Hi Guys!

Sorry again for the gap in posting, I am really determined right now to get back into a more regular pattern over the next few weeks, I have some ideas for posts already and with a few more trips booked before the end of this year I should have plenty to share with you all!

First of all I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on my recent weekend trip to DLP, it was a really quick trip and done on a budget but we managed to pack so much into the weekend and had such a good time that I wanted somewhere to put all those memories down in words.

Our journey started at about 5 am on Saturday August 12th where with tired eyes but excited hearts we caught the tube to St Pancras to get our Eurostar, the tube is pretty quite at this time of day, which is good for me as i do get anxious when it's busy, we got there in good time and printing our tickets was really easy and quick which is always a relief! We had time for a quick breakfast before boarding our train and then we were finally on our way, the train was one of the newer ones and was really nice inside, I'd love to tell you more about it and about the first leg of the journey but to be honest I slept pretty much the whole way.


Our train was indirect and we had a short stop over at Lille Europe, this is the second time I've travelled indirect and I can be quite nervous when travelling, luckily both times the change has been really easy and I've had no problems getting back on the right train, if you have enough time between trains, there's a shopping centre opposite the station where you can stretch your legs and have a browse, there's also a Primark for some last min Disney impulse buys!

We arrived at Disneyland at about Mid day, dropped our bags off with the concierge which was free with my Infinity Annual Pass, and then headed straight into the park to soak up as much magic as possible! Our first port of call after soaking up some main street atmosphere was Pirates of the Caribbean, it has no long re-opened after being closed for refurbishment for the first 6 months of the year, so we were all so excited to see what it was like, and its quite a popular ride amongst the group I was with as it's one we can all ride together and the ride photo is a great bonus. The queue wasn't too bad, and we were all quite excited and had plenty to talk about which helped make it go even quicker, we did have time for a quick outfit change for Duffy too so we could get some photos after the ride. In short, I really enjoyed pirates post refurbishment, though not everything was 100% (seriously how hard can it be to maintain a swinging pirate guys?!) it was nice to see everything looking so fresh, the majority of animatronics working and some new scenes. Of course it's no real spoiler to know Jack Sparrow appears in the ride now, and although I'm not a fan of the pirates film, he was enough to really impress me!


After Pirates the guys were going to hit Hyperspace mountain, which I probably would have taken as a chance to do Buzz or Orbitron (I'm still a bit of a coaster wimp) but on the way through Fantasy land we found out Belle was meeting at the old mill in her village dress, so the two Sophie's and I decided to stop and meet her while everyone else did a few rides and got fast passes to do Hyperspace mountain later. I felt a bit hungry in the queue for Belle, as we hadn't eaten properly since about 6:30 that morning while waiting for the Eurostar, so while Belle took a quick break we got some waffles from the old mill, they were about €4 and unfortunately you can't use your annual pass discount here, but despite not being Mickey shaped (which is something we totally should have please DLP!) they were so worth the money and really made waiting far more enjoyable!


After Belle we went to Discovery land to meet back up with everyone, and as the queue was short, and hyperspace was currently down, we decided to hop on Star Tours, I loved star tours before its upgrade, but now its just so much better and every time I surprise myself with how much I enjoy it, the changeable scenes also mean you never know exactly what you're going to get, and although I've seen some of them a few times now, I know from speaking to others there's definitely some I still need to see, that plus my determination to one day be the rebel spy means I'll keep riding for many trips to come!

After star tours, Hyperspace mountain was back up, so the group of us that weren't riding too the opportunity to have a quick break in Hyperion Cafe, this is one of my favourite fast food places in DLP but we didn't actually eat this time just take the weight off for a while and re charge the batteries. Then it was over to Pueblos for some shopping before a bite to eat and a trip into the Forest of Enchantment.


Now I haven't seen Forest since March 2016 as it is only on for short runs in the spring and summer, and since last year I had heard there had been some changes, though I wasn't the biggest fan the first time around, I'm so glad I gave it a second chance, the changes are subtle on the whole but it's really made so much difference, and in my opinion it's all for the better. I enjoyed it so much, and I'm a little sad that once again it's only going to be showing until the end of summer, it's such a quality show and deserves a longer run, it'll be a real shame to lose this from the park's entertainment offering.

After forest we rode phantom manor, and big thunder mountain, followed by the wettest ride on Dumbo I've ever had, then we took shelter from the rain in It's a small world, and 2 more rides on Pirates of the Caribbean before illuminations, Finally the guys had 2 more rides on Big thunder mountain and then it was time to head to the hotel, it had been such a full on and long day and everyone was looking forward to getting some sleep ready to do it all again tomorrow!

