Is Disney Skating Past Me?

Disney on Ice Presents: Magic in the Stars
XL Center
Hartford
Jan/ 4, 2024

Being a reviewer means that I get to experience so many wonderful events, but sometimes even I have my moments of doubt.

I had one when I was deciding to attend the performance of Disney on Ice Presents: Magic in the Stars at the XL Center. Could I justify going to an event that was almost explicitly aimed at children?

Well, children read reviews, too. Right?

The first half of the show was for the old heads. The performance was framed as a journey across the stars featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Goofy. Except in this case, the stars were some of Disney’s most beloved franchises. They opened with skaters performing scenes and music from Aladdin, which also featured some impressive work of skaters dangling from the ceiling before landing and skating.

Then came the Toy Story crew, battling Emperor Zurg with the help of the audience. Finally there was a medley of Disney Princesses which included Cinderella, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White.

A couple of my favorites were missing. There was no representation for The Lion King or Mulan, two of the best Disney films to be released during their classic run in the ’90s. There was also no mention of Brave, which is a shame. Brave is one of my favorite of the computer-animated Disney films, but the company treats it like it doesn’t exist. Other than a hilarious cameo in the second Wreck-It Ralph movie, Brave is nowhere to be found.

Aside from missing some of my favorites, the show demonstrated that I haven’t been keeping up with my Disney fandom as of late either. The second half of the show was dedicated to Disney’s biggest recent hits. Of all the movies represented, I’d only seen Moana all the way through. (For my safety, I’m keeping my opinion of Moana to myself.) I’ve seen parts of the first Cars and none of the sequels; enough of Encanto to finally understand why we don’t talk about Bruno, and none of either Frozen movie or Wish. There were even a couple of skating mascots I didn’t recognize at all.

Does that mean I’m getting old now? These darn kids and their Olafs and their Lightning McQueens.

Speaking of kids, I’m fairly certain that I was the only person in the entire arena who was not accompanied by someone under the age of 10. When I told my teenaged son that I was going to Disney on Ice, he grunted, “That’s cool,” and continued about his business without even a hint of interest.

Is the Disney magic gone for me as I hurtle towards the big 40?

I was joking about it with the head of security at the venue, a woman named Natasha. She said to me, “Don’t feel bad that you’re here by yourself. We’re all big kids at heart, as long as you enjoy yourself.”

No matter how old I am, I still laugh at Aladdin’s antics and sing I’ll Make a Man Out of You when I want to get hyped up. Becoming an adult hasn’t made me enjoy these things less, but it has given me less time to enjoy them, That’s something I love about this job: it fulfills my adult responsibilities of working while nurturing the kid inside me who wants to see cool things.

After a brisk hour and 45 minutes, I was walking out with the rest of the families when I bumped into Natasha again.

“Did you you enjoy the show?” she asked.

Yes, in fact, I did.