Hey guys!

In the past I have reviewed most of the hotels that I've stayed in at Disneyland Paris, however, the Disney owned hotels don't always suit everyone's budget and more recently as an annual pass holder I have found myself looking at off-site hotel options to try and keep the cost of my trips down. On my most recent trip, I stayed in a partner hotel, an off-site hotel which is not owned by Disney, but does partner with them to offer some of the perks at a reduced price, and decided it might be useful to start sharing my thoughts on these hotels too.

The Vienna House Magic Circus is a 396 room circus-themed family-friendly hotel just a few minutes drive from Disneyland Paris, the hotel has a restaurant, bar, swimming pool and other facilities and as part of its partnership with Disneyland Paris, it also has a small shop which sells parks merchandise as well as the expected amenities and a free shuttle bus to and from the parks each day.

The hotel can be booked as part of a package which includes your park tickets, or you can book the accommodation on its own, this is what we did as we did not need park tickets. We booked through Hotels.com and found the rate to be extremely favourable for our dates when compared to the Disney owned hotels, the booking process was incredibly easy and we were also able to book adjoining rooms online due to the size of our party. We paid in full online at the booking stage, but there was also the option to reserve with a deposit and pay on arrival for the room, the only additional cost was the city tax which is payable on arrival for each guest, this is the same tax you would pay in a Disney hotel but it is included in their initial booking cost.

As we were only on a one night trip we arrived at the hotel fairly late in the evening to check-in, I would imagine it was around 9pm, to keep costs down we had driven over, so I didn't get to experience the hotel shuttle bus but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of free parking on offer and didn't struggle to find a space. The reception area is open plan, bright and spacious, even though we had arrived quite late there was still ample staff available to assist with checking in and the reception area has a small seating area where the rest of your party can wait as well as a water dispenser.

Past the main reception, there is a small shop which as well as selling your toiletries and other essentials, also stocks a range of Disney parks merchandise including Mickey/Minnie Ears, autograph books and pens and a selection of plushes and other toys. Further round the corner there was more seating areas and a number of different arcade machines which would be great for distracting the kids during check-in. The hotel restaurant is also on the ground floor, we didn't actually get to use it on this trip due to the short nature of our stay, but we were offered a breakfast service which we could pay on the morning if we changed our minds for €16 per adult.

Check-in was easy and quick and we were assigned to 2 adjoining rooms on the first floor, we were booked as a party of 5 adults and 1 child, however, we only ended up being 5 adults. The two rooms were identical and there was an adjoining door which needed to be unlocked from both sides before it could be used, the rooms had a double bed and then a set of bunk beds, a modern good sized bathroom, 2 TVs and a kettle and facilities to make hot drinks as well as a generously sized fridge, there was a menu in the room but as we had already eaten I didn't pay too much attention to whether it was for room service or the main restaurant.

I was particularly impressed with how modern everything felt and also the level of decoration and theming in the rooms, I also liked how the room could be separated for kids and adults with a curtain that pulled around the bunk beds, which had their own bedside table and TV! The beds were really comfortable and we all got a great nights sleep, which is super important when you're up early for another busy day in the parks.

The bathroom was a really good size, was incredibly clean and modern, a selection of toiletries and towels were also provided, my only areas for improvement here would be that the hairdryer provided was not particularly powerful, and only having 1 sink in a room designed for 4 people can be a pain. The room had lots of storage including a large wardrobe which is great for longer trips where you want to unpack your clothes and hang things up, or even for just storing your bags or other luggage out of the way as the rooms weren't huge.



As I mentioned briefly above, if you aren't driving, or are staying for more than one night there is a free shuttle bus provided by Disneyland Paris to get to and from the parks, the shuttle is approximately once every 20 mins from around 8 am until around midnight and stops directly outside of the reception and drops off just outside of the train station at the entrance to the parks. The shuttle services a number of the nearby partner hotels so can get busy at peak times, but they have ample room for pushchairs and wheelchairs and are provided completely free of charge, a timetable can be picked up in reception to allow you to plan your timings.

If you want to venture further afield you can use the free shuttle bus to get to the parks and then catch the RER from here to go into central Paris, or you can get the RER or walk from the Disney Village to the nearby Val D'Europe shopping centre which has a selection of places to eat and shops (including a very popular Primark) as well as a pharmacy.

Although my stay at Magic Circus was incredibly short, we may have spent less than 12 hours at the hotel, I was incredibly impressed during my stay and would definitely book to stay again in the future. The hotel was clean and modern, with a fun, family-friendly theme, every member of staff I spoke to was friendly and helpful and many of them spoke multiple languages outside of French and English. The location of the hotel is excellent, it is only a few minutes away from the Disney parks by bus or by car, but has the advantage of a lower price tag by being outside of the main Disney property.

