Ringling Brothers – Barnum’s Funundrum

I have never been to the circus until tonight. And, It’s going to be my last time there because of the animal shows. These animals didn’t look happy. It was sad watching them and I can see that the animals were scared just by their postures.
The circus could of been great with just humans performing extremely crazy and out of this world acts. They don’t need the animals there.
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On the last minute fluke. I was awarded some tickets from a friend. Her company has a box suite. I guess no one was interested in going on a Thursday night. So I swooped on those tickets with a free VIP parking pass. The view of the show was spectacular. The show itself was great. Very entertaining. My nieces really enjoyed themselves. Of course like anytime you go to events the food and souvenirs are sky high. I’d compare them to the prices of things at Disney on Ice. I splurged since I dot free tickets. But otherwise I would have been a little more cash conscious. All in all I would visit the Circus again even if I had to pay for my own tickets or had young children. My favorite part would have to be the Elephants and the Motorcycle show.

There is nothing wrong with taking kids to the circus EXCEPT when it comes to the animals… they have no say in it. Ringling Brothers beats their animals, they are taking away from their natural environment away from their mother since they are babies. These animals suffers from the hands of the trainer by their beating. Some even die. Would you beat your cat or dogs? Most people don’t know what goes on behind the close door. Take a look at the video below. It’s important to teach kids and I know you have compassion for these animals. Do not support Ringling Brothers. There are other circuses that do not use animals and are just as great. Animals should not have to suffer for our entertainment.

when the circus is in town my daughter loves to see the animals. I have mixed feelings about the circus show. You have to pass the protesters that are against the animal cruelty. The show content is just what you expect from a circus show.

I have been watching a lot of circus through out my life and yesterday I had a chance to see the Ringling Brothers after haven’t gone to a circus for several years — I have searched online and read several reviews of them. Some of them were positive but a lot of negatives as well. However, I heard a lot of hypes from people who saw the Ringling Brothers previously so I set my expectation so high.
At the end of the day, I could only say that I was super disappointed and here is why — 1. The show we went was hold on Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA. We arrived there two hours before our show time (5pm) as I read about they opened animal open house 90 minutes before the show so we drove to the venue early as we would like to check out the animal open house. After parking our car, I went to the box office and grabbed the tickets I ordered online and headed up to the animal open house entrance. FYI I went to the circus with several kids. When we passed the entrance, we were kinda disappointed because we saw almost nothing — they were several cages with horses, donkeys, elephants, sleeping tigers and lions but that was it! There were no guides or people who could interact with guests or at least something that could attract guests who came and felt interested to stick around and got some information about the animals. So we watched for 5 minutes, took pictures and took off! DISAPPOINTED!
2. We went inside the arena early and got to our seat (about an hour before the show) — we bought foods, snacks and stuffs then kinda settled down on our seats — half hour before the show — they started to bring couple clowns on the floor. When we talk about circus — i would think that we expect to see a lot of clowns running around and try interact with young children — so the pre-​show with the clowns doing stuffs on the floor actually was a good beginning — kids were allowed to get to the middle of the court and interact with the clowns which was quite entertaining. (however, a minor critique — the clowns are not that funny as i expected). Few years back I remember watching couple circuses and they had clowns that were funny and interacted better with children. So pre-​show started with 2 — 3 clowns but it’s all about it! Since then, after the show started — it’s all about the show and nothing about the clowns — sometimes there were a part or two where they asked several clowns to get to the floor and made jokes. But I don’t think it wasn’t even funny to the kids — at least the kids I brought told me so.
CLOWNS category — DISAPPOINTED!
3. Now let’s talk about the show — the animals parts were okay as It should be — we all know about tigers, elephants, etc but the way they choreographed it was awful! There’s one show where they put it on three different angles of the court and they expect the audience to watch it at the same time (goat show, poodle dogs show and the cat show) — C’mon! do we have 3 pairs of eyes that can watch all three shows at the same time? Then the categories they’re showing to us… I don’t think the kids appreciate to watch circus with a lot of martial arts on it… a person getting stabbed on the back with a sharp sword — it was scary stuffs for kids. I am not saying it’s not entertaining for adults! we’re all for the kids, right? and we expect kids stuffs that can entertain them with shows that are appropriate for kids. And then, the song selection — I know new songs are nice… but please!!! Playing «I’m too sexy’s Right Said Fred» to the kids? One last thing… and this is very disgusting and embarrassing to the circus family at least… they have this trapeze show where they failed twice and they didn’t give another chance to themselves for having one successful try! Why? No time? and they came down the trapeze wishing getting applause from the audience but man… you’ve failed twice in a row! and didn’t get it done!
SHOWS — DISAPPOINTED!
4. Venue — I always go to the Warriors game on Oracle Arena and I know they always keep the venue clean. We went to Ringlings for the 5pm show and when we entered the venue around 4pm something and grabbed our seats — it’s all dirty every where — there’s waters and food scraps under our seats — we even needed to ask the janitor who are still working around the stadium cleaning to help me dry out enormous amount of water/​soda underneath my seat. Not enough time to clean after the previous show (1pm). C’mon… No Excuse! We all paid real money for our seats and I paid 50+ for per front row seating and I got disappointed on how Ringling Brothers company really care about cleanliness and comfort level of the audience. DISAPPOINTED!
Overall, if you have other options to bring your kids for circus, DO NOT GO TO RINGLING BROTHERS — it’s not a circus that can entertain your kids any more. Spend your money by going to other like cirque de soleil, etc that worth for your dollars.

