The show was held downtown at Amway Arena. We arrived around 6:30 and parked in the lot that is across the street underneath I-4. Amway Arena has its own parking garage but we prefer to park across the street not only because it is cheaper ($10 vs the $17+ to park in the garage) but also because we find it takes a lot less time to get out of the lot & onto I-4 after the show. The only annoying thing about parking across the street is you have to walk past all of the PETA supporters (who were very vocal and seemed to push their thoughts onto the children & hand out their leaflets directly to them this year instead of the adults they were with). While I completely respect their views and think it is wonderful that we live in a country where everyone can make their own decisions about things like whether or not to take their children to the circus, my daughter is at an age where she asks tons of questions and I'd prefer the opportunity to discuss things with her in an age appropriate way at home myself vs having a stranger thrust a pamphlet into her hands and having her repeatedly ask me what it says. Luckily it is a quick 5 minute walk so I was able to pick her up and shield her for the most part from the PETA protestors shouting and trying to get her to take their leaflets.
Bags are checked outside the Arena. No outside food and beverages are allowed inside and I saw them make several people throw food and water bottles away. If you have a baby, toddler, or preschooler with you, however, they seem to be a little more leniant with the content of diaper bags. I've always brought in sippy cups and several snacks for my little one in the individual size toddler containers and never been made to throw them away, even now that my bag no longer contains diapers because my little one is potty trained. When she was a baby I was always allowed to bring a water bottle in as well (probably because they assumed it was going to be used for mixing her formula). Food and drinks are very pricey inside so I try to avoid buying more than one treat.
Once we made it through the bag check we showed our tickets at the door and were told how to get to our seats. Many people ask if you can bring a stroller indoors. The answer to that is yes. Personally I think it would be a lot easier to leave it in the car if you can but if you absolutely must bring a stroller they have an area where you can leave it that is inside the Arena but outside the seating area.
The seats I won this year happened to be on the 4th floor club level. This was our first time having seats on this floor and I learned you need to take the elevator from the ground floor to get to it. The line for the elevators moved very quickly and we had no problems getting upstairs to the actual section. I really liked being in the club level box because the view is awesome, there is only one row of seats in it with a shelf for food and drinks in front of you, and there is plenty of floor space in the room behind the seats for little ones who get antsy to stretch their legs and wander around a bit without worrying about them wandering out of the room or disturbing others.
I have now seen shows with my daughter from every level of the Arena and if you have a child preschool age or younger and can not get box seats I highly recommend skipping the 200 and higher section and spending the extra $ on seats on the lower level(s). The view from the 200's section is very high up and slightly obstructed and my daughter definitely does a lot better and enjoys the shows a lot more when we have better seats where she can see the action well (there are no large screens the show is projected onto for the circus).
After we found our seats we took our daughter back downstairs to participate in the pre-show. If you have a little one with you I highly recommend attending the pre-show, which takes place from an hour before the show begins until 15 minutes before showtime. The earlier you get to the pre-show the better because it does get more crowded the closer it gets to showtime. During the pre-show our daughter had the opportunity to meet some of the performers as they wandered through the crowd (lots and lots of clowns!), try on part of a circus costume (ie a cape or jacket), see some of the animals (ie elephants) up close, and dance and interact with some of the performers in a specific area. 
They also had a free photo op set up, a place to register to win a painting done by one of the elephants, a place to get free tattoos and clown noses, and my daughter's favorite thing, a bounce house. The bounce house was $5 for one run through or $6 for unlimited run throughs, so we paid the $6 and let her run off some steam before the show. (There is a minimum height but I'm not sure what it was. She is just over 38 inches tall and seemed close as she rushed past the marker so I'm guessing 36 or 38 inches.) She was able to go through the bounce house several times and still have plenty of time left to see everything else on the floor.
Finally it was time for the show to begin. The show opened with the ringmaster and typical animal and multiple performer act. My daughter enjoyed watching all the lights and colors and watching the camels parade around. Acts after that were a mixture of animals, clowns, acrobats, and other performers. The focus of Circus Extreme was definitely more on the human performers than the animals. Unlike other Ringling Bros shows we saw in the past this one was centered on the performers and while there were a few animal acts they were pretty few and far between and there was a lot of commentary going on during them that was not the easiest to understand. BMX bicyclists replaced the motorcycle act, which was one of my daughter's favorites last year. she didn't find the bicyclists' stunts to be quite as exciting and I would have to agree.
Before the tigers came out they had an act with a man on this big spinning double wheel. It was interesting at first but seemed to drag on a bit. I think the main reason it dragged on for so long was because he was performing while they were bringing out the tigers and setting their area up. I think he was supposed to distract the audience from looking at the tigers but it didn't work out that way. Most people seemed to be more interested in watching the tigers walk out so this performer wasn't getting a lot of attention by the end of his act. The tiger act was interesting to watch but it also included a running commentary from the (tiger tamer?...not sure of the proper name!) and a lot of it seemed to be in Spanish. My daughter kept asking me what he was saying and I honestly had no idea.
