Our Disneyland Adventure

It's been a bit of a week to say the least. A press junket trip to Disneyland Paris, an out of date passport, a film premiere, a 40th birthday and all in the space of three days. That's hardcore even by my standards.

So Disneyland… my very first visit, our very first visit. I traveled with my girls, Biba and Betty and my good friend Rosie and her daughter LJ. We were there as guests of Disney for the premiere of their new movie Wreck-It Ralph and to spend the weekend enjoying ourselves in the park.

We travelled by train, direct to Disneyland which was as stress free as travelling with three tween girls  can be. We dropped our bags at the vast Disneyland Hotel and hit the ground running by heading straight to the park.

To say that the girls were excited would be an understatement but then to be fair, Rosie and I were pretty excited too. The Disney magic was in the air, bizarre as it sounds, you could actually feel it.

Due to the out of date passport induced trauma I'd suffered the day before, it soon became apparent that  I hadn't researched the park in any way, shape or form, so with map in hand we strolled down main street before being totally wowed by the iconic Disney Castle.

The sheer scale of it is difficult to take in but it's truly amazing and magical. After just half an hour in the park I'd morphed into a Disney Princess and I just couldn't get enough of the vibe.

We were on a pretty tight schedule as the Wreck-It Ralf screening was that evening but we managed to squeeze in a couple of light rides.

A storm in a teacup! Rosie hates having her photo taken!!

A quick change back at the hotel and we were off to see the movie. Wreck-It Ralf doesn't come to UK screens until February 15th next year but it's set to become a absolute classic. 

Set in the 'off duty' world of arcade game characters it cleverly mixes different animation genre's resulting in a film for the whole family to enjoy.

I loved it, we all loved it and after having the opportunity to grill the producer about the whole creative process I cannot wait to see it again with my new found behind the scenes knowledge.

A full review is coming soon but take a look at the trailer...

On Saturday we went over to Walt Disney Studios and enjoyed a few more tame rides, (Betty's not a thrill seeker so everything we went on had to be pre-approved by her).

Fast Track tickets are an absolute must if you want to skip the queue's and we totally took advantage of ours. They reduced our waiting times down from over an hour to around 25 mins and just 10 mins on a couple of rides.

Nightfall brought a fabulous dinner with friends and a fireworks display at the castle. It was magical. We all donned our illuminated Mickey ears as we watched the sky come alive.

Back at the hotel we managed to squeeze in a quick Google + birthday hangout with some of our blogger friends back home before I totally flaked out. The excitement of turning 40 was just too much for me!!

The Disney experience was truly magical. I was enchanted from the moment I stood in front of the park gates. I'm not sure how they do it but I'm now totally sold on the need to visit Disneyland at least once in your lifetime.

Finally.... 

Can I please apologise to the non bloggers in carriage 4 of the 3.40pm Eurostar back to London? Rosie Scribble, Super Amazing Mum, Slummy Single Mummy and our seven rather boisterous, sugar fuelled children were rather loud... especially when they started singing happy birthday to me... everytime we hit a tunnel. There are quite a few tunnels...

Biba's written about her Disneyland Adventure too...

We spent two nights at the Disneyland Hotel with three days access to the park. Our accommodation, travel and expenses were kindly covered by Disney.

For information about Disneyland Paris please visit their official website. You can also follow the fun on the Disneyland Paris or Disney Mums Facebook pages.

The Help - My Movie of the Month

This time last week I was snuggled up with a group of girlie buddies for a private screening of the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the best selling book The Help. 

The last time I set foot in a cinema with a group of girls was to see Back to the Future. It was so long ago that everyone still thought that Michael J Fox was hot. He wasn't and we were really only there to check out boys but that's another story.

I'm a reader by nature and I'm never satisfied by a big screen portrayal of a book that I've read but as I hadn't started reading The Help I was a blank canvas and ready for the journey.

Set in Mississippi in the 1960's, The Help is essentially a tale of female friendship and the ability to come together to create change. Only things were pretty messed up in 1960's Mississippi. White children raised by black maids only to turn into their parents and continue and expand on their racist ways.

Skeeter (Emma Stone), saw things differently and on returning home from college, determined to be a writer, set about interviewing the black maids so that their stories could be told.

After a bit of cajoling the maids have a lot to say and despite the dark undertones of the main civil rights story, The Help manages to be a feel good movie.

If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy you'll love this movie. If you like tales of hope, of good over evil you'll love this movie.

What I took away from it is that friendships really can conquer all and a reminder that revenge is always a dish best served cold.

The Help opens in the UK on October 26th. Go see it.

Disclosure : 

Back to the Future was released in 1985. If you have 13 year old children DO NOT consider it OK to let them go to the movies with a group of their friends. Don't ask why - take my word...