as an adult, I think I was surprised by the show. It was better than I thought it would have been. but simply, I disagree with using animals in circus shows and the treatment of their animals. But if animal cruelty doesnt bother you. I think its fun, especially for grade school children. cirque du soleil is still my preference.

Bought tickets for my son’s birthday before they went on sale & paid $ 40 for a 3 year old & $ 40 for an adult. When the kid’s tickets went on sale for $ 10 I felt ripped off.
Parking at the coliseum was expensive at $ 25 a car! Geez Louise I am going broke just so my kid can see some dancing elephants.
I do have to say the show was pretty cool. My son was scared of the clowns before the show but when he saw them act silly during the show he fell in love with them. My favorite part was the lion taming, dancing elephants & the guy who catapulted into the air on fire. I want to try that. I do think everyone has to go to the circus once in their life & Ringling Brothers is the classic circus act.

Love the circus — who doesn’t?
Brought 3 small kids, and had no trouble with parking. It’s $ 25 in the Oracle parking lot, but free at the BART station just a few blocks away. For the weekend shows, street parking nearby is free too. Wouldn’t want to walk at night, tho.
It was nice to be able to see the animals in the parking lot before the show. Contrary to what the animal protesters were offensively shouting, these animals looked well cared for and there was obvious affection between them and their handlers.
The pre-​show entertainment was a real treat, as the kids got to go down onto the floor, walk the tight rope, hang on the trapeze, etc.
Our seats were great — there really isn’t a bad seat at Oracle. But in case you’re wondering, it’s a 3 ring circus so the best seats are in the middle of the arena (ie: sect 128, 101, 115, 114). The seats are numbered from L to R, when you are facing the seats.
Food was as expected: $ 6 hot dogs, $ 3 PBJ, $ 4 pretzel, $ 6 bottled drinks.

Its not the same! Its been a maybe 10 yrs since the last time I’ve been to the so called «greatest show on earth». They should change it to «the sorriest show on earth» I didnt even stay through the whole show, I left about mid way, It was soooo boring. There was too much singing and dancing and less tricks, oh and their tricks especially with the tigers was sooo bad. Tigers looked so sad. I spent 26 on each ticket, plus 20 flippin dollars on parking, People spend your money on something else.

