Disneyland Paris - Disney Stars on Parade

Who doesn't love Disney parades? While we spent our first time in Disneyland Paris we really didn't have too much time to see everything but one thing we never miss is the parades

Currently in the Disneyland park there is the 25th anniversary celebration going on still for few more months and they have their own Disney Stars on Parade which is taking place every day at 5.30 pm.

I am all about princess life and I love that princesses are taking such a huge part of the shows in the park. Several times a day there is the Starlit Princess Waltz and during the Parade you will see all of the princesses but who doesn't love princes as much as princesses? Or maybe even little bit more, this is why Disneyland Paris is amazing for Princess lovers

Here is one really good tip to know, in case you own Infinity Annual Pass, call and book a slot for a vip are to see Disney Stars on Parade. This is only for Infinity pass holders, but it is an amazing benefit you can have. You will see the parade with great view, but keep in mind you can book these slots 14 days prior your travel and there are only certain amount available spaces, so whenever you have confirmed your travel dates and you hit the 14 day count book the slot for you

Otherwise if you definitely want to have a good spot for the parade it is best to go to the spot as early as possible. I know some people do start to reserve their sport for the show about 1,5 hours before. It is quite a long time before, but you will definitely have the spot of your choice

We were actually lucky, got quite good spots in front of the castle while the parade had already started, but just because for some reason people moved (possibly got a space in a better place) and this way opened nice space for us

Which spectacular do you like more, The Disney Stars on Parade or Illuminations night time firework show?

- Tiia

Disneyland Paris 365 days a Year

Have you been dreaming of going to Disney 365 days a year? I have and I still am dreaming about it but dreaming is nearly over. I am currently saving money for infinity annual pass for Disneyland Paris

Unfortunately our holiday plans are excluding Walt Disney World trips for next year maybe even one year after but there is a solution for this problem, annual pass to Dlp. As if you have seen my very first post on this blog was my first impression of Disneyland Paris and that was the trip to go to check if it is worth of having the annual pass there and yes for me everything related to Disney is worth of money

When planning to buy the annual pass for Disneyland Paris there are few things to concider before buing it

Number one is which AP to buy, Discovery, Magic flex, Magic plus or Infinity

It all depends on you, do you want that there are no bloc out dates on your pass or necessary you don't need that many days to go to Disney and you find that Discovery pass is the most suitable pass for you.
Discovery pass is the one that has the least amount of benefits and Infinity pass has the most of the benefits. Infinity pass includes for an example priority seats on the special section for parades and illuminations firework shows, but these ones has to be preordered before hand.

Discovery and Magic flex has much fewer days to go into the parks and these passes do not give you any discounts when shopping or going for a character dinning. But if you are happy to be able to just enter to the parks during the days it is allowing you, these two passes are great for this reason. I wouldn't spend more on the pass if you have a feeling you wouldn't be using all of the benefits each pass is offering you.

Where to buy AP

There are few different ways of buing the annual pass. You can either go on the UK website of Disneyland Paris and print out the application form and send it by mail back to Disney or you can practise your french skills and go on the french website of Disneyland Paris and fill up the online form which is in French but you can make friends with Google translate and it’s easy to do, this way you don’t need to send the application form by mail.

However there is to keep in mind if you apply the pass in advance online the pass will be dated when you send the application form and to reach UK it will take approximately 10 days, but on the website it has been stated that it is possible that it may take up to 6 weeks to arrive. But whenever you have received the annual pass you can make AP discounted reservations straight away, depending which discounts you are entitled to have with your AP.

If you are not a fan of ordering the pass online it is possible to purchase the AP from the ticket offices at Disneyland Paris. The process is quite simple and not consuming too much time. You tell the CM at the ticket office that you would like to buy annual pass and they will process it and give you a pass to enter to the park which needs to be changed to the annual pass during the same day.
When you go to annual pass office inside the park, all you need to have is an ID with you and in case you want to pay with monthly instalments they will take your direct debit details, and they will also take your photo at the annual pass office.

In case you are looking for a 10% discount for your annual pass price, look for a sponsor. This isactually very easy thing. At first I was wondering that it is not easy and difficult to find a sposors and since you may not know your sponsor it could be strange to ‘interrupt’ someones magical day. However I put more time into looking more information for annual pass sponsors and I actually learned it will be quite easy and people are actually looking forward to sponsor people since also the sponsor will gain benefits of sponsoring new passholders.

