It was the first of several Disney On Ice shows in Wollongong, more performances are set for Saturday and Sunday.

Grant Marron skates in the role of Li Shang, the Chinese army captain from Disney's Mulan.

His love for ice skating first came at the age of eight, when his parents brought home a giant chili pepper costume - the mascot for an ice hockey team.

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"I thought it was fun and I wanted to play in it, but they told me I had to learn how to skate to be able to play in it," Marron said. "We went to the ice rink the next day."

Later that year the young skater got to perform in the opening of the Ice Skating Nationals in the US.

Marron has been with the company since 2012 and still has the love for the ice as he had for that chili in 1993.

"If it's a full rehearsal week, we will rehears eight hours a day, six days a week," he said. "This is a brand new show ... so we spent six weeks in headquarters in Ellington building the show and making sure it's ready to go ... and then each week we spend between two-four hours [rehearsing]."

It took 39,746 litres of water and up to 48 hours to create the magical ice rink for the weekend's shows. Including the panels, the ice floor weighs around 68,038 kilograms.

The largest prop in the show is Dory's Fish Tank, the heaviest is Elsa's Palace, while about 250 costumes in total are used, amounting to about 27 laundry loads each week. Tickets via www.ticketmaster.com.au