So that's the whirlwind that was day one! I'll be back with day 2 shortly, but until then, why not catch up with Sophie Squared's vlog of the day!

Until next time!

Hoodsie xx

Wow it's been a while since I wrote one of these!

I guess I fell off the wagon? I'm sorry it's not that I haven't been training, it's just that sometimes, and an awful lot for me recently, life seems to get in the way, and to be honest there's not been much to tell, I run a bit, lift some weights, rinse and repeat.

But I thought I'd let you all know I'm still here, and despite everything else going on, I'm still determined, still training and still trying to make the most of this opportunity.


There is some exciting news though, at least I was excited anyway, Run Disney pins. Now last year the pin situation was to put it nicely, a nightmare, the pins are produced in such small quantities that getting hold of them was always going to be tough, add on to that anyone being allowed into the expo to purchase even if they weren't running and face it there was little chance of getting them right from the start!

In the end last year I was lucky enough to get my hands on the I did it half marathon pin when I arrived on the Friday, however the 5 km version and the replica medal pins were already gone. As you can imagine, I was kinda dreading having to do it all again this year, and the pressure of getting there as early as possible on the Thursday to queue for the chance was making organizing travel quite difficult.

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So imagine my surprise when an E-mail turns up in my inbox telling me I can pre-order my pins this year ready for collection at the expo when I arrive! This was perfect and exactly the kind of solution I had hoped for, now Disney pin trading isn't, in my opinion anyway, that big in Paris, but it's something I've really caught the bug for recently, and since owning an annual pass my collection has really grown. So when it comes to limited pins like these, as long as I like the design or it has some relevance for me, I'm going to try my hardest to get them.

For the run Disney event there are a few different pin styles, there are some generic pins, a Mickey and Minnie in their running gear and a Run Disney logo pin, these were the ones I wanted least, then there is an I did it collection, one for each race length, 5 km, 10 km and half marathon, this is the one I got last year and the main one I was hoping to get again and I'm happy to say I've been able to secure all 3 this year, though I don't feel I necessarily needed an I did it for the 5 km, it was nice to have the full set.



As well as I did it pins, each race's medal has been made as a replica pin, I really liked the idea of these last year but didn't manage to get any and the resale values online have been so high that I just couldn't bear to part with that much money. As they were also eligible for pre-order this year, I've picked up the 4 replicas that represent the races I am doing, the 5 and 10 km, the half marathon, and then a replica of the challenge medal for running both 10 km and the half! The nice thing about these is i can represent my achievements in the park without having to carry my medals, a constant reminder of the weekend!





Now the only downside to the pre-order process is as an annual pass holder I would typically be eligible for between 10 and 20% discount on these items, however this isn't available online, there is also a €2.50 handling fee on each order which has made this a little more expensive than it would otherwise be. Though it is a frustration, personally I am happy to pay full retail price and a small handling charge in order to ensure I get the pins I wanted, so I have paid it, however for the photo pass and other items, I am happy to wait until we arrive in exchange for being able to use my discount!

So that's my exciting update for July, and hopefully I'll be back again soon to tell you more about what I'm doing to prepare for the big weekend!

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys =D

Yeah that's right, another trip is upon us, they happen so frequently now I'm not even sure they're worth a blog post of their own! But still I'm pretty excited, and as the countdown looms ever closer, I thought I'd share my plans.
It's going to be a bit of a whistle stop tour as it's only a weekend trip, its tricky sometimes to balance making the most of your annual pass and also balancing annual leave from work and other commitments, but a weekend trip seemed like a good compromise.

So on August 12th I'll be getting up at some ridiculous hour to get the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris for 2 magical days! And what could possibly be better than that? Oh yeah, I'm sharing my trip with 8 of my Disney friends! That's right 9 of us are travelling over for the weekend and staying overnight together, and I couldn't need it any more right now.


We're staying at the explorers hotel which is an offsite hotel a short distance away from the parks, as we all have annual passes we don't need to worry about park tickets so this worked out really well for us to be able to go on a budget. We booked indirect Eurostar tickets both ways to cut down on costs too, and if you book them early you can get a really really good deal. I've done indirect with a change at Lille Europe on the way there before, but never on the way back, so I'm a bit nervous about that but hopefully it should all be ok!

