FROZEN ON ICE

Today we took my 4-1/2 year old granddaughter, Charley, to see "Disney's Frozen on Ice".  She has seen the movie, "Frozen", countless times, knows the words to all of the songs & owns numerous Anna & Elsa dresses & accessories which makes her the perfect audience for this show!

My sister, Karen (AKA Zizi) & my son, Darrin (AKA Daddy) accompanied Charley & me to the spectacle that is Disney ice shows. I wanted to treat us all & bought lower level tickets along with a considerable number of other overpriced items to make Charley's day super special.

The four of us ready for the show - Zizi, Charley & I all wore Elsa or Anna tiaras & Daddy donned the Olaf hat that came with the cotton candy!

All children's events seem to have one must-have major money making item that every kid HAS to have. For Frozen on Ice it was the magic snowflake light up wand - in all fairness it is pretty impressive with three different flashing color functions & a two year battery replacement guarantee from Disney. But there was still a moment of sticker shock with the $30 price tag. 

This is the Olaf hat that came with every $15 bag of cotton candy. Just as with the magic wand above, the prices didn't seem to deter anyone from buying. I mean how can you possibly disappoint your child or grandchild? The $20 bills were flowing freely & I eagerly joined in to Charley's delight.

Disney does put on a professional, well rehearsed & choreographed extravaganza. There were literally thousands of little girls in Elsa dresses or adorned with all kinds of hats, crowns, jewelry, etc in the sold out arena.

For those of you who don't have children or have simply been living under a rock these past few years here are a few scenes that mirrored the movie accurately. This is Anna & Hans dancing a skating routine while "The First Time in Forever" played. 

When Elsa's powers to wreak havoc with snow & ice became uncontrollable the kingdom of Arrendale froze over.

I loved Sven, the reindeer, in the movie & he didn't disappoint in Frozen on Ice. Darrin did comment, "Wouldn't it be a pisser to audition for Kristoff & get the part of Sven's butt?"

Elsa with her grand finale of "Let It Go", Charley's favorite song. Thousands of little voices sang along & belted out the entire thing. The passion of all these children literally brought tears to my eyes as they lived the moment.

Disney smartly included a 15 minute intermission for bathroom trips - & I'm sure another chance to pick up some souvenirs & Frozen themed food items. The place was packed but it seemed to all play out pretty smoothly given the shear number of small kids.

The intermission gave Gaga the chance to indulge in one more purchase for all of us - some popcorn (which we didn't even finish between the four of us) that came with a reuseable Mickey & Minnie Mouse bag.

I was reminded of a trip to New Orleans 25 years ago where we had lunch at one of the high end restaurants in the French Quarter. The prices were outrageously expensive but the service was excellent & the meal so delectable that, strangely, you never felt ripped off.  I felt a slight sense of that today - plus the grandma thing of nothing is too much for my Charley.

The snow monster that Elsa creates to protect her Ice Castle was one of Charley's favorite characters. It didn't disappoint in the Disney on Ice version of the story.

The trolls (if you haven't seen the movie you really should since I'm not going to try to explain it here) did the typical ice capades thing where the skaters spin in opposite directions with the end skaters really picking up speed.

Part of the grand finale with Olaf, Sven & Anna. My photos weren't up to my normal quality since the lighting was low & there was a ton of movement going on. I apologize for the grainy, blurry images but I tried.

All in all, it was a great day & Charley really enjoyed it. She yelled & whooped it up when it was time to cheer. That girl is going to be great at sporting events!  I was so grateful that I could share this with her & I'd have spent triple the amount without batting an eye to experience this with her. Besides, in the end, it's only money - & to paraphrase the old Mastercard commercials:

Four "Frozen on Ice" tickets - $200

One snowflake magic wand - $30

Cotton candy with an Olaf hat - $15

Popcorn & a Disney bag - $12

Spending a magical day with your only granddaughter - PRICELESS!