Last night I, along with my favorite 7yo and his parents went to see Disney on Ice-Let’s Celebrate at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. We have seen Many Disney on Ice Shows over the years and this one ranks #2 for us, Toy Story 3 back in 2011 is still our favorite. I think the amount of Disney characters throughout the show and the cohesive theme were what made this show so good. You can visit DisneyOnIce.com to see when a show is coming to your area.

About Disney On Ice-Let’s Celebrate

It’s one colossal party on ice, with all your favorite Disney friends! Join Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as they celebrate a Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter; Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen; a Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses; a Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch; a winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear; a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains and more in a magical medley of holidays, celebrations and festivals from around the globe. Come join the party when this spectacular ice show visits your hometown!

Mom Maven’s Thoughts-Disney on Ice-Let’s Celebrate

Act One was phenomenal! The opening number was full of Disney characters, the un-birthday celebration was a lot of fun. Sorcerer Mickey and his magic brooms cleaning up the un-birthday party was a very nice bit of classic Disney coupled with precision skating maneuvers. The Halloween Section with Jack Skellington and the Villians was well done, but there was a lot of smoke which made it hard to see at times. The huge Act One Valentine’s Day section was my favorite part. This included the Fairy Godmother, Minnie wishing for her prince charming and several of the Disney Princesses and their princes. The final number of this section was one of my favorite Disney songs, “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted!

Act Two was a bit less cohesive. It started celebrating summer vacation with Lilo, Stitch, Nani and David but then the show changed. Suddenly Mickey was using some electronic device, which wasn’t a part of Act One, to locate places with peace and quiet. Instead of finding what he was looking for he ventured to a Chinese New Year celebration and Carnivale in Brazil while Minnie went to Japan for the Cherry Blossom Festival. This whole section felt like they ran out of US celebrations and were reaching to fill time. The Act Two finale was “Winter Wonderland/Happy Holidays”. It was obvious by the set pieces and Santa Goofy that they were celebrating Christmas but they kept saying “Happy Holidays”. In our opinion, if you are saying “Happy Holidays” then why not celebrate Hanukkah in the piece as well, maybe add some Kwanzaa too. It seemed too politically correct…but not really and several adults near us were commenting about it on the way out of the show.

Matthew, the 7yo was happy because he just wanted to see “Magic Mickey” aka Sorcerer Mickey. Dad enjoyed the show except for the “Happy Holidays” issue. Mom, myself and several of the children around us were confused because it looked like Ariel was wearing Rapunzel’s dress throughout the show. In the opening number several of us were wondering why Rapunzel had red wavy hair, similar to Merida. Then in the Valentine’s section we realized it was Ariel in Rapunzel’s dress and this was still confusing. The reason we realized it was Ariel was because she and Eric skated to “Kiss the Girl” and she had a starfish in her hair. It confused adults and children alike. I tried to get a picture of her but unfortunately none of them came out well enough. This is actually a picture I took of the Disney On Ice YouTube video to illustrate my point.

Overall, we enjoyed the show. It is good wholesome family fun at a reasonable ticket price. Just remember to feed your family before you come and let them know you won’t be buying any overpriced souvenirs during the show, $15 snow cones and $12 popcorn is just ridiculous. We watched the family in front of us spend $112 on snow cones and popcorn before the show and then it was like every other roaming salesperson saw that they were suckers and they all swarmed them with overpriced lemonades, light up toys and swords-to no avail because they were now broke from the snacks they had purchased.

Have you seen this show? Do you plan on seeing it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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This giveaway is for US residents only. The winner must be able to attend a show in Tampa, FL on either May 15 or May 16, 2014 at 7:00pm. The giveaway ends at 12:00am on 5-1-14. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter. The winner will be notified by email and they with have 48 hours to claim their prize. The winner will pick up their tickets at Will Call at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on the day of the show.
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In a few weeks I’ll be holding a ticket giveaway but I suggest you get your tickets now. You can save $5.00 on select shows by using code MOM5 when you purchase your tickets.

To help get your littles excited about the upcoming show you can download a coloring sheet and Mickey Ears for them to play with now.

Make sure you are subscribed to my blog so that you will know when to enter the ticket giveaway!

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This was my 4th event so far this year at the Forum so we know the drill…get tickets at Will Call, go through bag check then head to our seats. This time was different. At bag check I was informed that I could bring my camera, a Nikon Coolpix P100  into the Forum but I couldn’t bring my small camera bag in! I wasn’t carrying a purse-my ID, keys, money, phone were all tucked into my camera bag. The security officer made me put everything in my pocket and Bob ran my camera bag back to the car for me. I am not sure of the reasoning for this rule, and I have tweeted @tbtimesforum and have received no response. Kim’s purse is HUGE, you could fit 2-3 of my camera bags in her purse but she was allowed to bring her purse in so it wasn’t a size issue. I was even more stumped when we got to our seats and saw other people with their camera bags! I’d love to get a response from the Forum on this issue.

