Disney On Ice came to town, and while we’ll take any excuse to sit on the subway for an hour, this was a particularly compelling option. Join us as we review Disney On Ice Presents Mickey’s Search Party, starting from buying our tickets and continuing through concessions, merchandise, and the show itself. I hope you like costume discourse, because there’s plenty of that. Read on to see what we thought of our first Disney On Ice experience!
Venue and Ticketing
We saw a January 2026 performance of Disney On Ice Presents Mickey’s Search Party at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (the emcees erroneously called it “the city of Brooklyn”). Disney On Ice has various shows, so the specific one that comes to your venue may vary.
We paid $207.30 for three tickets, or $69.10 per ticket, on Ticketmaster. A ticket to a movie near our home costs about $20, which means Disney On Ice cost us about 3.5X the cost of a movie for about the same length of entertainment.
We had aisle seats in the 9th row of our rink-side section, though I think there were a few VIP (or whatever) rows at the front. I was happy with our seating choice for the price.
We arrived 24 minutes before showtime. Security was slow and we weren’t in until 16 minutes before showtime, but we still had time to grab some concessions before going to our seat.
Vibes at Disney On Ice
Any time you’re headed to a Disney destination or show, you’ve got to pack your patience and flexibility. You’re going to have late arrivals, people who have to be told three times they can’t dance in the aisle, people taking a bunch of video so aimless you can’t imagine its purpose, and plenty of screaming children.
None of these detracted from our experience. We had to play seat roulette with Zoe (who initially declined to move away from the person recording everything in front of us and then, after we forced the issue, declared “oh wow this is SO much better”), and I had to angle my viewing toward the aisle (happily we had an aisle seat), but I managed to get sucked in by the show enough to not be too bothered.
Relatedly, plan extra time for concessions and shopping. Lines can stall while a family with five kids attempts to resolve exactly who will get which novelty cup.
Concessions and Merchandise
Concessions will vary by venue, but we had a very basic menu, including $9.50 for a hot dog and $7.75 for a soda. As for Disney On Ice branded food and beverage, there was popcorn in a tote ($18), lemonade in a light-up Stitch cup ($20), lemonade in a cheaper bottle ($16), and various snow cones ($16 or $18).
There was a wide variety of merchandise, some of it branded to Disney On Ice and some of it generic character merch. Items ranged from about $16 to $40+. Personally I found the t-shirt designs a little uninspired—I like a Disney t-shirt, but I want some that really captures the identity of the particular experience, not something that looks like a logo thrown on a shirt I could buy at Walmart.
We brought Zoe’s simple Woody and Buzz figures, which got us out of having to buy any merchandise.
If there are multiple merchandise stands at your event, don’t go to the one right at the entrance. We had huge lines right upon entering and then almost no line at the stands closer to our seats.
Mickey’s Search Party
The premise of Mickey’s Search Party is that Tinker Bell has been captured by Captain Hook, and we’re on a quest—led by Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy (plus our two emcees)—to find enough magic to free her.
The story format is basically a collection of scenes inspired by various Disney films. The specific films featured were: Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Moana, Coco, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Frozen. Stitch also appeared as a supporting role a few times.
Let’s go through the scenes a bit before discussing what I thought of the performance overall. If you want to avoid spoilers, you can search for Conclusions and hop to that section.
Introduction
The opening scene features Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy in some sort of pop-urban setting. It’s altogether a fun scene with some good touches, and then it gets interrupted by Captain Hook’s goons getting Tinker Bell.
Based on this setup, I sort of expected the storyline to, ya know, follow Mickey & Co. on some sort of adventure. The complexity of the scene—it included a streetlight and guy on a hoverboard—sort of lent itself to this idea that we’d have a uniquely themed storyline here. That all was pretty quickly tossed to the side, though, as we moved into clip-show mode…
Beauty and the Beast
The Beauty and the Beast scene features Belle in her blue dress, alongside partially costumed Cogsworth and Lumiere.
As you’ll glean throughout this post, I really wish I could be a fly on the wall of the room where they decide which characters would be costumed, and to what extent. There are a few fully costumed characters in the show, along with a few face characters I’ve never seen as face characters before. Cogsworth and Lumiere are in between—their human faces show through pretty extensive costuming.
Two more notes on costuming before we move on:
I understand the face/costume decision turns significantly on the demand of ice skating and performing in a given scene. So, I assume where awkward decisions were made it was because of the choreography. Still, I’m obliged to mention when the appearances felt off to me.
I’m biased in what feels “off” because I see the characters in parks and on cruises all the time. If you’ve never seen a specific character as a face character or costumed character, then seeing them in either format might not surprise you as it did me.
Stylistically, I felt like Beauty and the Beast was a strong start. The costuming, set, and choreography all had a bit of “oh wow” while still leaving room for the show to go upward as the afternoon went on.
Toy Story
Next up was Toy Story, complete with face characters Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Bo Peep, and Jessie, alongside costumed characters Rex and Ham.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a face character Woody before, and the plastic hair on this one was a bit jarring with the face character approach. The downside of costumed characters is that they can look like cheap plastic. Well, Toy Story was literally made because CGI was most easily used to generate cheap plastic characters. This makes Toy Story toys ideal for costumes, and it’s a bit awkward to go with face versions instead.
The highlight of the Toy Story segment was a Pixar ball that goes “rogue” in the audience. The timing of our show, shortly after this incident, added to the effect.
