Stars on ice

If you have been a fan of Disney, its parks and films, for any length of time you are probably familiar with Disney On Ice. This traveling ice skating show brings scenes from popular animated features with skaters in full costume. If you aren’t familiar with the shows, picture your favorite meet-and-greet characters, say Aladdin’s Genie and Jafar, strapped with ice skates acting out their most popular songs. Yeah, it’s tricky for sure. However, did you know that once upon a time, ice and Disney combined in a totally different type of experience?

Top tier ice skaters ventured onto a man-made rink at the Walt Disney World Village in 1979. Stars On Ice featured feats of incredible ice dancing choreographed to holiday standards and classics. In addition to the professional ice skaters, there were also a few Disney characters, such as pink elephants, that paraded about during the festivities. The ice rink took shape on the Village Stage, and the Stars On Ice show was presented 3 times an evening at 5:30, 7:00, and 8:30, between November 30 and December 9, 1979.

If you wanted more out of your holiday festivities at the Walt Disney World Village in 1979, you could hang around after the 7:00pm Stars On Ice show for a awe inspiring treelighting ceremony. There was also a living Nativity scene put on twice a night at the Village between December 14 – 24 that year. Need more? Later that December you could simple head on over to Top of the World at the Contemporary Resort for headlining acts that included Phyllis Diller, Bobby Goldsboro, and Mel Torme! This is all in addition to the Very Merry Christmas Parade, Candlelight Processional, and all the incredible decorations at the resorts and Magic Kingdom. It may be the most wonderful time of year, but it was also a very busy time of year in 1979!