November 2nd, 2011 by Stinkhead
The Disney on Ice show Dare to Dream (the Princess centric show) came to town and I took the family. Now before you start with the cracks… my four year old son and I decided to take Mommy as her birthday present. She really wanted to see the show, and my son is a little too young to feel emasculated by a show of dancing princesses. If anything, I should be applauded for my open minded attitudes towards gender appropriate activities. And we’re totally hitting the Monster Trucks again in January. Click below for more pics and reflections (haha, that’s funny, because it’s on ice) on this show.
There are several Disney on Ice programs, and Dare to Dream is heavily focused on the Disney Princesses. This one featured Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Rapunzel from Tangled. We haven’t seen the The Princess and the Frog movie, but we all really enjoyed Tangled, and it featured enough action that we didn’t feel it was just a cotton candy hazed princess muck fest. I can’t recall if my son has seen Cinderella all the way through, but he’s familiar with the slipper story.
The arena we were at, First Mariner Bank Arena in Baltimore, was the perfect size. We felt nice and close to the action, and the dancers are constantly aware of the 360° seating, so there were no real bad seats. During the slipper- fitting portion of Cinderella, they actually tried fitting it on some of the young girls in the front row.
The event itself was very enjoyable. It was a constantly moving production with lots of music and singing, some clowny theatrics (a lot of costumed characters falling down, intentionally), and plenty of skating acrobatics. There were fireworks and moving sets, and plenty enough to call it visually stimulating.
If you have a princess or two in your house, they’re going to love seeing their favorite princesses “live” in person, going through the motions of the story (not just waving in a parade). It’s a nice “slice of Disney” in your hometown, and there is that magic of seeing your favorite characters without having to travel to Orlando.
That being said, I think if you take a boy age 6 or older, he may feel like he’s joined the Polar Bear Swimming club, or tacked on a few years before he’ll be ready to shave. I saw one or two older brothers, tagging along for solidarity, but their eyes were permanently “mid-roll”. I recommend promising a trip to Monster Trucks or Nuclear Cowboys for any poor suffering little dudes you drag along. We loved the circus, and that was delightfully gender neutral. I think if you did bring a boy to this show, he wouldn’t hate it, but he may be too embarrassed to just let go and enjoy the theatrics.
It was understandably a little chilly, with the ice and all. I would recommend a comfortable sweatshirt or at least long sleeves. Actually 90% of the little girls were wearing those ever popular Disney Princess costumes. This was the day before Halloween yes, but I would highly recommend bringing your daughter in princess costume (/appropriate t-shirt) or be prepared to hear about it for the rest of your days.
This was a lot of fun, and the little girl in your life will love love love this show. Know that there are some other Disney on Ice shows. One focuses more on Mickey and Friends, another on just Toy Story, and 100 Years of Magic features a wide range of favorites. Check out DisneyonIce.com (or as I call it, Disney? O, Nice!) for details and ticket information.
Enjoy some more photos from the event below.
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