Home > Categories > Entertainment > Stageshows > Disney on Ice Celebrates Mickey and Friends 2019 review
Grab your mouse ears and get ready for the ultimate interactive event at 'Disney on Ice celebrates Mickey and Friends'. For the first time ever, see fearless Moana on a high-seas adventure with demigod Maui.
Follow the unforgettable Dory through the unexplored seas of the Pacific Ocean, join the Toy Story pals on the exciting adventure and discover true love with Elsa and Anna.
Buckle in for the emotional rollercoaster of Inside Out and "Live Your Story" alongside Disney Princesses as they inspire all to celebrate their favourite Disney memories in this commemoration of 90 years of Mickey Mouse.
Unique to New Zealand: All Sunday 5.30pm performances in each city will present Moana segment in Te Reo Maori
Dates:
Auckland 2 - 4 August
Hamilton 8 - 11 August
Christchurch 17 - 18 August
Product reviews...
Disney and magic go hand and hand. As soon as you walk thru the doors into Claudelands you can feel the electric atmosphere and see all the excited faces. Kids of every age are jumping up and down begging their parents to buy some merchandise or food. You do need to rob a bank before coming as a lot of it is not cheap. I brought my girls Olaf Slushies and paid $40 for them to suck on most of the show and then as soon as we left they threw the contents out under a tree. I paid $5 for an orange juice and my husband got a coke which cost $3 and was gone after 2 gulps it was tiny. Walking into the arena flashing merchandise was everywhere.
The show started with two presenters trying to woo the audience and I found, unless you were on the ground floor right next to the stage they do not acknowledge you and only communicate and direct their attention to them. All the kids around us screamed out the answers and jumped up and down all in vain.
The show itself is amazing. The costumes are breath taking and the whole thing is so well done. They sparkled, flew thru the air, done tricks and then there was the silks and aerial work followed by snow falling from the skies. You sung, you gasped and you just get so over whelmed by the whole thing - especially when they lit the ice on fire or when Merida shot her arrow with flames. The show lasts for just under 2 hours and that includes the break, but the whole thing flies by.
I did prefer the second half which told the Frozen story and then the Moana story I was left with goosebumps when Moanas boat glided over the ice as she sung 'how far I'll go' than Maui stole the boat while singing 'your welcome'. As with 'do you want to build a snowman' and 'let it go' you could hear all the little girls singing away. We had the loudest member of the audience behind us and she screamed out all of the characters names and sung at the top of her lungs - this show was made for her and you could tell she was in heaven. She would of been just a bit younger than my daughter so guessing five or six and it actually added to the show listening to her screaming and participating when required. On the opposite end of the scale we had a young girl, maybe two or three that just did not seem interested at all she much preferred jumping on her daddies knee much to his annoyment.
I was amazed with Tangled (Rapunzel) and The Little Mermaid (Ariel). They used silks and a rope and done some amazing techniques as they flew rather highly around the ice. It was beautiful to see them fly and hang upside down. The mother in me freaked out thinking what if they fell as had to harness or safety care but they made it all look so effortlessly. Actually, did not see anyone trip everyone was on top form and gave an amazing performance.
My seven year old loved every minute of it. She was transfixed and when told to stand up to learn a dance she was right out of her seat dancing away. She sung, she squealed she loved it and is begging to go again already. It is perfect for this age group. She knew all the characters and all the songs and she even pointed out that Sleeping Beauty was missing. My ten year old was a different story. She enjoyed it but yet I can't see her going again. She now at that stage where she too cool for it all. Although I did catch her mouthing the words to a few of the songs. I think this show is more aimed for the 4 - 8 year range and of course parents especially mummies who love fairytales.
We are staying an hour out of Hamilton and the drive home included singing the songs and discussing the show from start to finish. Our verdict was 'amazing'. We all were extremely impressed. There were discussions about Star Wars or Marvel versions (since Disney now owns). Nobody creates magic like Disney and this was no exception. It is well worth seeing and personally I would love to go again! A show that brings out the kid again and makes your imagination come alive.
We won tickets to this event a few years ago and my kids have been asking about going again ever since and this was their lucky year, I actually remembered to look into it before the event so we were in time to buy tickets. The venue was a good choice, easy to follow signage, lots of space and hardly an empty seat. Being that there is a huge ice rink it was nice and warm and I overheard some people sitting behind me saying that they were probably overdressed.
The costumes were fantastic, they looked exactly like they did in the movies, it was easy to identify the characters (apart from some of the princesses but that is because I haven't watched every single Disney movie) and the songs were easy to sing along to. I did notice that some of the skaters didn't land some of the jumps properly but it was good to see they just got back up and continued with the show. The story was easy to follow, who doesn't like Mickey and wants to know his favourite memory (I think that the parents all have various favourite memories of waking up early on a Saturday to watch an episode of MIckey Mouse).
I did see advertising for next years show and it looks like I'm going to have to get tickets to that one as well. As you expect from Disney the costumes are great and the characters are easily identifiable. It didn't feel like it was hours and hours of sitting, when we came out I was really surprised to see that we had been in there for close to 2 and a half hours so excellent value for money.
I would recommend this to parents and kids of all ages, the magic of a live show is something not to be missed and the memories will last a lifetime. I have tried to expose my kids to various forms of live entertainment and this is by far their favourite form of entertainment.
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