happily ever after

Well, we finally did it. Disney on Ice. Never thought it would happen. Never really wanted it to. And then something unexplainable took over and I was online purchasing tickets. The things we do for our beloved children.

This was not just Disney on Ice. This was Disney Princesses on Ice. And it was adorable. They told six princess stories, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, Mulan, Snow White & Beauty and the Beast. Most of the stories left out the scary factor with the exception of Ursula the Sea Witch who had quite a presence. They gave us the majority of the story, minus the ending one after the other. Then, as Zuzu is screaming "Where is Cinderella??!!", they all rejoined us on the ice for simultaneous happy endings. It was very sweet yet also so very ridiculous as, one after another, all of the beautiful girl gets kissed by their prince and awake from a deep sleep to skate off in his arms. Just a slight enhancement of the lack of creativity present in these fairy tales.

They then announced an intermission. That kind of sucked. We'd been there 90 minutes already, we all had to pee (but not bad enough to brave the crowds), it was lunch time, the only act left was Cinderella and Gage was done by Mulan. But I suppose they needed to sell some more $20 wands and $15 programs so we went with it.

Fortunately, the Cinderella story was actually quite beautiful. They opened with a troop of skating soldiers, most of them kids, as they waited for everyone to re-enter the room. Cinderella had three costume changes and both the step-sisters and the mice were quite entertaining. There was a lousy lesson in arithmetic as the fairy godmother announces the coach with four white horses...and then only three horses appear...but I'm quite sure neither of our children noticed.

All in all, I would recommend the show. But I have a few words of wisdom. Bring cash if you want to spoil your kids. There are loads of vendors trolling the aisles with trinkets (much easier than waiting in line for them outside) but they are terribly expensive and they only take cash. Fortunately Gage didn't want anything and we had just enough for a light up wand for Zuzu. Phew.

And most of all, pick your date and time carefully. The show is over two hours long. I can't imagine bringing kids to a 7pm show. We made the mistake of going to a Sunday morning show, at a venue that shares a parking lot with the Oakland Raiders Football Stadium. On game day. Yeah, not good.

This is what your typical Disney on Ice ticket holders looks like...



And your typical Oakland Raider fans...



Made for a very interesting combination in the parking lot. And far more traffic than anyone should endure. Ever.

Here are just a few of our favorite moments from the show for your viewing pleasure...