I hope that I will be able to stay again soon and experience more of the hotel facilities, and of course, if I do, I will update this review with my impressions.

Have you stayed at Magic Circus, what did you think? Drop me a comment below with what you liked most.

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys! 

It has been a while since I’ve done any new character dining experiences to be able to review for you guys so while we were in DLP for Run Disney we decided to treat ourselves to a royal breakfast and I thought I’d let you know what the experience was like.

Breakfast with the Disney Princesses is a fairly recent addition to Disneyland Paris, it launched in February 2019 for a short time, before returning in July 2019 due to its success. Set in the heart of Fantasyland, Auberge de Cendrillon was already home to Lunch and in peak times dinner with the princesses, so the addition of breakfast came as little surprise.

The restaurant can be found tucked behind Sleeping Beauty’s castle, it has a small courtyard where you can see Cinderella’s magical carriage, and inside the walls are covered in murals depicting some of the film’s most well-known moments.

As with the Plaza Gardens character breakfast, there are two sittings each day, 8:15 am is the first sitting and 9:45 am is the second. It is worth noting that the first sitting is during extra magic time, so guests will need to be staying in a Disney hotel, or have the relevant level of annual pass to enter the parks during this time. Reservations can be made either 3 days in advance by phone, through your hotel concierge or through city hall if you wish to pay on the day or use vouchers, if you wish to pay in advance this can be added to your booking through your travel provider.

We opted for the 9:45 sitting which gave us the option of either a later start or a chance to do some of EMT before going for our breakfast. This worked really well for us, and we arrived around 9:40 and joined a short queue at the entrance to the restaurant. The queue moved quickly and once we got to the front and confirmed our reservation and party size we were taken straight through to the restaurant and seated.

When we arrived there were already several pastries on the table for us and within moments a server came over to provide us with both a hot drink and a choice of orange or apple juice which was topped up later in the sitting. The breakfast is a set menu and after a short wait this was brought to our table, this consisted of scrambled egg, 3 small sausages, some roasted potatoes with mushrooms and asparagus and a Mickey waffle. On the side several small glasses with side dishes were provided, this included salmon, a crunchy vegetable mix, a fruit salad and yoghurt.

During the breakfast, three princesses in attendance visit guests at their tables for autographs and photos, we saw Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora. Compared to the character breakfast at plaza gardens I found the interaction with the princesses to be much better, despite having less characters. I felt that the quality of each meet was much higher and it personally felt a lot more relaxed which allowed me to enjoy it more without constantly worrying about trying to fit everything in.

The breakfast is priced at €49 per adult and €39 for children, as we did not have any children in our party I could not comment on the food they were served or if there were any menu changes. We used an Infinity Annual Pass which reduced the bill by 15% and felt that this was a fair price for the experience as a whole.

I really enjoyed the princess breakfast, I enjoyed the food and found even as a more picky eater there was enough for me to enjoy that I came away feeling full. I was impressed with the level of service from all of the waiting staff and especially with the interaction from the princesses. This isn’t a meal I would personally do every trip as I have already met the princesses on multiple occasions and would not normally spend this amount on breakfast. However, as an occasional trip in the future, or with my niece, it is definitely something I would do again.

If I had to suggest improvements to the offering it would be to include some of the princes and perhaps even Suzy and Perla just to provide a more varied character rotation. The addition of Prince Mickey and Princess Minnie would almost certainly encourage me to return on my next trip.

So that covers my experience and thoughts on the Princess Breakfast, have you been before? Did you agree with my thoughts and which princesses did you get? Drop me a comment!

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys!

So its August and the 2019 edition of Run Disney will be in Paris in just a few short weeks! It really doesn't seem possible that it was almost a full year ago now that I was last lacing up my trainers for the most magical races in Europe.

I'm sure everyone is hard at work training, but I decided to take a little time out to start daydreaming about race day, who am I kidding? I haven't stopped dreaming about race day since the moment I booked our bibs!

Of course, I love everything about the Run Disney races, the magical surroundings, the incredible medals, and sharing the sense of pride and achievement with some of my closest running pals, but for me what makes Disney races extra special, is the characters we meet along the course. So it got me thinking, now that we know the themes for the races, who would I love to see along the way?

Now I always stress with any of these types of posts, I have no inside information when it comes to race day, I do not know who will be out on the course and this is just my own wishlist if I get lucky and some of them are actually there on the day? Of course, I'll be chuffed, but that is all it is luck. Please do not mistake this for a guaranteed list of characters on the day.

