What a Fun Surprise and FUN Night!!

Well tonight was John's birthday and I surprised the family with Front Row tickets to Disney On Ice Dare To Dream! We headed to a packed house at the Staples Center all dressed up in our costumes, and on the way there I told everyone what we were gonna see!

 

 Standing at our seats after the show!

 

 

Trying to leave our house, we had all kinds of bad luck- after we locked up the house and hopped in the car- we misplaced our keys- so we couldn't start the car and actually get going. The search was long: Did they fall between the seats? in one of our bags? This was a big time sucker. Then once we started driving, I realized that I snagged and ripped my dress and needed to go back home to get something to repair it- then once we got back on the road it started raining and some cars just ahead of us got in a major accident! All of this made us pretty sure we would be late and miss some of the show. You might think that all this could wreck our mood or evening-- oh but not us- John and I always know how to laugh during chaos, and we were rolling in the car recapping our shenanigans all the way there! Our luck sure turned around when we arrived- somehow we got parked with a few minutes to spare!

When the show started, we became the luckiest ducks ever because the actors made us part of the show too!! They took notice to the family dressed like them in the front row and they interacted (spotlights and everything) with us all night! They really made this show an unforgettable experience for us and it was that much more enjoyable! Our seats were right at the ice- we could touch the ice from our chairs!!

In this show they performed three full Disney Princess movie plots: Tiana (princess and the frog), Cinderella, and Rapunzel. They also featured Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy between stories (as our hosts). Sariah was talking to them a lot! Although Mickey is one of her favorites, I heard her calling out to "Donna" (Donald Duck) a lot!
Each story was full of beauty, action, villains, scenery changes, and special effects- straight out of the movie- but LIVE on ice! Both Sariah and Maletch are fully familiar with all 3 movies in fact Maletch kept saying, "This is just like the movie!" They did this much like Toy Story 3 on ice where there was vocal dialogue, mixed with musical style singing- great storytelling!
We were all really impressed with the aerial (acrobatic stunts) that Rapunzel and Flynn did- and we were also impressed with the costuming for the horse- which looked like a real horse ice skating! The lit-up Cinderella carriage on ice was stunning and Cinderella and her prince were Olympic-style stunt skaters and amazing to watch! I also really enjoyed the indoor pyrotechnics- just a great show!

Maletch will want to tell you about this:
Although many of the actors engaged with us in a charming or funny way, unanimously our favorite part was when they were performing the Cinderella story, The Prince and The Guard were carrying the glass slipper - looking to find the girl that fit the slipper. They came up to me on bended knee and tried it on my foot!! Maletch has been retelling that and how the Duke said, "No it doesn't fit mommy." LOL!! I think John caught it on video, but he was not at the best angle (too close) but I will post it anyway.
One part that Maletch didn't understand was supposed to be funny was when the Wicked step-sisters approached me they really started acting antagonistic and making faces, and making I'm gonna get you (threatening gestures of choking and hitting) and the audience and John and I were laughing since they were doing this "to Cinderella" but Maletch did not understand it was a joke and he was worried about these mean girls that he saw being mean to mommy. He also said they were doing it to him too! At this age, everything is so literal, so I know that must have been pretty scary. Now you will understand what he is talking about when he tells you about the "wicked step-sisters being mean to mommy and me, and how the man with the prince said the shoe didn't fit mommy!"

The wicked step-sisters are coming to mess with me and Maletch again!!