As it's such a short trip we haven't made any real concrete plans, booking dining reservations etc isn't a priority, and realistically to save both time and money, I'll probably end up going for quick service meals and snacks. I just don't want to be too tied down to anyone place, it's summer and a weekend, the parks are going to be busy, and sometimes that's when it's best to just go with the flow.


Of course there are a few things I'd like to fit into the trip;

• A trip to Pueblo trading post - Located in frontier land opposite Woody's meet and greet its a pin collector or Vinylmation fan's dream! It only opens at weekends and some odd extra days during peak times, so I don't get to visit half as much as I'd like to, but I'll make it my mission this trip.


• Forest of Enchantment - A show in the Chaparral Theatre in Frontier land, it's only running for the summer months this year July 1st to September 3rd, as this is my only trip within this period it would be nice to see it again, though I really wasn't it's biggest fan last year, it has had some changes and the 2nd run is getting a great response on the whole from fans, so I suspect I'll be taking a trip to see what's happening.


• Lightning McQueen photo op - Lightning McQueen the world's favourite race car is now ready and waiting to meet guests outside the entrance to Moteurs Action stunt show in the Studios park, and as it's my favourite film, and I've been begging for an opportunity to meet him, I can't possibly skip this one, having said that, as I'm in DLP again a few weeks later for Run Disney, depending on time we may have to bump him to the list of the next trip, fingers crossed I can get him though!


• Get a photo by Boo's door - You'll see why soon, but this is one of the cutest Pixar photo ops in the parks, and more than that sometimes if you time it right Sulley is out for cuddles too!


• Ride BTM - Big thunder Mountain, the ride that breaks down or is "interrupted" more than any other ride I've ever known! Add in to the mix it's popularity and going at peak time and getting on it might prove to be a little difficult, but it's always worth the wait so looks like we'll be running at rope drop to get on this one.


• Ride Pirates - The final one on the list (though really there's so much more I'd like to get done) is ride Pirates of the Caribbean, it closed in January for a major refurbishment and I'm so excited to see what they've done with it, I'm not a huge fan of the pirates films but i love the rides and I can agree it badly needed more than a bucket full of TLC. I know there has been some controversy over some of the scenes changing, but I'm going to try and approach it with an optimistic and open mind, and of course I expect I'll be reporting back here after.

So that's the main things I'm looking forward to, I have attempted to plan some outfits, and I have thought of some other photo ops I'd like to take advantage of if time and weather etc allows. But more exciting than all of that, I'm not going alone! As I mentioned before there's quite a group of us going on this trip, because everything is better with friends, and that includes some wonderful YouTubers, so if I could just finish by suggesting you go and follow these guys, I'm sure you won't be disappointed and I'm sure they will all really appreciate it!

Sophie K and Sophie G from Sophie Squared

Deandre from PlayWearTalkRed

And Katie from PennieK

Any questions about my August trip, or anything you'd like me to blog about when I'm home please let me know in the comments!


Hoodsie xx

Hey guys!

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone, but I've been waiting months for this film, so of course I had to get tickets for opening weekend, unfortunately I couldn't make the first day work, but boy was it worth the wait! And as always I've decided to share my thoughts on the film with you, I'll try and keep it spoiler free, and despite being a huge Cars fan I'll try and give a fair review of both positive and negative aspects.

First of all, the animated short, Lou. I really enjoyed this story, my favourite thing about the animated shorts is when they tell such an in depth story without any dialogue, just from the way the characters move and carry themselves and their expressions, teamed with an emotive backing track, can really get across the point and constantly leaves me glued to the screen and a little amazed, Lou is certainly no exception to this.

Now the first thing I noticed about cars 3 itself, was that where our favourite friends from the first movie were back for cars 3, none of the characters introduced in cars 2 made a repeat appearance, now even as a huge cars fan I can admit cars 2 wasn't great, I didn't hate it and I have re watched it, but it certainly doesn't live up to the first cars film at all, was this a deliberate decision by Pixar to bypass the second film and make no reference to it ever happening? Or was it simply that those characters didn't fit? We'll never know for sure but I'd be surprised if that didn't come into it.



We find ourselves back in a more familiar setting, following Lightning McQueen racing towards his next piston cup, of course the world has moved on a little and instead of competing with the likes of Chick Hicks and the King Strip Weathers, Lightning now has some new racing friends, they're the top cars on the circuit and you can tell they have a great time pranking each other and fighting for each win.