5km - Adventure into the unknown 

Ok, so I have to be honest with you here, the truth is this is the theme I'm least looking forward to. We know the medal is Simba from the Lion King, and If you've followed me on social media, you'll know I just don't like the film all that much. But hey, it's popular, super-relevant currently, and mostly a fan favourite, so I can see why it's being used and I'm ok with it. We can assume that most likely the characters out during this race are going to be predominantly animals, so who would I like to see most?

Timon & Rafiki - As Simba isn't a meetable character (to my knowledge anyway) these two are probably the most logical option to represent the Lion king, hopefully, Timon will be out in his Matta Dance outfit just to make it extra special, and believe it or not, I actually haven't met the little guy yet so that would be kinda sweet.

Ed, Shenzi & Banzai - What is the Lion King without these creepy hyenas? Ok so they are villains, but we still love them! We had them during the races in 2017 so I don't think its too unrealistic for them to make an appearance, they were also in the resort recently for the press event when the Lion King and Jungle season launched, could they be hiding somewhere? I hope so.

King Louis & Baloo - You can hardly celebrate the animals of Disney without the jungle VIP now can you? These guys are in the parks every day, so while they're not rare, they are a lot of fun and totally on theme, perhaps Baloo can wear his grass skirt from Forest of Enchantment?

Credit: Mark Petar Twitter

Pochahontas, John Smith & Meeko - They don't need to be together frankly I would accept any combination. Meeko especially is a most wanted meet for me as he's just so cute, I really think these guys embody the spirit of adventure and would fit in great with the theme.

Credit: Sophie Kean Instagram

Tarzan, Jane & Terk - Again I don't need all 3 together, but how cool would it be to see these guys! We know Terk is making an appearance for PhotoPass day on August 18th, so it's surely not totally unrealistic to ask for these guys to come and play?

Credit: Sophie Kean Instagram

10km - Princesses.

This one I have kind of mixed thoughts on, yes the theme appeals to me more than that of the 5km, but are there any princesses I'm desperate to meet? Very few, so I'm going to go a bit outside the box on this one and expand my most wanted to "Disney Royalty".

Kida & Milo - If you're not familiar with these guys you need to go and get yourselves a copy of Atlantis: The lost empire, right now. Kida is the daughter of Kashekim, king of Atlantis, and Milo Thatch is her husband, these guys are space royalty and I personally would love to see them perhaps in Discoveryland?

Credit: Katie Penn Youtube.

Elena of Avalor - Face it, she's super, super cute and the fact she's not a regular meeting character in Paris already is unforgivable, personally, I'd love to see her this year though I'm not sure where I would put her? Possibly in Adventureland?

Credit: Mark Petar Twitter

Meg & Herc - Honey! You mean Hunkules! I sure do, this Greek power couple is already really popular with fans and I would class them as royalty, after meeting Pain, Panic, and Hades on the course in 2018, I'd love to see the good guys have their turn!

Credit: Katie Penn Youtube.

Vanellope - She might not be a traditional princess, but if you've seen Ralph breaks the internet, you will most likely agree that she is 100% princess material, not only that but she's been a character I've wanted to meet for such a long time so, for purely selfish reasons, she's making the list.

Credit: Katie Penn Youtube.

Atta & Flik - Maybe I'm still salty that they aren't meeting in Animal Kingdom anymore, or maybe it's because she's a badass ant princess, either way, how cute would these guys be nestled into Adventureland?

Credit: Mark Petar Twitter

Half Marathon - Love/Disney Couples.

This is probably the theme I like most out of the 3 for the weekend, its quite vague so there's a huge choice of characters available, and possibly some really cute characters that we don't get to see very often, here's my pick;

Bernard & Bianca - These super cute Mice are rarely seen in Paris, but I really would love to see them this year, I love their outfits especially Miss Bianca and think they would be a great addition to Run Disney.

Oswald & Ortensia - It may have all started with a mouse, but who knows where we would have ended up if it weren't for this lucky rabbit! Oswald is the stuff of Disney legend and I am so upset that I've not been able to meet him yet, luckily for me, he's been present at Disneyland Paris a lot since the FanDaze event and this event also marked the first Disney Parks appearance of Ortensia. So fingers crossed this will finally be my chance to meet them both.

Credit: Mark Petar Twitter

Nick Wilde & Judy Hopps - Zootropolis is basically just really underrated. I've met Nick and Judy before, and yes they have been at a previous run weekend, but I don't care, these guys are so much fun! He might be a sly fox and she may be a dumb bunny, but they love each other and I love them.

