Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment - a show for all the family

Last night we had the privilege of attending Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment at the Genting Arena in Birmingham. We enjoyed a VIP Meet and Greet with Mickey Mouse himself before the show, which was a real treat.

Before the show starts, there is a short pre-show, Fit to Dance. Children are encouraged to get up out of their seats and join in with some energetic moves to music. It was a great way to get the kids warmed up while they are waiting for the main event.

The show itself is introduced by Disney favourites Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy bringing their own slapstick comedy and fun. First up is Toy Story starring Andy, Woody, Buzz and Jessie alongside the toy soldiers, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Hamm, Slinky, Rex, Bull's Eye, Barbie, Ken and Lotso. As Andy prepares to leave for college, the toys find themselves in a sticky situation ending in them having to execute a daring escape from Sunnyside Daycare.  The costumes are just so incredible and a highlight in definitely the Ken and Barbie storyline with Ken's fashion show!

Next up is The Little Mermaid with beautiful ice dancing, great fishy characters and wonderful music. I loved watching Ariel and Eric's love story and their fight with Ursula the Sea Witch.

Mater, Sally and Lightning McQueen take to the ice as they help Mickey's car get souped up and ready for action. Seeing the full sized cars on the ice was very impressive.

The story of Frozen closes the show. With incredible special effects, brilliant ice dancing from Anna and Elsa and the amazing music from the movie, this part of the show is a real spectacle. Olaf brings some comedy and visual humour and is a real crowd favourite. The story of Frozen lends itself so well to the Disney on Ice show and it is done so beautifully.

The show is just so lovely. We all really enjoyed it. From the talented, skillful and impressive ice skaters, the entertaining choreography and storylines, the magical costumes and the Disney soundtrack, everything comes together to create something that the whole family will love. From my 8 year old son Freddy to my teenager Kez and her best friend Amelia to my husband Ian, everyone had a great time.

The show is touring and will be in Birmingham until April 1st. Find out more and book tickets at: www.disneyonice.com/gb/en-gb/worlds-of-enchantment.

Disney On Ice presents Worlds Of Enchantment is coming to Birmingham

The Disney on Ice show Worlds of Enchantment is coming to Birmingham’s Genting Arena on March 28^th 2018! Four favourite Disney stories will  magically come to life on the ice to delight Disney fans of all ages.

Lightning McQueen, Mater and the crew of Disney Pixar’s Cars will be revving their engines and racing across the ice with some exciting, high octane action! Dive into Ariel’s enchanted undersea kingdom where you get to meet the sea-witch Ursula, Prince Eric and The Little Mermaid’s aquatic friends. The toys are back in town when Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the Toy Story gang escape from the tots of Sunnyside Daycare in their most daring adventure ever! Plus, enter the wintry world of Arendelle with Frozen's Anna and Elsa, Olaf and Kristoff, as they learn that true love comes from within. With wonderful costumes, super talented ice skaters and magical Disney music, Disney on Ice is family entertainment at its best!

What’s more there is a chance to warm up at the Fit to Dance pre-show party giving kids a chance to create their own wonderful stories and share them through dance. Children will be inspired to get up and get active with a Disney twist.

Find out more and book tickets to the show at www.disneyonice.com. Disney On Ice presents Worlds Of Enchantment will be at Genting Arena Birmingham until April 1st so book quickly if you want to experience the magic. 

Disney Crossy Road Toy Review

Crossy Road is the iconic game, where you try to cross a busy road without getting splatted by oncoming vehicles. Whereas the original game featured a chicken, the Disney version stars favourite classic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear and Daisy Duck, trying to get across the road. Based on the Disney Crossy Road game app, Character Options has released a collection of mini figures and plush toys.

The Disney Crossy Road toys are made to look pixelated like the game characters and are great to collect, swap, display and play with. There are over 40 mini figures in the Series 1 range including Mickey and friends and characters from Toy Story, Big Hero 6 and Lion King. They are a new way to enjoy your favourite Disney characters.