That is until a new race car joins the field, rookie Jackson Storm is part of a new age of race car, more technologically advanced than ever before, Lightning is not one to be beaten without a fight though, he pushes himself to the limit against Jackson, but suddenly he blows a tyre and it all goes horribly wrong.



4 Months later we find our hero back in radiator springs recovering from the crash, he doesn't want this to be the end of his career like it was for his mentor Doc Hudson, however the racing world has changed a lot in the time Lightning has been away and Jackson isn't his only high tech new age rival now. Rusty and Dusty the owners of Rusteze decide to sell Rusteze to give lightning the best chance and best training to allow him to get back to top form. This is where we meet Sterling the new owner, and Cruz who trains all the cars.



Cruz and Lightning have a rocky start, she's incredibly lively and up beat but is also aware that lightning isn't the young rookie he once was, Lightning wanting to push himself takes things a little too far with some of the new equipment and is eventually given one last chance by Sterling, Lose the next race and he'll be forced to retire, win and he'll get to decide when to end his racing career. As it's his last chance lightning takes Cruz and teaches her how to train and race his way, and their friendship grows from strength to strength as they train for the big race, but will it be enough?



I really enjoyed the story, though at times it felt a little predictable and little re-used it was a good solid story with plenty to get emotionally invested in. I loved that our friends from radiator springs were included, but that we got new characters who felt strangely familiar right from the start because they fitted in so well.

The animation is truly stunning, and at times it was possible to believe you were watching real race cars, I was hugely impressed with the quality and some of the effects, especially during Lightning's crash scene. Especially with them racing on different terrains etc it was a good chance to show off all the different animation possibilities.

The soundtrack was also something that I really liked in this film, though I'm not sure I'll be signing along quite like the first film I did think it was incredible and I'll definitely look to purchase the sound track soon! I loved the instrumental parts that conveyed so much emotion without the need for lyrics, and I hope these will all be included on the CD soundtrack as it is those I want most.

Out of the new characters Cruz is definitely my favourite, and I guess I do see a lot of myself in her, the Disney store sell an awesome plush of her so that will be going on the wish list for sure. I also liked the return of some lesser known characters, in particular Bob Cutlass and Darrell Cartrip the two commentators.

The film does have a post credits sequence which truly is right at the end of the credits, it features Mater and although it was a fun touch, it's not necessarily something I would stay behind for on every viewing, I love that Disney have started to continue these as the Marvel films do, though I'm never sure if I should wait or not!



Overall I really really enjoyed this film, and most of all I'm glad cars went back to radiator springs and back to it's roots, Cars 2 really could have been so much more, and is the weak link of the trilogy and I was a little apprehensive before I saw cars 3 that it could so easily go the same way.

I found the story to be emotional and compelling with a strong moral message, even if it was in parts a little predictable, I love that they brought back the original characters but i would have loved to see more of Mater and Sally.



Have you seen Cars 3 yet, are you going soon, let me know!

Hoodsie xx



*Please note: All images taken from the Pixar Website*

Hey Guys!

Wasn't expecting to blog today, I'm seeing Cars 3 this weekend so expected a review of that to be my next post, but then I received such a wonderfully thoughtful gift this morning I just couldn't not share it.

Meet Sophie Jo, one of the many friends who I've made from my time in the Disney Community You can find her on Instagram and also Twitter and shes not only a wonderful lady and a huge Disney fan, but she's an incredible writer too.


I recently got a copy of her book "kids grown up" a collection of poems inspired by Disney, and I totally love it, this morning she posted one of her poems on Instagram, and jokingly I asked if she would write a poem about Duffy Bear, I was totally shocked when a short while later, this arrived in my inbox!


I think we can all agree that this is amazing and perfectly captures my friendship with a little bear from Disneyland and I am so so so thankful for it, and the time Sophie put into doing this for us!

If you'd like to pick up your own copy of Kids grown up you can do so at her big cartel shop. In the mean time why not give her a follow and see the rest of her work, you won't be disappointed!

Thanks again Sophie, From Duffy, Shellie-May, Gelatoni and I

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys,

Here's one that's basically written about you guys for you guys, so I really hope you enjoy it, and I also hope I don't offend anyone! (Hey it happens some times, the written word can be difficult)

The Disney community is something that's become such a huge part of my life in the last 12 months especially, and it means different things to different people, recently it's been getting some pretty negative press, so I thought I'd try and put my opinions on the matter into some sort of coherent order.

Community is defined as "A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common." and also "The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common" , simply put, we all like Disney, or theme parks, or possibly a combination of the two, and this has brought us together.

