Disney on Ice: Princess Classics

Last night, MomSelect treated me and my family to tickets to the opening night of Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics at Oakland's ORACLE Arena. We've watched a couple of Disney on Ice productions before --Finding Nemo 3 years ago, and Princess Classics (the exact same production!) 6 years ago -- so we knew we would be getting a real treat. The Pea was doubly excited this time around because now that she's taking figure skating lessons, she'd have an extra appreciation of the skating part of the show. And we were triply excited because Alfie's parents came along with us, making it an evening of fun for the entire family. Here's what we thought of the show:



The Basics
Disney on Ice: Princess Classics features the stories of: Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White and Cinderella. With each story, skaters perform ice routines set to music from the Disney movie.


Here's what the producer, Feld Entertainment, has to say about the show: Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics is an amazing journey to the magical land of Disney classic fairy tales. Travel to a kingdom under the sea, an enchanted French castle, an Arabian palace and more! With special guest Tinker Bell, enter the worlds of your favorite Disney princesses Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Mulan and Snow White and see their dreams come true as this royal skating extravaganza brings magic to your hometown!

Check out these videos I took during the show:





The Bongga
We came in with high expectations, and the show met every one of them. The quality of the show took Alfie's parents' breath away! The skating was great, and so were the costumes and special effects. The grownups' (Alfie, Alfiesmum and Alfiesdad and my) unanimous favorite was the glow-in-the-dark Little Mermaid production number.

And I can't overstate how much my kids enjoyed the show. The Pea, at the sophisticated old age of 8, considers herself too old for Disney princesses, but she got really involved-- as did her brothers -- in the storylines, the skating and the singing. I kept sneaking peeks at them and seeing them singing along to the music. Truth be told, I couldn't help singing too. And I loved the way the whole audience was so engaged: when Snow White's wicked stepmother, disguised as an old crone, offered Snow White the poisoned apple, my kids joined everyone else in the arena shouting NOOOOOOOO!


The Blah
We had a wonderful evening, but even Disney Magic and pixie dust were not enough to erase a couple of minor irritations:

1) I wish the evening show had started a bit earlier than 7:30PM. Since the show is 2 hours long, the kids stayed up way past their bedtime and woke up the next day tired and cranky.

2) After we had arrived home and decided to take out our old Princess Classics souvenir programme to see what had changed in the six years between shows. The answer: NOTHING. As in, the two programmes were IDENTICAL. The photos, the text, even the message from the producers. The only difference was the cast.

Now, don't get me wrong: I have no problem whatsoever with Disney on Ice running exactly the same show. After all, shows on Broadway run for years and years, and you don't go around changing the script, do you? Our enjoyment of the 2009 performance was not diminished in any way by the fact that we had watched the exact same show 6 years ago.

But I felt quite betrayed by the fact that the photos I was seeing in the 2009 souvenir programme were not only not the photos of the 2009 performing cast, but were actually 6 years old. And come to think of it, how do I know that these photos were photos of the 2003 cast? For all I know, those photos could be 10 years old! Come on, guys, people shell out a lot of money for the stuff you sell in your shows, so don't cheap out!



The Bottom Line
You can always count on Disney on Ice to deliver a high-quality show that parents and kids will enjoy. Their Princess Classics show is the perfect way to give your little princess a night to remember!

Buy It!
Use the coupon code MOM in the MC Promotions box on www.ticketmaster.com to get four tickets for $44 (Mon-Fri matinee shows) or $4 off Friday night and weekend shows.

Showtimes for Disney on Ice at HP Pavilion are:

Wed, Oct. 21 2009 at 7:30PM
Thu, Oct. 22 2009 at 7:30PM
Fri, Oct. 23 2009 at 10:30PM
Fri, Oct. 23 2009 at 7:30PM
Sat, Oct. 24 2009 at 11:00AM
Sat, Oct. 24 2009 at 3:00PM
Sat, Oct. 24 2009 at 7:00PM
Sun, Oct. 24 2009 at 1:00PM
Sun, Oct. 24 2009 at 5:00PM

Click here for a complete list of show venues, dates and times. Enjoy the show!

I received complimentary event tickets to the event, but no monetary compensation to review the show. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.