Meeting Princesses | Disney

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I am just loving writing these Disney posts and sorting through all my pictures, I feel like I am reliving the experience all over again. 

On our most recent trip to Disney World (remember how we had one gifted to us by Disney and our next one was previously booked months in advance- it just happened that they were only weeks apart), we were given a Guide to take us round the park and help us with anything we needed. It was amazing! At $400 an hour for a minimum of 6 hours, they are a real luxury but the benefits of having them include - being picked up and dropped off from any location, being able to dine at pretty much any of the restaurants without a reservation, fast pass to every ride, VIP seats for parades and shows, a wealth of insight and knowledge into all things Disney and fast pass to meet all the Princesses. 

With a Princess obsessed 3 year old, they were top of our agenda. When I was little we never stood in the queue's to meet anyone because I think my Dad preferred rides, but knowing how much Darcy loves those ladies, I would have waited hours. 

I'd already prepped her for maaaaybe meeting one Princess (at this point I didn't know we were going to be given a Guide) but at least seeing all of them in the parades or shows. So Darcy would say, 'When I see Cinderella I'm going to cuddle her all the day and all the night and all the conkers!' (conkers are a measurement to her. ie. 'Mummy I love you as much as all the conkers in the park'). In return, to manage expectations I would say, 'Well, we can see Cinderella in the parades and give her our biggest waves and smiles' and Darcy would be really pleased with that. 

Thinking we weren't going to meet any Princesses at all made it all the more special when we met so many (six in total. Or five. Is Tinkerbell a Princess??). 

Each Princess is completely in character and will spend a good few minutes with you or your child, talking and chattering about things kind of related to them. So when Darcy said, 'You got earrings on' to Cinderella, she replied, 'Yes I do. Do you know who gave them to me? My Prince Charming of course' and such like. It was brilliant. I was so impressed by them and Darcy was fully immersed in the 'I'm meeting real Princesses' experience. 

The Princesses will allow you to film, photograph and touch (as in hugs and Darcy wanted to touch their hair or feel their dress, yanno, innocent touching obviously) them and when asked, will do little video messages for you (we asked several of them to say something to Scarlet BitsandClips which will be revealed this week). I am so impressed that they take so much time with each guest and really give them such magical memories. 

Although I didn't have to queue long for these experiences, I think next time I most definitely will line up because just hearing all the little things Darcy wanted to talk about made my Mama heart melt.

If you are ever able to meet the Princesses, some bits of advice I would give are ::

♥ Have two cameras. One for photos and one for filming. If we'd only had one we would have had to pick either or and I treasure the snaps and the vlog footage equally. Disney do have a photographer at each station so if you don't have 2 you can still have the pictures but I like to have my own.

♥ Prep your child so they know who they're meeting and might be able to think of the things they want to say ahead of time. Darcy was a little start struck so just said whatever came into her head but this might be handier for older children.

♥ Be prepared for the Princesses to stay in character even with you. At first it's a bit weird because deep down you know it's an actress but after a while it's just really cool.

♥ Be prepared to cry. Watching Darcy run and throw herself only Cinderella's dress was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Just to witness pure, innocent, unrestricted, uninhibited joy like that was a privilege and was so, so beautiful.

(When Darcy saw Tinkerbell, she ran, grabbed her legs and stayed like this for a LONG time. It took all of Tink's pixie power to prize her off.)

(Tinkerbell asking Darcy where she got her oh-so-sparkly shoes. *Whispers* Primark). 

We are returning to the parks in one week and I think if the lines aren't too cray cray (I've heard it can be up to 5 hours to wait for Elsa and Anna) then we might give it a go. I really wanna get a full length shot of Ariel because I'm annoyed I didn't get her beautiful tail in frame- grr!

What do you think? Would waiting an hour or so to meet the Princesses be worth it to you? If you didn't have a child or young person with you, would you still want to do it? Lemme know because this Princess meeting thing is pretty new to me!