"It was all started by a mouse"

Except, in my case, it was all started by a little bear called Duffy, that's when I really became involved in things, where this blog and my twitter account were born from. Suddenly I realised there were a whole bunch of other people who Loved Disney, and Disneyland Paris the way I did, and even better they all wanted to talk about it, share experiences and pictures and videos! It was perfect.



"You've got a friend in me"

When I started this blog, and made my twitter, and gradually found my feet and started talking to some of the most wonderful people, I never honestly thought i'd end up meeting them in real life, let alone building some of the friendships I have. I guess that was what surprised me most, I think I started tweeting from my Disney account in Late march, after an amazing day trip to DLP when I finally brought Duffy home. as my confidence grew I started talking to more people, getting involved with the Dedicated to DLP podcast, and eventually Periscope too, talking to these people, though they were just pictures on a screen, became something that made me increasingly happier, it gave me a sense of belonging and acceptance. then in August it was finally time to start meeting people away from the screens.



Disney meet ups started to become a more regular occurrence across the community, a way to get out from behind the screen and meet people who live close (ish) to you and get to know them beyond the realms of twitter. Before Long my friend Brian decided it was time to bring a Disney meet to the southwest, and in August 2016 we all met up for the first Disney Southwest MU in Bristol, we shopped, had lunch, and even squeezed in a round of adventure golf! Though I was incredibly nervous to begin with, by the end of the day I knew I'd made some really good friends, I've been to a few south west meets, and even some in London since, I'd love to make it to Manchester one time to see some of my northern friends, but it's a rather long day out so we'll see.


"Ohana means family"

The real turning point though, was my Halloween trip to Disneyland Paris, affectionately named DLP Boo. What started as a trip to the Halloween soiree with a few friends, ended up as a chance to meet so many people from twitter that I'd been speaking to for months, and although I was super super nervous, it was actually the best trip with some of the most memorable moments!



Meeting friends from online in real life is always a bit scary, but when you're all brought together by your love of Disney, and you meet at a Disney park, suddenly everything seems a whole bunch easier. Maybe it's because it's such a happy place, and somewhere I feel a bit more comfortable to be "me", no one judges me for having my Duffy bear, I can dress as Disney as possible and I don't look out of place. And there's never a shortage of things to talk about!

Getting to meet so many friends in one holiday was such an incredible moment, and now although I don't see some of them often, I love to watch their other trips through photos, blogs and vlogs they share online, and seeing them so happy makes me happy too.


Not only that, but there are a few people I've grown incredibly close to following time spent together in the parks, what started as online friendship, has become real friendship, people I see regularly, that I can talk to daily about literally anything. Those people know who they are, and I hope they know just how much I appreciate them, they really do feel more like family than friends!



"Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them"

Of course, like any other group be that a friendship group, a family or an online community, not everyone is always going to agree with everyone else. Unfortunately recently there have been a few examples of this, and I guess in part this is what prompted me to write this post.

When you feel so much passion about any one subject, it is so easy to want to defend your opinion, and unfortunately this some times comes at the expense of other peoples feelings. I truly believe that 99.9% of the time this isn't an intentional consequence, or certainly not from the people I know in the Disney Community.

Sometimes though, in these events it's easy to get caught up in the moment and miss out on all the really wonderful things people are doing for each other, and I can truly say I've seen and experienced far more of these moments than the bad ones. I've been offered places to stay on multiple occasions, making trips and meet ups possible, I've seen people come together to help get limited edition merchandise from the parks, help with practical day to day things at home, offer a supportive ear to people when they're going through tough times.

I think it's important to look for these moments, recognise them and share them, at the end of the day, that's a far more accurate of the community I joined all that time ago, a community I am a proud part of, and a community that's given me so much when I've been to proud to admit I needed it.

So to every single one of you, who has made me feel so welcome and wanted, thank you.

Hoodsie xxx

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the slightly longer than intended break between posts, unfortunately life just seems to get in the way sometimes and blogging magic and inspiration has been few and far between.

But then, I got two of cutest packages in the post, from Hong Kong and from Tokyo and I thought it was too good an opportunity not to share my new additions with you! Everything was ordered from personal shoppers through Facebook, I don't want to post the details publicly, but if you're interested drop me a line on twitter or Instagram and I'll try to help!

The first new arrival this month is the inspiration for the rest of my unintended splurge, it's something I've wanted for such a long time, and I really didn't know how or when I'd be able to add him to our little fur family! That's right guys you've probably seen on my twitter and Instagram right now but I finally got to welcome Gelatoni home!


