circus Band will be performing LIVE music and what would a circus be without clowns? This is a show that you don’t want to miss! You will be dancing in your seats!

I found this neat video on Youtube that someone posted of clips from the actual circus back in 2008. Gives you a good idea of what to expect. And keep in mind that every year the show is different, so be sure to reserve your tickets now for the new “Dance On” theme!

And guess what my awesome NY and NJ readers? I have something special for YOU! A promo code for the Big Apple Circus show at Lincoln Center. You can save up to $25 per ticket! Just follow these instructions:

Online: http://bigapplecircus.org/mommy11LC.aspx and submit the code MOMMY11 in the Promotional Codes box in the lower left of the page.

By Phone: Call 888-541-3750 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 888-541-3750 end_of_the_skype_highlighting and mention code MOMMY11