Disney Twisted Tale- As Old As Time- Book Review

As mentioned in my Disney haul ( you can read this here), I picked this book up to read on my train journey to Norwich. I have finally finished it and thought I would let you know what I thought. I use to do a lot of reading when I was younger, I would spend hours in my conservatory just reading. However since I have moved out with my boyfriend I have spent more time in front of the TV cuddled up with him. I worked out we watch about 3 hours of tv a night in the week and even more at the weekends if we have no plans. I have also brought the book Hidden Figures which has been turned into a film, which I plan to make time to read. So watch this space for more book reviews, if you have any recommendations please let me know in the comments.

Now unless you are new to my blog, (in which case welcome) you will be aware that I am a big Disney fan and Beauty and the Beast is my all time favourite Disney film. I recently reviewed the live action version (which you can read here) which I enjoyed and gave an 8 out of 10. If you haven’t heard of the Twisted Tale series, the idea behind them is that they have taken the classic Disney story and added a twist. As you will see from the picture, on the front of the book it says “What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast?” If you are familiar with the original you will be aware that there is no mention of Belle’s mum however in the new live action she is mentioned briefly. However for the rest of this review I am going to compare it to the original animated version of the story.

To begin with I found Twisted Tale- As Old As Time a bit confusing as it flicks between life before Belle was born and the original story which starts with Belle visiting the village. However after a few chapters I got use to it flicking between the two periods of time. I enjoyed the addition of finding out about her mother as there is no mention of her in the original. Twisted Tale- As Old As Time book begins with Belle’s father and continues on to how he met Belle’s mother, who in this book is a witch who has powers. At the same time you get to follow the story of how Belle meets the Beast which is very similar to the original until she finds the rose in the West Wing (I won’t spoil it for you). Being the avid fan that I am I could spot the subtle differences between the original story and the Twisted Tale- As Old As Time book but I assume the point was to be different as it is a Twisted Tale but I like the fact that in the beginning it doesn’t stray too far from the original.

Twisted Tale- As Old As Time focuses more on the untold story of her mum and the curse she is meant to of put on the beast. It was interesting to find out about Belle’s mother and her father and how they supposedly met. I liked the fact that the servants and their personalities from the original story were included in the book, my favourite character is Chip, followed by Mrs Potts.

Now I won’t spoil the ending for you but it’s not what I expected in the slightest, at one point I was nearly crying. This was a perfect twist that I just didn’t see coming and very far from the original story. As much as I love the original story I have to admit that I did really enjoy this, it was well written and an unexpected ending. I kind of wish this had been made into a live action film rather than re-making the original. I would recommend this book to anyone that is a Disney fan, especially if you love Beauty and the Beast. Due to loving this book more than I thought I would, I will now be looking to purchase the Aladdin one from the series.

Beauty and the Beast- Live Action Film Review

Just in case you haven’t read my blog before (if you haven’t welcome) I will start off by saying I am a big fan of the original Disney animation version of Beauty and the Beast. Before the film came out I watched all the trailers that kept appearing and wasn’t too sure how I felt about it in particular Mrs Potts and Chip who I love in the original. This being said, I booked tickets for the release date to see this at the cinema and didn’t read a reviews before hand. Here is my honest opinion …

So first of all I have to mention the new seats at Peterborough Showcase cinema, they are so comfy and they recline. I definitely feel like having these nice chairs adds to the experience. We had booked our seats online, I choose near the back at the end. Due to going on the opening day we ended up going to the 9pm showing as the earlier ones were pretty much full. Going later worked out well as there was less kids and mainly just adults who like me were reliving their childhood.

Belle

Now I was very concerned about Emma Watson playing Belle as in my mind she was still the girl from Harry Potter. In my opinion throughout the whole film you could tell that Emma’s voice had been auto tuned particularly in the first song which is a real shame as I love the songs that Belle sings. In regards to acting though I think Emma did a great job, it would of been better if they had got a singer to do the songs and she just mimed. As spotted by someone else it does look like her dress is caught in her knickers at the start of the film, I thought it was just me who had this thought but chuckled when I read it online.

