Disney On Ice: Jump In! - First Impressions
The newest addition to the Disney On Ice show lineup debuted August 29 in Orlando, featuring all new segments from Zootopia, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2.
For the second consecutive year, I made a late August trip down to Orlando to see the opening of the newest Disney On Ice show. However, unlike last season, this year’s show is technically not an all new production. “Jump In!” is classified as D30e, which means it’s an update to the show previously known (among many other names) as “Mickey & Friends.” Readers of this site might be familiar with it, because it’s the show both Ashley Cain and Tya Greentree skated with in recent years. But it might as well have received an entirely new production number (last year’s new show, “Let’s Dance,” was D38, so this could’ve been D39), because it has so many entirely new segments.
The connecting storyline of the show is Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald (aside: let’s give Pluto and Daisy some love in these shows, please) using a “Magic Mouse Pad” to view different stories. One thing I particularly liked about the way the show incorporated this was by having actual video of the crowd appear on the screen behind the ice.
The opening number, before the Fab Four take the stage, is a high energy group performance that is a Disney On Ice trademark, giving lots of skaters an opportunity to shine. With these shows having such large ensembles, it’s nice to see so many skaters sharing the ice at the same time.
Toy Story
One concern I had about this show when the various segments were announced was how heavily it leaned on Pixar properties that are not known for their music. The musical segments are the ones I’ve always connected with most at Disney On Ice shows, and I was worried this show might let me down in that regard.
However, I quickly learned that wouldn’t be the case. This “Toy Story” segment is basically a giant dance party led by Woody, Jessie and Buzz.
Also, shoutout to Mathew King, who is still landing backflips in his 40s, and doing so in a full Buzz Lightyear costume!
Frozen
Honestly, it isn’t a Disney On Ice show without Frozen (and I’m a little mad at myself for not getting into DOI until after the full “Frozen” show had become “Frozen & Encanto”). As is fairly common with these segments, we have Olaf playing the role of narrator. That gives way to some classic Anna and Kristoff banter, before a pleasant surprise, the coronation ball scene!
I thought it was interesting to include this over “Love Is An Open Door,” given the popularity of that song, but I adore the coronation ballgowns, so I approve of this choice.
We go quickly back to Anna and Kristoff — like so quickly either we’re looking at a record speed for a costume change or the show is using two Annas — to set up the iconic moment of Disney On Ice: “Let It Go.”
Kristina Yntema is such an incredible skater, and her performance as Elsa is worth the price of admission alone. The big spiral at the start of the final performance is an iconic moment for any Elsa skater, but I’m particularly impressed with the way she does it. To be able to hold that Biellmann position while executing a spiral for as long as she does (a full lap around the ice) takes an absurd amount of flexibility, leg strength and edge control.
Also, a new twist to “Let It Go” - the staircase is actually moving as Elsa ascends!
Then we get a full version of the “For the First Time in Forever” reprise, giving both Elsa and Anna a chance to shine (fun fact: both Yntema and Anna skater Kaela Kapeikis were previously on “Into the Magic” before joining “Jump In!” this season).
And of course, Olaf wraps up our favorite Frozen tale, before we move on to the next segment… but not before we get an “experimental” interruption.
That’s right, Stitch is in the house! He also introduces the Moana 2 segment later in the show.
Zootopia
Stitch using the Magic Mouse Pad to launch a racing game takes us into the Zootopia segment. Again, I was a bit worried about this one, because of the lack of music (other than “Try Everything,” which I don’t mind, but I find to be one of the more overused Disney songs of the past decade). But this was an incredibly creative segment that incorporated the crowd in fun ways.
Also, the Zebra ATE. Like Encanto Donkey level of dramatics. It was such a good choice by the costume designers of the show to go with this style of costume, allowing the skaters to be expressive, rather than hiding the full ensemble in fur costumes (obviously Nick and Judy have to be in them).
The level of crowd interaction will definitely keep kids engaged in this segment, particularly the ones who aren’t there to see princesses (couldn’t be me tho). Speaking of…
Disney Princesses
Anyone who knows me knows that the Princesses (and the princess-adjacent Elsa and Anna) are my favorite Disney characters, so I loved seeing this part. Four Princesses get starring roles: Tiana, Ariel (with Eric), Jasmine (with Aladdin) and Rapunzel (with Eugene). Ariel is fittingly in an aerial segment, and Rapunzel is on her iconic golden silks.
Then those four are joined by Belle, Cinderella, Merida, Mulan and Snow White. I was thrilled by this, because it’s the first time I’ve seen Merida live in a show.