Credit: Sophie Kean Instagram

Horace Horsecollar & Clarabelle Cow - These guys are so cute and remind me of Halloween due to their regular appearances in the Halloween cavalcade at DLP. They don't really come out often for meets which is a huge shame, so I'd love to see them on the course for a quick hug and a high 5!

Remy & Emile - Anyone can cook, but despite having their own themed area in Disneyland Paris it would appear that not everyone can meet these two tiny chefs, I managed to meet Remy back in 2012 but I've not been lucky enough to catch him since, and I've never met Emile. Paris is there home, and with a perfect backdrop in the studios, it would seem to me to be a real missed opportunity not to have these lovable brothers out!

So those are my picks for this year, will any of them actually make it onto the course? I sure hope so, but who knows who we might bump into on the day? If there's someone you want to see, drop me a comment below!

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys!

So this is actually something I've done before, back in March last year I posted my wishlist for merchandise that's available in other Disney parks that I wanted to see come to Disneyland Paris. Well, it was pretty successful, you guys seemed to really enjoy it and it sparked a lot of conversation on my social media, but not only that, here we are 10 months later and some of the items I wrote about are now available in Paris! Now, of course, I don't take any credit for it, but it was fun to see which things came to fruition.

So here's my updated list for 2019, once again this is just my personal view of what I've seen on sale elsewhere that I would buy if it came to Paris, I'd love to hear your ideas too, who knows, maybe someone from the merch team is watching!

5. Pet items.

Pets are like family right? So when I go on holiday and have to leave my fur baby at home, I'd at least like to be able to treat him and bring something back for him. Though Paris does sell a few items for our four-legged friends, the range is quite inferior when compared to what is available just across the pond! The US Disney parks have everything from bowls, leads and collars to toys, beds and even outfits for your fur baby! I'm pretty sure Charlie is going to get spoiled rotten when I go to WDW in November, the squeaky Mickey Waffle doggy toy is top of his wish list.

Pictures are taken from Shop Disney US


4. Ride/Land specific merch.

Like a few of the other things on this list, it's not that Paris doesn't have anything that is ride or land specific, it's just what they do have is so limited, and nowhere near the quality offered by other parks. In Disneyland Paris, I might be able to pick up an attraction pin (though half the set are now not restocked and the set doesn't include all attractions) or perhaps a t-shirt for some of the rides. Comparing that to the other parks it's easy to feel like we drew the short straw, Disneyland Resort and WDW have ride specific Spirit Jerseys, Haunted Mansion in WDW has its own shop selling ride specific stuff. You can grab salt and pepper shakers themed to the bins of each land, monorail highlighters and socks. And if all of that wasn't enough how about a whole line of merch just based on the Yeti from Expedition Everest? Most of us have a favourite ride, so it's not unrealistic to imagine we'd spend our hard earned money on pretty much anything that helps us rep our favourite!

                         

Pictures from Pennie K and David at Disney


3. Plush Pass holders.

I can't be 100% in which park they originated, but I first became aware of these when I started looking at what the Asian parks had to offer, why wear a fairly boring lanyard when you can have a super cute plush around your neck instead?! These come in a variety of different designs featuring some of our favourite characters and also some interesting takes on park food, Mickey burger pass holder anyone? I actually have a Stella Lou one of these which I bought on eBay (yes I know it's probably fake and I'm ok with it) and I'm so glad I got one. Not only are they super cute and give me yet another way of showing off my love for the super cute ballet bunny but they're surprisingly practical, it has a card sized pouch on the back where I can put my AP, my Photopass and any fast passes I might have, but it also has a bigger zip up pocket on the back so I can pop in some cash and a bank card for quick purchases. I still carry a park bag and do pop my pass holder inside when I'm on bigger rides, but I love having such easy access to the things I need to grab most often and I'm confident these would sell well in Paris.

2. Park Exclusive Funko Pops.

Maybe it's only me who has an unhealthy obsession with Funko Pops, but given their popularity in both the UK and the US, I feel like it's unlikely that I'm on my own with my love of these giant headed cartoon style collectables. Made by toy company Funko pops have become increasingly popular in the 3 years I've been collecting them. Different pops are made to represent everything from your favourite films and TV shows to sports teams, musicians, and even the royal family! So it's no surprise that Disney is firmly in on the action, what is perhaps a little more surprising is that despite having a number of park exclusive pop figures in the US parks, Paris doesn't seem to have any. I have been lucky enough to get one of the park exclusive models, which is this Figment pop that was introduced to commemorate Epcot's 35th birthday in 2017, this isn't the only exclusive figure either with a Tiki Room 2 pack available, as well as an impressive Splash Mountain pop rides model to mention just a few. I'm willing to put my money on these being incredibly popular (excuse the pun) if they ever make it to Paris, if nothing else, I know I would probably bankrupt myself buying them all.

