Parenting – PixiePlanner

Ad – Billionaire Boy Live on Stage

AD/PR EVENT-As always, all views and opinions are my own.

Last night, Kevin, Quinn and I had the pleasure of being invited along by Aberdeen Performing Arts to the press evening of David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy.

Quinn is a keen reader of David Walliams children’s books and we were excited to see one of his fiction tales live on stage. The Olivier Award nominated West End production of David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy was a hit!

Just like the novel, it tells the story of 12-year-old Joe Spud who, as the country’s richest boy, has everything he could ever wish for, except one thing – a friend.

In pursuit of a friend, Joe persuades his dad – the billionaire bum fresh inventor to allow him to leave his posh school and move to the local comprehensive. At his new school, Joe learns that money can’t solve everything!

It was a fun filled show, and we were all keen to see Raj – the shopkeeper who stars in all the novels with his humour and special offers.

The show is a perfect treat for the kids during the school holidays, especially for those who have enjoyed Walliams many novels.

It’s in town until Saturday, August 13th. You can purchase tickets here.

Alannah x

New shopDisney Cloth Face Coverings

AD–There are some affiliate links in this post. I receive a small commission if you purchase from my links. As always, all views and opinions are my own.

Disney’s cloth face coverings are available to pre-order now over on shopDisney! The family friendly reusable cloth coverings are available online only and come in a variety of fun designs. They come in a pack of 4, with sizes ranging from small to extra large. shopDisney recommend that you check the Disney Store European product sizing guide, to help find the correct size for you. It’s important to do so, as there are no refunds, exchanges or returns unless the item is faulty.

Here is a selection of cloth face coverings available on shopDisney. Each set includes four unique designs. I love the Mickey and Minnie and the Disney Princess designs!

Mickey and Minnie

Designs include-Mickey icon print, Mickey character print, Minnie character print and Minnie with polka dots character print.

Classic Disney

Designs include-Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Stitch and Marie.

Star Wars

Designs include-The Child, R2-D2, Star Wars symbols and Star Wars characters.

Disney Princess

Designs include-The Little Mermaid, Frozen, Disney Princess names and all over character print.

Marvel

Designs include-Marvel logo, Black Panther symbols, Marvel characters and symbols and Hulk.

Disney Pixar

Designs include-Mike Wazowski, Forky, Disney Pixar characters on blue background and Disney Pixar characters on white background.

What’s best about the shopDisney cloth face coverings, is that Disney will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the face coverings, up to £500,000, to the Red Cross organisations across Europe to support people in crisis. In addition, Disney is donating 100,000 of the cloth face coverings to vulnerable children and families in local communities through their long-standing charity partnerships, who provide comfort and inspiration to children facing serious illness, trauma and isolation.

Have you ordered any of the designs? I would love to hear your favourites!

Alannah x

Back To School With ShopDisney

AD–There are some affiliate links in this post. I receive a small commission if you purchase from my links. As always, all views and opinions are my own.

In the blink of an eye, summer has almost passed and preparations for heading back to school are in full swing. This week marks Quinn’s first week back at school since March, so I thought amongst all the preparations, I’d share some fantastic products that shopDisney have to offer.

Toy Story 4 Backpack £18.95

The character design on this backpack is so cute! I love the fact that there are lots of pockets for storage.

Loungefly Mickey Mouse Rainbow Backpack £29.95

This has to be my favourite bag design on shopDisney at the minute. I love the rainbow colours and its 3D Mickey Ears makes the bag even more fun!

Frozen 2 Lunch Bag £12.95

How pretty is this lunch bag! I love the sparkles, and the shape is perfect for fitting in a water bottle and lunch.

The Little Mermaid Water Bottle £7.50

Not only is this bottle sturdy, but it also comes with a flip top straw and they can attach the built on handle to bags. There a few designs in the range, this one being my favourite. If you buy two, you save 10%, 3 you save 15% or 4 you save 20%.