Toodlepip!

xx

Saratoga Springs | Disney

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

It seems like only a moment ago I was writing THIS blog post about my sweet baby being born, but now, fast forward almost four years and she's a proper little child. 

 (I want to remember how little these leggies are forever)

I took these pictures thinking I was going to write a 'Baby OOTD' but when I looked closely, I realised all of these clothes are from last year and so if you wanted to buy any of them, you'd be pretty frustrated. I decided instead just to share some pictures of the resort we stayed at and have a little chat. 

(This little area was right outside our building -there are lots of different blocks of villas- and was the perfect spot of OOTD photography. Obviously if you're not a blogger, it was also a great spot for family photographs. I liked it a lot).

(I also like this little goober a lot too).

About six weeks ago, Disney invited our family to come and experience one of their holidays and despite having a subsequent holiday to the same destination with the BitsandClips family booked, we said yes- you can't say 'no' to Disney!!

We stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa is modelled on a late 1800's New York retreat that was famous for it's horse racing and spas. Everywhere you go on the property there are nods to horses and I enjoyed that. It didn't feel at all like a kids hotel but at the same time, there were obvious elements of Disney, which as you can imagine, really pleased me. 

(Sweet chairs for sweet babies to watch films in the lobby whilst you check in or wait for taxis and transfers)

(Horsey! I thought this might be from Mary Poppins?)

 (I thought this was really cool. A little shaded area with picnic benches, a BBQ, lights and a fan. It was right by the pool and looked like the perfect place for a family get together or a small party. I love that those facilities were provided). 

(I love that even the pool had a horse racing theme and it looks so fun for kiddies. I had actually gone to PlaylistLive by the time Darcy had a play in here but Matt said she really enjoyed it).

(Darcy wasn't thrilled about being splashed in the face with the water springs but she did enjoy toddling round them all haha).

The villa we stayed in was a spacious one bedroomed apartment which a huge bath, separate shower and toilet room, patio area looking over the golf course, fully equipped kitchen and double pull out sofa bed for Darcy. It was very lovely. 

The property is huge, with several pools, places to eat to suit various budgets and a spa (which I didn't go to sadly). I wish I had had time to really wander around and learn more about the place and see it all but we were often rushing from one place to another and so time escaped us. 

Things I liked about Saratoga Springs :: 

♥ Everywhere felt REALLY clean, pristine and well cared for. 

♥ When you arrive in the lobby, the man opening the door or the people on front desk say, 'Welcome Home'. It's weird at first but then it feels really nice. 

♥ It was a haven of pastel colours- pinks and creams and sages as far as the eye could see. 

♥ The lobby had little tiny 'fancy' chairs in for little tiny 'fancy' people to sit in and watch films. 

♥ The gardens were well tended and just felt really pretty. 

♥ The little food shop was a welcome addition. 

♥ The ease of getting to all the parks using the free bus service.

I will be uploading all my Disney vlogs over the next few days (since it's only 8 days until we go back haha!) so you will of course see more of the resort, including a full apartment tour. 

Have you ever stayed at Saratoga Springs? What did you think? We were gifted our week's stay there but haven't been paid to write this post or say nice things, I just wanted to share my thoughts with you. 

Coming up next -

Holiday OOTD's

Disney Design Love

Disney World Photo Dump

Hollywood Studios

Travelling With Toddlers

Eating At Disney

Toodlepip!

xx

Some Disney Explainin'!

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I've got some Disney explaining to do. Here's the story-

For years Marie BitsandClips have been talking about our 'someday dream' to take the girls (and Luca) to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld together. We are the kind of women who delight in the little things so a trip like that would be like magic to us. We knew we would take joy from every tiny thing, from packing in flight handbags to seeing Cinderella's castle, and so, it's been on our 'please, please one day please list' for a looonngg time.

