Last night, I took my daughter to see Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic, which we were kindly invited to preview. I didn’t even tell her we were going until a few hours before the show, because she remembers last year’s show very well, and I knew if I told her too soon, she’d do her best impression of a broken record: When are we going? Can we go now? We’d better leave soon, we don’t want to miss the show!
I knew this Disney show would have to be something special to top last year’s Princess Classics show, and was it ever! It's a collection of some of Disney’s best-loved movies, including Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Toy Story, and The Incredibles. It was also great to see older shows represented, like Pinocchio, reminding me of the first time I saw them when I was a child.
Mickey and Minnie, along with Goofy and Donald Duck, lead the show from story to story. Each story uses both music and dialogue from the movies, making it familiar and exciting at the same time. The ice skating was so good—I love the turns, spins and lifts that mark this production. The cast members practiced 1,200 hours before this road show began, and it’s obvious from how professionally all of the numbers run. It’s the largest cast ever for a Disney on Ice show, and includes an astounding 147 costumes, has 60 characters, and is choreographed by an Emmy-award winner!
A special treat was a re-creation of It’s A Small World, the beloved multi-cultural ride in Magic Kingdom. My daughter recognized the music right away, since we went to Disney World last fall, and it brought back some great memories while holding its own as an ice-skating performance. This part of the show ends the first act with a light parade, also a familiar Disney parks event, and it brought out many “oohs” and “ahhs” from the audience. The family sitting next to me had just gone to Disney World, and they said that watching It's A Small World made them feel like they were back in Disney.
The crowd favorite was The Lion King, with Pumbaa and Timon gliding out on the ice to cheers and clapping, and then entertaining everyone with Hakuna Matata. Aladdin’s synchronized skating Genies were also a big hit!
Maybe you’re wondering if this is a good show for boys. YES!! Looking around, I could see little men in the audience who loved the Toy Story army men number, Pumbaa and Timon, and Finding Nemo especially. Your whole family will enjoy this. Bring Grandma and Pap too!
Princesses and pirates walked around the halls of Consol, so if you have a special costume for your kids, make sure they wear it! The costumes made for a festive atmosphere and my daughter had fun looking at all of the other princesses and Minnies in the crowd.
Feld Productions always brings excellent shows to Pittsburgh, including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam and Nuclear Cowboyz. Pittsburgh-area Macaroni Kid publications highly recommend seeing these shows with your kids! They produce out-of-this-world family entertainment that you’ll want to see year after year.
Tickets for Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic range from $20 through $65 and are available through www.disneyonice.com, Ticketmaster, CONSOL Energy Center box office or call 1-800-745-3000 to reserve your seats.
Remaining Performance Schedule:
Thursday, March 1 – 10:30 a.m., 7 p.m.
Friday, March 2 - 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 - 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 4 - 1 p.m., 5 p.m.
I was compensated with review tickets for this article. However, all opinions and ideas expressed are of my own.
