THE FOX THEATER!

A magical night at the Fox Theater in a wheelchair; our honest review!

Kimbely and I stayed at Holiday Inn Express St. Louis - Central West End. This hotel felt like it was in a safe area of downtown St. Louis and was only 7 minutes away from the Fox Theater. The staff was extremely courteous, and the evening clerk had even come out while I was unloading my van to see if I needed any help. The room was clean and had plenty of space for Kimberly's chair. Those were the positives; a good location, a nice staff and plenty of room. Now for the negatives. The elevators were tiny and our room was the furthest from the lobby as possible. Also, the beds were super low (this is not too uncommon for wheelchair rooms, because some wheelchair users need them to be, but they are terrible for our needs.) I was tempted to change rooms, but I already knew it was the only one that had the required space because upon arrival, the clerk had looked to see if he could move us to the first floor and he said that our booked room was the only one with that space. So we decided to make it work. I did use my yoga blocks to raise the bed, but it was still a difficult task to move Kimberly throughout the night. We will definitely try out a different hotel next time.

When I bought our show tickets, I also purchased a parking pass. It was simple enough to find the garage we were supposed to park in and we got a great space because we went early. We went early because we wanted to have supper before the 7:00 show. When looking for restaurants, we saw that there was one right next to the Fox called Stage Left Grille. We decided it would be a good idea to check it out because it's such a convenient choice! Their menu was a little limited; Kimberly's only choice was a burger. However, the burger and fries were delicious! Plus, we got there before it was super crowded and were seated in a very accommodating location. However, within 15 minutes of us sitting down, the place was packed and there were people waiting to be seated. So, I would shoot to get there by 5:00-5:15 just to be safe.

After dinner, It was a short walk to the theater where we were going to watch Aladdin. We were greeted at the door and escorted through to the security line. Just a quick check of the bags and we were in. The venue was absolutely beautiful and we loved all the Christmas decorations. We still had about 30 minutes to wait until they opened the doors, but there was plenty to see and good music. They let us enter, along with all the others with mobility impairments, before the general public. That was very nice, especially since we have never been there and didn't know where we were going. We kept showing our tickets and they kept pointing us in the right direction. I think it would have been nice if someone would have just walked us to our seats, but we found them. I just had to move the chair that was in Kimberly's spot and there was soon a guy there to remove it. Although the actual show was absolutely amazing, we were once again disappointed in where our seats were. I bought what seemed to be the best seats available to a wheelchair user and they were all the way to the side and not that close. I know it's an old building and I don't have all the answers, but it just seems there should be better options for those who have to stay in their chair full time. I did walk around a bit before the show to make sure there weren't better seats out there. I went up to the mezzanine lever and although it was higher up, the seats were more in the middle so that might be better. I think we will try those next time.

I have no doubt we will attend another show at the Fox. Kimberly loves the theater. We will just try out a different hotel, maybe a new restaurant and the seats in the mezzanine level. And don't worry, we will report back to all of you what the new adventure is like!

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