BRITTANY Watkins' life has come full circle - and she couldn't be more excited.
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She attended her first Disney On Ice production as a wide-eyed toddler at Newcastle Entertainment Centre [NEC] and saw almost every version of the show when it toured the Hunter.
She returns to the venue this weekend as an ensemble skater in Disney on Ice Celebrates Mickey & Friends.
"It's something I've wanted to be able to do for a very long time, so it was very surreal walking in here I thought 'Wow it's actually happening'.
"My dream was always to join Disney on Ice and I always wondered what it would be like to play NEC," Ms Watkins said on Thursday.
"I can't believe I made it. I dreamed about it for so long and now it's finally happening." She said family members and friends would attend the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows.
"I will be very excited, but I always try and give 100 per cent to every performance anyway."
Ms Watkins, 23, grew up in Charlestown and attended The Junction Public School and Kotara High, but completed year 10 to 12 through distance education so she could train more.
She was nine when she and her mother saw an advertisement for Hunter Ice Skating Stadium at Warners Bay and started lessons.
She competed at a state and national level plus represented Australia in synchronised skating at the Mozart Cup in Austria in 2014, winning bronze. But Disney was always in the back of her mind.
"They just make such amazing stories and they just have Disney magic. I can't explain it.
"People can relate to a lot of the things the characters go through. It can help them through hard times and good times and the memories are always with them forever."
She auditioned as soon as she could - in 2015 - and joined The Wonderful World of Disney On Ice in 2016, travelling with the show for three years through the United States, Europe, South East Asia, South Africa, and South America. She has joined the Mickey & Friends show for Australia and New Zealand.
"When I did my first show [in Dalian in China] I don't think I've ever been happier in my life," she said. "I was crying before I went out I was so excited.
"I look forward to every day. I love the feeling I get when I am out there.
"It is hard to explain, but it makes me so happy and nothing compares to it. I just love seeing people's reactions to the performance."
She advised those who wanted to perform to "learn as much as you can and really go for whatever you want to do".
"Give your all to this - let yourself go on the ice, have fun and work hard." She would like to eventually move into choreography.
She has visited all the world's Disney parks and said they had "something in the air - it's magic".
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