The Walt Disney Company celebrated their 100th anniversary this October, 2023, and Disney on Ice’s new show offers a jaw-dropping spectacle for all ages, celebrating the new and the old. (Please note that the ice dancers who are “friends with” the Disney characters mentioned below are, as you would expect, uncredited.)

In a move that’s guaranteed to be a hit with younger audience members, the show is built around three of Disney’s more recent hits: Frozen (2013); Moana (2016); and Encanto (2021). As you might expect, it’s Frozen in the second half which is the high point of the whole show, featuring a giant snowflake descending from the rafters to Elsa’s literal fireworks in “Let it Go”. Though Moana also captivates, sailing her enormous boat across the ocean with demigod Maui, and telling her story with expansive, expressive choreography.

However, there’s still room for other characters from The Walt Disney Company’s century of stories. Like other Disney on Ice shows, 100 Years of Wonder is framed by Mickey Mouse and his Clubhouse pals using apps on the “Mousepad” to replay Mickey’s favourite memories, including an impressive resurrection of all the dancing broomsticks by Sorcerer Mickey in Fantasia (1940).

The first half rounds off with a lengthy showcase of every Disney princess since 1937’s Snow White, including Rapunzel and Ariel in some gasp-inducing, high-speed aerial work that gets a huge audience response. But it’s a joyous solo from Belle, effortlessly timed to the music, that connects with us on an emotional level, and one of the highlights of the whole show.

A big, incongruous kids-chorus rock ‘n’ roll number with the characters from Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016) is quite weird and messy, and the only point in the show where it seemed like some audience members were getting a bit restless. Otherwise, this is Disney on Ice at its absolute finest: children of all ages are in for the best Disney celebration this side of the century.

Touring across the UK 1 November – 31 December 2023.