Yeah, we were disappointed this year too. We took our sailboat out Friday and Saturday to see the show.

Saturday they were missing one of the solo planes. I assume there was a mechanical problem because they generally bring an extra pilot. The close passes by the two planes where they look like they're going to crash head on are usually pretty exciting, but they couldn't do those with the one plane missing. I suspect that's what your friends were referring to when they said they didn't do many tricks.

Friday all the planes were there, but it was still not as exciting a show as in the past. My husband and I were actually wondering if we've just seen them too many times and are kind of jaded or if after watching three hours of planes flying we'd had enough.

IMO, the Canadian Snowbirds stole the show. They don't do the daring maneuvers the Blue Angels are known for, but nine planes flying in tight formation are impressive. A few times they all flew pretty much straight up together and then spread out from each other and rained down like a giant firework exploding. That was cool. The low passes over the boat are very cool too.