Disney Live: Pirates & Princess Adventure

So this post isn't about a party or a DIY, but it is about part of my life as a mom.  When Addy turned 2, I started thinking about whether it was too early to start taking her to shows or not.  I love Broadway, theater, any type of show really.  My mom stuck me in theater classes when I was about 5 & I really enjoyed it.  I am not sure I was that good & obviously didn't stick with it, but it was a lot of fun & really created a love of theater for me.  So I really want to help my girls have that same love.  Of course when I was trying to figure out if I should take Addy or not, I took to Google to look up when other moms had taken their little ones & what their results were.  After doing some research, right before she turned 2 1/2, we decided we would try to give Disney Junior Live Pirate & Princess Adventure a try since it was coming to town.  The show featured Sofia the First & Jake & the Never Land Pirates.  Addy had really just started watching tv & I wasn't even sure she had seen either of the shows before, but the show was super cute.

We weren't sure how she would do at a live show because she had never really been to anything like that where she was supposed to sit still.  Luckily there were tons of kids in the audience moving around & being loud & stuff so it was a fine environment for her to act however she wanted to.  There is no pressure to sit still & be quiet, which is a great thing for toddlers.  She did like watching the princesses & the pirates, even though she is only now sort of learning who Sofia & Jake & those different characters are.  I think it's hard for her to wrap her head around that somebody besides Dora actually exists.  : )  The music was really cute too.

She did pretty good at paying attention & enjoying the show until the last 10-15 minutes of the show.  It was about an hour & a half with a 20 minute intermission in between.  I think she might have done better if we had walked around during the intermission & come back to our seats afterward.  Although then that does give them an opportunity to notice that there is a TON of Disney swag for purchase...so I guess you have to pick your battles.

Addy wore her princess dress from Halloween & looked too cute.  I think one of her favorite parts was dressing up & seeing all of the other kids in their pirate & princess outfits.  She had a lot of fun.  It was expensive to go to the show, almost $100 for the 3 of us.  After this show, I learned a valuable lesson when it was time to purchase our tickets for another show, Disney on Ice.  Definitely go to the box office & get tickets because I saved almost $20 in fees not doing it online.  I had no idea how much we actually paid in "convenience fees" & "service fees".  The box office was right down the street from me, so if it is convenient for you, definitely just stop in.  Another great thing about going to the box office, you can see all of the seats that are still available & their proximity to the stage.  The guy let me pick out our exact seats for Disney on Ice.

But Addy girl did enjoy the show for the most part.  The last 10 minutes, she looked at me & said, "No more pirates, no more princesses. I want to eat".  I started laughing because it was hilarious.  She was definitely ready to go for the next 10 minutes, but we got her to stick it out until the end.

So do you take a 2 year old to a show like Disney Junior Live Pirate & Princess Adventure?  I say definitely.  It may cost a bit & I definitely suggest trying to purchase the tickets at the box office to save on convenience/service fees (seriously, how convenient is paying an extra fee?), but the experience is a great one, even for a toddler.  The colors are great, the songs are great & the characters are great.  It really doesn't even matter if they know who the characters are, Addy seemed to like it just the same.  We were not even close to the action, more in the upper level, because we weren't sure how Addy would react to the characters (I may or may not still be slightly afraid of mascots at my age, haha).  However, she seemed to love them from afar.  Not sure if they walked directly up to her how she would handle it, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.

I also definitely suggest making use of the intermission to walk around.  Hopefully your event center has something to look at besides Disney swag to distract your little one for a while. : )  These types of events are a great way to introduce toddlers to shows because there is no judgment if they talk loudly or squeal & there are tons of other kids their age & of all different ages for them to enjoy the show with.  So if Disney Junior Live Pirate & Princess Adventure comes to your area, I say definitely check them out.  Happy Saturday!