(From our trip in Oct '13)

Now, you might not know this about me but when I decide on doing something, I'm not letting it go. Persistent Pentland is not a nickname without basis. This Summer I decided I was going to make this happen and so set out talking to Marie and getting going on the dream. We booked a trip for November but due to work commitments, we had to delay it to March.

Since the Summer we have been talking, planning, pinning and researching all things DisneyWorld. We are OBSESSED. Since Darcy has already been to the Magic Kingdom (HERE), I know she'd understand the concept of a Disney holiday and so told her all about it. She doesn't have a grasp of time yet so it's always been, 'When Scarlet (Marie's Daughter) turns 4, it's time to go on Holiday!'. She's pumped.

Then, like some kind of magic curveball, DisneyWorld contacted my management. The dream brand that I have been wanting to work with since forever, sent an invite. They asked if Matt, Darcy and I would like to join them for four days, staying on one of their resorts and touring the parks, in return for vlogs and blogs and all those good things.

I was torn. On one hand its the absolute dream and the exchange seemed perfect to me because I don't think I could ever go somewhere that magical and not document it on every social platform available but then on the other, would it take the shine away from my dream GlitterBits (yeah, I did just ship BitsandClips and Sprinkle of Glitter haha) trip?

We thought about it for a few days and decided to go. You just can't say 'no' to Mickey Mouse and we know that the experiences will both be so different. We are so grateful to have been considered for this opportunity and are giddy with glee to go- twice!! We know it won't take any fizz from the March trip because we have so many treats planned for it and the true joy of it will be to spent time with the Sunshine family (seriously, what kind of a perfect surname for them is that?). 

With all that in mind (two Disney vacations in two months), this blog is about to get rather magical! I want to write as many posts as possible because reading other people's thoughts and opinions on the most magical place on earth is one of my favourite things to do in my spare time.

So what would you like to see?

I'll list some ideas below but if you have anymore, please leave them for me and I'll see what I can do.

Potential Posts for Trip One (The Magical Work Trip)

Disney Resort Hotel Review

Staying In Hotels With Toddlers

Theme Park Handbag Essentials

DisneyWorld Makeup (as in how I do mine for the day)

Darcy OOTD's

Mama OOTD's

Yummy Disney Food

Great Rides for Toddlers

Disney Details (I'm excited for that one!)

General Experience of each Park (Picture Heavy)

Airport Tips with Tots

The Disney Tag

Potential Posts for Trip Two (The Dream GlitterBits Trip)

Pre-trip Disney Haul (I've bought a lot that I am saving for March!)

Non Disney Resort Review (We're staying offsite)

Darcy & Scarlet & Luca OOTD's

Mama & Marie OOTD's

General Experience of each Park (Picture Heavy)

Sweet Snacks for Us & the Kiddies

Great Rides for Adults

All The Magic (all the sweet moments of little girls holding hands etc)

Packing your Stroller

Hidden Mickeys

Family Moments

Restaurant Chats

Past Disney Experiences

Obviously quite a lot there and definitely won't do all of them but just ideas to consider or add to! If you hate Disney, you're probably not going to enjoy my blog for the next few week but I will try to keep a few of the regular posts going too!

Alrighty, let me know what you thing!

Toodlepip!

xx

Disney Teaser

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

This coming fortnight is shaping up to be crazy busy so I fear my blog may be a little lacklustre for a few days. 

To keep things ticking over and because I can't help but be a proud mama, here is one of my favourite snaps from our family holiday to Orlando last week. I have about eight million more but I'm editing bit by bit in the evenings so be patient my pretties. 

Having now experienced the joy of Disney through a toddler's eyes I can fully see why people spend thousands of pounds to go every year and will most definitely be returning as soon as I can. Watching Darcy (or 'Princess Ariel' I should say) wave at parade characters, delight in the little rides and show everybody her new 'pincess mermaid' dress just melted my heart in every which way. 

Have you experienced the Magic Kingdom? What was your favourite thing about it? Mine was all the little details. 

Toodlepip!

xx

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