You can save 20% on selected back to school items until 25/9/20. Here are some of my favourite stationery kits.

Disney Pixar Zip-Up Stationary, Kit £9.60

Belle Zip-Up Stationery Kit, Beauty and the Beast £9.60

Minnie Mouse Mystical Stationery Supply Kit £6.40

Alannah x

Celebrate Pixar Fest With shopDisney!

AD–There are some affiliate links and PR samples in this post. I receive a small commission if you purchase from my links. As always, all views and opinions are my own.

This month, Pixar sees 25 years of filmmaking and to celebrate, Disney is launching Pixar Fest, a virtual family festival featuring Pixar movies streaming on Disney+. Throughout the month of August, celebrate Pixar Fest with shopDisney and their perfect Pixar range featuring toys, clothes and much more!

This week, there is 25% off selected Pixar toys at shopDisney! Here are some of Quinn and I’s favourites from the collection.

Woody Interactive Talking Action Figure £22.50

Woody will always be my favourite character from Toy Story and I’m so glad Quinn shares in my love for him!

Rex Talking Action Figure £22.50

Quinn loves this Rex figure because of his size, (he’s huge!) and he’s the perfect companion to the talking Woody Action Figure. When you pair Rex together with Woody or Buzz, a special phrase is unlocked!

Bo Peep Soft Toy Doll £15.75

I love this Bo Peep plush as she is just beautiful! She features the classic embroidered face and a 2 in 1 reversible skirt that can also be used as a cape.

Forky Talking Action Figure £14

This figure has been one of Quinn’s favourite recent purchases from shopDisney. Forky is such a fun character, and this figure displays that perfectly! You can take one home for £9 when you spend £10 or more at shopDisney.

A quirky, weekly collection inspired by everyone’s Pixar favourites debuted this week on shopDisney. The pin and soft toy collection will release each Monday at approximately 8am online and will feature the following.

Pin release £28 for a set of 4

10th August – Buzz, Nemo, Anger, Rex.

17th August- Remy, Woody, Russell, Bo Peep

24th August – Flik, Syndrome, Jessie, Wall-E

31st August – Coco, Carl, Incredibles, Forky

7th September – Ducky, Merida, Sully, Bunny

14th September – Mater, Lotso, Boo, Mike Wasowski

Soft Toy release £10 each

10th August – Merida, Woody, Incredibles, Anger, Lotso, Nemo

17th August – Russell

24th August – Wall-E

31st August – Carl

7th September- Sulley

14th September – Boo

You can rediscover your favourite Pixar films with all the family during the live Pixar Fest watchalongs, every Sunday over on Disney UK Facebook page!

Alannah x

Spending The Weekend In Edinburgh Post Lockdown

Last weekend my family and I went off on a little adventure to Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. It wasn’t our summer trip to Walt Disney World that we had originally planned, but Edinburgh is lovely and it was great to get away for a break from everyday life. My plan for the weekend was to spend most of our time outdoors visiting local spots, to have a socially distanced meet with our friends and to eat out at a couple of restaurants for the first time in four months.

Scotland is currently heading towards phase four on the recovery from Covid 19. Hotels, restaurants and some attractions have started to open with use of social distancing measures and masks now being a requirement when visiting shops. We had planned to drive the two and a half hour journey and had originally booked the Edinburgh Marriott on the outskirts of the city. We didn’t feel entirely comfortable using public transport each day, so decided upon a change of our hotel at the last minute to the Travelodge at Edinburgh Central, situated just off the Royal Mile. That way we could park in the hotel car park and make our way around the city on foot. The hotel had recently received a refurb and the room we stayed in felt brand new and was very clean. I took extra precautions to wipe all surfaces and touch points down with antibacterial wipes to put my mind at ease. We wore our masks when entering and exiting the hotel, as did the hotel staff. There was an antibacterial gel station positioned at the front door and we washed our hands with our own soap and antibacterial gel once we got back up to our room.

