How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular

My wife wanted to watch the live-​action version of the movie. We really liked it and recommend it to those who liked the movie.

First of all, I love the Honda center where the «How to Train Your Dragon» LIVE spectacular was being presented. The parking structure was easy to get into, though it was somewhat pricey. I forget the actual price but it’s in the range of $ 10 to $ 20. Luckily, I got the tickets early so we had real good seats. It was a plus that the seats were roomy and comfy, allowing for some sort of personal space also.
The show lacks that 5^th star because I thought the show relied a lot on the video aspect. Granted, I’m sure the budget was mostly allotted towards the dragons rather than scenery changes. Loved that the dragons walked, flew, blew fire, and fought with other dragons. It was pretty exciting! I think what would’ve elevated this show is if there was an option to pay extra just to get up and close to the dinosaurs and get photo ops. That would’ve put it over the edge for me. Overall, definitely a must see, especially for children!

excellent show. very pricey, but great atmosphere. daddy daughter date

this was a great show! (KILLED the Batman Live show) The use of the stage and wall was amazing, especially during ‘flying’ scenes and the big dragon at the end. The special effects were great, more than i expected for this show.
my only wish is that they had more of the dragons/​animatronics throughout the show. They were amazing and I really wish i could’ve seen more of them!

So recently ive noticed that there has been a number of these type of adapted live shows that cater toward young kids. A few months ago they had the batman live show and now there was how to train your dragon at the Honda Center. I thought this was a really good show for my newphews birthday since he loved the movie. What really impressed me was how they integrated the live performance with the video projection on the backdrop and the stage floor. Even with the nosebleeds seats we were still able to take in the full show since there was a lot of aerial elements. The only bad thing was that it was a little hard to see the actors faces so you really couldnt see their facial expressions. Another cool thing about the show was the actual dragons themselves. The dragons were very detailed with lots of motions. The show lasted about 2 hrs total with a 20 min intermission. Also there were deals on goldstar and living social so it was a very affordable show.

How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular was fantastic. My daughter age 8, throughly enjoyed the show. Some of the kids sitting around us got bored after 30 minutes, I wouldn’t recommend this show for kids under 5. The show plays for 1 hour, intermission for 30 minutes and then the last hour plays out. I would try to get as close as possible because the dragons are fantastic. However, if you end up in the higher seats, you are treated to quite a show when the dragons fly by. The souvenir shops are extremely expensive, $ 30 for a small dragon, if you bring your little one you might want to skip the long line to the display case.

First and foremost, many thanks to Ryan C for leveraging the mighty power of Unilocal to secure these wonderful tickets.
I couldn’t really wrap my head around the movie version so I didn’t have high hopes for the show. But the kiddo wanted to see the live version so we hightailed it over to the Honda Center opening night to check it out.
I’ll be honest… I really had no idea idea what was happening in the show. I did note that there were multiple jokes about flatulence and unless this was Smell-​O-​Vision, there were some rather flatulent folks all around us.
There was a joke made about a hat made out of breast milk, resulting in nervous laughter all around.
There were some segments of the show that incorporated elements of Cirque du Soleil. And breakdancing. Yes, breakdancing Vikings. Speaking of Vikings… judging by the sheer amount of flatulence, chair kicking, popcorn crunching and loud talking, I am pretty sure we were seated in front of a family of Vikings.
All of that aside, this was a night of memory making with the little boy and for that, I will endure just about Nything.

Great show Disney can learn a thing or two from this show, a must see if you have kids.

PERFECT for my 200^th review! yay! :D
This show was awesome! walking into the arena i can feel the excitement in the room and me and my boyfriend got really good seats! We were basically in the Center Section of the plaza floor sitting in the Center of our row, we got a direct view of the stage.
The producers did a great job with transforming one of my favorite movies to a live show! the special effects were amazing and all stunts the actors did to match the pictures on the screen were spot on. I love toothless! the dragons looked amazing and it even startled me a couple times when they would roar and breathe «fire», they were so life like!
MY favorite scene was when hiccup goes down to save Toothless under water, that scene was captivating and executed brilliantly. Tear jerker for sure! haha
This show had all the kids around me super excited and some were even jumping off their seats to cheer Hiccup & Toothless on when it came to the final battle! It was a great show and i’m glad i got to experience it because it was the last show in their US tour. They’re going overseas to China now, so bummer :(
How to Train your Dragon live was definitely a great experience! I would recommend this to anyone with kids or adults who are kids at heart themselves (:

I love Toothless!
This live show was extremely well-​done and the animatronics and special effects are amazing! They did a great job of adapting the movie to a live stage show.
Since the show is at the Pond, it’s a more casual scene than going to the theater. They have stadium food that you can purchase before and during the show.
Skip the food! We bought a churro that was unbelievably stale. You could barely bite through it! And don’t get me started on the popcorn. They scoop it out of the popcorn machine to make you believe it was freshly popped! As we were walking away, the person serving the popcorn grabs a huge bag from the floor and starts filling his machine with more popcorn! Talk about false advertising!
This is a great show for families and I heard there was a Living Social deal for this event!