Isn't he great! He's so much softer and cuter in person than I ever could have imagined and his little paws are too adorable. He's quite a bit smaller than Duffy and Shellie-May so unfortunately we won't be sharing many outfits, but over all I'm so so happy with him!

Once Gelatoni arrived it was clear he was going to need something to wear which brings me on to our next item, this outfit is from Hong Kong Disneyland and is so so cute, the little dungarees are really cute but my favourite is his bandana of course I got him dressed in this straight away and I'm looking forward to getting some shots of him in the parks in this adorable outfit!


As I was already ordering from Hong Kong it seemed like a good time to pick up a few more little goodies, and I took the opportunity to expand my pin collection with these three pins! The wheels on the Duffy and Shellie pins spin, and now that we have Gelatoni it seemed only right to get a pin of him too! I think a Duffy and friends lanyard will have to be next on my list so that I can display them all together somewhere!


So that's my Asian parks haul! It's not too much but I'm so so happy with it all, especially as this is mostly items I never really thought I would get! A huge thank you to everyone who made ordering these things possible!

What's next on your wishlist are you ordering from parks you haven't visited yet? Drop me a comment and let's chat!

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys!

So recently I've noticed what feels like everyone on my social media time lines is either, in Walt Disney World, planning a trip there, working there or has already been this year. Have you guys seen that too? Now maybe this is just a huge case of FOMO (the fear of missing out) but it got me thinking about how I'd never been and still have no realistic plans to go any time soon, and before I knew it I was spiraling into a pretty glum mood that even Eeyore himself might have been envious of.

Here's the thing, I've wanted to go to WDW for what feels like forever, and yeah I guess it is sad that that's not happened yet, and right now its not even on the cards. But actually it's really ok, because I've done some other really wonderful things in Disneyland Paris and nothing can take that away.

So it's time to turn that frown upside down and look at some of the reasons it's ok that I haven't made it across the pond yet!

Things I haven't done in Paris

Yes, you did read that right, despite my 10 visits to the park since 2010 I still haven't done a whole bunch of things in DLP yet, maybe I'm just a bit rubbish but there is just far too much to explore than I never feel like I really have time, there's a few things that I'd like to try and check off my list, plenty of restaurants to eat in for a start. I haven't managed to catch a puppet show in Lucky Nugget yet, I haven't done the hot air balloon in the Disney Village (though I'm not sure i'll ever actually go through with that one) I've never done a new years eve trip, and even with the recent changes to make the main park ticket only, I still think this is something I should try! I still haven't even made a dent in staying in all of the hotels yet, though I'm not sure quite how i'll ever find the money for the Disneyland Hotel, but I can dream right? Simply put, I really feel like I'm only just scratching the surface of what Disneyland Paris has to offer, and I can't wait to explore and see more!


I have an annual pass for DLP

Having an annual pass has meant that DLP is suddenly super affordable for me, suddenly the option to go over for a weekend rather than taking a whole week seems actually possible, and this means I have so many more chances to visit. Not only this but having an annual pass does occasionally open you up to extra experiences too which I wouldn't otherwise get the chance to go to, I admit this is usually film screenings, which are probably in french and usually announced way too late for me to actually make plans to go, but all the same it's nice to have the opportunity.


Having an annual pass also opens up a whole world of discounts, I have an infinity pass, so my parking is free if we drive over, I have 365 day access to the park, 20% merchandise, 15% off restaurants, access to all the hotel pools even if I'm not staying there, a free annual Photo pass to take home all of my ride photos and character meet memories. I get access to exclusive viewing areas for Stars on Parade and also Illuminations and up to 50% off on site hotel stays! I'm sure there's a whole load more perks I've missed off, but with offers like that it's hard not to want to use all my time off work to visit DLP.

Seasonal Events

I guess this could kind of be included in things I haven't done yet, but Disneyland Paris is great at holding special seasonal events, outside of your main seasons, Christmas, Halloween, Swing into spring and whatever replaces Frozen Summer fun in 2018, there are also smaller events through out the year, in particular St Patrick's day is something I really want to experience in DLP, seeing Mickey and Minnie in their Irish outfits, seeing the leprechauns and Irish dancers, anyone who knows me will tell you from the age of about 10 or 11 I decided I wanted to visit Ireland, I've never really had a concrete reason for it, an unfortunately it's still not something I've been able to do, but seeing all the Irish entertainment, surrounded by my favourite Mice on the planet? Sounds pretty good to me! DLP have also previous celebrated st David's day, Bastile day etc, and I think these mini events would be amazing to experience.