I feel very lucky to live in such a gorgeous country with so many beauty spots to visit. The first thing we did upon arriving in Edinburgh was to hike up Arthur’s Seat. Arthur’s Seat is an extinct volcano boasting breathtaking views that rises 822 feet above the city. It was quite a strenuous walk to the top, but very rewarding indeed. On our walk back to the hotel, we explored Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. Neither were open, but it was lovely to see them both none the less. After a quick shower and change, we went to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, one of our favourite places to eat as a family. I would be lying if I said Kevin and I weren’t a little nervous about visiting a restaurant again with Quinn, but we had such a lovely experience and were well taken care of. We were greeted at the door by the manager who explained to us that we wouldn’t need to wear masks in the dining area, but would need to if we were to visit the shop. Our server took us to our table, where guitar picks were used to save any unnecessary trips to our table. Our food was delicious and we left very happy and very full!

The next morning, we started our day off with a Starbucks and a walk up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. It was unbelievably quiet with a lot of shops and restaurants remaining closed. We met our friends Kris and Jamie for brunch at Mimi’s bakehouseand I had the yummiest homemade macaroni and cheese with raspberry and lime soda. Quinn wanted to go on a Harry Potter adventure, so Jamie played tour guide on our tour around the city that started at The Elephant House Cafe – the birthplace of Harry Potter and finished in the colourful cobbled Victorian Street – the inspiration behind Diagon Alley. We visited the “real” Ollivanders, Museum Context and Quinn looked the most adorable in his Ron Weasley jumper he chose out! After our magical experience, we headed to Princes Street Gardens for a rest. Quinn was desperate for us to eat dinner at Mamma’s American Pizza, a favourite of his, so we booked a table and made our way over to The Grassmarket. The fresh hand rolled pizza is delicious and as an added bonus, it was founded and ran by Y-Wing pilot Gold Leader in Star Wars:episode IV:A New Hope and Rogue One!

On the Sunday morning we took a trip to The Edinburgh Dungeon. Neither Kevin, Quinn or I had been and I was very excited to visit. We wore our masks throughout and I was picked on in almost every room by the live actors, which caused much hilarity within our group! Overall we had such a fun time learning some dark, underground history! We said our goodbyes before heading home, but not before one last magical stop at the Never Land play park in Kirriemuir. Not only is it our favourite place to visit in Scotland, but its the birthplace of Peter Pan author J.M Barrie and the small town is filled with magic and heritage!

I was completely tired out after our weekend away, but it was definitely what we all needed after a hard few months. Do you have any plans for the summer? Let me know in the comments!

Alannah x

AD – Magical Easter Activities At Home During Lockdown

AD – There are some affiliate links in this post. I receive a small commission if you choose to purchase from my links. I was not asked to write this post and as always, all views and opinions are my own.

Happy Easter! It’s certainly been an Easter weekend like none of us have ever experienced before, but I hope it still had that little touch of magic, chocolate and fun! We have a few family traditions that have grown with us since Quinn has been a baby and I was determined to keep them going at home during these exceptional circumstances.

We usually like to start off the Easter weekend by baking our own Easter cake, but with ingredients being hard to find on our weekly shop, we went with what we could find. Quinn wanted to decorate our vanilla cheesecake with mini eggs, but those too were unavailable. We did have some Milkybar eggs which were just as yummy and Quinn could still add his hidden Mickey!

A highlight for Quinn each year is to decorate his own hard boiled eggs. For the last five years, his Peter Pan trademark design of a little Peter Pan hat with feather has remained the same and makes him so happy! Usually we enjoy going to a hill not far from our house to roll them, but this year Quinn got creative and rolled them in our garden using his bench and slide!

The favourite part of everyones Easter is of course the egg hunt! On Easter weekend we usually get together with our friends and attend a local Cadbury’s Easter egg hunt at a National Trust for Scotland location. I knew Quinn would really miss this and wanted to plan some fun activities for our little family at home in the garden.

