Disney on Ice

On October 22, 2010, I got a wild hair and decided to surprise the boys with tickets to Disney on Ice. The show was the next day so I bought tickets (that seemed expensive) hoping they were decent seats. On the 23rd, I loaded everyone up into the car. I didn't tell them where we were going. We stopped at McDonald's before hand, a rare treat, for our crew and then drove across to the Patriot Center at George Mason University.

Now, let me preface with this story with two things. When I was a kid, money was tight. My Dad worked very, very, very hard but we weren't able to do a whole lot of extra things. Second, money is not as tight for us but this was a huge deal for me. We have been doing Financial Peace University for three years. We are in a decent (not great) place financially but we set very little money aside for Vacations/Entertaining. This was a big deal for me to be able to take my kids to something that I would have never gotten to do as a kid. In my mind I had decided that I would be the "good" Mom and I would give each boy $20 to buy something, $20 x 4 boys, that was $80 of junk, but I was prepared for their smiling faces!

We got to the Patriot Center and the boys were excited to see the show but really had no idea what to expect. As always our first stop was the bathroom, where I excitedly told them that they each had $20 to spend!! WOOT!! We couldn't wait to get out of the bathroom and spend that money. Boy were we disappointed! I thought for sure we would get something fantastic, after all $20 is a lot for one kid to spend, little did I know what I was in for! I had really hoped the kids would get some sort of flasher, but would you believe those cheap flashing, spinning Woody/Buzz toys were FORTY DOLLARS EACH! I could have wept. Thankfully the boys were gracious (have I mentioned lately how amazing they are) and each settled for a $20 bag of cotton candy that had the cheapest foam hat you have ever seen attached. This was just the first of many insults that night.

After swallowing my pride, which was difficult as you watch families (who appear to have a lot less money then we do) lavish their children with hundreds of dollars worth of trinkets, we climbed the stadium seating to our seats. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed and climbed. No joke, we were at the VERY top of that stadium. My children were literally worried they were going to fall from their seats, insult number two!

As the show began, the boys were excited. Toy Story 3 on Ice is an okay show. The coolest part is the very beginning when the green army men parachute in. After that the boys were rather bored. We were able to move down about 20 rows after intermission but by that point the boys were ready to go home. What a major disappointment. I wrote Disney and told them about our experience. It has been a little over a year and I have not heard a word from them. I suppose they are used to ripping people off!

If I EVER took them to a Disney on Ice again, I would do what my good friend Nancy did. FILL MY PURSE with glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, wands, etc, as well as a few treats to snack on! Maybe one day Abby and I will go to see Disney Princesses on Ice, but for now I have learned my lesson!!

The $20 "treat".

Sam sporting his hat.

Joel, never one to go with the flow, chose a Buzz hat.

My sweet Gabe!

The view from our nose bleed seats. As you can tell we didn't have too many neighbors!

If nothing else I left that night with a new perspective of what my parents lived through. I know it must have been disappointing to them to not be able to buy us the newest greatest toys and clothes and to not be able to take us on the most fabulous vacations. I have so much respect for my parents and God has honored their faithfulness with their money. I can't even tell you how many cool things they are getting to do these days and I am very, very happy for them!