I got tickets to the show as a Christmas present and didn’t really know what to expect, having never seen the movie before. Overall it was an enjoyable show. The story is entertaining and the special effects are pretty neat. It’s a combination of animatronics and digital image projections for backgrounds and simulation of movement.
The scene with the actor suspended on a wire and running on the wall which terrain is projected on was amazing. It was like something straight out of a video game and that in itself made the show worth it.

This was an awesome experience. The show stayed true to the movie as much as it could get. The animatronics were great. Your kids will love you for taking them.

«Toothless» 4.5 Stars
Four legs, wings, breaths fire and has a heart of gold… this is Toothless, a dragon with a heart of pure gold and a love for his master similar to that of a boy and a dog.
The special effects will leave you dazzled and your little one will come out with an understanding of what role fear can play in the misunderstandings of society.
Toothless, a dragon who bonded with a Viking and «that is how the world was changed.» A great show for kids and AOK for adults.
I am a fan.

This review is based on three catagories.
Firstly we felt that we got a good deal from Goldstar with the package that includes a medallion & cup souvenir plus a drink. Initially I was a bit sceptical on which seats we will be assigned to, but we are utterly happy that we got good seats. It would have been the same seating area if we were to pick ourself.
We attended the opening night. The production itself is two thumbs up, way much better than expectation. Kept us glued to the seats. The choreography, effects and teamwork is excellent.
Last but not least thank you to the ground supervisors who helped us get our package deals straighten out.

I echo the sentiments of Dave L. and Joann D. Thanks Ryan C for the complimentary tix.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. My daughter hadn’t seen the movie, but she is 3 weeks shy of being 6 so I thought we’d try a live event since she is holding her attention in the movie theatre pretty good.
It takes place on the ice rink which is cut in half by the stage, which my daughter was very perceptive about. She was excited and kept asking when it was going to start. She liked the life size dragons and the part where the dragons when to the end of the rink and breathed on the audience.
It had a good story, but the the acoustics weren’t the best so it was kind of hard to hear everything, but I don’t think kids really care about the «lines» so much.
It reminds me how I thought She-​Ra and He-​man was so cool in the 80s. and I think she she looks back she’ll probably feel the same, but it was an experience.
The actions of the dragons were really well timed so the speaking actions were really in sync, unlike some artists to can’t keep up to their own dubbed voices during live shows.
I think if the your kids have seen the movie, this is like a nice little supplement. They will enjoy it and it’s time well spent with your family, small or big.

My very 1^st Unilocal elite event and I got to share it with my family. My hubby bought himself a ticket at the box office. I recommend doing this if you only need 1 ticket, Why? Because No ADDITIONAL fees! Save that money for souvenirs for the kids (FYI: viking hat that light up are $ 20 each).
Thank you so much Ryan C for organizing this event. BTW… great seats too! VERY MEMORABLE!
I walked into this show knowing only tid BITS of the storyline, which is what I preferred (I like surprises… such a girl huh? hehe). I am used to watching musicals and wasn’t quite sure how they were going to make a show about dragons & vikings entertaining enough to keep my attention for 2 hours; let alone my kids’ with an attention span of an ANT. Boy were we pleasantly WOWed!
LIFE SIZE DRAGONS flying and blowing smoke. They did a spectacular job with the effects and bringing the Dragons to life. I fell in love with Toothless!
Great colors, texture and mechanics. They moved around the stage with full motion… some of them even FLEW! AMAZING!!!
FRONT OF THE STAGE: Imagine you are on a motion picture ride and the screen is changing w/​every movement; like «Soarin’ Over California» @ Disneyland.
This was the base of the scenery and the characters used this as their «prop.» Flying over trees & hills; swimming, fires, chaos; castle and dungeons. Great lighting and effects. Pretty cool.
ACTORS: Hiccup overall was our favorite of course. He was full of excitement, anger and emotion. As for everyone else… nothing special.
COOL THING: some parts the main characters were attached to wires and dangled from the ceiling to act out their roles to correlate with the backdrop setting. Example: Hiccup was «swimming» down towards Toothless to save him! PRETTY NIFTY eh?
LOVED LOVED LOVED the flying scenes with the Dragons and Hiccup.
CONCLUSION: The show held my kids’ attention for 90% of the time. That’s a WINNING SHOW in my books.
**Reason I’m giving this only 4 stars is b/​c the acting could be a bit more entertaining. Instead of relying solely on the special effects and props… perhaps some more HUMOR and a catchy TUNE might gain the extra 10% to reach 100% success.

