The Ringling Circus – so much has changed, but one thing has not

On Thursday night, we took the Geekling to his first circus. It was a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus….the best. I won 4 tickets to see the show and I wanted to share the experience with my readers.

First of all, let me give you a bit of background information. I was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. Sarasota is/was known as a circus town (don’t get me started on whether it still is – touchy subject) Anyways, it is known to be a circus town, because in 1927 John Ringling decided to bring his circus to that town in their off seasons. He built his house the Ca’ d’Zan Mansion which still stands today. It is gorgeous, and I want to live there……but lets not deviate into dream land. Sarasota has the Ringling Museum, the Circus Museum, AND the Ringling School of Art and Design. My mother has even told me stories of playing with the Wallendas’ children (The Flying Wallendas) when she was a child.

So when I found out I had won tickets and would be able to take my son to see Ringling Bros as his first circus, I was happy, to put it mildly.

The circus was in Orlando, which is a 1 1/2 drive from my home, but a real circus is worth it. So we drove – traffic was a nightmare. Finally we arrived at the Amway Center. Yep you got that a center. No big colorful tent. No clowns mingling with the circus goers. It was odd. We pay the $10 parking fee – OUCH!, and make our way to will call to pick up the tickets. We get the tickets, go inside, and are directed to the escalator to go up. And then up more. And then up even more. That’s right – 3rd floor, nose bleed. I got the tickets for free, so I wasn’t upset, but they charged $15 per ticket to sit that high up. I would hate to see what floor level cost.

Since we had skipped dinner, we went to the concession stand. Hot Dogs – $4.50, a small thing of french fries (the basket fit in the palm of my hand) $4, a bottle of water – $4, Popcorn – $10, Cotton Candy – $12. Needless to say, the Geekling ate and hubby and I waited to eat. We just couldn’t afford to all eat there. (The geekling had 2 hotdogs, fries, and a water, which we did share)

After we got our food, we went and sat down. All of the bad negative things I was thinking melted away when I saw my son’s expression when he saw the animals and performers. He LOVED it. I do have to say the circus has changed, but my son doesn’t know that. I feel sad that he won’t know the circus I knew, the smells, the sounds, and the experiences. But that is just the progression of our society. Things were different for me than they were for my parents…. some changes are good and some are bad, but the kids still smile, laugh and enjoy it. We will just have to roll with the punches of change – whether we like it or not.

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