Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment - Our Review

Last weekend we headed off to Birmingham to review the wonderful Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment  at the Barclaycard Arena. 

The show features four stories: Toy Story 3, The Little Mermaid, Cars and Frozen, introduced by Disney favourites Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. With exquisite costumes, stunning scenery, amazing choreography, special effects, pyrotechnics and original Disney music, the magic of Disney is brought to life on the ice. The story takes us from Andy's Toy Box to Under the Sea to Radiator Springs to Arendelle. What a journey!

The Toy Story routine was beautifully done, telling the tale of when Andy goes to college, leaving his beloved toys behind. Their adventure at Sunnyside and their elaborate escape is brilliantly executed and includes Woody taking to the skies on a kite and Lotso being picked up by a garbage truck driver's giant hand. Highlights included the toy soldiers with their synchronised routines and the hilarious love story of Barbie and Ken. It is touching, heartwarming and exciting with lots of laughs thrown into the mix.

The Little Mermaid is one of my favourite Disney films. I love the story of Ariel and her fishy friend Flounder, and Ursula the Sea Witch is a magnificent villain. I loved seeing the underwater kingdom brought to life on the ice with flowing fabric waves and intricately detailed dancing fish. The ice dancer portraying Ariel was perfect for the role, telling the story of how she fell in love with Eric, made a pact with the evil Ursula and eventually broke her spell with a kiss from her prince.

After the interval, we were treated to one of my favourite parts of the show. The Cars from Radiator Springs came to the rescue of Minnie and Mickey's new roadster that had broken down. The full size vehicles are so beautifully made and look great as they drive and spin across the ice. Mater the Tow Truck and Lightning McQueen are brilliant with their fully articulated eyes and talking mouths. We were all enthralled with the four wheeled characters and loved seeing Mickey and Minnie drive away in the pimped up roadster.

Frozen is still the part of the show that everyone is excitedly waiting for and when Anna and Elsa step on to the ice, they deliver with a musical extravaganza. When Elsa brings winter to Arendelle, special effects see snow fall from the sky and fountains freeze before your eyes. Elsa's castle that appears during 'Let It Go' number is spectacular and the arrival of Olaf the snowman received the loudest cheer from the crowd. The ice dancing was exquisite and of the highest standard, and the tale is told with real heart.

This is the perfect show for families to watch together. Seeing a Disney on Ice show guarantees you are in for a treat. With amazing performers, music, costumes and effects, the show is simply stunning. My family love it! It is a perfect show for younger children, introducing them to ice dancing and live performance, with characters and songs they know and love.

To find out when Disney on Ice is coming to a town near you and to book tickets visit: www.disney.co.uk/disney-on-ice/worlds-of-enchantment. The show runs until January 3rd 2016 with Belfast, Dublin, Sheffield and London dates available.

Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment

Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment is coming to Birmingham on October 21st to November 1st, as part of its current autumn UK tour.  Taking families on an exciting adventure through four magical worlds, featuring characters from Toy Story, Cars, Frozen and The Little Mermaid alongside Disney favourites Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy, it promises to be an action packed, fun-filled musical extravaganza! 

The Cars section features state of the art, custom animatronics for some high octane, freewheeling excitement. Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater and the crew twist, turn and spin on the frozen freeway of Radiator Springs.

Anna and Elsa are the stars of the frosty kingdom of Arendelle, as they bring to life the wonderful award winning animation Frozen. Anna, helped by Kristoff and Olaf, embarks on an epic journey to find Elsa whose icy powers have trapped Arendelle in an eternal winter in this heartfelt, emotional story of true love.

Buzz, Woody and Jessie will be going to Infinity and Beyond, bringing the world of Toy Story to life and The Little Mermaid will welcome us to her undersea world to meet her friends.

The worlds of water, ice, wheels and toys come together to create an unforgettable experience for young and old Disney fans alike.

The characters, the costumes, the humour and the music add magic to the show while the incredibly talented cast skate with sheer perfection in perfectly choreographed routines. It is thrilling, enchanting and emotionally charged.

We'll be going to see the show at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham and cannot wait to experience the wonder of the Worlds of Enchantment!

Book tickets for Birmingham and see the other venues at www.disney.co.uk/disney-on-ice/worlds-of-enchantment.

12 Toys of Christmas #3

Today's selection of toys is for car crazy kids.  Freddy loves anything with wheels and I can see these being a big hit with any other like minded little lads.  These three toys are each part of a larger range of toys that are sure to be featured on many a Christmas wish list.  So if you are looking for a present for a boy, take a look at these for an idea of what is hot this year! 

GB Toys’ (Golden Bear) new collection, Go MINI, will bring fast action stunts and ultimate style to any Christmas wish list this year!