«Dragons, fire & beers… Oh myyy!»
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If you like boring, «seen it before,» discount pyrotechnics, stiff 70’s robot’esque animation & Jerry Springer-​like acting… YOU’RE REALLY GOING TO HATE THIS!
This, show, was… AMAZING!
If you ever wondered if there was something that could spark that child-​like wonderment you had growing up, «How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular» is just one of those things!
Thar’ be dragons here! ‘And what beautiful beasts they be!
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To be a child in this audience, witnessing these fire breathing, flying feats would be something to remember… Simply magical.
The last time I was @ the Honda Center a couple of years ago, I was «Walking with Dinosaurs…» ‘Tonight, we were «Training with Dragons.»
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I tip my Viking helmet to DreamWorks for this awesome production… ‘From the executives, creatives, set designers, stage crew, performers, everyone…
Thank you for the magic.
I saw a few things that made me go, «Hmmm, now that’s cool!» Here’s just a few…
1. Large-​scale cinematic projections that the performers interacted with. (i.e — Hiccup «running, tumbling, climbing, & even swimming») The physicality required from the performers from Astrid, Hiccup, Stoick the Vast & the many others, nothing short of «Wow.»
2. Viking Ships sailing in… ‘Very cool effect.
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3. Red Death pursuing Hiccup & Toothless in flight… Awesome!
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4. State-​of-​the-​art animatronic technology!
5. Great sound & audio techs!
6. Okay fine, «Everything!»
I ordered a $ 12 Blue Moon, no that is not a typo… Twelve dollars!
(Why not, I don’t see a Deadly Nadder everyday!)
The cashier poured it with about half an inch of foam sitting on top…
Me: «Uhm, is it possible to have the Blue Moon with less foam?»
(Insert «crazy look» from cashier here)
Me: Well, I am paying about a $ 1 an ounce… I can’t afford «froth.» After all, it’s not called a Blue Moon Latté?! I’m spending my Christmas gift money here!
Point made, point taken.
The couple in line next to me, looked @ me and weren’t sure if I was serious or joking… Lighten up people, we’re about to see Dragon Training!
My good friend, SP, who is accustomed to this laughed & quietly walked away.
I can attempt to explain the experience but no matter how thorough or detailed, even w/​photos… It will just be a mediocre, 2^nd hand account compared to «being there» with a larger than life, walking & snorting, Gronckle, just a mere stone’s throw away from you.
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‘Not to sound cliché-​ish but «You just have to see it for yourself.»
Of course, tonight would not have been possible without Ryan C.
Mahalo nui loa Ryan & Unilocal*OC!
«Kid tested, mother approved.»
— Big Aloha!
PS: This show is only running Jan. 17^th — 20^th.
So, if you’re considering going, don’t take too long in deciding.
Food: 3
Ambiance: 4
Service: 3
Value: 5+ (Priceless — Did I mention fire breathing, flying dragons overhead?!)

«This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or, parrots… we have… dragons. » — Hiccup «How to Train Your Dragon (Dreamworks 2010)
I don’t know how Dreamworks did it, but they managed to capture all the fun and wonder, excitement and adventure of the motion picture all in an amazing live performance.
This show really took flight with the amazing work done on the animated dragon models. Painstaking details such as facial expressions, smoke and realistic movements elevated the dragons into believable characters. The artwork and intricate design of each dragon gave each one depth and a real personality of their own.
Amazing digital art allowed the actors to make use of walls and a 3D environment as their personal canvases. I was incredibly impressed with how much of the show manipulated space by projecting flying and falling scenes against a wall, with actors in harnesses performing against them.
The music and choreography was top notch. My 11 year old niece I brought along was enraptured by the whole experience! And I loved the added bonus of finally meeting fellow Unilocaler Dave L. who was sitting right behind me with his handsome little guy.
Thank you, Ryan C. (and the Unilocal Team) for organizing yet another incredible event for us! This was very much appreciated.
A few memorable photos:
The Dragon Gronkle:
The Dragon Nadder:
Toothless in flight with Hiccup and Astrid:
Vikings:

A big thanks to Ryan C. and Unilocal for putting this together for a few of us. My son and I had a great time.
My son is six and has gotten a bit jaded by his vast experience in the world. He rarely admits that he is having fun. Whenever something exciting or new happens, his usual response is «I knew that was going to happen» or «I’ve seen that before.» Six going on crotchety old man.
When I got tickets to How to Train Your Dragon, I told him about it and showed him a preview online. His response: «Those dragons are fake. It’s just people dressed up in dragon suits.» Let me tell you these are not just people dressed up in dragon suits.
There is no way the online previews can prepare you for what you will see. When the first big dragon came out and the jets of fire started erupting on the stage, I looked over at my son. His eyes were big as saucers and there was a huge smile on his face. For me, the best part of the show was the look on his face at that moment.
My anemic description cannot do this show justice. I can tell you you will see flying dragons, acrobatics, fire, great effects, and use of the entire stage, including the wall, but that won’t prepare you for actually being there. I thought projecting images on the floor and wall with characters using those projections as backdrop was especially novel and very, very cool. The designers and choreographers are clearly very gifted people.
If you get a chance to go, do it. This is a great family event that adults can enjoy as well. My son was excited to go to school today so he could tell his friends about the dragons.