You know, clowns used to not scare me until my friends all made a big deal out of it. Then it was like, aw crap, I now see them in a different light and so I have another thing to add to my list of irrational fears (which, FYI, include ladybugs, brooms, and looking up at tall things).
Sara P. and I decided to go to the circus after she saw cheap tickets on GoldStar. We sat in the lower level, 15 rows up from the arena, and we had a good view of most everything that was going on. Even though we were the only two 21+ people there without children, we didn’t feel too creepster and thankfully there were no bratty kids sitting around us.
Of course, not having children was a blessing, as EVERYTHING was expensive. Parking was $ 20 (not sure why we didn’t think of taking the BART). A bag of cotton candy was $ 12 — this mom next to me pulled out a fiver and was like, IT’S HOW MUCH?! Stuffed animals and random toys were probably way up there as well. Even the coloring book was $ 5.
The pre-​show (an hour before the show started) was pretty cool; they opened up the arena and had performers doing little skits and acts, an elephant painting and doing tricks, and a «wardrobe» area where we got to try on some of the costumes. I decided not to post the photo of me in a shiny jacket, since my friend told me I looked like I’d clobbered Elton John and stole his clothing.
Overall the show was really neat and entertaining, even though I’m not a kid anymore. Some of the stuff was like, where do you even come UP with this stuff and how on earth do you even get into this kind of thing? I wasn’t really a fan of the animal acts, especially with the animal protesters standing outside, so I could’ve done without it. The other acts were definitely a lot more amusing (trapeze artists, contortionists, etc.).
Overall a great experience, since the last time I was at the circus was when I was like, 3. It’s great to do something kiddish again every now and then. I wonder how much those circus people get paid. New career opportunity. hmm.

This was my first time taking kids to the circus, and it was very fun. We splurged and got 2^nd row tickets — we could see everything, down to the expressions on the performers’ faces and the hairs on the elephants!
I was most impressed with the motorcycle riders zooming around in the metal sphere. I also liked the trampoliners, the balancers, and of course, the elephants. We got to see baby Barack, whose mother was so proud that he already knew a trick.
I wasn’t a fan of the tiger act — they were the only animals that didn’t look like they wanted to join the circus. I was glad the clowns weren’t scary and that the music wasn’t deafeningly loud. The kids (and us parental types) had a blast!
Prices are ridiculous — $ 20 for parking, $ 40 apiece for good tickets, $ 6 for popcorn, water, etc. There was no way I was paying $ 12.50 for a beer or $ 25 for a toy (x2 for twins!). Also, I understand why the animal rights protesters were there, but leaning down and yelling «The circus punches elephants in the face!» in a 4-​year old’s face seems equally cruel to me.

Avoid the upper level at all costs and shell out the extra cash for the lower level. There’s moving signs above the floor that blocked the view most of the time during the show. I liked the Torres family, a group of seven motorcycle riders that rode inside a steel globe. Nano the midget sidekick was cute but I didn’t like seeing him everywhere. It needs some more excitement. Uh… the trapeze guy didn’t make his quadruple somersault, that was a little disappointing. I had fun watching it; the PETA protesters were outside and made me feel a little guilty.

The greatest show on earth!
The show was great! My inner child was out full force! I’ve never been to a circus before. Deprived childhood. haha. So I was super excited when the BF surprised me with tickets to the show!
So many acts and entertaining for all ages! Combination of physical talent, clowns and kiddie humor makes a good show. Oh, can’t forget the adorable animals! Except for that one elephant that took a big dump during the performance. That was hilarious!
Not sure about the upper level, but the view from the lower level was pretty good. There were some ropes and wires hanging from the ceiling around the whole floor, but they didn’t block the view much. Also the acts were staged either on the center or across the floor so everyone had a good view.
Food: few of the regular concession stands were open, so was the bar. The show had their own stands selling toys, snow cones and cotton candy. Pricey though.
I didn’t think I would have such a good time, but it was great not being an adult for a few hours. But what really made my evening was hearing the precious little girl behind me laugh and squeal. It made my heart melt. Note to future self: take kids to the circus.
Funundrum at Oracle Arena! August 11 – 15!
*will post pictures later =)