Truth be told, I wish this segment was longer. Then again, I wish there was an entire Disney On Ice show that was nothing but princesses (and Frozen, obviously). But this was at least enough to keep me happy.
Act Two actually starts a little early, with Nick and Judy being joined by Flash (on screen only), reprising a joke format from the original movie. I love that the show includes something like this, rather than just the standard announcement to return to your seats.
Inside Out
Whoever on the Disney On Ice creative team had the idea to put skaters in light-up bubbles to represent the memory orbs from “Inside Out” deserves a raise. Also, I loved the costumes. And I wish I knew who among the cast was skating as Disgust, because she absolutely bodied that role.
And incorporating hockey into the segment is perfect not only because the show is already on ice, but because hockey is such a big part of “Inside Out 2.” This whole segment is technically taking place after that movie, as Anxiety is already part of the group and they refer back to things that happened in the movie. If you haven’t seen it (and if you haven’t, please stop reading this right now and go watch it), you won’t be lost at all, though.
Encanto
Before La Familia Madrigal takes the ice, we get another dance party with Mickey & Friends (hey, old show name drop!).
And, of course, the Encanto segment starts (where else) with “The Family Madrigal.” Still no Camilo or Antonio in the grandkid roundup, nor are Mirabel’s parents present (I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in any Encanto segment for DOI). We also have the noticeable absence of Tio Felix, which comes into play a bit later.
This video is from the Saturday show, because — with Friday being the first time I saw this show (obviously) — I didn’t notice where Luisa was for her big moment in the song. But I was able to be ready for it on Saturday.
Speaking of Luisa’s big moment, we also got the full performance of “Surface Pressure,” complete with the now-iconic dancing donkeys. This show incorporates the tutu donkey, which also got a massive upgrade to the aerial stunts I’ve previously seen on “Find Your Hero.”
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is also the same shortened version that ran in that show (with some added dialogue ad-libs from Mirabel), cutting the Tia Pepa/Tio Felix verse that starts the song.
Then we get the family picture to wrap the segment.
Moana 2
Last, but certainly not least, is the debut of “Moana 2” in a Disney On Ice show. I’ll fully admit that this movie didn’t resonate with me at all, but this segment did. They made strong choices in what to keep and what to cut, and focused on the moments from the movie that would highlight the key characters and their skaters’ strengths.
The entire segment is narrated/hosted by Moni, the “storyteller” character added to the cast in the sequel. We open with a group number set to “We’re Back”, which is fairly standard for the Moana segments in previous DOI shows, so it makes sense here as well (FYI, this is only about half the segment, in case you were wondering).
Then Moana gets her solo to “Beyond,” one of the few songs from the soundtrack I truly enjoyed, and Mone Kawanishi does a wonderful job skating it (random DOI fun fact: before joining the show, Mone competed in Japan, and she did both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin programs). Shoutout to choreographer Adam Blake, who shared that this segment had choreography and movement guidance from Tiana Nonosina Liufau, who was the motion curator and choreographer for both Moana animated movies and the live action movie as well. It truly adds to the authenticity of the piece.
Then we get the debut of a new Disney On Ice villain, Matangi, for “Get Lost.” Not to take away from the amazing Cassandra Ablack, but the real highlight of this piece was the costume design and execution on the bats. It’s reminiscent of the visuals from “Shiny” in “Let’s Dance,” but taken to another level.
Maui makes his appearance for “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” but again, there’s a different highlight to this segment. That would be Moana literally lighting the ice on fire with her oar.
And what Moana segment would be complete without a big emotional finale (and one last joke from Maui)?
And, as is standard for every Disney On Ice show, the cast comes back out for one last big finale, which is always a crowd pleaser.
Overall, it’s hard to top “Into the Magic” and “Let’s Dance” for me, but “Jump In!” is a great addition to the Disney On Ice touring lineup. I’m glad this year’s “new” (though, again, modified from a show that’s been around since 2009) show went back to the original Frozen after both “Magic In The Stars” and “Let’s Dance” used Frozen 2. And having the addition of Moana 2 gives a nice balance to all the shows that use Moana.
Still waiting for my all-Princess show, DOI… Let’s make it happen for 2026!
Disney On Ice: Jump In continues its North American tour Sept. 4-7 in Fort Myers, Florida. The tour will hit 18 states in the Eastern and Central United States, plus stops in Quebec City and Montreal. Visit DisneyOnIce.com to see the full schedule, the full cast for the show, and to purchase tickets. During shows in November and December, Jump In! will feature a holiday-themed preshow with Olaf.
I am constantly amazed at the skaters that perform in the giant costumes.