Servants

Now I was even more concerned about the servants from the trailer as I thought the tea pot and chip looked a little strange. But actually it kinda worked, don’t get me wrong I still love the original Mrs Potts and Chip ( I even have a Chip cup from Florida, which you probably already know if you have read my Florida haul). I think the reason it worked was the actors who really embraced the original characters. There is also the addition of an organ which was not in the original, to be honest I don’t think it added much to the story but at the same time it didn’t ruin it. One of the main difference between this version and the original is that you get to see what the servants looked like at the start before they got turned into household items. This allowed you to get an idea about the character behind the voice which I thought was a nice touch.

Le Fou

One character I loved in this version more than the original was Gaston’s side check Le Fou, Josh Gad played this character so well. In the live action version of Beauty and the Beast its clear from the beginning that Le Fou has a crush on Gaston which is clear by his sarcastic comments. I think this a good addition to the story and had me laughing on more than one occasion. I am unsure that children would get this, I think this more for the adults (which there were plenty of in the viewing I went to see).

Songs

I was very glad to see that most of the original songs were included in the live action version, however there was a few new songs which I actually quiet liked. My favourite song from the original is “Be our Guest” now although the live action version was good I don’t think it was better than the original. Hearing the original songs made me smile and think back to my childhood when I use to watch Beauty and the beast and sing along. I will definitely be purchasing the soundtrack to go with this live action version of Beauty and the Beast.

Rating out of Ten

I would give this film a 7 out 10 due to making me laugh and smile. It took me right back to my childhood although in my eyes it will never beat the original animated version. However I do think they have done a fantastic job of re-doing a classic film for a new generation of Disney fans. If you have never seen the original you will most likely think this is a great film especially for kids. It is a great way to get the younger generation to become fans of some of the Disney classics but I much prefer the animated version. I understand that Disney is re-making some more of the Disney Classics into live action films which I am not sure how I feel about it. In my eyes Disney should be animated, that’s how it all began and that’s how it should of remained.

Disney Haul- March 2017

Hi Guys, as many of you probably know I went to Florida last year which was a dream come true as I am a big Disney fan ( if you click on Florida on the left hand side you can find all the posts about my amazing holiday) . If you read my post about what I took to Florida ( you can read it here) you will know I brought a few items from Primark as they had quiet a few items before I went away. Although I have not decided when I am next going back, I can’t help buying Disney themed stuff, its Primark’s fault. What also doesn’t help is that I found a group on Facebook that post pictures of what items are available in Primark in different stores.

One of my goals for 2017 is to get fitter so I have decided to combine this with shopping at Primark by going for a walk on my lunch break at least once a week it’s about a 10 min walk and then I walk round both levels of Primark. Every time I go now, I take pictures of any new items for the Facebook group and of course I never leave empty-handed. Now if you have read my goals post (you can read it here) I also am trying to save money, due to this I try to set myself a small budget every month and with Primark being so reasonably priced I have been able to pick up a few things this month. Since joining the Facebook Group I have realised I am not the only Disney fan and hope you will enjoy this post.

Jungle Book Travel Cup

This is by far my favourite purchase so far this month as I use it every day at work. For ages I have looked for a travel cup that didn’t have the hole in the top as the hot air escapes and my tea wasn’t staying warm long. Now I have been a big fan of Jungle Book since I was a child and I also love the re-make, so it wasn’t hard choosing which cup I wanted in Primark. My job involves answering calls and before I would make a drink first thing and then get caught up on the phone, by the time I came to drink it was cold and I am sure most of you know cold tea made with milk is not nice. Now that I have this cup with a flip lid when I get a call, I just close it and it stays luke warm for around an hour.