Go MINI Crew-zers are the perfect stocking filler gift to start a collection. There are five super cool styles each with its own character name, such as Chilli the red hot Crew-zer and Jaxx the patriotic royal blue dude emblazoned with a Union Jack.

The show offs of the forecourt, however, are the Go MINI Stunt Racers. There are six to collect and each comes with two modes – race and stunt, with every car having a different unique stunt.

Alternatively, the Go MINI Freestylers have their own unique and quirky features that make them a truly customised crew! Beats comes with a supped up sound box in his boot whilst Bulldog is a true Brit, complete with Union Jack decoration and a Bulldog which pops up from the roof with the press of a button.

For a top of the range Go MINI then the RC Wolf Rally Car is the highlight of the show room. This remote control speed machine has lights and sounds that are activated by the steering wheel remote handset.

 GB Toys’ Go MINI collection represents one of the finest and most exciting launches for the younger boys this Christmas. With four ranges and 17 cars to collect, each with its own name, fun features, and unique decoration there’s a Go MINI for everybody.

Find out more at GB Toys.

Building Blocks are a favourite at Christmas and Character Building is set to wow again this year with exciting new additions to the range, including a brand new Ben 10 collection!

The Ben 10 range will feature eight collectible construction micro-figures of characters from across the series, including Ben and popular aliens such as Big Chill, Water Hazard and Ultimate Swampfire. Larger playsets include Kevin’s Car and a fully functional Azmuth’s Laboratory with 430 bricks!  Kids can spend hours constructing their own Ben 10 alien adventures.

Find out more at Character Building.

Series 3 of The Trash Pack collectibles will launch just in time for Christmas. The grossest gang in town are back with a whole host of new yucky characters to collect.

Clean up your neighbourhood with the Trashie Street Sweeper (SRP £19.99)- a must have toy for this Christmas. Watch as the rotten rollers rotate and sweep your Trashies into the waste catcher! Crash your sweeper and watch as the waste catcher ejects freeing your Trashies! Comes with two exclusive Trashies and their bins!

Also out is the Scum Drum (SRP £24.99) the grossest game ever!  Launch your Trashies into the Scum Drum, fill your trash pile and win the game! The Trashies have turned an old drum into the grossest game ever!  Will they land in the disgusting Scum Drum?  Or hit the target and release the caged Trashies?  Comes with four exclusive Trashies, two exclusive and two ultra-rare.

Kids can have loads of fun taking out the trash with the Garbage Truck (SRP £19.99). Use the Tip ‘n Flip action or Wheelie Bin Launcher to catapult the Trashies into the truck and clean up Trash Town! Each Garbage Truck includes two exclusive Trashies.

Find out more at The Trash Pack.

12 Toys of Christmas  #2
12 Toys of Christmas #1

What My Son Wants vs What My Son Needs

Today, our eldest son Joe has been to buy a new car.  His current sporty Seat Leon is becoming a money pit that he can no longer afford so he has decided that it was time to get something a little newer, more economical and more sensible.  He has been in constant phone contact with his dad, who has been talking him down when the salesman was trying to get Joe to buy a brand new car that he could ill afford!

Thankfully he seems to have settled for a 58 plate Ford Focus which will slash the cost of his insurance, tax and petrol.  OK, we are going to have to stump up some cash as he has negative equity on his last car's finance and he'll be putting himself into a further five years debt, but it could have been so much worse!

Every since he was a baby, Joe has wanted things.  He'd be the child who'd see adverts on TV and would want whatever the latest must have thing was so badly, he'd be convinced that his life would be somehow substandard otherwise.  When he was about 3, Bucky O'Hare was the latest TV show and the toy action figures were all the rage.  I bought a Bucky (who was an astronaut rabbit thing!) for Joe.  He was content for 2 seconds.  He then needed a baddie to fight against.  Stupidly I complied.  Then he needed the trusty side-kick and the other crew members...then of course he needed the space ship and the vehicles.  I don't know whether because I was a teenage single parent that I felt the need to try to please my little boy.  Or maybe some kids are just like that?  I really don't know, but before I knew it, I'd bought the whole range and Joe got bored with them and no longer played with any of it!  The same happened with Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Biker Mice from Mars.

Then came the advent of video games consoles. Then designer sports clothes.  The computers! By this time though I was older and wiser and was not about to indulge all his desires!  But he could still wrap me round his little finger and weaken my resolve sometimes.  None of the other kids have had the "I Want" gene, thank goodness!

