A Night Out With Mickey and Friends

So, last night my wife and I took a little break from watching the Olympics on television and took our 2 girls to see some live skating.  We got tickets to see "Disney On Ice: Passport To Adventure", and I have to say it was even more fun than I anticipated.  Mickey and the gang came out in safari gear before each of the movie themed segments of the show and introduced them as if they were visiting the locations of the films.  Then what followed was condensed versions of some Disney classics.  There was The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, and finally Peter Pan.

Now I realize how hard all the jumps and lifts in the Olympics must be, but these guys are no slouches either.  I can't imagine how cumbersome it must be skating around in the big clunky costumes they were wearing.  Clunky not being an insult.  The costumes were quite innovative and fun.  It was interesting to see how they put together costumes for four-legged characters like Pumba and Nanny and even the crocodile from Peter Pan who laid on a platform with scales on her back and a tail dragging behind.  The sets were just as fun.  Most came from behind the main curtain, but they also utilized a big stage set 20-30 feet above the curtain.  Many characters came down from there by a giant staircase, while Peter Pan and crew actually put harnesses on up top and "flew" down to the ice.  A couple of set pieces were giant inflatable characters too.

The music and dialog was all pre-recorded and came over the speakers, but that actually made sense since they need to concentrate on the skating.  The skating was varied and great.  Most of it was pantomime acting (including the Peter Pan/Captain Hook swordfight, of course).  Then there was the synchronized skating and even lifts done to the music.  The music, obviously, I knew I would love going in.  It was basically all of the more fun and popular music from each of the subsequent movies.

My girls are 4 and 2 years old and of course know all of the Disney movies, so it was fantastic to see the absolute joy on their faces as they watched some of their favorite characters come to life out on the ice.  Great music, costumes, skating, sets, and everything else.  What is there not to love?  I even felt like a kid again myself watching this.  If you have young children I would highly recommend taking them out for a night of fun-filled Disney magic!