Two thumbs up for Go, Diego, Go! Live
In the spirit of comparing apples to apples, the Go, Diego, Go! Live show is much better than that Disney Playhouse crapper. All the things that were bad about the Disney show – the poor sound, the terrible seating on the side (they didn’t even have those edge sections open at the Diego show) and the general cheapness of it all – were not a problem at the Diego show.
My only small complaint is about the “flying birds”. During the show, there are many animals that are controlled by sticks and wires off stage. But in a couple of scenes, a human in some crazy camouflage garb walks right out into the show while holding one of these birds up in the air. There are certainly less obtrusive ways to get the bird to go across the stage, such as hanging it from wires or having the operator hide further behind the backdrops.
Something I also found interesting was the absence of the “gauntlet of flashy, expensive toys” while entering the show. At the Disney show and every other kids’ event we’ve been to, booth after booth of the stuff lined the path from the Rupp Arena entrance to the doors of the arena. However, there was not a single vendor to be found outside. I do think I saw some inside, which is fine with me. I like having the option of choosing whether to approach that booth.