Funny Story (well kind of CRAZY):
Unbeknown to me, as we were escorted to the front row (when we arrived) apparently all the people in the place (kids AND parents) for some reason thought I was part of the show.. so as we descended down the stairs, I did hear a ruckus but I didn't turn around so I didn't know it had to do with me. Well, at intermission, as I was going to go to the ladies room (by myself)- I was approached by security who told me there was a mob of people that formed and were trying to get down to my seat to "meet the princess". He said, "We can't allow that since they didn't have tickets to get down to where you are." He insisted, "I think you will get mobbed going up the stairs." I thought that was funny, but I really didn't take it seriously.. I mean come on, I am at a show with my family, I am in the audience, obviously, I am not Cinderella, just a lady in costume right?? .... Well that is what I thought, until I tried to walk up the very first step and I was attacked!! I mean freakin MOBBED! Of course it wasn't the kids shouting "Hi Cinderella!"or even the ambush hugs from kids that bothered me - it was the nutty parents (moms AND dads) that were grabbing me, saying, "Come here my kids want to meet you, can I take a pic of you with my kids?" I tried to be clear, insisting that I was not part of the show, but for whatever reason they either didn't care or didn't believe me, Once I would take a pic (almost without choice) there were 50 more people yelling, "Cinderella over here! Behind you! Cinderella turn around!" Security was laughing but I was worried that I would never make it off the stairs or to the bathroom, and I was also worried about how aggressive they all were. After someone helped me the rest of the way up the stairs, I ran into the bathroom being chased by screaming people only to be mobbed again by crazy moms in the bathroom! They were taking pics of me in the bathroom- I'm telling you crazy! It was cute I heard one girl ask her mommy, "Wow, is she going to use the bathroom? Why is she using this bathroom like us?" Somewhere in the tussle my Cinderella hair up-do fell down due to being ambushed, pulled, and grabbed! So Cinderella let her hair down for the rest of the night :)

Anyway, that was so unexpected (and weird) so I decided to not to walk ANYWHERE alone again -well actually, that was what John said when he found out what happened. John referred to himself the rest of the night as my body guard, hehe. I did try to make it fun for the hundreds of kids that I met since I realized that no one is listening that I am not part of the show-- and for most of them- they believed that they met, hugged, and took a picture with the real Cinderella! Some of the girls squealed and some had tears in their eyes- these girls are serious about Cinderella! Even when I was with my family, like after the show at the merchandise stands - I was still approached for pics but in a more orderly fashion-- surprisingly most people STILL were convinced I was part of the show and refused to see that my family was all around me! So weird! This attention made the kids, ESPECIALLY Sariah VERY uncomfortable- she did NOT like other people surrounding me at all- she was so nervous! We were almost the last ones to leave because of this madness- we kept getting stuck! As we were leaving John took a few pics of me with the kids (our kids) at the stand while Sariah was trying to use my dress as a curtain to cover herself (not in a playful way- but in a - I want all of these people to leave us alone way)- I don't blame her- it was crazy! The people that did NOTICE my family had lots of comments for everyone! I asked John what the heck was wrong with some of these people and how could they think that I am in the show when I am clearly with my family and was in the audience...  he had a few ideas, but it was still bizarre to me.

In spite of all of the crazy people- we had a really great time! We did meet a lot of nice people too! It was a great show, we made great memories, we laughed a LOT (I was laughing-so-hard-I-cried a few times)- for all of these things I am so thankful for tonight!

Pop Quiz:
On the drive home, Maletch had a big idea of something he wants us to do next... can you guess what his suggestion was??
If you guessed, we go ice skating again but this time in our Prince and Princess costumes to perform Disney on Ice Dare to Dream ... you are correct! I had a feeling that he would want to do that- John laughed and looked at me  so I responded with what else?? --"That does sound like fun!"
So stay tuned as I bet that is what we do for his birthday- you know he gets to pick the activity again!!

Below is a video clip (sorry it is a little shaky).. You can see a few fun interactions just in this 5 minutes... it starts with them trying the glass slipper on me... then the step-sisters come back making more faces at us...  and then goofy acts like he will give us the tiara.. Maletch says, "Goofy was going to give a crown to Sariah!" This continued throughout the whole show- it was so much fun!
Be sure to pause the music player towards the bottom of the blog before playing the video or the sounds will be battling.

I will post some better clips of some incredible action and special effects later.

.... Still working on this post.... but I posted just a few sneak-peek pics for anyone that stops by ....slideshow coming later today...