Disney on Ice

I'll start this post by being completely honest.  I love Disney on Ice; always have.  Don't really know why, but I do.  There, I've admitted it.  So, with that admission, you can understand why when Ryan and I saw that Disney on Ice was coming to the Gwinnett Arena on March 31st, I thought to myself, "We're going and we're taking the girls.  Nevermind that tax season is beyond hectic, I want to go.  The girls will not always want to go, nor will they always have the belief in Disney magic, so I'm putting work to the side to enjoy this day with my family."  For the record, very smart move on my part.

The arena is about an hour away from our house, and given that you never know how traffic will be, we left in plenty of time; we arrived about an hour early.  This gave us lots of time to walk around, see the sites, buy a few fun things and enjoy time together.  Here we are testing out seats beforehand: three excited girls!

 Each girl really wanted a Tinkerbell spinner; they love these things!

 What trip to Disney on Ice would be complete without snow cones?  Mia picked a Cinderella cup with rainbow snow while Lily wanted a Tinkerbell cup with rainbow snow.  Since we had plenty of time, we ate them outside so the pieces that fall down (and a lot of pieces fall down) wouldn't land all over our seats.

 We were all eyes once the show started.

 We were using our iPhones to take pictures and unfortunately, it had a really hard time with the ice and its glare.  But here are a few pictures that turned out alright.

First up was The Incredibles family.  They (along with a couple dozen skaters) showed everyone in the audience how to warm up and exercise.

 Next up came Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee and Dum and White Rabbit all getting ready for a happy un-birthday party.  Of course, the queen and her card soldiers came in later which is what this picture is of.  They had some really cool choreography of synchronized moves for the cards.

After Alice, Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael came out to play.  Of course, you can't have those kids without Tinkerbell who flew above the ice.  The girls loved it!  Also, Captain Hook and Mr. Smead came out; Mia loves them, so she was excited to see them.  They loved seeing the big alligator slither across the ice in pursuit of Captain Hook. 

Next up was The Lion King which the girls know well since we went to see it in the theatre last fall.  They loved seeing all the lions though Mia kept asking for Scar the mean lion.

 The costumes for The Lion King, whether on stage or on ice, are always impressive to me.

Snow White and her dwarf friends came out for a little while.  They cleaned, the witch came and gave Snow White the apple and she slept until her prince came. 

Of course, you can't have Disney without Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.  They came out for a little while which all the kids loved.

 This is how Mia and I spent most of the second half of the show.  Trust me, I didn't mind one bit!

 The second half showed us Jasmine and Aladdin who flew across the ice on their magic carpet.  The girls were amazed.

 Peter Pan and the Lost Boys came back out and prevailed over Captain Hook.  Woo-who!

Next up was what we were waiting on: Rapunzel.  It was a lot of fun to watch Rapunzel and Flynn Rider skate under the lanterns that were flying high above the ice.

 Last up all the princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Arora, Tiana, Pocohantas, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Mulan and Ariel) came out and skated with their princes.  The girls loved this part.

 Joining them were Prince Mickey and Princess Minnie.

 The show ended with lots of sparklers and confetti while everyone skated away.

Such a fun family outing.  I told several people, the reactions from the girls was exactly what you want when you plan an outing like this.  They were enthralled throughout the show.  The excitement on their faces was priceless, and I will remember those faces forever.  Just perfect.