1. AP Holder Merch

Ok so DLP did dip their toes ever so slightly into this one in 2018, but to nowhere near the same scale as their US counterparts. In Paris we got a pin, some T-shirts, 2 lanyards and a mug, all featured the very basic pass holder or Infinity logos, not only were the designs very very basic (and in my opinion not very nice) but the items were available to everyone regardless of them being or not being a pass holder. This meant the items sold out quickly and didn't have the exclusive feel. In the US pass holders can pick up a lot more merchandise, some are available all year round such as the magnet, and some are seasonal or for specific events. For example at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, pass holders can pick up an exclusive T-shirt and Pin both with a different design to the main event T-shirt and Pin.

                       

Pictures from Pennie K and David at Disney


So that's my list for now, what about you? Is there something I've mentioned you agree with, or something I've missed off? Drop me a comment below!

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys!

With 2018 over it's easy to look back over what has happened in the last 12 months, the trips we've made, the things we've experienced and the people we've shared all of it with. But it's not just a time for looking back, as the new year begins I, like many others no doubt, find myself looking forward to 2019 and all the new adventures it will bring.

In particular, I am of course talking about Disney adventures, I have my big trip across the pond in November, but before that there's so much I'm looking forward to that are a little closer to home. Disneyland Paris has announced their main seasons and some of their key events for 2019 already, so take a seat as I sift through all the news to pick out the bits I am most excited for.

In no particular order ... 

The return of the festival of pirates and princesses.

This gem of a season was the unexpected people's favourite of 2018, replacing the much-loved swing into spring celebration. Pirates and princesses exploded on to the scene in a flash mob of bright colours and dance-offs. It truly caught the heart of guests who picked their side last spring, so much so that in June at Fandaze Catherine Powell promised fans it would return for 2019. This year the season has a much earlier time slot of January - March, and I'm looking forward to banishing the January blues with the catchy soundtrack and some of my favourite Neverland friends.

Magical Pride.

This is being held on Saturday June first in the Walt Disney Studios park and will be a hard ticketed event. I imagine this is going to be similar to things like the annual pass holder nights and will include access to attractions, character meet and greets as well as entertainment throughout the evening. A special parade is also being put on for the event as well as things like photo locations. Tickets are already on sale with a standard ticket for an adult coming in at £78.28 and a plus ticket selling for £95.87 on DLP's official website.

Annual Pass holder nights.

Kicking off in March 2018 Disneyland Paris offered its annual pass holders a new way to enjoy the parks with the introduction of AP nights. These themed events were available exclusively to varying tiers of pass holders and were sold as hard ticket events. In total 2018 saw 4 AP nights, each with its own theme, that allowed guests access to a quieter park with special character meets, shows and parades. These proved so popular that they have been renewed for 2019 with 1 event planned per quarter. During 2018 I only managed to attend 1 AP night which was the Marvel night, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope that I am able to make it to at least 1 event this year. The first has already been announced as Pirates and Princesses and will take place on March 22nd!

Run Disney.

Or magical run weekend or whatever other name they've given it this year! Yes it's not new for 2019, and yes it's something I've done before, but I'm still really excited about it. This year will be the 4th annual run weekend at Disneyland Paris, from humble beginnings of just kids race a 5km and a half marathon, the event has since grown to include a 10 km race and 31 & 36 km challenges too. This is probably one of my favourite weekends of the year, sure it's tough both physically and mentally, it's exhausting and can be just a little bit stressful. But when its all over I just feel an immense amount of pride that I've managed to do it. I love running through the parks and the surrounding countryside, I love seeing everyone's' super creative costumes and most of all I love meeting all the rare and unusual characters! This year more than ever I'm determined to be the best I can be in time for the half marathon, so this definitely won't be the last you hear about it from me!

The Walt Disney Studios Expansion.

I know what you're about to say, there won't be much, if anything, physical to see from the expansion in 2019. Well, probably not. But that said I am so excited for everything about this expansion and if nothing else, I'm willing to bet 2019 is going to be full of news, rumours, concept art and planning permission docs for us to pour over in an unhealthy amount of detail. I'm looking forward to seeing galaxy's Edge open in both Florida and California, giving us a glimpse of what we might expect in our version, finding out more about planned attractions and shows for Arrendelle. Basically, the expansion is one to watch in 2019.

The re-opening of Phantom Manor.

