Disneyland – the happiest place on earth. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and all the beloved characters are a major part of childhood memories for millions of kids around the world. Once again, the popular characters put on their skates and found their way back to Cairo with the Disney on Ice show.
Last year Disney on Ice presented “Princesses, a performance that left me breathless. Being the unapologetic massive Disney fan that I am, as news circulated of the show making a comeback, I called up my friends straight away and bought tickets. I loaded my wallet with money to spend on Disney paraphernalia and headed for the covered hall of the Cairo Stadium.
This summer’s show is entitled “Disneyland Adventure and centers on the story of “The Incredibles, the dysfunctional family of superheroes from the Academy Award winning animated film produced by Pixar Animation. The performance starts out with the Parrs family members locking their superhero costumes in the closet and taking off to Disneyland in an attempt to spend a vacation like an average American family. The minute they reach Disneyland, Mickey Mouse and other famous Disney characters are waiting for them at the door, picking them as the guests of the day’s parade.
The fun is eventually halted when Syndrome, Mr Incredible’s enemy, kidnaps Mickey and Minnie as part of a scheme to take over Disneyland. The Incredibles decide it’s time to take out their suits, step in and stop Syndrome’s vicious plan. That’s when the performance gets out of hand.
Each character demonstrates their powers to the audience, exemplified via a few amateurish twists and turns.
Mr Incredible’s supernatural skills materialized through a few pushes he gives here and there. However, some of the other characters powers were absent from the performance, such as Mrs Incredible, or Elastigirl s ability to stretch and reshape her body as well as Violet’s power of invisibly and Dash’s super speed.
Naturally, we didn’t expect anything like the movie, but it seemed that the makers of the show didn’t make an effort to showcase the characters’ powers, which could’ve been the show s main visual attraction, using lighting effects, costumes or props.
Basically, the performance lacked the wow-factor that usually delights both children and adults.
The audience was left bored shortly after the performance kicked off and efforts to revive the barely filled stadium hall by making everyone clap at the end in order to free Mickey and Minnie came to no avail.
During the break, and despite the disappointment with the show, we went outside with the urge to splurge on the Disney goodies, which we buy willingly and contently even though we know we’re being ripped off.
However, we were disappointed once again with the lack of variety. The tedious collection of toys and t-shirts on display failed to draw attention. The cotton candy and the delicious butter popcorn though were probably the sole highlight of the evening.
I expected to be enchanted and bedazzled by the Disney fairytales; instead I was wholeheartedly let down for not getting my magical Disney dose and wishing, for most part of the show, if only it could’ve been as good as the cotton candy I was munching.
For more information visit www.disneyegypt.com or call 2638-5000
