It is done. Never let it be said that I did not sacrifice for my children. I sat through all 2+ hours of it, when both Beanie and I were ready to leave at intermission. It would have been better if we had, actually- not only would we have missed the traffic and mess getting out of downtown, but we would have missed the painful lengths Disney has gone to to give Tinkerbell a back story and a family. And that stretched-thin storyline took up the ENTIRE second half of the show was a travesty we actually sat through. It almost hurt worse than the $20 spinning flashy-things they con you into buying after offering to let your child “just hold one to try it out” as you are captive in your seat, gritting your teeth as the lemonade guy walks by ($10 a cup) and the snowcone guy ($12, plus another $2 if you WANT A SPOON). You think I’m kidding?? I wish. I settled on us all sharing a bottle of $3.75 water. It was a bargain- or at least it felt that way. Thanks to Nana, the kids did get a flashy light thingy, but since mom was paying for refreshments, its water, babies.
Honestly, does anyone over maybe 10 enjoy these ON ICE productions? And I becoming a cynic? Because what I saw was a lot of second tier ice-skaters, badly lip-synching their lines to a too-loud voice-over track, and missing their cues too often. And it was opening night. Maybe the Princess Show would have been a better bet- but it would have been a harder sell for the boys. As it was, by intermission, like I said, Bean was done. Abby went dressed in her Snow White costume, and the boys went as doting older brothers. I went as a mom determined to make it through the night with grace and patience, and miraculously, I too succeeded.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad family adventure. I do hate how they scam you on the outrageous price of rudimentary things- I mean, the program was $15. For a flimsy little pamphlet? Oh man, no way. The venue was clean and nice, parking was close and easy and inexpensive ($5) compared to everything else. Even our cheap seats ($12 each) were only 8 rows back from the ice. We were so close we could see… well, more than I wanted to see. I’ll just leave it at that. I know my kids enjoyed themselves, and will certainly have collected far less cynical memories from the night.
That’s good enough for me.
Dandelion Mama 
I *LOVE* the positivity! It will make me smile all day that your post represented your family having a good time together. YAY!!
Evidently, no one else likes Disney On Ice, either!
My parents once took some of us kids to Peanuts on ice. Partly I’m sure because we lived down the street from the peanuts ice arena. At the time it was great fun for us kids, but looking back what hell my parents must have gone through just for our enjoyment. You are such a good mom to sit through that.
A few years ago Ray won free tickets to On Ice from a radio station. The one daughter who was really looking forward to going ended up with a raging fever that night and couldn’t go. Another sister replaced her. We enjoyed it overall, but it was too long (even my daughters thought so) and everything was too expensive. We didn’t even buy water to share!
I think Disney On Ice is a once in a lifetime experience – anything more than that is far too much!
Gotta clarify (I’m OCD enough that it will bug me)… I should have said “Another daughter replaced her.” or “Another of her sisters replaced her.”
Anyway, the highlight (mwahaha) of our On Ice evening was explaining over and over why the other kiddies got to have the flashy light thingies, but mine couldn’t. Disney certainly knows how to use peer pressure to their advantage…
I hate that they are trying to change Tinkerbell into a talking character. She was much better as a twinkling, non-talking fairy.
How’s this for postitive? I’m counting my blessings that I’ve never ever been to Disney on Ice. My youngest is two. Do you think I can hold out for just a few more years until the threat has passed?