UCB Parents Recommendations
Ice Shows
Advice and recommendations from the UCB Parents mailing list.
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Little Mermaid on Ice
Jan 2000
Jeanne
No, this is not a recipe. My daughter saw the commercial for this
ice-skating show and expressed interest. It will be at the Oakland Arena at
the end of February. I was wondering if one of you could provide some
information. I have never been to this sort of family entertainment venue
and I am wondering if it is worthwhile. Here are my questions:
1- Have you been to a "Disney on ice" show and was it worthwhile?
2- My daughter is 4 ? years old. Too young?
3- Do they bombard you with merchandise before and after the show in the
lobby, etc? How do you avoid it?
Deborah
Little Mermaid on Ice
4 is the perfect age
bring your own snacks/drinks
no escaping the shoddy overpriced merchandise. I'm thinking of offering my
kids $10 to buy whatever they want at a toy store afterwards, but I don't
know if 4 yr olds get deferred gratification
Kathy
We attended Hercules last year with a group of 3 year 9 month old kids.
This year we're going to go again for Little Mermaid on Ice. I'm assuming most
productions are similar since most Disney stories follow the same storyline. 2
of the kids found the production too scary and had to leave the show midway
(the
hydra costumes were large and scary, lots of smoke on the ice, dimmed
lights, scary
music). The remaining 5 kids loved it and were entranced by the show.
They attempt to sell things before the show and at the intermission. My
child is
pretty easy when it comes to purchasing things but I did prepare for it by
telling
her that we would pick out one item as we were leaving the show. This way
she had
fun thinking about what it was she was going to get by observing other kids
playing
with stuff. Instead of saying things like 'no, you can't have that now' I
was able
to say 'that is a great toy, maybe that's what you'll pick out when we
leave'. Expect
to drop $7 to $15 on a single item.
The food is poor and the lines are long for it (they limit the open
vendors) at the
Coliseum so I would definitely pack your own snacks. We sat in Section 101
last year
and have tickets in Section 102 this year. It seems as though all seats are
'good seats'
since the show takes place all over the ice. I would recommend that you go
directly to the
Coliseum box office to purchase tickets. You save a lot of money on
surcharges and they are
very nice about working to find you the best seats for the available shows.
You can drive
your car in the main entrance and circle all the way up to the area near
the box office if
you go during the daytime.
The opinions and statements expressed on this page
are those of parents who belong to the
UC Berkeley Parents Network and
should not be taken as a position of or endorsement by the
University of California, Berkeley.