Marvel Universe Live! (Take My Money!)...

Marvel Live!

So, this weekend was a big weekend...

Marvel Live! weekend was finally here!!
[I'd previously written about this...]

After a little debate on which showing to take my kiddo to see,  I finally decided on one and was ridiculously stoked about the whole thing. Seeing my son truly, radiantly happy...I don't know how to explain what it does to me...it brings me a sense of happiness that can't be rivaled by anything else. Nothing else. In those moments, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter that I had a 'bad day at work,' it doesn't matter that I've had three car accidents in one month, and it doesn't matter that I feel like I lose at the parenting game more than I win...none of it matters. In those moments when he's that sort of beaming pure innocence happy...I feel as if I'm not the terrible parent that I feel I must be at times.../deepbreath sorry, didn't mean to steer this post in that direction...

The show was fantastic! I loved it, my kiddo loved it, the kid and mom sitting next to us loved it! And I'm sure whomever receives the profits for the show really loved it. The tickets were 'holy crap' expensive...but to be fair, I didn't have to spring for the front row seats, but I wanted my kiddo to have the best experience possible. That being said, I'm going as a Marvel fan and a parent, here's some things that might be helpful for anyone who plans on seeing the show anytime soon...

The little doodad on the right is call a "Lectro Link" and there's an option to pre-pay for one if you order your tickets online prior to the show, but you could also buy one from one of the many vendor stands selling souvenirs before the show. This bad boy is $25. $25!!! At best, its a very cheaply put together plasticky watch with a few LED lights inside. The big sell point for these things is that they allow for direction interaction for the show...sounds awesome, right? It's not. At least it's not $25 worth of awesome.

At the beginning of the show, the Lectro Link is introduced as a way for everyone that had one to help power up Tony Stark's arc reactor if there should ever be a problem and his power begins to fail...but the whole premise is kind of ruined when Jarvis pipes up and say that the same effect could be achieved by being in close proximity to other devices such as cell phones and digital cameras. /eyeroll

Anyway. The stupidexpensivepieceofjunk lights up whenever Iron Man is in trouble and needs some help. It happens in the show exactly one time. One. And the whole thing was so brief, my kiddo didn't even notice that the thing had lit up by itself until it was turning off. Ridiculously underwhelming. So, parents, save your money. The day after the show, my son's stupid Lectro Link won't even light up anymore when you push the button. The batteries are replaceable, but I'm not going to start the vicious cycle of replacing them every 24 hours. Nope.

Why, hello Spiderman...

Of course all of the souvenirs are over-priced, as is all available food. I paid $14 for the world's most terrible snow-cone...just because it came with a 'collectible' plastic mug. They sell all sorts of stuff emblazoned with "MARVEL LIVE!!" and whatnot. Maybe you'll luck out and managed to sneak past all of the obnoxious cotton candy mongers and toys with flashing lights...but chances of successfully doing so are ludicrously slim, so I suggest that you be prepared to drop a pretty penny on some memorabilia.

As far as seating, I was surprisingly disappointed with my front row experience. I'd been hopeful for some amount of front row interaction with some of the show's characters, but there was none of that. Absolutely none. In fact, I think the only time any of the actors even pretended to pay the crowd any attention was after the show had concluded and they were bowing for their curtain call. I suppose that it's necessary in order to maintain the feel that the audience is watching a live-action comic book...but....eh. I think it would have made a world of difference if they had some time for the actors to meet with the audience before or after the show...kind of like a pit pass sort of thing. Especially if the front row tickets are over $100 and I've just been ripped-off buying the stupid Lectro Link.

Another word of advice: if you have a child that is over the age of 4...do not waste your money sitting on the front row. In fact, I'd avoid the first 15 rows altogether.

Being too close to the stage allows for an up-close look at a lot of production details that small kids probably don't need to see. Sitting so close to the stage, the production staff was obviously visible whenever they needed to sneak in and change out a bit of equipment. Furthermore, from the front row, all of the actor's cables used for flying stunts were right in our faces. The 3 year old sitting next to us wasn't phased by any of this at all...but my kiddo spent a good bit of the show watching the production crew move equipment rather than watching the action that was supposed to distract from said equipment movement. So, save the money that would have been splurging on front row tickets and go ahead and get the more reasonably priced seats that are further from the stage.

All things considered, my son and I had an amazing time. As soon as the show was over, my kiddo was asking me if we could come back and watch it again the next day...so, yeah...it was worth every begrudgingly spent dollar.

And...I got this pretty sweet arc reactor necklace. Was it actually worth the $10 price tag? Nah. It doesn't light up, has a plastic clasp, and I'm pretty sure that it's sized for children rather than adults...but...it's an arc reactor necklace that has Marvel Live! emblazoned on the back! There was no was I was going to be able to walk away from that bad boy! [/sigh the perils of being a Marvel nerd...]