Tuesday 6 January 2015

Disney On Ice - 100 Years of Magic review

A while before Christmas I booked us tickets to go and see the Disney On Ice Show as an extra Christmas treat.  We went down to the O2 at Greenwich between Christmas and New Year and with a stopover in a hotel, made a mini holiday of it.  It was a great way to break up the Christmas holiday and I remember the magic of being taken to Disney on Ice when I was little over 30 years ago, so I thought this would be some great memory making.

The show itself is a montage of many different hit Disney films, stretching back to Pinocchio and right up to modern times with Toy Story and The Incredibles.  I guess the idea is to offer something for everyone, but I can't help thinking their choice of stories and characters missed the mark for the majority of the audience.  I can think of more loved films to have included, and as a parent I was too old to remember many of them, and the younger audience (mostly 3-6 year olds dressed in Disney Princess dresses) were too young to recall the likes of Mulan and Aladdin - I heard lots of children around me asking their parents "who's that?".

However, you didn't need to be familiar with all the shows to enjoy the spectacle and become enthralled by the skill of the skaters.

The costumes were spectacular.  I have no idea how some of the dancers even stood up in them, let alone perform on the ice.  I spent a lot of time staring at feet to see if they actually were wearing skates because the boots and blades blended in so well with the costumes.  Some of the animal characters who were two people to an outfit astounded us in their synchronisation.

Disney on Ice Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The show is hosted by everyone's favourite mice, Mickey and Minnie who are greeted with smiles and cheers every time they appear.  It opens with an Aladdin spectacular and a whole rink full of Genie's which is a captivating start to the performance.

Then we have fabulous costumes in the Finding Nemo section, with the smoke breathing Bruce the shark and bubbles falling from the sky to make us feel under the sea.  The costumes of all the underwater creatures were just incredible.

Disney on Ice Finding Nemo

Next we moved on to some princess action with Beauty and the Beast and a moving rendition of the touching tale, which moved seamlessly into a whole gallery of famous princesses with their partners all dancing in pairs.  There was Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Snow White and Pocahontas, and this was Ruby's favourite part.  So romantic!  I'm no Jayne Torville so I can't tell you the technical names but the lifts and jumps these guys did where breath-taking.

Disney on Ice Beauty and the Beast Belle

Disney on Ice Beauty and the Beast Belle

We had a quick zip through Toy Story with Woody, Jessie and Buzz and a whole platoon of green 'plastic' soldiers before ending the first half with a tribute to the famous Disney 'It's a Small World' ride. Again, lots of the children around me were a bit confused about this, but it was spectacular dancing, illumination and national costumes from around the world.  It's only now looking at the picture I'm realising quite how phallic those arches look, I can't say I noticed it at the time!

Disney on Ice 100 Years Of Magic

Disney on Ice 100 Years Of Magic Mickey Mouse Balloon

The interval came at about the right time for youngsters and it was time to get fleeced for merchandise and refreshments.  This was my biggest grumble about the show.  I know you've got to expect high prices for official merchandise, but let me warn you, if you want to buy drinks and refreshments, get them outside the arena itself.  Everything came with something else so it wasn't possible to just buy a drink.  Ruby wanted some candy floss, but the seller insisted you had to purchase it with a plastic gold crown with Mickey ears, and for that a bag of candy floss set us back the princely sum of £9.  She also wanted a drink and the slush she chose had to be bought in a grotesque flashing light-up cup with a Mickey gloved-hand straw and scoop, and that robbed us of a further £11.  Seriously, I've never paid so much for a bag of sugar and air and some frozen flavoured water in my entire life!

Anyway, after being relieved of the weight in our wallets, we sat down to the second half.

It reconvened with Pinoccio which I'm not sure was the right choice.  I think at leaf half the audience had no clue who Jiminy Cricket was and it wasn't really up-tempo enough.  When we moved on to Mulan I thought we might be bored through that one too as it's not a film we're familiar with.  But I couldn't have been more wrong.  It actually turned out to be my favourite part of the show with brilliant dancing, a tension building battle scene, an incredible Chinese dragon, great pyrotechnics and a very clever costume change for Mulan right in the middle of the ice.  I'm really not sure how they managed that so seamlessly, it reminded me of a magic show.  I was so enthralled I totally forgot to take any pictures.

Finally we had appearances from charters from The Lion King and a slap-stick routine from The Incredibles which left us on just the right note - all smiling and giggling.

All the characters returned to the ice for the finale and to wave a sad goodbye until next time.  We've already decided that seeing the Frozen special is a MUST this Easter.  Check here for tickets to Disney on Ice Magical Ice Festival.

One of the most surreal sights is to see hundreds and hundreds of mini Disney characters spilling out from the O2 and roads jammed with little girls in princess dresses and boys in Woody outfits, but after fighting our way through the crowds we headed to our hotel, The Holiday Inn Express which was only a 10 minute stroll away from the arena.  It was the perfect location for us and we had a very comfortable family room for the 3 of us for £90.  We all had a great night's sleep and with free breakfast thrown in I was pretty impressed with the hotel.

