Cirque Du Soleil Italia

I am so glad that I did not allow the reviews I saw before going to the show talk me out of going. This show was amazing! I attended the 8:30pm show at Potomac Mills on Saturday, ⁸⁄₁. Here are a few suggestions to make your experience the most enjoyable!
1. Remove any expectations of Cirque de Soleil. This is NOT your traditional Cirque de Soleil show. I have seen three Cirque shows, 2 in Vegas and one at the National Harbor in DC. This show is not on that level, it is however a nice upgraded circus filled with acrobats, water and lots of of oooh’s and aaahhhs. We had two children and two adults. The kids are 5 and 7 and the entire time their eyes and mouths were open wide. Besides, you get what you pay for. and the last few Cirque shows I saw I sure didnt get the tickets for as much as a discount as I got these!
2. Arrive early! Especially if you have discounted tickets. We brought our tickets on GoldStar and there are two lines that will form. One to switch your printed confirmations for a wristband and one to actually get in. Call me a super planner, but we arrived in the area at 5pm. Had dinner at Red Robin, got over to the ticket trailer at exactly 6:30pm (wristtbands available 2 hours before the show) and then waited in the car for a few and got in line at 7:15pm (doors opens 1 hour before the show. They were a little delayed (about 5 mins) but it wasnt bad. Yes, its a lot of waiting, BUT we were the 3^rd family in line and had front row blue level (the middle level) seating. Remember seats are 1^st come, 1^st serve. Although the tent is very intimate and there really are no bad seats, we still wanted to pick the seats we wanted without effort.
Gold level ticket holders have a special VIP line and get to go in before everyone else. We had blue levels and our seats were fine.
3. Go to a later show. The heat comments freaked me out! We even saw a woman come out of the 5:30pm show as we waiting drenched in sweat. Our show however was very comfortable and cool and I’m thinking because the sun had gone down. It was warm, but not unbearable hot. So if you can go to a show a night. It will help!
4. Bring cash. The price for food was reasonable – $ 5 slushy, $ 5 funnel cakes, $ 3 large popcorns, etc. Not bad! But they only take cash so plan ahead of time. Also– we didn’t do this, but bring your own snacks! They did not check our person and a few bags of popcorn in a ziplock and juices and water in a big purse could save you some money!
5. Sit back and enjoy! With a little planning this is can be a very enjoyable show. The show was long! We didn’t get out until 11:15pm, BUT the show was so captivating that we didnt even realize that the time had gone by. It really is a great show!

I just returned from the show at Potomac Mills with my four daughters. I felt compelled to respond to all the negative reviews from Florida. If you’re looking for the glitz and glam of Cirque du Soleil, and all of the pricey comforts that come with that, maybe this is not the show for you. But if you are willing to leave your critical eye at the door, you may be pleasantly surprised. We were. Sure it was hot and home spun at times. The performers were selling concessions and taking tickets for heaven’s sake! But they worked incredibly hard and many were unbelievably talented. We were in awe. This is the kind of circus of yesteryear. It was gritty but so charming. My kids don’t even remember the Cirque du Soleil show they saw a few years ago. This one they said they will never forget.