Quinn had the fun idea of hiding his Forky toys around the house and garden for us to find. We loved the Forky hunt and it set the tone for a Toy Story 4 day!

ShopDisney brought a little magic to our home with Disney’s Destination of Imagination, an online destination of fun filled activities from arts and crafts to trivia. Each Friday the website is updated with new activities for all the family! The Frozen 2 Easter Egg Hunt was a big hit in our house! I printed the ten themed eggs and tick sheet, which Quinn cut out. We had so much fun taking it in turn to hide and find the eggs, timing ourselves to see who the the winner was! The winner of course being Quinn!

In addition to the Frozen 2 egg hunt, Quinn also designed his own Disney Store Opening Ceremony Key. Of course it was Peter Pan themed and I was so impressed with his magical design! You can create your own key over on ShopDisney.

Which key design would you like to become a reality?

Alannah x

Five Reasons Why I Love The Supercalifragilistic Breakfast At 1900 Park Fare

When choosing to dine at the Walt Disney World resort, there are so many character breakfast options to choose from. A firm favourite for many years in my little family is the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and today I am going to tell you why!

1. Character Interaction

Having eaten at almost every character dining restaurant across the resort, the one that consistently stands out to us is 1900 Park Fare. The character interactions have always been a delight each time we have eaten there and set the mood for a magical day at Disney. Although character appearances are always subject to change, you can usually expect to see Mad Hatter and Alice, Tigger and Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins. Each character visits your table as you dine to chat, sign autographs and to take photographs. Quinn adores meeting characters and loves eating at 1900 Park Fare due to the fun and chaos they cause together! Over the years there has been so many memories made here from making insaniTea with Hatter and giggling so much you give yourself the hiccups, to running away from kisses with Alice. Maybe for us its the variety of characters combined, but each breakfast experience has been filled with joy and laughter!

2. Character Photographs

As the characters move from table to table, I love that each meet is unique to them and the photos tell a story of the fun had that day! My Little Peter Pan loves to gift handmade stars to each character he meets, as for him it adds a little of his story to theirs. Sometimes it starts the conversation for him, or often he will gift a star to them as the meet comes to an end. Each day one of the characters meet with a Photopass photographer as you exit the restaurant. This allows a little more time for family pictures against a super cute backdrop. We have met Alice, Pooh and Tigger a few times here and each meet has been so memorable for both Quinn and I, with some lovely photos to take away with us.

3. Food

The Supercalifragilistic Breakfast is an all you care to enjoy buffet with so many yummy options including custom made omelettes, pastries, cereals and of course those all important Mickey Waffles. My favourite picks from the buffet would have to be the red velvet pancakes with cream, the croissants, bacon and those all important tater tots! The price of the breakfast is currently $26 for children aged 3 – 9 and $44 for adults, or 1 table service meal on the Disney Dining Plan. Gratuity is not included. Discount is available for Annual Passholders and DVC Members (10%) and Tables in Wonderland is also accepted at the restaurant (20%).

4. Atmosphere

I am biased as the Grand Floridian is my favourite resort on property, but I love the timeless, elegant theming of the restaurant and its surroundings. It’s classic Walt Disney World for me! The dining area is decorated in Victorian era flair and filled with pretty carousel horses. The restaurant is naturally bright and airy with it’s large glass doors, creating the perfect light for photos. A large concert organ built in France named “Big Bertha” takes pride of place towards the ceiling of the large dining room. It’s been a very long time since I heard it play, but it sounds so cute and reminds me very much of the Carrousel over in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom.

5. Location

The restaurant is conveniently located on the ground floor and is accessible from the front or back of the resort. It’s location is great if you are staying at a Monorail resort or coming over from Magic Kingdom on the Monorail. The restaurant is also close to the boat dock if you are visiting by water taxi. If you have a reservation and are driving over to the resort, you can park for the duration of your breakfast by confirming your reservation with Disney Security at the gate. If you have a little time before or after breakfast, I would highly recommend a stroll around the resort and its perfectly landscaped garden and beach.

