tips for Disney on Ice

We had our very first Disney on Ice experience with the boys last weekend and we all loved it!! Okay I’m sure my husband tolerated it but he was a great sport.

I really didn’t know what to expect and I am a big planner, so of course I took to the internet to find all the tips and tricks I could before going. I’m no expert after one show, but we did have a zero meltdown night with a new 4 year old and a 2 year old who were up well past bedtime so I’d call it a success!

Here are a few things I’d recommend:

1. Before you buy your tickets, scope out the other show times. I was really surprised to see how much more affordable Friday night was compared to Saturday or Sunday during the day. Our initial choice was Saturday morning, and I’m sure many people with young kids would have that as their top pick as well. But, we were able to sit a whole section closer and still come in cheaper by opting for Friday night and my frugal soul just couldn’t pass that up.

2. Smuggle in a few things. This post isn’t sponsored by Disney or anything like that so I’m going to be real with you guys–we packed snacks! Technically bringing in food is not allowed…but my frugality often outweighs my rule following. The thing is they hardly checked my bags, we saved a ton of money, and I just don’t feel too bad about this. I did a juice box, animal crackers, and a candy each. Judging by the $8 bottled water my husband bought and the $12 snacks I saw for sale I’d say we avoided a $60 concessions cost.

3. Smuggle more things in. We brought our own glow sticks and our own Disney ears (these were a deal and great quality too!). The good news is you don’t actually have to smuggle these things in, it was allowed! Tons of kid dress up in full costume. I found it was fun for the boys to each have a backpack packed up with the glow sticks and ears and candy inside as surprises. They didn’t know what all they had until we sat down and unpacked! And I slowly revealed my tricks so we could survive the two hour show.

4. Arrive a little earlier than you think you need to. We planned to arrive 20 minutes early and that’s exactly when we rolled into walking distance of the venue. However, the traffic was crazy and since this was a venue 2 hours from home we didn’t have time to really scope out all the parking options. By the time we found a parking spot it was further than we had wanted. So after walking, going through the metal detectors and bag checks, letting Sam use the restroom and walking around to find our spot etc, it was about 10 minutes after show time. This didn’t really concern me since it was a 2 hour long performance, but imagine if we had hit up the concession stand as well. I’d say 30-40 minutes early is safer, unless you live there in town and know the parking situation well.

5. Spend the weeks leading up to the show refreshing on some old Disney favorites. The show we saw was 100 Years of Magic and it was really well-rounded. My 2 year old was especially happy to see Mickey and
the gang as well as Nemo. My 4 year old was into Toy Story and The Lion King, and they were both all about Frozen and Olaf—one of their favorite movies. I appreciated that is wasn’t 100% Disney Princess for my boys (even though they do love Ana and Elsa.) However, there were quite a few characters they did not know—Aladdin, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled were several that were lost on them. It would be a good idea to work a few of these into your movie night rotation
before seeing the show!

6. Bring a coat/blanket. We saw a show in St. Louis in Feb. so it was a given that we had coats. If you went to a show in the summer time you may overlook this but we felt pretty cool drafts off the ice throughout the night. I packed each kid their special blankie they sleep with to have for warmth as well as to cuddle with since we are usually snoozing by 7:30 and this show went til 9:00! They were so excited to unpack the backpack and see they had their beloved item.

7. Set expectations. This is a borrowed tip I read before going and I’m so glad I did. We stopped for dinner on the way to the show and while eating I told the boys exactly what to expect. I told them they’d need to be good boys and stay in their seats, that they had to hold our hands and stick with us in the crowd, and that I had packed their backpacks with surprises so we would not be buying any of the toys and food there. When we walked in Sam was immediately distracted by a table of stuffed animals (aka dog bait in our house) so I reminded him—”remember we brought our own fun stuff in the bags” and he said “oh yeah!!” and that was that. Call me a mean mom, but I don’t think anyone was too traumatized.

Overall we had such a great time celebrating Sam’s 4th birthday and they boys were so well-behaved they really impressed us. I recommend Disney on Ice to anyone and would love to hear any reader tips to keep in mind if we go back!