Disney on Ice presents World of Enchantment in Birmingham

The little girls had their best Elsa and Anna costumes on. The little boys couldn’t decide whether to buy a plastic sword or a cuddly version of Lightning McQueen, it could only mean one thing – Disney on Ice was back in Birmingham, at the city’s Barclaycard Arena. And, once again, it was a show that was high on Disney charm and magic with much-loved characters and crowd pleasing songs giving the audience a lovely night to remember.

The show started with a set piece from Toy Story 3, as Andy is putting away his childish things before he embarks on a new adventure at college. The toys end up at a daycare centre that seems to be the answer to their prayers, but in fact the centre is like a prison, ruled with an iron paw by a cute looking bear called Lots-o-Huggin, who may smell of strawberries, but is actually rotten to the core.

This segment is lovely due to the appearance of all the toys that are known and loved in Toy Story. The site of Hamm and Rex, along with the Potato heads on the ice is such a magical sight, and each character gets very loud cheers.  Woody and Buzz are always popular of course, and I do think this is a segment that works well with slightly older children in the audience.

Next up was that perennial favourite ‘The Little Mermaid’. This section soars due to the songs, who couldn’t be seduced by ‘Kiss the Girl’ and ‘Under the Sea’? Ursula is a rather scary baddie who may be a little frightening to very young children, but in general she is only on the ice for a short period of time and is quickly defeated. This is a very pretty section due to the beautiful colours of the costumes, a real visual treat.

The ‘Cars’ montage is a really exciting episode on the ice as it isn’t featured in live shows that often. This section is great, fast and furious for the school milk generation, and it really was awesome to see so many of the cars characters on the ice at one time. It also tied in nicely with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who just happen to have left their car on the ice.  With the exception of Frozen, which followed, I think this was the most popular sequence.

The show ends with Frozen, which still has the capacity to raise the roof. The songs are already classics, with everyone singing along – quite a moment which still brings a lump to my throat. Anna and Elsa along with Olaf still totally enchant, and ‘Let it Go’ will never sound better than when song from the ice. One minor note was that Sven the reindeer was missing this time around, maybe this is because it is coming up to his busy time of year…

If you or your youngsters are a fan of Disney, this is a show that will not disappoint, the songs, the costumes, the quality of the skating, it is never less that lovely.

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