Ok, this is a tough one because as it stands, we don't actually know when the manor will open its doors again. It closed in January 2018 for a full refurbishment and since then its reopening date has been pushed back a few times. We don't know a huge amount of detail about the refurbishment, but with the main gardens outside having now re-opened, we can hope the official opening day isn't too far away. We know so far that the Vincent Price audio for the stretching room is due to return, we have been given some teaser images from DLP, which you can see below, that show the bride has a bigger presence in the re-imagined ride, and we can see from the gardens some sort of Fast pass functionality has been added. Hopefully, the manor will be welcoming guests again soon and I for one, can't wait for more happy haunts in the town of Thunder Mesa.

My First stay at Davy Crockett Ranch.

So yes, this one is a bit self-serving, but hey - it's my list! Starting the year off the right way my first DLP trip is all booked up for the end of January, and as well as welcoming in the new year with a dose of both the festival of pirates and princesses in the main park and the legend of the force in the studios, this trip also marks my first stay at the Davy Crockett Ranch. This is my 6th Disneyland Paris hotel that I've stayed in and leaves only the Disneyland Hotel itself on my list to try. DCR is self-drive accommodation and is made up of individual forest bungalows and has a wood cabin feel to it, it's a hotel I've wanted to try for ages, but being self-drive makes it slightly less accessible perhaps than the other hotels. Having conquered my fears of driving in France, it seemed inevitable that a stay here was on the cards and I'm so glad it is finally happening.

So that's my list, what about you? Is there something you're looking forward to that's on my list, or something you're excited for I haven't included? Drop me a comment below!

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys,

It's that time of year again! The trees are going up, the fairy lights are sparkling in every window, our electricity bills are through the roof and our bank balances are lower than ever before, I think it's called Christmas?

Jokes aside, anyone who knows me well will know I'm a little bit like Buddy the elf and Christmas, to me at least, truly is the most wonderful time of the year. So how do you take something so perfect and make it even better? You add Disney of course! I've been lucky enough to take 3 Christmas season trips to Disneyland Paris over the last few years and each time it manages to make my favourite season just that extra bit more magical. Sadly, this year a Christmas trip was just out of reach for me. So in a blogmas style, I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and go through some of my favourite seasonal things at Disneyland Paris.

5. Snow.

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Not all of us channel our inner Elsa, and though I much prefer the cooler temperatures I'd be lying if I said the cold didn't bother me. Snow is beautiful, magical and gives me those dreamy Christmas vibes, but it's also cold, wet and after a day or two it's just a general nuisance. Enter "snoap", all the joy and wonder of snow, with none of the temperature related hassle! Snoap falls daily on Main Street, and twinned with the adorable festive soundtrack ringing from every speaker its the perfect start to your happiest of holidays! Even better is when it falls during the parade and cavalcades, like being in an idyllic Christmas card scene.

4. Decorations.

If you've been to my Grotto house in December, you'll know when it comes to Christmas, I'm no minimalist. I love the colours, the sparkle, anything with Santa's face on and those adorable singing plush animals are taking over the house one room at a time. Disneyland Paris doesn't disappoint on the decorations front. The hotels, the village and both of the parks embrace the season, with sparkling garlands, plump trees and more lights than Blackpool there's no shortage of eye-catching displays to fall in love with. The Disneyland elves do an incredible job of decorating and will leave even the grinchiest of guest with that warm festive glow.

3. Mickeys Christmas Big Band.

Christmas wouldn't be the same without music and once again Disney have got you covered. This show was new for 2017 and though I was extremely sceptical at first, I now wonder how we went so long without it! I won't go into a huge amount of detail about the show, firstly because not everyone has seen it and I don't want to spoil it, and secondly because I wrote about it last year which you can find here. But it's back this year and it's bigger and better than ever, it held me completely captivated from start to finish and I wish there was a non-festive version that could be shown all year round!

2. Christmas outfits.

Now I don't mean for myself, though I like to think I have an impressive winter wardrobe! As a character fan/hunter meeting as many characters as possible each trip is what makes me tick. But meeting characters in seasonal outfits? That's the icing on the cake. Now I know this could be a rather controversial thing this year due to the characters being out in their 25th blue and silver again rather than their red and green Christmas outfits. But when they are out in the classic red and green, you can bet I'm getting in that character line. I also love the special outfits for the seasonal stage shows, especially some of the outfits from Goofy's Incredible Christmas in the studios park.

1. The Christmas Cavalcade.

It's got music, costumes, incredible floats, an appearance from jolly old St Nick himself and most important of all, Duffy Bear! The Christmas cavalcade is the total icing on the cake moment of my Christmas trip! It's a chance to see less common characters like Horace, Clarabelle, Max and the 3 little pigs as well as Mickey and the gang, the floats seem to get bigger and better every year and the dancers really make the show. The song changed in 2017 and has pretty much been stuck in my head ever since. It's on a couple of times a day every day from November until early January and as soon as that music starts and the floats wind their way from Fantasyland to Main street my heart feels happy and I know I'm where I'm meant to be. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out thanks to DLRPFans on YouTube.