Do you have a favourite character breakfast at the Walt Disney World resort?

Alannah x

Spending The Holidays At Home – What Quinn Got For Christmas

Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely Christmas, wherever you may have spent it. For the first time in three years our little family spent the holidays at home instead of at Walt Disney World. Although we missed it like crazy and spoke about what we may have been doing each day, it was lovely to spend some quality family time at home relaxing. I definitely ate far too much food and spent most of my time dressed in pyjamas, but it was exactly the break I needed to start refreshed for the New Year.

On Christmas morning I had to wake our sleepy Little Peter Pan around 8am, which is very unusual indeed. Unsure if he has had hit a growth spurt or if it’s just his sleep pattern now, but our usual super early riser is no more! Quinn was absolutley delighted to wake up to the Lego Disney Train and Station which he has longed for since its release date back in September 2019. If you follow our daily adventures on Instagram, you will know of Quinn’s love for Lego, particularly Disney Lego. Santa brought him the Lego Disney Castle back in 2016 and its his most treasured Lego set to date. Lego sets can be quite expensive, but the creativity and problem solving skills it brings to your child as well as the years of play, make the sets one hundred percent worth it for me. You can find the Lego Disney Train and Station retailing at £299.99.

Another toy that Quinn had his eye on for a very long time was the Buzz Lightyear Interactive Drop-Down Action Figure. This toy had a hefty price tag of £79.99, but was reduced to £55.99 in theShopDisney UK sale. Very expensive for an action figure I know, but this toy is literally the best toy I have ever seen! It has over 65 sayings and sound effects and the best part is that it responds to four different voice commands and when you say “someone’s coming!” Buzz drops to the floor! The fun Quinn has with his collection of Toy Story toys is amazing and his imagination is endless. Buzz fits right in with the gang and he is already very loved and played with. You can find the Buzz Lightyear at ShopDisney UK for £55.99.

Staying with the Toy Story 4 theme, Quinn loves figures and received a Toy Story 4 Mega Figurine Playset from his Granny. The set was originally £40, but a now £19.99 in the ShopDisney UK sale. The box was huge and filled with figures including Forky, Gabby Gabby and Bo Peep. Also in the sale from £24.99, now £17.49 is the Mattel Duke Caboom Stunt Racer. One of Quinn’s favourite characters from the movie is Duke Caboom, so this was a great addition to his collection.

Quinn’s love for Peter Pan overshadows everything of course and Santa brought him some Never Land soft toys. He was over the moon to unwrap Michael and John Darling and the Lost Boys Cubby and Slightly. These are quite rare finds and have been incredibly loved since they arrived on Christmas Day!

We are in the process of building the Lego Disney Train and Station now. Well I say we but Quinn is the builder, we help by looking out the pieces since there are so many! It’s so close to being completed and you can follow along with Quinn’s progress on Little Peter Pan. The Train and tracks are now complete as is the ground floor of the station. The Train is powered by the Lego Powered Up and it’s just magical! Quinn has played with it everyday, filling the train with Disney Minifigures. I can’t wait to see the finished product, it looks amazing already!

Alannah x

A Magical Surprise Stay At Disney’s Polynesian Resort

The biggest surprise of our last Walt Disney World trip was of course Quinn finding out about our stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Today I’m going to talk about how we managed to keep it a surprise and what magical little treat was waiting for us at Orlando International Airport.

Our Little Peter Pan’s favourite resort is the Polynesian and last time we stayed there, he got sick and we spent two days in our hotel room. Not the best memory to have of your favourite place, so Kevin and I really wanted to make it up to him. We told him that we were going to stay at Pop Century, not a total lie as we were for the last two nights until we swapped it out for Grand Destino at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort!

