Wow! If you’re looking for some great entertainment no matter what age you are, you’ll definitely want to check out Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Fully Charged before they are gone!

This was our 3^rd year attending Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and my girls and I all agreed that we thought this might have been the best one so far. I recommend arriving an hour early for the All Access Pre-Show Power-Up Party, where you can go down onto the floor and interact with the clowns and watch some of the performers as they show off their skills. We saw jugglers and stilt walkers, acrobats, bicyclists, Asia the painting elephant (who also managed to eat an entire loaf of bread in one gulp), and our kids got to try on some wild circus costumes.  How fun is that?! We even got our girls to face their clown fears by posing with a very nice looking clown.

Local’s Tip: You can choose to pay $15 to park at the arena (if you’re visiting at the Honda Center in Anaheim), or park a short block away for $10 and save a few bucks.  The Honda Center doesn’t allow outside food or beverages, so plan on bringing some cash if you want some goodies. You can stock up on snow cones in a clown or elephant souvenir cup for $10, cotton candy with a rubber pink wig or clown hat to take home for $12, your basic popcorn for $8, or a tasty S’more on a Stick for just $5. Of course, there were many other tempting souvenirs to choose from as well, like colorful, bright, wand-like spinning handheld lights, photo booth opportunities with circus backgrounds, and more.

There are so many things going on at once during Fully Charged that you won’t want to blink so as not to miss any of it.  The bright, colorful costumes and lights and upbeat music with lots of singing, dancing, acrobatics, juggling, animal training, jump roping tightrope walking, and clowns galore are just some of what you have to look forward to.

I think my favorite part was watching the trainer work with the Bengal tigers. Amazing! They are huge, beautiful animals and it was mesmerizing watching him work his magic with them. The elephants were fantastic as well. To watch these four-ton giants all move together in unison, lying down, rolling over, and even standing on their hind legs in a conga line with one in a sort of headstand, was awesome. My nine year old in particular loved the animal performances the most.

The acrobats were phenomenal as well; moving in ways incomprehensible to me, as they made climbing straps to great heights and dancing in the air look fluid and natural.

Another part of the show that I really enjoyed was something called Wheels of Steel, where two brothers jump, maneuver and climb pendulum-looking contraptions at top speed. It was very entertaining to watch, and actually made me a little nervous.

Though not as nervous as watching the high-wire walkers who literally jumped rope, rode a bicycle, and walked the precariously high and very scary tight rope while stacked on each others shoulders or standing on a chair. Crazy! 

But not as crazy as the human missile that was launched from a cross bow, while on fire, across the entirety of the stage. It was awesome!

Between the impressive acrobatics and skills of the gymnasts that flipped, twisted, leaped, and almost flew, the fire juggling brothers, the comedic antics of masses of clowns, the giant rubber donut looking wheeled bicycle, the singing ringmaster, the neon stilt bouncing basketball players, and everything else I mentioned, we were definitely shown a great time and can hardly wait to go back next year!

You can still catch Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Fully Charged at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario through August 14. Tickets range from $12 – 100 and can be purchased at the venue box office, online at ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.