Ice, Ice, Baby!

Once, in college, or maybe it was late high school, I watched the Disney skaters do their thing in an iced-over arena. It seemed like maybe something our kids would enjoy before they reached such upper echelons of youth . . . and I think I was right! Among our fellow audience members, there were not very many pushing past the pre-school/K-3 tribe--more than a few in full princess costume! I'm sure there were some sleepy babes after that evening (school night) show :)

We decided to pounce upon the cheap, opening night tickets. According to the Internet advertisement, we thought we'd see a combo of Frozen (makes sense right? :), Cars, and Toy Story . . . we ended up with a pinch of Princess and the Frog (our kids have never seen this movie, so were aptly confused :), Snow White, Cinderella, and a whole lot of Rapunzel. However, all of it was pretty stinking amazing! I don't know how Disney does it, but they can sure put on a show!

The costumes were elaborate and beautiful, even from a distance. The skaters didn't seem to know they were on ICE . . . they skipped, they danced, they spun, they threw each other in the air . . .  a few even FLEW on ribbons! (I could hardly watch that--I mean, no wires, no nets, just ribbons--augh!!!!)

I could tell the kids were enjoying it; the girls kept screeching and laughing and the boys were laughing along with all the surprise appearances too. Who can resist a 7-foot Gus-Gus on skates?! During the Cinderella segment, the Prince and his helper skated to the little ladies in the very front row and tried the glass slipper on them to find a fit (adorable!). For the Tangled scene, a little girl was chosen to launch the first lantern into the rafters, which *sparked* a whole skyful for the grand finale.

Minnie, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were our MC's. For the finale, everyone dressed in white and gold (I think I counted 20 or more cast members). Each of the fairy tale couples, including those not presented in the show, skated to the wedding celebration of Rapunzel and Eugene.

The sudden fireworks just about launched Buck's camera from his hands (his phone takes better pics than mine, so he was our photog). Oh, the horse was impressive! It was two skaters, one in front and one in back of the same costume. I don't know how they were able to navigate the ice, dance, and complete the looooong story--they must be REALLY good friends. Fun effect though; we all had a great time!