Mickey Throw and Jungle Book Pillow

Now I am going to talk about both these items together as they are actually both still in the bag with the receipt as I haven’t decided if I am keeping them. As already mentioned I am a fan of Jungle Book, I had already seen this pillow in the Facebook Group and was so excited when I found this in my local store in Peterborough. As mentioned in my goals for 2017 post my aim was to sort out my spare bedroom which is supposed to be my study/ guest room. In my mind I pictured me sitting on the sofa in my study with my head resting on the pillow and covered in the throw reading a book. However its March and I have not even started to tidy up this room. Which is why these items are still in the bag, I do like them but part of me thinks will I ever use them and by the time the room is ready there may be a nicer pillow and throw I want.

Beauty and the Beast toiletry bag

If you have read any of my Florida posts (if not, why ever not?) you will know my favourite Disney film is Beauty and the Beast. Again I had seen the toiletry bag in on Facebook and had popped into Primark a couple of times and couldn’t find it, but then I was working on a Saturday and finished at 3:30pm and just popped in on the off-chance and there they were hanging up near the pyjamas so I grabbed one ( I am glad I did , as by the Monday they had none and the space had been filled with slippers). In March I went to visit my friend in Norwich so this was perfect to store all my toiletries in.

Quick update July 2017: The teeth on the Beauty and the Beast toiletry bag have started to fall off making it difficult to close and open. I have spotted in the group that this has also happened to other people. I have only used me bag about twice so far, I am gutted. But some would say you get what you pay for.

Twisted Tale book

The book I had also found out about from Facebook as I was travelling by train to Norwich I had plenty of time to start this book. I picked this up in Tesco’s as they were running an offer buy two for £7, I also picked up Hidden Figures which is now at the cinemas (watch the space for a book review). As the title suggests they are a twisted tale on a classic Disney story, adding a perspective that has not been thought about. There are two more so far in the collection based on Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty, depending on what I think of this one I may purchase the others however I was never a big fan of Sleeping Beauty. I will do a review once I have finished reading it.

Mickey Mouse Socks

As part of my goals for 2017 (see I am trying work on them) I plan to sort out my two spare bedrooms which includes sorting out my clothes. I also have a draw of socks and some of them are over 6 years old and I thought it was time for some news ones, new year, new me. These were a bargain for three pairs and so cute, you will see in my next picture that I also picked up some Winne the Pooh ones. I can now happily get rid of my old ones that are faded and say the days of the week on them ( I never wore them on the right day or a matching pair).

Beauty and the Beast T-shirts

I don’t need to explain why I got this t-shirts, I love Beauty and the Beast. I got this in preparation for going to the cinema to see Beauty and the Beast. I obviously didn’t need both or even one of them but I just couldn’t resist. I love that the grey one has the animated characters on it, I am still not too sure about the live-action version of Mrs Potts and Chip. I will put up a review soon as to what I thought of the new film.

Tinkerbelle Pyjama Jacket

Now this I really didn’t need, but it was reduced from £12 to £5 and I couldn’t resist (I love a bargain, especially if its Disney). Most of my pajamas and night shirts are short selves and on a Sunday I normally spend most of the day in them. This jacket fits perfectly over them and keeps my arms warm rather than putting on my fluffy dressing gown.

Winne the Pooh Socks

As I have mentioned these briefly when talking about my Mickey socks I wont go on about the reason behind these. However I will say Winnie the Pooh is a childhood favourite character, I use to have a Winne the Pooh backpack for school from Argos and one of my close friends had the Eyore one, we loved them. I love the colour of these socks perfect for Spring.

Beauty and the Beast notepad

I am not even going to justify this one, all I am going to say is that it’s from Clinton’s and part of their amazing new range brought out for the launch of the film this March. If you’re a fan like me, I recommend checking it out there are some great items some are in my opinion a bit over priced but if I had the money I would get them.

Well that’s it guys that’s everything I brought in March, looking back I have brought more than I intended to and went over my budget. I will do another post next month with hopefully a few less things. Also keep your eye out for my book review.

Your never too old for Disney.