Moana
Next up was Moana. Let me preface this section by saying I absolutely love the Moana film. I consider it one of my favorite films and a near-perfect story.
That said, I’ve now been disappointed by live versions of Moana twice. The first was on the Disney Treasure, and the second was here. It’s probable that my love for the film just makes it hard for me to appreciate other interpretations. But I’ll do my best to justify my feelings…
For starters, I’ll quickly say they went with a costumed Maui in this performance, while the Disney Treasure’s live show went with an actual actor. I find the choice at Disney On Ice odd, as the costume can’t possibly make the choreography easier and it definitely just…looks weird.
But the bigger problem with staging Moana is that much of the story takes place on a canoe in the middle of water. Or, a canoe in the middle of an empty stage or rink. I can’t quite put my finger on why this doesn’t work for me live, but something about the empty space just bothers me in person. It feels too bare (and it’s just weird here because is she skating on the ocean?).
And they didn’t really resolve this by relying on a screen for the most impactful moment of the story (it’s also notable here that this segment was the only one that was a retelling of the film rather than a unique production inspired by the songs and characters).
Coco
After Moana, we transition into Coco, which is an absolutely vibrant (albeit black-lit) scene, filled with stunning costumes, huge puppets, and elevated (literally!) performances. Coco brings the fun.
The Coco scene honestly winds up serving as a bit of a foil to the Moana scene. At some point, the contrasting energies become less complementary and more in conflict.
Intermission & Captain Hook
Intermission was 15 to 20 minutes and was followed by a scene reintroducing our chief antagonist, Captain Hook. Since you asked, Hook and Smee were both seemingly masked but still effectively face characters. It’s possible the nuances of these masks (and Woody’s “hair”) were lost on us because of our distance from the stage, I suppose.
Aladdin & The Little Mermaid
As far as ice skating and ice dancing go, it’s the final three scenes that really shine. First up are Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. I think the pacing of the show would have been served by splitting these two scenes across the two acts, as they’re so similar in style that I can just lump them together in this section.
The Aladdin and The Little Mermaid scenes both center on pairs performances by the respective princes and princesses. These performances are supported by bigger dance numbers led by the third wheels (Genie, Sebastian).
There’s a lot of emotional resonance here that we hadn’t really seen since Beauty and the Beast (granted, I felt like Moana just didn’t land).
Aladdin in particular had some cool acrobatics, including trampolines and rope dancers. I actually missed almost all of the trampoline stuff because it was off to the side and my eyes were bouncing around, but Emily and Zoe said it was really cool.
Genie and Sebastian were both costumed characters. A person in front of us commented that she was happy the Genie was “Robin Williams style, no offense to Will Smith.” (Maybe she just liked the costume, but I wonder if she’s read David Sedaris’s SantaLand Diaries.)
Frozen
The final movie-inspired scene is Frozen. It’s a worthy finale, with great skating, that song we all know and love, cool acrobatic skating moves, and some fun smaller effects, too (watch them “pull up” the ice blocks!).
Unlike Moana, where I have no explanation for why I can’t get into a live showing, something about Elsa’s isolation and loneliness comes through with every performance of Let It Go. Her character, the tone, and story all converge particularly well…and it helps that the movie is Frozen and she’s on ice here. Maybe I’d like a stage performance of Moana where the characters literally stood on a canoe in a big tub of water.
The Grand Finale
After we’ve collected enough magic to free Tinker Bell, the grand finale is here. Characters from every scene of the show converge in a huge dance spectacle. If you’ve been obsessing over costumes and faces and masks the whole show, it’s a good time to take stock. I got this good look at what must be Miguel’s mask:
The finale also includes Rapunzel & Flynn and Snow White & Dopey, for some reason.
Conclusions
Look, there’s a reason I’d never seen Disney On Ice until now. Between parks and cruises, we see enough Disney performances for our liking. We went to Disney On Ice because we wanted to get out of the house, and we thought Zoe would have a good time (we were right).
As noted above, we paid around $70 per person, or the cost of three movie tickets, for this show. Personally, I’d take the three movies, not because the show was bad—it wasn’t. It was great.
If you’re a Disney fan who can’t or doesn’t get to the parks once a year, Disney On Ice is a great way to bring some live Disney magic into your life. It’s a ton of fun to see the characters in real life, and there are paid add-on greetings for certain characters, too.
It’s like being in the parks—you’ll hear parents and kids scream “IT’S MOANA!” and “HI MICKEY!” in a way they just don’t when they’re looking at a character on a screen. A discerning eye will find flaws—a Woody face character doesn’t really sell as Woody, and the costumed Maui is honestly a little scary—but these are few and far between.
I think I’m in the minority in my wish for a unique, Mickey & Co. plotline. The clip-show approach probably works better for a typical fan who doesn’t get to see these characters and songs live that often.
The flip side is that if you’re a parks or cruises regular, then you might not get much added value here. The ice skating and acrobatics are impressive, but you’ve maybe already seen a lot of live Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid in particular. The show left me glad we’d come once, but not really wanting more.
Overall, Disney On Ice is a perfect option if you’ve got a Disney fan in the family who will get unique joy from seeing live characters perform in a family-friendly setting. If you’re a regular of the parks or cruises, you’ll need to either be a superfan (in which case you didn’t read this review before buying tickets) or someone who can really appreciate the ice dancing and acrobatics.