So that's what I'm missing most this December, what about you? If there's something you're missing, or something you're really loving, drop me a comment and let me know!

Hoodsie xxx

Hey guys!

Thanks for coming back for the final race write up for the 2018 Paris weekend. I'm writing this a little less than 2 weeks after the event happened and it already seems ages ago, so it's really nice to be able to re-live it with you all. If you haven't caught up yet, you can check out my write-ups of both the 5km and the 10km.

Half Marathon morning always seems to come out of nowhere, and no matter how much training I've done, how much sleep I've had or how hard I've tried to prepare the night before with hot baths and KT tape, I don't think I'll ever wake up feeling ready! Once again it was a 5:30 alarm with the plan to leave the Santa Fe by 6, it actually felt a little bit weird to be leaving soph sleeping in the hotel that morning to make the walk on my own, and I was really nervous.

Honestly, my training just hadn't gone to plan this year, I started too late, was plagued with injury and most of all I was constantly filled with self-doubt. In the final run-up to the weekend, I wasn't even sure I'd make it to the start line, so that lonely walk to the village felt like the longest one ever. Luckily once I got to the expo there was pretty much no queue to check my bag in and again it was easy enough to cut through to the front of my corral to find David, Megan, Leah and Emma.

I cannot stress enough how helpful and reassuring it was to have friends in my corral, they made those morning waits so much easier and helped keep my anxiety and self-doubt to a minimum. So if you guys are reading this, thank you so, so much. It meant everything to share it with you.

The half marathon theme was Villains, I was really hoping for either Prince John from Robin Hood or King Leonidas from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. But honestly, I just wanted to finish and was preparing myself for limited character stops and the prospect of being swept. The course was very similar to last year with a few minor tweaks, the most notable of which was the new loop of Main street which saw us run down towards the train station, and then back up to the castle.

The wait in our corral was a little chillier than last year, and there was a minimal amount of rain, David had offered to bring a spare foil blanket for me and I was really grateful for this. I felt too nervous to chat much, but just listening to everyone else made the time pass quick enough. Cruella was on stage to send the runners on their way, though by the time we got there it was just 2 of her henchman on stage, slightly disappointing as she's a favourite of mine!

Once we got started the course again cut through the back into Disney Village then around into the back of the studios, past Place de Remy and then through studio 1, once we emerged into front lot our first character stop was just on the right-hand side. When I got into front lot Gaston was out meeting, he's not a particularly favourite villain of mine, and in Paris he is quite easy to meet, so I wasn't too fussed about meeting him and instead decided to check who he would be swapping with and when. The lovely cast member told me he had about 15 mins left before swapping with Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, as I'd not met him before I decided to wait, the queue moved quickly and I had already got to the front before the swap over, luckily, Aimee, a lovely CM we met on an earlier trip this year was there and let me wait to the side until they swapped. In hindsight, I do slightly regret waiting so long, but I'm glad I got the photo and got to tick another more unusual character off my list.

The course then took us round into the tram tour, honestly, I've probably said it before, but running through this attraction has given me such a unique view of it, to the point where I know it's pretty dated and terrible, but I really have a soft spot for it! The tram tour once again had a character stop at the Reign of Fire section, today it was alternating between Kronk and Yzma, and Hades, Pain and Panic. Now I can't lie, it felt a bit odd to have Pain and Panic out on the half, rather than on the 10km where they featured on the medal, but frankly, I was just happy to meet them. Hades was every bit as creepy as you'd want him to be, but Pain and Panic were utterly adorable, I can't put into words how happy I am to have met them!

Now the risk with any Run Disney race is weighing up time spent in character queues vs time spent actually running! The races have a pace requirement of 16 mins per mile and if you fall behind this you risk being taken off the course, to help give a visual representation of this Disney have the "Balloon lady" volunteers. These women start right at the back of the last corral, and carry Disney balloons to make them extra visible, they keep a 16 min mile pace and don't make stops for characters etc, you can fall just behind them and still be able to finish as they aren't an official sweep, but falling behind them indicates you're probably not keeping to the minimum pace.

The reason I mention the balloon ladies is that this is the first year I've actually seen them, they just overtook me as I was finishing up in the queue for Pain and Panic. This worried me more than I expected, I was less than 3km into the race and I was already behind pace, I was running with an injury, didn't know if there were any more characters ahead that I really wanted, and was starting to doubt my own ability to finish!