Florida 2016- Part Six- Souvenirs

Hi guys I am back with more about my amazing holiday to Florida this time I am going to show you some of the souvenirs that I brought back. This post will be mainly pictures with a few descriptions thrown in. If there is anything you would like to know, please feel free to ask in the comments.

Disney

As I am sure you would’ve guessed, I got a lot of Disney items. The one thing I wanted before I got there was my Chip mug which my boyfriend’s sister’s kindly brought me as a present. I absolutely love my ring, however now I have got home it’s too big (think my hands were slightly swollen due to heat), so I need to find a way to make it smaller, any suggestions welcomed. My second favourite item, is my Crocs flip-flops below. These were a god send. I picked these up about a week into my trip as my feet had been killing me and I forgot to bring my Crocs. I went into the Disney outlet store and there they were just hanging up, it was just meant to be. As soon as I got out of the shop I put them on and apart from one day I wore them every day after that and not once did my feet hurt.

Universal

 

As I am a Disney fan, I didn’t buy as much from Universal studios, however I did pick up a coin press book and collected the pressed coins on my way round. As you can see I mainly got Dr Seuss items as you will know if you read my Universal Studios post this was my favourite part of Universal Studios.

Bath and Body Works

I spent a lot of time on the Bath and BodyWorks website before I went and watched a few haul videos on YouTube so had a rough idea of what I wanted to get before I went. As I went to an outlet store, I wasn’t able to get all the items I wanted. My favourite item so far, is the Vampire Blood foaming hand wash its amazing, you only need a little bit and it smells amazing.  If I had known how good it was, I would have brought more. The day I went to Bath and Body Works I had a cold and couldn’t smell anything so had to go by what I had read and the names. I picked up the cult Leaves candle, which smells lovely but doesn’t seem to have that much of the smell when burning. I have tried the fragrance mists before as I had been given them as gifts, I choose to get the travel size so I could take them in my handbag when I go out for the day or the gym.

Sephora

I am yet to use the two masks, but I am in love with my lip gloss. You may have spotted me wearing it in a few of my Disney photo’s. Here is another one just in case. I love that it dries matt and it actually lasts a really long time.

 

Candy/ Treats

As you can imagine most of these are gone already and I have a slight obsession with Skittles, they taste so much better than the ones you can buy in England.

Hair Products

As some of you will know from reading my previous posts about my hair journey, I am trying to grow my hair. In america it is so easy to get products for my hair type, you just go into any supermarket and there they are,so I may have got a little bit carried away. I have been using the Whole Blends repairing shampoo ever since I got back and I love it. I will review these further in my next hair journey update, so keep a look out.

Nail Stuff

Hi my name is Jo and I am addicted to nail polish.Can you tell? I have been dreaming about the day that I could get my hands on american nail polish for years. I watch a lot of YouTubers who live in america and I am always jealous of the different brands you can pick up in America. Surprisingly I didn’t bring back as many as I thought I would. I picked most of these up from Walmart and Pharmacies as they had such a big selection.

Basin-Disney Springs

I am yet to try these products but I had seen the shop in a few videos I had watched and had to try it. It has been compared to Lush, I will let you know what I think.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment. The only think I am unsure about is prices of things but other than I am happy to help.

Florida 2016- Part Two- More Disney

Hi Guys I am back with another installment of my Florida adventure (you can read the first post here), enjoy …

Epcot

 As mentioned previously, before I went to Florida I did some research to get a rough idea of some of the things I wanted to do. I was very happy to find out that the Food and Wine festival would be taking place whilst we were there as from my previous restaurant reviews you will know that I love food.

However the first thing we headed straight for was the Nemo ride as this was at the start of the park and we didn’t want to double back on our selves. Now I knew this was mainly a children’s ride as the family teased me that it would be too fast for me, after learning from the Harry Potter ride at universal (more about that in another post) that I don’t do speed. I actually found this ride a tad disappointing, granted I love the fact that you hardly went at any speed but at one point we actually got stuck and had to watch the same screen for what felt like forever. This being said the sea life that I got to see afterwards completely made up for it, my favourite being the dolphin’s. I tried to record the dolphin but it just went past too quickly.