We arrived at our seats by 6:30pm and Bob bought Matthew a $10 cotton candy which came with either a princess tiara or a Flounder hat. Matthew opted for Flounder. 

The show opened with a rollicking production number featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and a cast of talented skaters. Later in the opening segment Pinocchio, Anastasia and Druzilla also got in on the act.

The Little Mermaid

Sebastian made his way out to tell us the tale of The Little Mermaid. This segment included Ariel, her sisters, Prince Eric, Sebastian, Flounder, Ursula, Flotsam & Jetsam and a host of skating sea creatures!

Tangled

Next up was Kim and my favorite section-Tangled. This act included Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Maximus, Mother Gothel, and the thugs. The skating horse is very cool and we loved the beauty of the floating lanterns.

Brave

After intermission Mickey and the gang came back out and introduced us to Merida and the rest of the crew from Brave. In this act we had Merida, Queen Elinor, The Triplets-Harris, Hubert and Hamish, and the clans of Dingwall, MacGuffin, and Macintosh. This act was filled with excitement, fast skating and even archery and was the favorite of both Bob and Matthew.

Matthew on the edge of his seat during “Brave”

Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time…you can never go wrong by including the classic Beauty and the Beast in the show. Belle, LeFou, Gaston and the townspeople open this act with the songs “Belle” and “Gaston”. Once Belle arrives at the castle we meet up with Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Chip, the Beast and the rest of the enchanted household. “Be Our Guest” was a fantastic production number and I really loved the flatware’s costumes.

The show ended with the full cast on stage skating to a medley of songs. The high energy show lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes and was enjoyed by boys and girls of all ages. Disney on Ice:Rockin’ Ever After is touring the US, Canada and Mexico this year so it might just be coming to your corner of the world.

Disclosure: I received 4 tickets for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine. There are affiliate links in this post.

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Get ready to rock out with some of the most magical idols of all in a musical showcase that features the hottest tunes and talent from across the kingdom in Disney On Ice presents Rockin’ Ever After! Jam to a Scottish jig as a group of royal contenders from the latest Disney•Pixar film, Brave, competes to win the heart of headstrong, sharp-shooting Merida, making her ice debut! Experience a show-stopping performance as Sebastian breaks out of his shell for one night only to take waves with Ariel.  A chorus of harmless hooligans from Tangled unleashes musical mayhem when they get a visit from the  sassy and spirited Rapunzel and her charming ally Flynn.  And, get your feet moving as the Beast and his castle’s enchanted entourage take center stage in a spectacular show for Belle. It will be a rockin’ remix of royalty when Disney On Ice brings this superstar line-up to your hometown.

I am giving away a 4-pack of tickets to wither the May 16 or May 17 7:00pm show at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. The giveaway ends at 12:00am on 4/27/13.

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Disclosure: I will receive tickets to the opening night show in exchange for hosting this giveaway. All opinions are 100% mine

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The show started with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and the dancers performing an up beat “Rock the Mouse” opening number. Adults and children alike were up out of their seats dancing along with the performers. Since the theme of the show is Mickey’s Music Festival the characters shared how lots of things can make music, like an old jug, a saw and other household items.

The Aladdin section was next and began with Mickey rubbing a magic lamp. of course, Genie appeared and later Aladdin and Jasmine joined him. Jasmine and Aladdin even floated around the stage on a magic carpet while they performed “A Whole New World.

Mickey and the gang returned with some congas and a shell and played a shell game as they introduced Sebastian and the Little Mermaid section of the show. Before intermission this section was focused of Sebastian and Flounder, Ariel made her appearance after the intermission as did Prince Eric.Toy Story was the next movie to be featured and this included the Green Army Men, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and Bullseye!

The music and dancing in the entire show was great. There were a lot of quick changes for the cast of 25 to keep up with. When I asked Matthew what was his favorite part of the show he answered, “All of it.” There was truly something for everyone, boys, girls, young old-everyone enjoys some Disney magic and it is nice that it tours the country bringing the magic to people who need it.

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival is traveling to Alabama, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida this spring. Visit Disney Live! for dates and locations.

