My son is obsessed with all things Paw Patrol, so when I saw the live version was rolling into town this month, I briefly considered taking him before deciding I wasn’t sure if we were ready to go see a big live show. Then VStar Entertainment contacted me about free tickets, with four tickets to give away and I was like, “Heck yeah, let’s go!” And just like that, PAW Patrol was on roll.
PAW Patrol Live! The Great Pirate Adventure is a live action show, where people in big pup costumes dance around on stage with lights, music and a big screen behind them that makes it look like the TV show. They do a pretty neat job- the costumes looked perfect and the actors’ voices were pretty close to the ones in the show. After watching a million PAW Patrol episodes, I feel like I’m a pretty good judge of show quality.
My husband was out of town, so I brought my friend Effie and her two-year-old son Alex with us. It felt like we were going into “The Great Mom Adventure” just getting the kids ready and going there. We put both car seats in my car (a first for both of us!) and actually rode together downtown. We had no idea what to expect or how the kids would be, or if they would even stay in the seats. We ended up being pleasantly surprised and the kids had a great time!
The fun started in the parking lot and walking in, where we got to see lots of little kids dressed up as their favorite pup. It was SO CUTE! Keelan would point them out and yell their names. Then as soon as you walk in, you see the lights. Little kids everywhere with light-up toys. Light up toys that cost $20-$25 freakin dollars a piece. Seriously? Since we got the tickets free, I got a little splurgy and went for the spinning light up thing he just HAD to have. Possibly just so he could spend the rest of the show whacking me in the face with it. But it kept him happy, so it was a good investment.
We spent the 30 minutes leading up to the show running laps around the Times Union Moran Theater, upstairs, downstairs and around the pillars. We even spent a little time outside on the riverfront, just trying to get some of that toddler energy out before trying to get them to stay still. I noticed the longest lines weren’t for the souvenirs, but for the full bar. They had a full liquor bar open with drink specials, plus beer and wine at at least two other spots. They were ready to keep the parents happy as well!
When we did get to our seats, the kids sat in their own seats for a few minutes before gravitating toward our laps. They could see better that way anyway and spent most of the show on laps or crawling on the seats and back down again. I’m happy to say the show really kept their attention! It really was like watching a live version of one of the episodes. Our kids LOVED it! They were clapping and singing and having a great time. And the length of it wasn’t bad either. It didn’t seem too long before they announced a 15 minute intermission, where we went back out to run around some more.
It was during intermission that my son decided he absolutely had to have a shirt, and not just any shirt, but his favorite pup of the week – Skye. And of course the only shirt with Skye on it was a hot pink girl’s shirt, with “Girl Pups Unite!” on it. But my son knows what he likes, picked it out and put it on right away, and I think he looked pretty darn good in hot pink.
Overall, we had a great time! I would totally do a live action show again. You can put your zip code in on the PAW Patrol Live website and find out when the show is coming to a city near you and get tickets!
One thing I was hoping to discover at the show never did get answered- why is PAW always capitalized? It wasn’t even covered on the website or Wikipedia page, so after some searching I found this was a question several other blogs had pondered and sought answers to. The best answer I found was on Blooming Brilliant and their post 7 Things I Think About While Watching PAW Patrol. I think a lot of us can relate to this one. The answer is either “Pups at Work” (which was my guess) or “Protect and Wag.”
So what kid shows have you been to? Any ones you recommend? I’ve heard the ones “on ice” are pretty cool! (pretty cool…ha!)