That evening we hopped on the bus using our travelcards and headed to Greenwich village, one of my favourite places in London.  We had a fabulous Italian meal at Bianco 42, a small independent string of pizzerias.  A rather lovely chilled Orvieto and a delicious pizza, the place was cosy and the staff very friendly and attentive to children.

Greenwich is a fabulous place to spend the day, with plenty to do from exploring the Cutty Sark to the wonders of the Royal Observatory.  Enjoy the peace of the park and the spectacular views from the top of the hill, or mooch around the many independent shops and vintage boutiques around the market before catching the river boat into central London.  If you're planning a trip to the O2, it's definitely worth a stay over.

Disclosure: We paid for all our tickets ourselves and any views expressed are personal.

For more reviews on the Disney On Ice show, check out Mari's World and Tired Mummy Of Two to see what they thought.

31 comments:

  1. See what you mean about the lights - it looks a wonderful show. I remember being very jealous of friends that got to go to Disney on Ice whilst we didn't... (note to self - get over it - it was more than 30 years ago!)

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    1. Isn't it funny! I promise it didn't look like that in real life, it was a beautiful birdcage style illuminated display. Trust me to lower the tone, Disney is as pure as the driven snow!

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  2. We saw it a few years back and loved it but yes the price of the refreshments!!!

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    1. It was a great experience, but yes, we'd take out own refreshments next time!

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  3. I am loving your pictures! So much fun and I think my girls would've love it too!

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    1. Thank you, I'm delighted how the pictures came out given we were some distance away!

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  4. Oh my, the show sounds amazing however I am one of the parents who brings refreshments as I refuse to pay the prices some venues charge.

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    1. It was amazing, a real spectacle! And yes, we'll know for next time to pack our own!

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  5. Oh my little boy loves Frozen and his birthday is just after Easter. This sounds amazing and we have recently got the boys into ice skating so shall definitely look to going.

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    1. Oh you need to check out the Magical Ice Festival for sure this spring. x

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  6. When I was a kid this was called Holiday on Ice and it was the highlight of my year to see it, so I bet it was just wonderful. Mich x

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    1. I still remember seeing a Holiday on Ice more than 30 years ago!

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  7. I took Amy earlier this year for her birthday and she loved it. I just had no clue what was going on in the second half because I had never watched any of the Toy Story movies...

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    1. You've never watched Toy Story??!! *shocked face*

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  8. Phallic lights FTW - could easilly be a Kanye West parody!

    I won't take the girls as I have a feeling they'd not have a clue on some of it, despite having a huge catalogue of disney films.

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    1. We're Disney fans, but not fanatics. But even the films we didn't know, the pieces were enjoyable in their own right.

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  9. My boys would probably struggle to sit still through this - but it looks like the kind of show I would love to see *wonders how to shake them off and go myself*

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    1. Because it was split into 2 halves, I think they got the timings just right for youngsters. I didn't see too much fidgeting and certainly no boredom. x

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  10. We went to see High School Musical On Ice when Betsy was younger - it was quite the spectacle, but not my normal cup of tea - she loved it tho!

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  11. We've done these shows a few times, and yesterday I got an email to say there is a new show starting in spring...Frozen! Great review!

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    1. I know, right??! I can't wait. Do you think it's acceptable for adults to wear Elsa dresses too? ;0)

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  12. *giggles at phallic lighting*
    We've never been to anything like this before so it's very interesting to see how you got on - and noted to fill up bags with sweets and drink beforehand should we ever go!

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    1. It's not something we've ever taken Ruby to before, but it was a brilliant day out. But yes, who wants to pay £9 for candy floss?!

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  13. You could spend a fortune on merchandise couldn't you - they really know how to market to their audience as my two have always been desperate for something when we've been to any show like this. It sounds like it was beautiful and a great family memory x x

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    1. Oh yes, there was no escaping the vendors!

      It was worth it though for the memories.

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  14. Those photos are fabulous. I enjoyed the show and could understand them adding the lesser known characters after all they were celebrating 100 years of magic. My two came out asking to watch Pinocchio which we have and they've ignored for years. It reminded them about Lion King and they asked to get hold of Mulan, they have a doll of her included in a set so knew of her but haven't seen her film yet.
    We also took our own sweets and drinks, way too expensive to buy on site

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    1. That's great that it's sparked an interest in films your girls don't know. We were really taken by the Mulan routine and really want to see the film now.

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  15. I would love to take Nathan to something like this. We have been watching Once Upon A Time recently where all the storybook characters come to life and are real people. This would tie in wonderfully with it all. I will have to look into when they are performing in Birmingham next

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    1. Have a look at the Ice Festival Disney on Ice coming to Birmingham in early April. x

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  16. My friend said exactly the same. All children in frozen outfits and old films x

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