As we were staying on the Monorail loop for most of our trip, we didn’t hire a car and booked Disney’s Magical Express to take us to the Polynesian. Our plan was to check in at the Magical Express desk and when we got in line, point out to Quinn that our bus wasn’t going to Pop Century but Polynesian instead!

Upon arrival at Orlando International Airport, we collected our luggage (after an hour delay due to lightening!) and made our way down to ground transportation. As we approached the desk Quinn called out to Boomer, a Minnie Van cast member who had driven us around Walt Disney World! He came over and gave us the best news, he was driving us straight to the Polynesian in his Minnie Van! We were all very surprised and extremely grateful! The Minnie Van Service Airport Shuttle picks up or drops off between Orlando International Airport and any Walt Disney World Resort hotel.

This was our first experience in a Minnie Van outwith Walt Disney World and it was magical! Boomer helped us with our bags, made us feel comfortable and best of all, was in on the surprise for Quinn! Inside the Minnie Van, Boomer put on the TV which was showing movie shorts for Quinn to watch. There was a selection of super cute Disney World books for us to read including It’s a Small World and Haunted Mansion. Snacks and drinks were plentiful and included a selection of coke products, Smart Water and Ghiradelli chocolates and candy. Boomer spoke about the upcoming attractions and what is new to the Walt Disney World Resort since our trip in January. Quinn’s little face was a picture when we pulled into the Polynesian and he discovered we were staying there! You can watch his reaction here and subscribe to my Youtube channel Pixie Planner to watch our current vlog series from the trip. A new video is uploaded each Sunday at 7pm UK time. We can’t thank Disney enough for gifting us this extra pixie dust to our trip!

In true Polynesian style we were greeted with some leis and stopped by the front desk to collect our Annual Pass Magicbands that had been delivered. Our room was located in the Pago Pago building which we love as its next to the pathway to the Transport and Ticket Centre making it easy to get back from the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The new East Pool is right around the corner with the pool bar and soda machines which we use a lot. The DVC studio rooms in Polynesian are our favourite as a family as there is so much space and make us feel so comfortable. Quinn visited the Lava Pool and Kiki Tiki’s Splash Play, we ate dinner in Ohana’s and brought back a Captain Cook’s to our room each night. We had the most wonderful four night stay!

Is Polynesian your favourite Walt Disney World Resort hotel? I would love to hear all about your Disney Resort adventures!

Some items in this post are gifted, as stated. As always all views and experiences are my own.

Alannah x

The Toys Are Back For Toy Story 4

This weekend Toy Story 4 was released in cinemas and my little Peter Pan and I couldn’t wait to see it! Having slept on it, I am now ready to share my thoughts (and emotions!) on the sequel to the much loved franchise.

Yesterday we went to see it and it was everything I was expecting and more! I had goosebumps from start to finish and I am so glad we got the opportunity to see everyone’s favourite toys back in action again.

Quinn and I both loved Forky, he was so fun and a genius addition to the Toy Story family. Bo Peep definitely stood out as a fierce role model and Gabby Gabby had a side to her I didn’t expect, but nevertheless her and the Dummie’s were terrifying! Duke Caboom was the perfect addition, Quinn and I both loved him also and Ducky and Bunny were the new characters you never knew you needed in your life!

A few times throughout the movie I really choked up, particularly in a scene with Bonnie, If you have seen it already, I am sure you will understand why! The ending of the movie of course broke my heart and literally drained me. Who knew toys could give us all the feels?

To celebrate the release of Toy Story 4, Shop Disney UK kindly sent Quinn and I the cutest Woody and Bo Peep soft toys. These are available for £12.50 each when you spend £10 or more online or in store (full price £20 each). We can’t wait to see what new Toy Story products will be available from July 1st. I have a feeling Quinn will love it all!

Toy Story 4’s release has got me so excited for our Walt Disney World trip next week! Have you been to see the movie yet? Or are you going soon? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Some items in this post are gifted, as stated. As always all views and experiences are my own.

Alannah x