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Real-life couples star in 'Disney On Ice'


It’s been known the magic of Disney can bring out the kid in us, and that magic started with one man’s dream – and a mouse. From that point on, Disney has boomed into one of the biggest international successes the world has ever seen. Now the magic of the “happiest place on earth” comes to the “sweetest place on earth” for the first time, with plenty of uniqueness to this year’s show.

The show is a huge party with all your favorite Disney friends. Some of the numbers include a “Very Merry Unbirthday Party” with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Alice and the Mad Hatter, a “Royal Valentine’s Day Ball” with all your favorite Disney Princesses including Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Tiana, and much more.

Not only will your favorite Disney characters be a part of the show, but also your favorite – or not so favorite – Disney villains, in the “Halloween Haunt.” Overall, there will be more than 50 Disney characters as part of the show.

Another unique feature to the show is five different married couples will be playing the Disney princesses and princes. One of those couples include Jessica and Brendyn Hatfield, who are playing Jasmine and Aladdin from Disney’s “Aladdin.”

“It makes a huge difference. The connection is there and genuine,” Jessica Hatfield said.

“It adds another dimension to being able to relate to those characters in the movies," Brendyn Hatfield added.

You’ll see plenty of the Hatfields throughout the show, including their big number, “A whole new world with Jasmine and Aladdin.” They also start the Valentine’s Day Ball where the rest of the Disney princes and Princesses first appear.

For the Hatfields, this is their “Disney On Ice” debut.

“We just started in September,” Jessica Hatfield said, who also has a nursing degree.

“We’ve loved every minute of it. It’s been really neat seeing different parts of the U.S. Disney is such a great company to work for," Brendyn Hatfield, who also has a communications degree, added,

Brendyn Hatfield says getting these roles are actually easier to earn because they’re married.

“It’s so much easier to train with your significant other because you’re with them all the time,” he said. “It’s important to have married couples to be on ice together because they already have a good chemistry together.”

And having other married couples on the show has helped make the transition to the show easy for the Hatfields.

“It’s really nice to be on a show where there’s other people in your same situation,” Jessica Hatfield said. “We have people that our just out of high school and people that’ve been married for a long time. It’s just nice for people to come together and spend time with other married couples along the road. Our marriage is not normal because we’re living out of hotels and doing shows.”

Many children grow up dreaming to be like their favorite Disney character, often dressing up like them for occasions like Halloween. That was much of the same for Jessica.

“I love it. I was Jasmine for Halloween actually when I was younger,” she said. “We get really up close and personal with the audience and they recognize us right away. Just hearing the kids calling us out lifts our spirits right away and motivates us to put on a good show.”

“I don’t know what being a rock star feels like but it feels very close,” Brendyn Hatfield added.

And as fate would have it, the Hatfields first met while on tour together earlier in their careers.

“Jessica and I met in August of 2009 when we were performing 'Holiday on Ice,' which was all around Europe,” Brendyn Hatfield said.

They also hope to be a part of the company for a long time, but not just on the ice.

“We’re hoping to stay with Disney for a few years. We have degrees, so we want to use those at some point, as well,” Jessica Hatfield said. “But the company also has a lot of opportunities on the corporate side. But we’ll see where life takes us.”

But when the show’s all said and done, the Hatfields want you to feel the way anyone would feel after being part of Disney’s magic, which is especially seen in the finale.

“The finale is awesome. It has that 'wow' factor,” Jessica Hatfield said. “If people get that for the whole show, that’s what we’d want.”

“Disney On Ice: Let’s Celebrate!” presented by YoKids Organic Yogurt, comes to Giant Center in Hershey March 30-April 3. Show times are 7 p.m. March 30 through April 1, 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 2, and 1 and 4:30 p.m. April 3. Tickets for March 30, March 31, the April 2 7 p.m. show and the April 3 4:30 p.m. show are $17.85, $27.85, $32.85, $47.85 and $62.85. Tickets for the April 2 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. shows and the April 3 1 p.m. show are $17.85, $27.85, $37.85, $57.85, $72.85 and $82.85.