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How-to: Score Free Stars on Ice Tickets (2009 edition)
Note from Ice Mom: Today is the first time that all Rinkformation blogs will be about the same topic. Ice Coach, Ice Girl, Synchro Mom and I will all write about the same thing, but from our own perspectives. Check out their posts today, too!
Not to brag or anything, but last year I scored four free Stars on Ice tickets for myself and my family. I also scored a set of four tickets for another family.
How did I swing that one? I’d love to tell you it was strategy and skill, but you all know that would be a total lie. It was more like a series of happy accidents SOI was scheduled to come to a town near mine. Ice Coach had volunteered to put up posters in our area rinks and was in touch with the promotions gal at the SOI venue. The promoter asked if Ice Coach knew anyone who sewed figure skating dresses.
It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?
Ice Coach gave the gal my contact information and pretty soon the promoter and I had planned a presentation I would give to 300 Girl Scouts about figure skating dresses, fabric, crystals, tights, and practice pants. At the end of the phone call, she asked me if I knew of any really successful local figure skaters who could talk to the Scouts about her training and lifestyle.
Why, yes, I do know a kid who fits that profile. Not to give too many details, but this skater had gone to Jr. Nationals and placed very well. I called the kid’s parents and they were on board, too.
We were able to find seats very, very close to center ice. Ice Girl also received a poster of the SOI skaters signed by the whole cast, too. I’m telling you: I scored.
Was it worth it? I bet my tickets were worth $50 each. That’s $200 for my family (including Ice Grandma) and $200 for the other family. We were able to find great seats and even watch the pre-show warm up. If you can get in to see the warm-up, do it. The house lights are up and the figure skaters speed around one another. It’s like club ice on steroids.
Would I pay for Stars on Ice out of my own wallet? You know I’m cheap, so writing this kills me. Yes. If SOI is in a town near you, I recommend that you shake the loose change out of the couch cushions and buy the best seats you can afford. Watching Stars on Ice is different from the home viewing experience. Watching figure skating on your wide-screen TV while you sit on the sofa and steal drinks from your husband’s soda is passive viewing.
Watching SOI from the good seats, close to the ice with no hockey glass between you and the action is thrilling. The whole point of watching high-level figure skating is to get the feel; of it. You can’t feel the rush of wind when the skaters whizz by if you’re sitting in the UU section in the balcony behind a pillar. You can’t feel the chill from the ice at home wrapped in your Snuggie. Your flat-screen TV can’t allow you to feel the thrill of watching a pairs skater lift his partner way over his head and throw her while he speeds past you. That’s active viewing.
So, don’t go the cheap route and buy the seats in the nosebleed section where you’ll need to share a pair of binoculars to see the action. If that’s your plan, save your money, stay home, and rent a movie.
Bottom line. If the Stars on Ice tour is coming to a city that’s a day trip from your house, go ahead and spend the money on good seats. Plan on spending between $200 and $350 for a family of four to attend. The extras like signed figure skater photos and full-color programs are nice, so you might want to budget about $30 for one of each. My plan is to eat before coming to the ice arena so I don’t spend another $40 on four hot dogs and four drinks.
Have you been to Stars on Ice? What did you think? Is it worth the money? Would you go again? How about two years in a row? (You can tell me how jealous you are that I got free seats last year, too. I promise I won’t gloat too much.)
Do you have a question for Ice Mom or the Advisory Board? Do you have an idea for a post you’d like to see? Are you a figure skating expert and want to appear on the Wednesday Ask the Expert feature? That’s great! Send me an e-mail! icemom.diane@gmail.com
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