Whilst on the monorail to Epcot I decided to check what characters were at Epcot for the day using the My Disney Experience App on my phone (all parks have free WiFi), I was very excited to learn that there was Snow White, Belle, Aladdin and Jasmine as well as Anna and Elsa. We made a group decision to visit the characters first and then visit the Food and Wine festival stalls. As many of you will know the idea of Epcot World Showcase is that you travel around the world and visit characters and themed shops. As the Food and Wine Festival was also taking place the stalls were in-between the normal pavilions, which meant you got lots of different aromas of food as you walked through. As mentioned before Belle is my favourite princess however I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t in her gold dress, although I do understand it is hot. In my opinion she didn’t have a great resemblance to Belle (compared to the one I saw in the Fantasy parade) however she was very good at acting the part. Belle commented on my stick on nails and thought that the pattern was musical notes; she went on to mention Maddame Wardrobe and Lumiere which made me smile. There was an opportunity to meet Alice from Alice in Wonderland in ‘UK’ but the queue was quite long and as she was based outside, after waiting to see Belle outside I didn’t fancy waiting in the Florida sunshine again.

Epcot Food and Wine Festival

Whilst on our travels around Epcot we purchased two sampler menu cards ( me and my boyfriend shared one and the other four shared it between them), for $62 we got  8 passes on one card to then exchange for 8 items of food and drink around the Food and Wine Festival. I had read about this on Facebook before arriving in Florida and used the My Disney Experience App to locate the kiosks selling the passes. Most dishes were priced around $8- $9 however I did notice that a glass of champagne was $32 so depending what you brought I think the sampler menu was well worth the money. I like the fact that I just handed over a pass and didn’t have to worry about having the money and getting lots of change or worrying whether I have enough money on my card.

My favourite item that we tried from the Food and Wine Festival was the Lamb Chop from Australia, this was the first thing I smelt as we walked in and I waited all day to try it and it didn’t disappoint. My least favourite was the Apple Wine from Canada, this was mainly due to the size, we literally got one mouthful each ( I was so disappointed I forgot to take a picture). Another favourite was the Pulled Pork Slider from ‘Hawaii’ this was amazing, we only got a couple of bites each but it was so good. My boyfriend’s sister also brought Fish and Chips from ‘United Kingdom’ which was not part of the festival, but definitely deserve a mention as they were very yummy and a nice reminder of home. I also have to give a mention to the Shaved Ice from ‘Japan’ which again wasn’t part of the Food and Wine festival which meant we had to purchase it separately but was exactly was we needed to cool us down (Did I mention it was hot in Florida?), I choose the rainbow option with different flavours it was yummy.  Please see below a selection of the food and drink we tried, although it was all good I have only given a mention to the ones that were exceptional.

 

Magic Kingdom- Wishes and Fireworks

 After a great day at Epcot we then headed to Magic Kingdom to catch the Electrical Parade, Wishes and the Fireworks. Due to the news earlier this year that the Electrical Parade was moving to California (the last showing was October 9th 2016) I made sure I didn’t miss it. We got to Magic Kingdom around 7pm even though the show didn’t start till 9pm to make sure we got a good view. We manage to get a place right near the start of Main Street and I got to sit down on the curb and take the weight of my feet. Whilst researching Florida I did watch a video on YouTube of the parade and was quite looking forward to seeing it, I didn’t watch all the video as I didn’t want to ruin it. However after watching the Wishes, Fireworks and Festival of Fantasy parade I wouldn’t say the Electrical Parade was in my Top 5 Experiences (In cases you are wondering what they are, I will list them at the end). For what it was (before I had seen everything else) I thought it was good, I got some great pictures however it seemed to be over too quickly. But I am still glad I got to see it as the next time I visit it won’t be at Magic Kingdom.

