Advance Auto Parts MONSTER JAM March 8th-9th, 2013

They're Baaaaack!  The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam is headed back to the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho and if this year is anything like last year, the show should be great! 

 

If you've never been to a Monster Jam, you should definitely take the time to check it out this year!  My family attended the show for the first time last year and had the best time EVER! 

I don't know why, but there is something about a car-crushing, high-flying, roaring Monster truck that turns otherwise reserved  people into cheering, yelling, fist-pumping fans!

This year's show has lots of stuff to cheer about!  Not only will it feature long-time favorites like Grave Digger and Maverick, but newcomers Captain America, Monster Mutt Dalmation and Northern Nightmare will be making their Idaho debuts.

In between the truck competitions, fans will stay busy watching ATV races, trying to win giveaways (t-shirt cannons, seat number drawings, etc) and listening to interviews with drivers.  The whole event is very exciting and fast-paced, so it's really hard for kids to get bored.  

One of the best parts of the show is the Pit Party, which takes place on Saturday, March 9th from 11:30AM – 12:30PM (Sat. 2PM ticket & Pit Pass required for entry; available to purchase for $10 Adults/$5 Kids).  The Pit Party gives fans a chance to see the trucks up close and meet and talk to drivers.  If your child is interested in getting driver autographs, a great idea would be to go to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam website, print out a coloring page, color it and have one of the drivers sign it at the Pit Party.  That way they'll have a cool memento of their experience!

Pit Party

Tickets for the Nampa Monster Jam show are on sale now, with prices ranging from $22, $30 (Gold Circle) and $45 (Front Row). Kids tickets (ages 2-12) available for select seating are priced at only $10 each** 

You can purchase tickets at the Idaho Center Box Office, online at IdahoCenter.com or charge by phone at 208-442-3232. 

Special Bonus!!  I Am Boymom readers can use the code MOMS for a $4 discount on each ticket!!  Whoo-hoo!  See you there!

**Above ticket prices are advance purchase only; all ticket prices are $2 more when purchased the day of the event; tickets may be subject to service charges, facility and handling fees.

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Review - Awesome Fun!!

Here it is the end of March and I still haven't told y'all about our BIG night out a few weeks ago!! 

Can I just say that Big Trucks with Big Tires ROCK OUT LOUD!?  We went to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam a few Fridays back.  IT WAS 2 HOURS OF SERIOUSLY LOUD and AMAZING TRUCK POWER!!  WHY AM I YELLING?  Oh...sorry.  It was THAT awesome.  And loud.  Really, really loud.  But I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun with my boys!  How many more exclamation marks can I fit into this first paragraph?!  I know.  Major overuse of punctuation.  But it was seriously THAT much fun!

I've never attended a Monster Truck event,so I had no idea just how entertaining the show would be.   I also had no idea how LOUD it would be.  But the loudness is part of the experience.  The huge engines make the ground rumble and fill the arena with so much engine noise that you can't help but feel the power that propels the giant trucks forward as leap small cars in a single bound and crush things under their ginormous tires.

I don't know about you, but as a Boymom I have learned alot about how boys react to that kind of power.  They get very, very excited.  They do things like this:

(See the crazy kid in the bottom right hand corner grabbing his hair?

That would be Big Brother at the height of his Monster Truck insanity.)

Then they spend lots of time talking about how they can't wait to build a truck so they can do things like this:

And sometimes when they do that, they end up like this:

Which might be kind of scary for a mom of the driver to watch.  The good news is that there are lots of safety precautions in place to protect the drivers and the audience from any harm.  No drivers or workers were injured during the making of these videos!

In between the truck runs, there were ATV races and local drivers in various vehicles that ran timed laps to see who could run the course the fastest, so there was always something to watch while the Monster Trucks prepared for the next round and there were lots of chances to catch t-shirts that drivers threw into the audience, but never in our direction (that was kind of a bummer for Little Man, who was working hard to catch the attention of the t-shirt throwers.  Too bad I didn;t get a video of him in action, the boy was seriously workin' it!). 

There were some new trucks at the show this year that we weren't familiar with, like Monster Mutt and the Batman Truck. 

The Batman truck quickly became a favorite for looks, but our family has been following Grave Digger since the boys were little, so we were really rooting for Grave Digger to pull in a big score in the Freestyle event.  So we were a little sad when the show ended with Grave Digger taking a roll on his final run. 

Even with the anti-climatic ending, the show was a hoot and we can't wait til another one comes to town! 

Wanna see when the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam is gonna be in your neck of the woods?  Check out their website here to find out show dates and ticket prices and watch the leaderboard to see how your favorite truck and driving team are doing throughout the season.  And I challenge you not to walk around talking like the show announcer for 3 days after the show..."2 Tons of awesome POWER, Power, Power!" 

**Disclaimer - As a Feld Family Activator, I received tickets to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam to help facilitate this review.  My opinions are always honest and are my own.**