So when Joe wanted to get a new car and started to mention Audi A4s, I felt a pang of panic, thinking of a salesman getting Joe to sign himself up to a huge debt added to by extortionate insurance!  So I was so relieved when I realised he wasn't serious.  His actual choice of car proves that the lessons me and his dad have drummed into him over the last few years have actually sunk in.  He is thinking sensibly about his future and his finances, rather than desperately wanting the car he desires at any cost.  That makes me very proud.  My son is no longer the boy who wants every Bucky O'Hare toy...he is at last a responsible adult!

#NaBloPoMo Day 12

Toyology Review...Scalextric Start Grand Prix

This Christmas, Santa was given a helping hand  in providing presents for my family, when I won a wonderful box of Toyology toys from A Modern Military Mother's blog.  I was exteremely thrilled to win such an exciting array of Toys R Us's finest!  On Christmas Day, one particular toy became an instant hit with the whole family from 18 month old Freddy right up to 42 year old Dad!  This was the Scalextric Start Grand Prix Set.

"This great Scalextric Start Grand Prix Set allows you to design and decorate your own cars and then race against your opponent to become grand prix champion on the 1:32 track. The new simple fit track and skill level hand controllers let you control the speed making this set perfect for beginners and professionals."

My husband has a history with Scalextric.  He collected it as a child and still indulged in tournaments as a teenager.  So he was really excited to put the new set together.

His first observation was that it was much easier to assemble with the new Ultra Fast Fit Track.  The pieces slotted together very simply and within minutes the whole track was assembled and ready to go. There are six different 540cm circuits.  We opted for the simplest track, which was very straightforward to construct using the diagram on the front of the box.

The set came with two Grand Prix Racing Cars, one in red, one in white.  There are stickers which can be used to customize the cars.

The set is for children aged 5 and up.  My 8 year old daughter found the controllers really easy to get to grips with.  She quickly worked out how to exert the right amount of pressure on the trigger to avoid launching the car off across the living room.  She was able to race against her elder sisters and her dad without feeling in any way handicapped by her age.  The Skill Level Control feature allows you to restrict the hand controller's sensitivity  so younger children can play without risk of damaging the cars or becoming frustrated by cars constantly coming off the track.  This would make it more accessible for beginners.  Although possibly considered a boys' toy, my three girls became very competitive, racing against each other and enjoying every minute of the high octane fun!! 

Our 18 month old was fascinated by the cars whizzing around the track.  He enjoyed sitting on Daddy's lap and feeling involved.  Daddy even helped him to have a go at controlling the cars himself.  It'll be a few years though before he can take pole position himself!  He did try to grab the cars on their way past him a few times, creating spectacular crashes, but no harm befell the vehicles!!

All in all, the Scalextric Grand Prix Set provided good family entertainment that was not limited by age or gender.  Everyone enjoyed playing it and cheering on the cars in the races.

8 year old Kizzy said "It is so exciting when the cars get neck and neck because you don't know who will lose or win.  You have to stay in control or else you'll crash off the tracks.  I can even beat my Dad!!"

Priced at  £69.99, this is a great starter set. Perfect for children just discovering the joys of Scalextric or for dads reliving their Racing Driver childhood dreams.

More Car Madness!!

Just as the excitement of the VW filming has calmed down...we now have another crazy experience to contend with!!

I spotted a competition to win a Hyundai car with the Eden Shopping Centre in High Wycombe.  You had to upload a picture of a car you had built and post it to their wall.  Ten finalists would win the chance to compete in a Hands on my Hyundai Competition.  The person who lasts longest takes the car!  After 6 hours in the event of a tie, a tie-breaker will take place.  Runners up win a goodie bag! 

I challenged my husband Ian to enter this one, because he is the gadget mad one, who loved Meccano as a child!  So next day at work he set about carrying out this task.  As he works in the IT industry it seemed obvious to use computer components...CDs, pieces of Hard Drive and Key Board bits helped construct a rather ingenius little car that he proudly photographed and emailed to me!!  I was very impressed, especially with him spelling out Hyundai with keyboard letters!  So we entered it!

Surprisingly, only 22 entries were received in this competition.  So the odds were very much in Ian's favour.  I also think his was definitely one of the best, having been built especially for the competition and paying homage to the brand...making it particularly apt!

Today he received the phone call to say he is in the final 10.  It's going to be mad.  High Wycombe is 3 hours away from us and the contest starts at 9.15am.  6 hours standing up with 2 hands on a car is going to be horrible...but Ian was a Venture Scout and loves a challenge!!  We're looking at it as another unexpected adventure that we would never have done otherwise.  Life throws these opportunities at you...I think you have to grasp them and roll with them and see what fate has in store for you!!  I'll be there supporting Ian and regardless of the outcome, we will have another unforgettable family adventure!!

IAN'S COMPUTER CAR