Location

Thanks to the location of Disneyland Paris and it's transport links it's really easy to combine a trip to DLP with other sight seeing opportunities around Paris, this is something I had hoped to do on my last trip, but unfortunately time ran away with me a bit and it was just too hard to drag myself away from the parks for a day. Its definitely something I intend to do at least once before my annual pass runs out in September 2018, I'd love to see some of what Paris has to offer, in particular the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame, you know standard tourist stuff. For me travelling to DLP and especially travelling to and from DLP on my own has given me slightly more confidence to start to head further afield and explore a little more than just the Disney parks.

It's Home

I guess the most important thing is, Disneyland Paris truly feels like home, I know the parks, the village the hotels, I feel safe there and I feel happy. I've made so many amazing memories there in the last 7 years since I started visiting, and not only that, but the parks, and the community have provided me with some of the best friends I've ever had, truly I've come into contact with some of the most wonderful people, inspiring artists, incredible youtubers, awesome bloggers and just totally fabulous humans and I wouldn't have any of that without DLP.


So there we go, maybe not going to WDW isn't such a terrible thing after all, of course, I'm still so disappointed that it's not my turn yet, I think that's natural and I don't think it's going to go away just yet, but at the same time, it's easy to forget that actually I've been incredibly fortunate to have a park so close to home that holds such a special place in my heart, that I'm able to visit so often and make so many amazing friends and memories.

What about you? Have you never been to WDW, do you ever get upset about it? How do you deal with it?

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys,

If you follow my blog, or follow me on Twitter you'll probably know that I ran the first ever Run Disney races at Disneyland Paris last year, I enjoyed them so much (yes some of us actively enjoy running, I can't explain this madness either!) that pretty much as soon as I got back I laced up my trainers and got straight back into training to ensure I was ready to smash 2017's races.

So as the months went by we started to get more information, the 5 Km is now an evening race and only in the studios park, this allows for a new 10 Km race in it's original place on the Saturday morning, the half is still on the Sunday, and this allows for an additional challenge medal, sweet right?


Now anyone who knows DLP pretty well knows that at times, their communication isn't the best, but this event is run by Run Disney France and with the support of Run Disney in the US and I had hoped this would help it run better, oh boy was I wrong!

When I registered for the 2016 races I wasn't an annual pass holder, so at the time a package including accommodation, race bibs and park tickets was a no brainer, however the prices offered were hugely inflated even for the most basic hotels, and as I was travelling on my own this was even more expense. I stayed at Santa Fe from Friday to Monday, ran both races, 5 km and the half marathon, and included the race party in my booking and in total this was around £800, steep right!

After hearing the Bib only entries ran smoothly for 2016, and now being an annual pass holder with access to reduced rate on site accommodation I decided this might be the best route for 2017 and the waiting game began. We were expecting the bibs to go on sale around February/March time as they had done for 2016, but this soon came and went with little more indication of an intended sale date than "spring 2017" April passed and then May and still no bibs! Where could they possibly be and what was holding them up? The race weekend is creeping ever closer, my accommodation is booked but I still don't know if I'll get to race!


And then it was announced, the bibs would go on sale Wednesday June 14th at 4pm Paris time. this was only announced on the 8th of June which didn't leave much time to get organised, and the E-mail we were promised to inform us of the sale date never came either, it was a sign of things to come! Wednesday rolled round and something didn't feel right at all, I was sick with nerves, what would I do if I couldn't get a bib, how many even were there and how quick would they go? the time came for the sale to go live, I nervously refreshed the web page, but then, nothing happened? How could this be? I checked the date again, and then i double checked the time, refreshed the page again. I was starting to panic, what if I had the wrong link and everyone else was buying their bibs?!


It was then that I checked social media and realised I wasn't the only person going through this, something was wrong. Eventually rumors started to surface that there were technical issues and the sale of bibs had been postponed, though this was mostly through fan sites, it took around 3 hours for confirmation from Run Disney France that there had been technical issues and the bib only sales had been suspended until further notice.

To be honest, by this point I was gutted, I had convinced myself I probably wasn't going to get my bib and that the months I'd spent training and getting excited had all been for nothing, So imagine my surprise when the following day, with little more than an hour's notice the bib sale is back on! Panic stations, do I have the link, can I get on the site?