Once the parade had finished we made our way down Main Street to get a good view of the castle for Wishes and the Fireworks, this wasn’t easy as everyone had the same goal. We finally managed to get a spot and waited patiently for the Wishes to begin. I had again seen a clip on YouTube so knew what to expect, but this exceeded my expectations. The amount of different images they projected and the music was amazing; they showed pretty much every Disney film which brought back so many good memories. I am sure if I asked the Frozen fan of the group she would say her favourite part of Wishes was when they played Let it Go and everyone including myself joined in.

After wishes we had a slight break as we waited for the fireworks to begin. On our first night arriving we actually saw the fireworks in the sky as we collected the details for our villa so I knew it was going to be good. Hands down the fireworks were by far the best experience of the whole trip ( I think my party would also agree, I know my boyfriend does). Even just thinking about it now makes me smile and well up a little and I will let you in on a secret I actually cried while watching it (I saved for ages and have dreamt for years about coming to Disney and in that moment it all hit me how all the struggle and stress was worth it). The fireworks where just magical and beautiful, every time I thought it was over more would appear it was the best 12 minutes of that holiday. I stood there without a single care in the world enjoying the magic of Disney. I can’t even explain to you how great it was, as I am still welling up just thinking about it (told you I was emotional).

Extra day at Disney

 Now unfortunately we got caught in Hurricane Matthew and was informed on Wednesday that our flight was going to be delayed by a day. Due to the hurricane we did end up spending from Thursday afternoon till Friday evening in the villa as we were advised not go out and for the first time in a long time Disney closed early on the Thursday and was closed on the Friday. This was also the case for all the other theme parks, restaurants and shops. However the curfew was lifted at around 2pm on the Friday which meant some of the restaurants re-opened Friday afternoon. The silver lining in this was that we got to go back to Magic Kingdom on the Saturday as our flight had now moved to the Sunday evening and our tickets were still valid till midnight on Saturday. This extra day allowed me to see the much talked about Festival of Fantasy which was cancelled on the first day we went due to rain and then due to having so much fun at Epcot we didn’t make it over to Magic Kingdom in time. Now does this parade make my top five? (You will have to scroll down to find out), I did really enjoy it as again we has a really good view. It was also a chance to see some of the characters that either don’t do meet and greets for example the Seven Dwarfs or to see some I missed like Tinkerbell and also a different Belle in her gold dress which I much preferred.

As I was waiting for the parade I was scrolling through my Facebook, making the most of the free WiFI when I came across a post on a group I am in called Orlando Fun in the sun ( A group where people share their hints and tips). In Disney there are dedicated Christmas shops where you can pick up lovely decorations for your tree. I had noticed they had a lovely collection of princesses in flowing dresses but no Belle. A lady kindly posted that the only place that you could get the Belle one from was at the gift shop near Gaston’s Tavern. After the parade Lee’s sister kindly went into the Christmas shop which we were conveniently sitting next to and asked for directions. To my delight there they were all hanging up nicely, I was so worried there would be none left even though the lady had only posted the message that day. I cant wait to hang my decoration from my tree, I brought other decorations and Disney Merchandise but I will talk about that in another post. So although we got stuck in Florida for another day I am glad I got to go back and see the parade and get my lovely decoration that I wanted but didn’t even know existed.

My Top 5 Disney Park Experiences in Florida

1. Fireworks at Magical Kingdom – If you haven’t already guessed it from reading my post or not read all of it, it’s of course the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Nothing beats this experience, I recommended everyone sees it. The effort and time that must go into putting on that show is well worth applauding. This was by far the most magical Disney experience I had.
2. Festival of Lion King – Now this was a tough choice between 2 and 3. I think due to the fact that this show almost made me cry it has to go second after the fireworks which made cry with joy. They really did put on a performance and I loved hearing the Lion King classic songs.
3. Wishes – Due to the technical magic that I know must go into this, I have chosen this as my 3^rd  favourite experience. It was an amazing showcase of all the different Disney films which I have grown up with and love as well as all the more recent films which of course I have seen.
4. Festival of Fantasy Parade – I only just got to watch this due to our extra day in Florida and I am so glad I did. I got to see some of the characters I had already seen which was great and some I hadn’t seen before.
5. Monorail – This may seem like a strange one, but I really enjoyed sitting on the monorail getting all excited knowing where I was heading to.