I pushed on and passed them quickly, we cut into the main park after a small backstage loop where I saw the fantastic Buffalo Bill statue above. The course went back into the parks and through Frontier Land, there was another character meet at Fort Comstock and I'd had a tip-off that Prince John was out! I thought all my Christmases had come at once, unfortunately, though, it wasn't to be, by the time I got there he had switched with Brer Bear and Brer Fox who I met the day before. The lovely Emma was one of the CMs looking after them again so I checked with her, but the next swap over wasn't for another 20 mins, and I was still feeling a little shaken from seeing the balloon ladies at the last character stop. So with a heavy heart, I made the difficult decision to skip waiting for Prince John and continue on with the race. I hope I'll get the chance to meet him again in the future.

I'm happy to say I wasn't left feeling bad about my decision for long as after Frontier land we ran the new loop of main street, we ran past Casey's corner towards the train station, ran around the gazebo on town square and then back up towards the castle. Now as a back of the pack runner I did find that the majority of the spectators had already cleared out of main street and in truth, this was a little disappointing and lacked some of the magic. But at the end of main street outside Victoria's, I was lucky enough to have my own little cheer section of wonderful friends. Sophie, Patrick, and the lovely Ben from ED92 were there to show their support and more than anything else, to stop me from giving up!

After Main street we dipped into Adventure Land where Shan Yu from Mulan was meeting guests near the Agrabah Cafe, I was still feeling really conscious about my time and had no way of gauging the gap between myself and the balloon ladies, so decided to skip the queue, the course went through Skull Rock where Flotsam and Jetsam were out again. They had pretty much no queue so I don't know why I didn't stop, and honestly looking back I'm kind of kicking myself for all the opportunities I missed.

We ran through the castle and back into Fantasy Land, before arriving in Discovery Land where the final character meet was, Darth Vader was hanging around just outside the StarPort, but as he's so easy to meet daily and rarely has a queue of more than 20 mins I didn't stop here either.

The Half Marathon is unlike the other races in that the majority of the course isn't in the two parks. At about 7 km the course took us out the back of Discovery Land and then it's time to experience Val D'Europe as well as some more areas of backstage Disney. I think these are the areas that people don't look forward to running through as much, perhaps its considered less interesting, or perhaps the character stops give natural rest breaks and break up the distance, which of course you don't have once you're outside of the parks.

I hope that I can reassure you that although the experience once you've left the main parks is much different, I found it just as interesting and enjoyable. Along the next 8-9 Km there's more than enough to keep you occupied and help you distract yourself from the remaining miles. In the Disney backstage area, there's a number of cool statues and show buildings to look out for, I particularly enjoyed seeing things that were an old show or meet and greet prop, including some Stitch branded palm trees that I don't remember from any of my visits since 2010! Not only that but backstage we were greeted by this most unusual and somewhat villainous musical group!

Once completely off Disney property, the entertainment didn't stop and at regular intervals, along the course, there were local music, dance and cheerleading groups which really helped to keep morale up and distract from the task at hand!

At 16 km we re-entered Disney property at the Hotel Santa Fe, mentally this is a huge wall to get passed and signals the final stretch. As we were staying in this hotel, Sophie had come down from the room to cheer us on, and seeing her there waiting for us was very emotional.

The finish line was again situated in the Studios, and once I got my medal I just had to stop for a selfie with the adorable Sorcerer Mickey. This is my favourite Mickey/Mickey costume of all time and I was so happy to see him!

We only got given our half marathon medals at the end of the race, if you had any challenge medals to collect you had to walk back to the expo to get these. I understand a few people were unhappy with this, and to an extent, yes I can understand that. You've just run 13.1 miles, you're tired, achey and you just want to sit down, so the extra walk to the expo is a little disappointing. However, the system at the expo was so well run, your bib was checked as you entered to ensure you were the same runner who collected the bib, and presumably to make sure you'd passed every timing map over all the eligible races. You then got fed into a queue to collect each medal and, if you wanted it, get a finisher photo. Then once you left the medal collection area, your bib was marked to prevent you going around again and collecting a 2nd medal. Yes, it was an extra walk, which I'm sure for some was out of the way, but if this process ensures everyone gets the medals they deserve, and people who haven't run/completed the challenge don't get medals they shouldn't have? I'm all for it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the half marathon, though I must say it wasn't the experience I wanted. It was mentally and physically exhausting, and I know I need to work harder to overcome the lack of training and injury next year in order to have a better race experience!

So that's a wrap on Run Disney in Paris for 2018, did you run? Which was your favourite race? Will you run next year? And what would you like to see as the next theme? As always, drop me a comment!

Hoodsie  xx