Freddy was sent a plush Simba figure (£9.99), a Mini Figure 4 Pack (£10.99) and two Mystery Figure packs (£3.49).  The Mini Figure 4 pack has three visible figures and one hidden mystery figure. The Mystery Figure single packs come boxed so it's a completely blind choice.

Like most 7 year olds, Freddy loves collectible toys. He enjoys opening the mystery packs to try to find the characters he wants and likes to display his collection in his bedroom. The Disney Crossy Road toys combine the fun of collecting with our love of all things Disney, which makes them extra special!

Each character comes with its own rarity rating status such as classic, rare, epic, secret, legendary and limited edition. This makes collecting them all the more fun, as you try to complete your collection while hunting down the super limited edition metallic figurines.

The mini figurines are designed to be really simple, like an 8-bit pixelated game character, yet the attention to detail is spot on. From Goofy's teeth to Woody's hat, the essence of each character is perfectly captured. Each comes with its own plastic stand making them easy to display.

The 6" plush toys really bring the Disney Crossy Road characters to life. They are super soft and detailed and there are six to collect in Series 1: Minnie, Mickey, Simba, Baymax, Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

The Disney Crossy Road items are available to buy from Tesco, Asda, Toys R Us, Smyths and Argos. To see the range and to watch some great product videos, visit www.moosetoys.toys/disney-crossy-road.

Here is Freddy's unboxing video (including me mispronouncing the name of Emperor Zurg! Oops).


         

Free £5 Disney Store Voucher with every pack of Persil

With the new live action Beauty and the Beast film showing in cinemas nationwide, our love for all things Disney has once again been rekindled. From films to merchandise, we can't get enough of the Disney brand!

To celebrate Disney's latest remake of the treasured classic Beauty and the Beast, Persil are offering shoppers a free £5 Disney Store voucher with every pack of capsules purchased – making shopping for laundry detergent a whole lot more magical! Look out for the promotional packs in stores now.

Persil Capsules offer all-in-one triple action cleaning, in just one dose, providing you with the ultimate fuss-free, convenient way to clean and care for clothes. 

The offer features on all Non Bio, Bio and Colour Capsule packs and you can redeem the limited edition £5 Disney Store vouchers online at www.persil.co.uk by entering the unique code printed on every pack. Vouchers must be claimed by July 31st 2017 and redeemed by September 30th 2017. There is no minimum spend in-store and a maximum of ten vouchers can be claimed per email address, although only one voucher can be used per transaction. Perfect to treat the kids to a little something for free!

Persil understands that ‘Dirt is Good’, and as parents we can happily let our little Belles and Beasts play outside, get muddy, enjoy messy adventures and explore the great outdoors, knowing that Persil will wash away the dirt  from their clothing.

Persil Capsules 22 wash pack RRP £8.00

Persil Capsules 38 wash pack RRP £11.00

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.

Disney on Ice - Magical Ice Festival

We love Disney.

We love ice skating.

We LOVE Disney on Ice!

***

The latest show from Disney on Ice is the wonderful Magical Ice Festival.  Featuring favourite characters from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled and Frozen, it is the perfect performance for little princes and princesses to enjoy.  We went to watch the show at the Genting Arena in Birmingham.

Ariel, Rapunzel, Belle, Anna and Elsa take to the ice as their stories are beautifully brought to life. With all the best songs, amazing costumes and fab special effects, each of the princess stories are told, reliving some of the most magical Disney moments, introduced by Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. 

The highlight of the show, especially for the hundreds of little girls dressed up as Anna and Elsa, was most definitely seeing the Frozen segment of the show. Royal sisters Anna and Elsa, along with Olaf the snowmen, ice-man Kristoff and Sven the reindeer, are included as part of the UK line-up of Disney on Ice for the first time.

The ice skaters playing Anna and Elsa are incredible, putting on emotionally moving, dramatic and breathtakingly impressive performances. All the little mini Anna and Elsa clones in the audience went absolutely crazy when Olaf appeared and hearing them all blast out the chorus of 'Let It Go' gave me goosebumps!

We absolutely loved it.  The show is slick, colourful and so moving for Disney fans young and old. The ice dancing is superb - our favourite stars being Gaston and Elsa who left us breathless. It is the perfect treat for families who love all things Disney!

