Walking with Dinosaurs, The Arena Spectacula

The first week of January, a special show came to Salt Lake called Walking with Dinosaurs, The Arena Spectacular.  These same people put on a How to Train Your Dragon arena spectacular, but we never got to go as it didn't show anywhere even close to here (I was actually willing to drive to Vegas, Denver, or Boise if it would be there).  When I heard this was coming, I first discussed with Nathan if we should go.  Then I did something that I don't normally do, and made the executive decision that we were going and got the tickets, and then informed Nathan of when we were going.  And it was worth it.  We went on a Thursday, and got to ride the train from where you park to the Energy Solutions Arena. 

One side of the seats...

...other side of the seats.

We got there with only a few minutes to spare, which was perfect for small kids.  There were dino noises and growls coming from the arena area (think backstage), and Jack said, "We should get out of here."  We said, "don't worry buddy, they aren't real and nothing will get us up here."  We had seats that were pretty high up.  I also chose the ones that had a wall (ended up a sound booth was right below us, so on the wall didn't drop down very far, that would have just made me a little nervous).  At first we wished we had spent more and gotten closer seats.  However, when the dinos started coming out, Jack got very nervous and said we needed to get out of there before the T-Rex came.  And the long necks and heads even stretched out into the audience with some of the dinos, and I'm pretty sure Jack would have lost it over that.  Also, the wall was great because A) I didn't worry about people in front of us that the kids might kick their seats, and B) it was great to lean against/hide behind when it was intense and the T-Rex came out.  Jack was okay with that.

 

 Finding our seats

 Anyway, there was also cotton candy for sale...so we shared that too before and during the show :)

Cotton candy anyone?

 Jonathan did surprisingly well too!  During big growls he jumped, but was fine because I was holding him.  He didn't ever cry!

 Our view from our seats, of the T-Rex and baby T-Rex

If we had been closer, I would have been scared.

I have an unrational fear of meat eating dinosaurs (I know they are extinct, but I still get uneasy even when hiking through a forest, and the trail opens into a meadow...I can always picture a T-Rex bursting through the trees on the side, just like in Jurassic Park... it won't but I always think it could happen).

The brachiosaurs

(P.S. did you know that there aren't brontosaurus anymore?  The were cataloged incorrectly.  Sort of how pluto isn't a planet anymore either)

 A selfie of the five of us

It was a great night!  The kids liked it so much they asked if they could go again the next day!  Nathan was glad that I had made that executive decision.  And we remembered to get Nathan's car from the park-n-ride on the way home too, so overall a very successful night :)