Life in our Shoes

Let me preface this complaint post by saying I know extra curricular activities cost money. Often a lot of money. Some more than others. Particularly dance lessons. I am, for the most part, OK with that.

Here’s the part I am not OK with. I am not OK with the owner of the dance studio making money off of something she shouldn’t be making money off of. Let me explain. The kids were scheduled to dance at Dutch Wonderland this past weekend. I thought it would be a great opportunity for Thing 1 to get up on a stage and perform in front of people, as she loves to do. And, hey, bonus family getaway weekend!

Papers were sent home stating that tickets were $36 a piece and $21 for dancers tickets. In my stupidity, I didn’t look it up online. I just assumed this information was correct. I paid the money and all but forgot about it. Then I spoke to one of the other parents. She informed me that her daughter wouldn’t be performing because she can get cheap Dutch Wonderland tickets through her work, but the owner “wouldn’t let her”. She said flat out, “if you don’t buy the tickets through me, I won’t let your daughter perform”. Go ahead, pick your jaw up off the floor…I’ll wait. I can not believe she had the audacity to say that.

Thing 1 is in two dance classes, Irish and Acro hip hop. Irish is her favorite. So, before we left, I made sure she had everything she could possibly need for both outfits. Since, ya know, I had to buy two outfits (then pay to have them altered to fit her…grrr). I promise this is important. You’ll see why.

As we were standing outside the gates forever, since we were told to be there promptly at 9:00 and the park doesn’t even open until 10:00, I couldn’t help but look at the admission prices sign. A regular ticket is…wait for it….$31.95. Where on Earth did she come up with $36. It gets better. I then had to check the group rates, since we had to “But your tickets early! Then we can get the group rate!” Those tickets? $24.95. Say what? And, AND, for every 10 tickets purchased, you get a free one. Oh, hell no. I was just ripped off ten ways to Sunday.

So, we were there, and there was really nothing I could do about it except enjoy the day my family. When it came time for the performance, the teacher came out of the dressing tent and said “Thing 1 is only going to perform Men In Black (that’s acro hip hop), because you won’t have time to change her between performances”. There was two entire songs between her two performances, and I have done it before at the charity show they did, so I told her I would be able to do it and Thing 1 would be performing. Simply put, I was told no. And I? Was pissed. Not only was I overcharged, but I lugged both these damn costumes out there. To top it off, Thing 1 was disappointed that she had to watch her friends perform the Irish dance without her.

I am so not OK with her pocketing that money. Not only were we overcharged for tickets, but Dutch Wonderland is close to a 2 hour drive from here. So we had to pay gas money. And since it is so far and we had to be there so early, we had to pay for a hotel, too.

Am I wrong about this? Should I mention something about the tickets being way overpriced. Or should I just chalk it up to my stupidity for not looking into it first?

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