Just like the movie, How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular follows Hiccup, an awkward young Viking who forges an unlikely bond with Toothless, an injured dragon, much to the chagrin of his compatriots—especially his warrior father. There's action, adventure, romance, comedy, parent-child conflict and a positive message, but if you've never seen the flick, you might be a little lost. The dialog is hard to hear and frankly, the human drama kind of gets buried under all the cool effects.

Stunning digital animations are projected on the floor and back wall (in a clever nod to Cowell's work, some of her illustrations are shown, weaving the movie and books together in a creative way); fire explodes from torches (you can feel it!) and giant dragons dominate the stage. But it's not all high-tech: There are impressive acrobatic displays by the Vikings (played by actual humans), well sung tunes and even some awesome shadow puppetry. At times, it was almost circus-like.

The stars of the show are definitely the 23 dragons made by the Creature Technology Company, the same folks that worked on Walking with Dinosaurs the Arena Spectacular that toured the U.S. a few years back. As you can see from the photos above, the dragons are incredibly realistic and fully animated, right down to their blinking eyes. They're so lifelike in fact that you quickly forget that some sport visible battery packs.

Although the show is exciting enough to keep even the most fidgety kids in their seats, it's not for the easily scared. The preschooler behind us screamed from the first fireball, and after ten minutes or so his parents gave up and left. We heard other youngsters crying on and off throughout the show, but our seven-year-olds were enthralled.

How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular plays the IZOD Center Thursday, September 27-Sunday, September 30. Times vary. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 but you can save up to 25% on select seats by using the code HPDRAGON.

Photo credits: Todd Kaplan and Lisa Tomasetti