After an hour of acrobatic acts with the few animal acts mixed in it was time for intermission. One advantage to being on the club level is it has a really nice bathroom accessible only to people on that level without the usual enormous lines. I took advantage of the intermission to take my daughter to the bathroom and wander around the floor and explore a bit. The 4th floor also has its own grill with a menu similar to the ones on the other floors and the same high prices. Close to it was a souvenier stand with the typical circus souveniers (programs, light up items, stuffed animals, etc) for $10 and up. My daughter is young enough that I can still bring my own light up items from the dollar store and give her those instead of spending the money on the high priced items they sell at the circus. I promised her I would give her a light up toy when we returned to our seats where it was hidden in my purse. The bounce house was set up on the floor below us but I have no idea if the wristband she got at the pre-show was still good or you had to pay to go in it again because I somehow managed to convince her that only the big kids were allowed in it now since the little kids were allowed in during the pre-show (looking down it was mostly much bigger kids in it that I would not want her playing in it with). They made the announcement that the second half was starting soon so we headed back to our seats.
The second half of the show began with a lot of clown and acrobatic acts. My daughter is obsessed with mermaids and she enjoyed looking at the colorful mermaids hanging from the ceilings. There was this futuristic boat/car involved with the act and I think there was supposed to be a storyline that went along with the whole thing but if there was it was hard for me to understand. That is about when my daughter and all of the other kids in our section started to lose interest. There were several other acrobatic acts after this one but much as we and the other parents tried to bring them back to see the show they would look for two minutes and decide they'd seen enough of the same old stuff and it was more fun to run around in the carpeted area at the back of our box and bounce on the couches, build tunnels with the tables, and play hide and go seek. The only animal act featured during the second half (other than the finale) was a poodle show which held their interest a little bit longer but they still weren't interested enough to watch the entire thing. I spent the second half of the show half trying to keep an eye on my daughter, half watching what was going on in the arena. The other parents in our box all were doing the same and attempts to get the kids (who ranged in age from about two and a half to eight or nine) to go back and sit down and watch never lasted more than a few minutes. Most of the parents ended up giving up and leaving early so by the time the circus ended at 9:30 we and one other family were the only people still remaining in the box. We cleaned up our trash, made a quick exit, and were home and in bed by 10:30.
When I asked my daughter what her favorite part of Circus Extreme was she said it was the bounce house, tigers, elephants, and dogs. She remembered in detail the human cannonball and the mermaids but her recollections of everything else were very vague. This was a big difference from last year's Barnum and Bailey Circus where at 2 1/2 she sat quietly in her seat through the entire show and talked about it for days afterwards. Overall I would only give Circus Extreme one thumb up. We had a great night out as a family and the acts were entertaining. I honestly thought, however, that it lacked a lot of the excitement of last year's show and last year's acts like the human chandelier, mythical creatures, and motorcyclists were actually more extreme. I hope that next year we will see a return of more animal acts and less acrobatics. Circus Extreme was fun but far from the most amazing and extreme Ringling Bros show I've ever seen.
Ten tips for bringing a little one to Ringling Bros Circus Extreme at Amway Arena:
1. Park across the street instead of in the garage. It's a short walk and you can use the $ you save to buy a treat at the circus.
2. Strollers are allowed inside the arena but leave yours behind if you can. You can't bring it on the escalators used to get to most seats so you will have to wait for the elevators. It will be parked out of your sight during the show and you will have to claim it afterwards. If you have a really young child consider bringing a baby carrier because there can be a lot of walking up and down stairs.
3. Outside food and drink is not allowed indoors. If you have a little one bottles, sippy cups, and the small individual toddler snack containers are fine. Bring a few treats so your little one can snack.
4. Buy a light up toy from the dollar store or Target beforehand and pack it in your purse. They are a lot less $ than the ones they sell at the circus & little ones don't notice the difference. Same thing would work with a small stuffed animal.
5. Arrive early and enjoy the pre-show. It's interactive and lots of fun for little ones. Most of the stuff is free. If you pay for the bounce house pay the $1 extra for unlimited runs through.
6. The show is approximately two hours long with a short intermission in the middle. It is not the most exciting Ringling Bros show we've seen and a long time to hold a little one's attention. Don't feel bad taking a short walk during the show. The bathrooms won't have the long lines they'll have during intermission anyways and with a potty trained little one that can be important.
7. Most but not all vendors take credit cards. Bring cash with you so you are prepared.
8. The show contains a lot more acrobatic acts than it does animals. Prepare your little one for this beforehand. My little one was expecting to see a lot more animals and kept asking when we would.
9. Take advantage of the intermission to explore a little and let little ones stretch their legs. It is a long time for a little one to be sitting and little ones don't necessarily understand the concept that intermission us supposed to be in the middle of a show, breaking it up into fairly equal parts. By the time you get to intermission many little ones may think they've seen enough.
10. Don't feel bad leaving early if you have to. The first half of this circus was a lot more exciting than the second half. Your child will still have seen and enjoyed the circus. Next year they may be able to sit through a little more. Better to get up and leave than tough it out while your antsy child possibly disturbs others around them and ends up melting down.
Have fun!
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