The bib sales went live a few mins early and I finally felt like we were going to get somewhere, and then it crashed. Oh great not this again, check facebook check twitter, yep everyone else is having problems too. As time went on the website came up and dropped again more time than I could keep track of, finally the Run Disney France team were a bit more vocal and promised us they were working to meet the demand. Gradually the error message changed to a picture of donald and the site started to come and go more frequently, it was clear there was just too much demand for the servers available.


At the times when we were able to get in the E shop worked fairly well, the layout was clean and simplistic, the prices were clearly displayed and there was plenty of information about what was included in each race, after you'd added your races to your basket you were then able to select a number of extras including park tickets, photo passes and party tickets. The website and E shop actually looked really good, the problem was just that the servers couldn't handle the traffic.


Eventually we got in and were able to check out and buy my bibs just after 7pm, the stress was finally over and everything was confirmed and paid for. What an experience! This has certainly made me think twice about how to register next year! I'm hoping the Run Disney France team get plenty of feedback on this and I'd like to see questions asked, what happened on Wednesday and why did it take so long to communicate? What happened to the E-mails we were promised to tell us when they would go on sale? How could they justify less than 90 mins notice on the resale? Why don't they use the same Active platform as the US races given this is a tried and tested solution?


For now I'm just happy I have my bibs, after all the stress it's nice to know its really happening! How was your experience? Did you manage to get bibs for all the events you wanted? Drop me a comment below!

Hoodsie xx

Hi guys!

Hope you're all well, some of you may have seen online that I visited the O2 arena in London recently to visit the Star Wars Identities exhibition which is on there until September 3rd 2017, if you're really eagle eyed you may have also noticed this was actually my second visit, so I thought it was about time I wrote up some thoughts!

As you can imagine from it's name, the exhibition takes you on a journey through the star wars universe focusing on the many characters that make this franchise what it is. Who they are, how they were developed, how their characteristics shape and define them. The exhibition has over 200 props, and features audio and video segments as well as a unique chance to create and shape your own character using a magic band style technology.


When you enter you're given you audio guide headset and your magic band, a staff member then gives you a few tips on how to work the headset and how to make sure you get the best sound etc, you're then led through to a short video introduction, once that is finished you're free to discover the rest at your own pace. The first time we visited in January we went on a Sunday morning and it was quite busy which meant you had to wait around a bit to get to some of the props etc, however this time we went for an afternoon slot, about 1:30 pm and it was much quieter.


As you go through the exhibition there are 7 or 8 stations where you can scan your "magic band" and make decisions that will develop you character, which you'll get to see at the end in more detail, the first choice is which race your character will be, as you go through the exhibition and learn more about some of the main characters you're asked to make choices about your upbringing, your ambitions, your interests and ultimately every decision you make along the way shapes you.


As someone who gets pretty easily distracted when there's a lot of reading involved, I loved the audio segments throughout the tour, each section with audio is marked out on the floor, and once you get close enough your audio guide will automatically pick up and carry on the audio which loops. It was such a great way to be able to take in a lot of information in a format that is suitable for all ages.


The props and costumes on display were incredible, being able to get up close to my favourite droids was amazing, and I loved seeing so many of the costumes from the different films, even if Boba Fett did make me feel really really small in comparison. One of my personal favourites was master Yoda, but I also loved the collection of Padme's costumes.


Not only was there a whole bunch of props and costumes there was a whole world of concept art, the stuff you wouldn't normally get to see, the many forms of Jar Jar binks, the different designs for Jabba the Hutt, early drawings of Chewbacca and an explanation of how he got his unique sound.


As you can wander through the sections at your own pace, you really can spend as long as you want in this exhibit, personally both times I've been I've spent around 2 hours wandering through and taking in the details, at £25 a ticket I would definitely say this is worth the price.


Finally the last choice you'll make at the end of the exhibition is to join the dark side, or follow the light side of the force, you're then able to scan your "magic band" and watch your character appear on the screens in front of you, there are stations to scan your magic band and enter your E-mail address, this will allow your character and their back story to be E-mailed over to you so that you can keep it and share with friends.


After there is a gift shop where of course you can splash your hard earned cash on some keepsakes from the day, largely I found them to be generic and overpriced but there were a few cool things worth picking up, the three things that stood out for me were the guide book, the 16 piece home ware set and the star wars fragrances, I did pick up the Rey one in January and I still love it!


As i said before, this is running at the O2 arena in London until September 3rd 2017, tickets are £25 from the O2 website!

Have you been or are you planning on going? I'd love to hear our thoughts!

Hoodsie xx