Disney On Ice Treasure Trove

Alan left for a business trip to Switzerland last Sunday, and if I didn’t already have a bunch of work commitments lined up for this week, I probably would have packed my bags up and hopped onto the plane with him. But, who says that staying behind couldn’t have some spontaneity to spruce up our week here?

Our week started off on a slow pace, because I was so exhausted after a marathon week of wedding, Lake Tahoe trip and 2 photoshoots. Bridgette and I took it easy in the evening, but by Wednesday morning, my spontaneous Aquarius self was back. I saw a friend post on Facebook that she was going to see Disney On Ice Treasure Trove that evening, so I did a quick Google search and found that it was opening night at the HP Pavillion! Within minutes, I got on Ticketmaster.com and brought Bridgette and I front row seats to see her favorite Disney princesses that evening. I have never been to a Disney on Ice show, so I had no idea what to expect, but since front row tickets weren’t outrageously expensive, I figured it was worth it to splurge on this first experience!

I picked Bridgette up early from school and surprised her with the news that we were going to see her favorite princesses that evening. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she asked me twice if we were going today, to make sure she heard me correctly. After my affirmation, there were a series of cheers and “yays” in the car ride south. We stopped at one of her favorite restaurants–Sweet Tomatoes, and had a quick dinner before arriving at the HP Pavillion in San Jose.

The parking lot right across from the venue charged a flat rate of $15, which is not bad at all, compared to San Francisco rates. It was merely a hop, skip and a jump across the street, and we arrived with 30 minutes to spare.

Lesson #1: Don’t arrive too early to these performances, because Disney’s got booths set up with all kinds of toys to lure your money.

Lesson #2: Let your kids dress in their Disney costumes if they desire, because every other child they see there will be in costumes.

Bridgette wasn’t in any of her princess attire, but luckily she dressed up as a fairy for school’s show and tell that day, so she at least felt like she was a “Disney Fairy” amongst all the princesses that she ran into. I also let her pick one item from the non-Disney street vendor by the parking lot, and she picked a pair of glowing Minnie ears for $3–awesome deal! That saved me about $20 from buying those ridiculously expensive sno-cones in a princess cup inside. 🙂

The show started off with some colorfully dressed skaters leading a warm up session for the audience, followed by The Incredibles and Alice in Wonderland. Bridgette was engrossed in watching them, but did not show too much excitement. The minute Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy got on the rink, my little girl squealed in delight and began jumping up and down, calling their names and waving enthusiastically. She acted like those lucky women on the Oprah show when Oprah announced she was giving out cars to the audience that day. Honestly! Just watching the excitement on her face was truly priceless for me. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I was too busy squealing along with her! Kids really do bring out the innocence in us.

As it turned out, it was totally worth the splurge to buy front row tickets. We were just inches away from the rink, and Bridgette was able to stand next to the rink to shake hands with many of the characters when they came by! She was simply in Netherlands!

At the conclusion of the show, when all the princesses came skating out, Bridgette was so utterly mesmerized and entranced that I thought she’d be devastated to leave. Fortunately, she simply waved good-bye, blew her kisses the way a princess would, and gracefully curtsied before taking my hand and skipping happily out the doors. What a magical, enchanting night for both of us!

Apologies for the terrible quality of the photos. The lighting inside was horrible, as were the acoustics!