Disclosure: I received 4 tickets to the show in exchange for hosting the giveaway and writing the review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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The Metal Mulisha

The premise of the show is that it is the year 2150 in warn-torn Los Angeles, rival gangs The Soldiers of Havoc and The Metal Mulisha are engulfed in a turf war. Out of nowhere, the evil Tempest and her cyborg army come on the scene to claim the territory for themselves. The only way The Soldiers of Havoc and The Metal Mulisha can conquer Tempest and her cyborgs is to lay down their differences and form an alliance…The Nuclear Cowboyz. The battle is fought in the air through high flying motorcycles and quads as well as on the ground where dancers battle the cyborgs.

Soldiers of Havoc

Overall, we had a good time last night. If you are looking for a high energy show geared for those ages 10-adult you should check out the Nuclear Cowboyz tour. If you are in the Tampa Bay area there is a show on 2/16 and another on 2/17 and tickets are still available for both shows!

Tempest and her Cyborgs

Disclosure: We attended the show as guests of Feld Motorsports for the purpose of this review and as a thank-you for hosting the giveaway. All opinions are 100% ours. All photos were taken by my son, Aaron @hammyjoyfm.

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The Show

Mickey Mouse and friends rock the world with the stars from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story in their new touring show Disney Live!  Mickey’s Music Festival.  Disney hits are remixed to the hottest sounds of today featuring hip hop, pop, swing, reggae, rock, country and much more!  The irresistible lineup of performers, including Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy; Ariel, Sebastian and Ursula; Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie; and Woody, Buzz and Jessie; are among the more than 25 Disney stars featured in this jam session fit for the entire family!  You can’t resist dancing, singing, playing your air-guitar and laughing with this band of characters!  Come join them at Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival for a lively concert experience guaranteed to deliver enough rockin’ memories to last a lifetime.

The Discount

If you want to guarantee your seats, order them now from the Forum box office use code DLTPA to get $3.00 off tickets for either performance-offer not valid on Front Row or VIP Floor Seat tickets.

The Giveaway

The giveaway is for four tickets to the March 2nd 5:30pm performance of Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The winner must be able to attend that show. The winner will pick up the tickets at Will Call at the Forum the day of the show. The giveaway ends at 12:01am on 2/14/13. The winner will be notified via email and have 48 hours to claim their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am receiving 4 tickets to see Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival in exchange for hosting this giveaway and writing a review. This giveaway is sponsored by Feld Entertainment. All opinions are 100% mine.

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The two legendary Nuclear Cowboyz FMX tribes, the Soldiers of HavocSM and Metal Mulisha®, return for an action-packed event that takes place in the war-torn city of Los Angeles during the year 2150. The tale unfolds as the two tribes’ survival is threatened and besieged by an evil force, The Tempest and her electrifying acrobatic Cyborg Army. Cast into the heart-pounding ferocity and frenzied excitement are the alluring Nuclear Cowgirlz® dancers, whose allegiance to their tribes only intensifies the Tempest’s rage to destroy the Nuclear Cowboyz. The Soldiers of Havoc and Metal Mulisha’s battle is fought through fearless, gravity-defying freestyle tricks.

My family will be attending the February 15th show and I’ll have a review up for you on the 16th. I’m giving away a 4 pack of tickets for the 1:00pm show on the 17th! In case you’re not familiar with the Nuclear Cowboyz, check out this video.

We are so excited to see this show and I’m sure you are too so make sure you enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I am receiving 4 tickets to the show for hosting this giveaway, courtesy of Feld Entertainment. All opinions are 100% mine.

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The show opened with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy welcoming everyone to the show. The first story was The Princess and the Frog, the magical tale of Tiana and Prince Naveen. Tiana’s dream of owning her own restaurant is one of the dreams that keeps the pair searching for a way to become human again. I love the music in this show and this led to some beautiful ice skating numbers.

Mickey and friends came back out and found a glass slipper that led us to the next story which was of course, Cinderella. The Cinderella story was well portrayed the acting and skating were great, especially the antics of the step sisters. Intermission took place in the middle of the Cinderella story, which felt a bit odd. After Cinderella, Mickey and friends came out again and this time Goofy found a crown and placed it on a stand. When no one was looking Flynn Ryder came down from the roof of the forum and stole the crown! This set the story of Tangled in motion.

Tangled was definitely the highlight of the entire performance. The skating and aerial performances were amazing! The skaters portraying Maximus, the horse did a great job too. You really believed there was an ice skating horse in the show. As we exited the forum everyone was talking about how beautiful the Tangled section was.

Here is a video overview of the show, since I know my words can’t do it justice.

Go to DisneyOnIce.com to see if Dare to Dream or any other Disney on Ice production is heading to your area soon. You won’t be disappoinyed.

Disclosure: I received 4 tickets to Disney on Ice as a thank you for working with the production to spred the word about the show on my social media channels. All opinions are 100% mine.

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