We love ice skating and we love Disney...so Disney on Ice really is an incredibly appealing combination for me and my family. So being invited to the NIA in Birmingham to watch the new
Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic show was such a treat for us.
The show features 65 favourite characters from 18 different stories and has a fabulous soundtrack filled with Disney classics. Mickey and Minnie introduce the cast taking families on a magical adventure. The Disney Princesses with their princes star in a moving celebration of love Disney style. The Mulan sequence includes snowfall and an avalanche scene, which was beautiful. Freddy loved the Finding Nemo scene which featured some absolutely brilliant shark costumes alongside Nemo, Dory and Marlin. Pinocchio saw the Blue Fairy fly in from the sky and an assortment of wooden toys dancing. When Monstro the Whale arrived on to the scene it was really impressive! A homage to the famous Disney ride "It's a Small World" saw a parade of lights and sparkling floats along with characters representing all the nations of the world. Other sequences featured Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Incredibles, Mickey's Band, Lion King and Toy Story: each one perfectly choreographed and beautifully presented.
To say we loved the show is an understatement! I actually sobbed at how wonderful the Disney Princess's ice dances were. Kizzy said it was "like Dancing on Ice but better because the skaters are good and it is Disney!" Each pair danced to their signature love song and the lifts and moves were simply magical. Breathtaking stuff!
Merchandise was pretty expensive. We bought a snowcone in a presentation cup and it was £9! But the kids did love it. Freddy had a light up spinning wand that we bought from a vendor outside and he loved waving it throughout the show.
The finale came complete with pyrotechnics and starred all the skaters together in a wonderful routine. Seeing all the characters together on the ice was quite a spectacle. The costumes are all so colourful and look amazing. It is such a lovely show that will be enjoyed by Disney fans young and old. There are some really incredibly talented ice dancers who bring the stories to life. How they manage to skate in full costume I do not know!
I would not hesitate in recommending the Disney on Ice shows to families. The audience were all enthralled, even the little babies on their parents' laps were sat spellbound by the lights, sights and sounds. Freddy, whose attention span is not great, was mesmerised by most of the show especially Toy Story with the marching soldiers, Finding Nemo and whenever Mickey was on the ice. Kizzy, who is 12, found it very emotional and beautiful to watch. Like me, the Disney Princesses were her favourite part of the show and she said they were just perfect! Even Ian thought it was visually fantastic and said it gave him that warm, familiar feeling of Disney Magic. He liked how they kept each segment short, condensing the stories and keeping even the youngest member of the audience interested and focused.
The show is on at the NIA Birmingham until November 2nd. After that, you can catch it at the following venues:
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield – 5th – 9th November 2014
The O2, London – 24th December 2014, 26th – 29th December
2014 and 3rd & 4th January
2015
Coming in Spring 2015 is a brand new show, the Magical Ice Festival, an enchanted adventure into the worlds of Frozen as well as Tangled, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. It looks phenomenal!! Tickets are available from November 7th.
