Review of Disney on Ice Find Your Hero as it skates into Newcastle's Utilita Arena

Indeed, Disney On Ice Find Your Hero is a really slick production with no expense spared in lavish costumes which bring to life some of the mega brand’s most-loved characters.

Even if you’re not a Disney fan, you’d have to have a heart as frozen as Prince Hans not to get swept up in the magic of this family-friendly show.

It’s very well paced for little ones, with an early show time of 6.30pm for the evening performances and very watchable segments featuring scenes from The Little Mermaid, Moana, Tangled, Beauty & the Beast and Frozen which certainly kept the children I was with enthralled for the two-hour running time.

Disney stalwarts Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto interlink each segment, which features each film’s classic hits such as Under the Sea, You’re Welcome, I See The Light, Be Our Guest and Let It Go.

The cast perform to a pre-recorded sound-track and voiceover, but you could hardly expect them to sing whilst performing all their feats of skating. And there’s certainly some highly-skilled performers in those costumes.

Ariel lives up to her name by performing a stunning aerial performance, while the skaters dancing as Elsa and Anna perform some beautifully-balletic sequences together which really convey the sisterly bond.

Special mention too for the skaters who had to whizz around the ice in the colossal costumes of the Beast, demigod Maui, eight-tentacled Ursula and the four-legged reindeer Sven. It can’t be easy keeping your cool whilst carrying so much extra weight. I particularly liked cheery crab Sebastian who gave off plenty of personality, whilst performing some nifty tricks.

In total, there’s a cast of more than 50 who perform some very impressive group sequences

The cast also manage, when they can, to wave at the excited faces in front of them which helps to capture their imaginations more. As this is an ice show, a rink takes up the bulk of the floor space which means, for a change, all seats get a decent view.

The loudest shrieks came for the closing Frozen sequence which, of course, lends itself perfectly to the show and there’s certainly some moments of magic as snow flutters onto the rink and Elsa spins in the spotlight.

Pint-sized audience members are encouraged to dress up for the show (adults are asked to stay in their non-Disney garb) and there was plenty of baby Belles and mini Moanas on our visit.

However, you may want to try and steer your little ones, if you can, away from the merchandise stall. At £25 for a flashing wand and £15 for a slushie in a themed plastic cup, they have price tags that would make Donald Duck do the biggest of gulps.

*Disney On Ice is at Utilita Arena, Newcastle, until December 12. Tickets, priced from £18, are available from utilitaarena.co.uk

There’s both daytime and evening performances on the run. Children under 2 are free if they sit on a parent's lap. All children 2 years and older must purchase a ticket.

It’s worth allowing extra time for security checks and Covid Pass checks ahead of the performance.