Please let me know in the comments what your favourite experiences at the Disney Parks has been. I plan to go back in 2018, so if you have any suggestions of things to do, please let me know. I will be back soon with more tales from my adventure.

Florida 2016- Part One- Disney Parks

As some of you may already know I recently took a magical trip to Orlando Florida. As I did so many different things and have so much to tell you I am going to split my holiday into categories and make this a little series. As I am writing this in my head I am already planning my next trip to re-live some of the great moments I had as well as discover more of Florida. The main reason I went to Florida was for Disney so that is what I am going to start with. Get comfy this is going to be a long post, however I have broken it down so feel free to jump to the parts that interest you. Although in my opinion it’s all interesting and worth reading.

Just to get you up to speed I went to Florida for the first time at end of September 2016 for two weeks with my boyfriend and his family. In total there were six adults and no children. Myself and my boyfriend’s sister are big Disney fans where as my boyfriend was looking forward to Universal Studios.

Magic Kingdom- First Day

We arrived on the Saturday but didn’t go to Magic Kingdom until the Monday. I remember sitting in the back of the car as we are driving up waiting to see the famous Disney sign. Now unfortunately I didn’t get a very good picture the first day we went as I was sitting right at the back of our 7-seater hired vehicle. As we started to walk up to the monorail, I was so excited I couldn’t believe that I was finally at Disney World, I nearly shed a tear ( you will get use to me and my emotions). Unfortunately due to the rain our day got cut short but here is a list and some pictures of what I did the first day I visited Magic Kingdom.

List of things we did on our first day:

• Took selfies in front of the castle
• Visited the shops
• Eat a Mickey Ice-cream
• Watched the Move it Shake it parade

Hollywood Studio

 The next Disney park we visited was Hollywood studios. I had done a lot of research on Magic Kingdom so didn’t know what to expect from Hollywood Studios. The best thing that I got from Hollywood Studios was my ears, (you will see from the above picture that I am wearing a pair, which I brought a pair with me) when we were at Magic Kingdom I saw a few pairs I liked but none that I loved. As soon as I saw this pair (picture below) I knew they were the ones, I love purple and my friend once called me Purple Princess so these ears were fitting. When I met the princesses they all commented on my lovely ears and my little crown. We got caught in the rain again at Hollywood Studios (this became a pattern on our holiday) but we waited it out this time and carried on with our day. As we were walking along we spotted Buzz and Woody doing photos, so I and my boyfriend joined the que. This was the first time I had experienced waiting in line to met a character, luckily this meet and greet was indoors so we had air-con. It seemed to take forever to get to the front, which I later found out was due to a Make a Wish family having their photos done, which made me feel better knowing there was a good reason why I had to wait. Now I am pretty sure if I asked my boyfriend’s sister what her favourite part of the day was she would say meeting Olaf as she loves Frozen. I am glad I qued up with her as I got to see her get excited like a little child the closer we got ( she is 32 by the way but you are never too old for Disney). I did give Olaf a hug and get his autograph which turned out to be a snowman’s face which I thought was cute.

Make a Wish

We came across a few Make a Wish families whilst waiting to meet characters, I think it is lovely that they get an opportunity to meet their favourite characters. Most of the time the Disney staff asked if you minded if they went in front of you, which of course I didn’t, one boy nearly made me cry it was so lovely to watch. Depending on how far back you are in the que you can’t always see the family and can seem like you are waiting for ages, it would be nice if the staff came down the line and just informed everyone what was causing the delay, I am sure like us most people would not mind.