One of the easiest way is to go on facebook and join to Disneyland Paris annual pass group. And ask in case someone is there at the same time with you and you will find someone to sponsor you for sure. You can also try different groups (where it is allowed) but this is the group I’ve got so much information and I find it very helpful for any kind of questions regarding to annual pass for Disneyland Paris

These are the most important things to consider when buying Annual pass to Disneyland Paris, but if you have some more information I haven't mentioned, feel free to let me know in the comment section!

-Tiia 

Tips for Planning Your Magical Holiday

When planning a Disney holiday in Walt Disney World it might be a bit overwhelming, at least for first timers. There is so much information on Disney's own website and recommendations from people who has been going to Disney many times, the most important thing is to make the holiday the most magical for your family

Here are few tips that I found useful when planning our first Disney holiday from home last September. I'm not saying I'm an expert of planning Disney holidays, it depends so much of each family what experience is the most important and the highlight of the holiday

1. Using my Disney Experience app. It is available for smartphones, Android and Apple and it is so useful before, during and even after your holiday.
Beforehand you can make your dining reservation through the app, choose your magicband colour (if staying on site) and reserving your fast passes, depending if they are included in your ticket or you have purchased it as an extra for your tickets

During your holiday it is so convenient in case you want to change your fastpass choices or to check if you are eligible for extra fast passes after you have used your daily fastpass choices or you can even see the daily show times on app and opening times for each park.

There are so many ways how to use my Disney experience that it would take long post to go through all its functions, but I can guarantee that not using the app will make your holiday planning more complicated

2. Dining Plan. This is a subject that can be worth of the price or not. If you know your family loves to go for Character dinings and are planning to do several of them, I would recommend to add Disney Dining Plan on your reservation, it will become cheaper than paying them out of pocket, but if you know you will do only one Character dining, maybe it is better to have only Quick service plan and just save the extra cost for the dinner

This is how we have done for all of our previous Disney holidays, but our next upcoming holiday in November, we have decided to upgrade the Quick service dining plan to Disney dining plan and make several character meals throughout the holiday.
And in case someone is having a Disney holiday on a budget the best way might be packing your own meals and snacks for the park and maybe have a one lunch/ dinner at park and share it with children or buy one or two snacks on the holiday

3. Photopass. Another extra which may not be included into your ticket, or additional purchase to your ticket. I do believe it is worth of the money, even it may be a bit pricey additional magic to your holiday. In Walt Disney World there are so many photo pass points and you can have amazing magic shoots, regular photos and even some rides has their own photopass point which will be loaded on to your magicbands and there later you can download all of the photos on any of your devices which you like through My Disney Experience

4. Special Event Tickets. Depending what time of the year you are going to Disney World, they are arranging several special events which requires you to buy a separate ticket on top of your tickets you have purchased for your holiday. This depends so much of each family, do they think is it worth of paying extra or not. We did go for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which was amazing for us, we loved it so much and so we have also purchased tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  These are the only special even tickets we have considered worth of the money. I do recommend to buy the tickets in advance in order to secure your place on the event if you are willing to attend to these events, since they do tend to sell out. I find it the best way to book these tickets are through Disney and by phone, but some of you may use travel agents which is where you can also add these tickets on your reservation

5. FastPass + service. If you have this service utilise it. It is such a great feature to arrange and secure your spot at least on the most popular rides in Disney. You don't want to be spending all your holiday in line, this is great way to minimise the waiting lines and as I have mentioned before everything you can do on your phone, choose the fast passes and change them in case your plans has changed and you feel like you can't make your fast pass slot, but before changing your fastpass choice remember, you have one hour time to touch your magicband and join the queue

6. Rest Day. This is really important, I would try to do the rest day, which you can spend at the resort enjoying the pool and other facilities of the resort and/ or go to Disney Springs for a day for shopping, relaxing and eating out. I made this mistake on our first trip, we didn't have a proper rest day at any point, we only had one evening few hours time to go through Disney Springs which wasn't enough, first because we were so tired being in the parks from morning till evening everyday and we just didn't have enough time to explore all Disney Springs

When we are planning our Disney holidays, My Disney Experience app and Walt Disney World website are our best friends. I do not really like to call to Disney and do bookings, I'm do it myself girl and only call if there is a problem. But there are many ways to book your holiday, wether it is directly from Disney or through an agent. It doesn't matter how you plan your family's holiday in Disney there is magic and it will create unforgettable memories

- Tiia