Disney On Ice

Last night we had a family night out at Disney on Ice at Nassau Coliseum.  It was Ava’s first ice show and I think Shayna’s third, but the first one she actually stayed for the whole thing.  When she was little she had some issues with large places with loud noises.  She has come a long way since then. Things went well and a good time was had by all.  However I do have a few recommendations for the venue and the audience (including ourselves) that could improve the experience in the future.

·        It may be news to the coliseum but their parking lot is my only option to put my car and it really pisses me off that I have to pay to do this (this goes for just about every place in the world when I think about it, with a special shout out to Sesame Place for truly obscene parking prices on top of truly obscene park prices).  Sure, if you want to charge a fee for special areas that are really close, go for it – I’m okay with a premium for extra convenience.  Otherwise, you need to just include it.  You know who else makes people pay for things they shouldn’t have to pay for?  The Mafia.  Is that really who you want to be lumped with?

·        The good news was that the tickets were only $10 each (we had a coupon) – the bad news is that two souvenirs and two snow cones later the evening was no longer a bargain.  I understand that it was my choice to make the purchases, but seriously souvenir price setter people, being a parent is hard enough – have you no heart?  The only people worse are the traveling fair people who now charge like a gazillion dollars for a POP bracelet and the venues that make me pay to park. We gave in (well I gave in, Big Guy was parking the car) but told the Mini-me’s tonight was special since it was the first one and they will not be able to get these things in the future.

·        At the next show, when we (I) immediately cave on this declaration, Mini-Me the Younger is not allowed to select her own items.  Shame on me - I knew she would want what her big sister had but she insisted she wanted the Rapunzel braid while Mini-Me the elder got the light up butterfly wand – which the younger then coveted for the rest of the evening (the elder kindly shared and several nearby people were frequently in danger of being clunked in the head).  The same thing happened with the snow cone cup.  She can’t be trusted to make (and stick with) her own decisions.

·        Jeers to the people who sat in Row A in front of us (you know, the first one in the section where you can put your feet up on the wall) before the show even started knowing it was not their seat (I heard you declare so).  Granted, who among us has not searched out better seats once something is underway and it is clear they are available (ball games, airplanes).  But before the show even started?  And there were like 10 of you – you occupied the whole row.  Gosh, who would have thought that five minutes into the show (about 10 minutes after you *finally* settled into the seats) the actual ticket holders (who also had the entire row) would show up and you would block our view as you moved out your entire posse (and they stood there waiting for seats that were theirs and should have been waiting for them)?  Oh, that’s right – me.  I thought that, My Snarky Self.  But I am not allowed to say these things to people in public because *I* would be considered rude.

·        Lastly (and I know this is a cliché but it is such a problem that I will say it) – every public space should be required to build restrooms at a two to one female to male ratio.  I don’t care if this means that every woman’s restroom has twice as many toilets, or if there are twice as many restrooms – I am flexible on the details.  It is cruel and unusual punishment how you make us females wait (and remember we usually get the boy children as well).  There are tons of building requirements in the world – one more can’t hurt.  I am really tired of waiting so long to pee (while holding two overpriced souvenir cups half filled with sugar laden slush, a Rapunzel braid and a butterfly wand).