Animal Kingdom

Now I mentioned that I went to Florida with my boyfriends family who had actually been to Disney 2 years ago. They said that they weren’t too fussed about Animal Kingdom and suggested that just me and my boyfriend went on our own. I have to disagree with my boyfriends family, I think that Animal Kingdom is my favourite park after Magic Kingdom. I loved seeing all the animals and feeling like I was in different countries. My favourite part of Animal Kingdom was the The Festival of the Lion King, I have seen Lion King the musical in London which I think is amazing but there was something about this show being in a Disney Park that made it so magical. I am going to be real with you I was so happy and enjoyed it so much I nearly cried at the end (you will get to learn that I am quite an emotional person). We also really enjoyed the 3D Bugs Life show, although not many of the kids did. We saw quite a few 3D shows through out the holiday but I think this one was one of my favourites I would say it was actually a 4D show there was special effects including being poked in the back by the chair which gave me a bit of a fright.  Now I met a few characters at Animal Kingdom, the My Disney app was a great help in finding them all but my favourite characters were Baloo and King Loui. As you can see I actually had on my Jungle Book T-shirt that day which they spotted, King Loui wasn’t too impressed that he wasn’t on it. Although the characters don’t speak you know exactly what they mean by their hand actions, they were so funny. I also loved the fact that they interacted with the people waiting in line while the next family came up for the photos. As this was outside you could see them way before you actually got your picture taken which added to the excitement.  One character I was surprised to see and also happy about was Flik from a Bugs Life, we literally nearly walked past her as I had my head in my phone trying to find her. I loved a Bugs Life when I was little, but it’s not one that you hear much about.

I have so much more to tell you about Disney and the rest of my amazing holiday, so please come back soon to hear about the rest of my adventure. If you have any tips for my next trip please leave them in the comments below.

Packing for Disney Florida

As I mentioned briefly in my last post I am going to Disney Florida for the first time soon, I have started to buy things for my holiday and thought you guys might like to see what I have got.

Shoes

I am fully aware that there will be a lot of walking involved as I have tickets to 12 of the parks in Florida, so I have invested in some sensible walking shoes. I have choose a pair from Hotter from the H92 collection. I have had my eye on this collection for a while and then recently they went into the sale so I just had to get them. Taken from the Hotter website “Lighter than light sole and stretchable slipper design, together with its memory foam footbed and textile lining, give you that wonderful floating feeling”. So far I have only tried them on in the shop, but plan to test them out on my next all day shopping trip to make sure they are still comfortable. As well as comfortable walking shoes I couldn’t help but pick up some Disney footwear from Primark. I plan to wear these when I have shorted days at the parks so that I don’t end up with sore feet. The flip flops are for wearing around the pool and just for taking pictures.

Bags

For quite awhile now I have been searching for a cute Disney backpack to take with me to put all my belongings on when I go round the park. I plan to carry a bottle of water, some snacks, camera and poncho in my cute backpack. I finally found this one in Primark. I actually got the matching handbag first and then when i returned about a week later I found this backpack and knew I had to have it. I also got this cute Snow White shopping bag for my birthday, which I shall take with me in my backpack in case I need extra space for my shopping.

Clothes

To save some money I decided to get some Disney merchandise before I get to Florida, however I am sure I will purchase more once  I get out there. Like with my shoes Primark did not let me down. A couple of my t-shirts I found in Primark with the rest either been given to me as a gift or from Sports Direct. I am still on the hunt for the perfect black skirt and some shorts to co-ordinate with all of these lovely t-shirts. I have also got two pj sets from Primark along with a night shirt, obviously they are Disney themed.

 

Miscellaneous

A few items I though I would share with you have been given to me as gifts. I am so in love with my autograph book, Belle is one of my favourite characters and anyone who knows me knows I love purple. so the ribbon is a cute touch. I am also very happy with my passport cover I look forward to taking this out at the airport. For Christmas my boyfriend brought me this lovely set of earrings and necklace which I had put on my wish list in preparation for my Disney trip.

Please follow me on my social media channels to get the latest pictures of any further purchases and of course I will be taking pictures whilst I am in Florida. If you have any tips for visiting Florida please leave them below.