The show is still touring, playing in Dublin, Belfast, London, Cardiff, Nottingham and Leeds in various arenas up to May 17th.

Find out more at the Disney website: www.disney.co.uk/disney-on-ice/magical-ice-festival.

We received four press tickets to see the show.

We've Been to the Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic Show

We love ice skating and we love Disney...so Disney on Ice really is an incredibly appealing combination for me and my family.  So being invited to the NIA in Birmingham to watch the new Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic show was such a treat for us.

The show features 65 favourite characters from 18 different stories and has a fabulous soundtrack filled with Disney classics.  Mickey and Minnie introduce the cast taking families on a magical adventure.  The Disney Princesses with their princes star in a moving celebration of love Disney style.  The Mulan sequence includes snowfall and an avalanche scene, which was beautiful.  Freddy loved the Finding Nemo scene which featured some absolutely brilliant shark costumes alongside Nemo, Dory and Marlin. Pinocchio saw the Blue Fairy fly in from the sky and an assortment of wooden toys dancing.  When Monstro the Whale arrived on to the scene it was really impressive!  A homage to the famous Disney ride "It's a Small World" saw a parade of lights and sparkling floats along with characters representing all the nations of the world.  Other sequences featured Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Incredibles, Mickey's Band, Lion King and Toy Story: each one perfectly choreographed and beautifully presented.

To say we loved the show is an understatement!  I actually sobbed at how wonderful the Disney Princess's ice dances were.  Kizzy said it was "like Dancing on Ice but better because the skaters are good and it is Disney!"  Each pair danced to their signature love song and the lifts and moves were simply magical.  Breathtaking stuff!

Merchandise was pretty expensive.  We bought a snowcone in a presentation cup and it was £9!  But the kids did love it.  Freddy had a light up spinning wand that we bought from a vendor outside and he loved waving it throughout the show.

The finale came complete with pyrotechnics and starred all the skaters together in a wonderful routine.  Seeing all the characters together on the ice was quite a spectacle.  The costumes are all so colourful and look amazing.  It is such a lovely show that will be enjoyed by Disney fans young and old.  There are some really incredibly talented ice dancers who bring the stories to life.  How they manage to skate in full costume I do not know!

I would not hesitate in recommending the Disney on Ice shows to families.  The audience were all enthralled, even the little babies on their parents' laps were sat spellbound by the lights, sights and sounds.  Freddy, whose attention span is not great, was mesmerised by most of the show especially Toy Story with the marching soldiers, Finding Nemo and whenever Mickey was on the ice.  Kizzy, who is 12, found it very emotional and beautiful to watch. Like me, the Disney Princesses were her favourite part of the show and she said they were just perfect!  Even Ian thought it was visually fantastic and said it gave him that warm, familiar feeling of Disney Magic.  He liked how they kept each segment short, condensing the stories and keeping even the youngest member of the audience interested and focused.

The show is on at the NIA Birmingham until November 2nd.  After that, you can catch it at the following venues:

Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield – 5th – 9th November 2014

The O2, London – 24th December 2014, 26th – 29th December 2014 and 3rd & 4th January

2015

Coming in Spring 2015 is a brand new show, the Magical Ice Festival, an enchanted adventure into the worlds of Frozen as well as Tangled, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.  It looks phenomenal!! Tickets are available from November 7th.

To discover more about Disney On Ice, go to www.disneyonice.co.uk.

My Mother's Day

A hand print butterfly card from my precious little schoolboy :)  he had hidden in in the kitchen cupboard since Friday so he could surprise me.

 A card from my three youngest comparing me to Disney characters, which made me cry.  I feel humbled to know that they think of me in these ways.

In the same theme, Freddy drew me this picture saying "Mum is Rapunzel.  She is pretty."  More tears!

Freddy also presented me with the most beautiful bunch of flowers...and a Dairylea Dunker as breakfast in bed!  The latter brought back memories of my eldest son bringing me a chocolate Pop Tart spread with Marmite as a breakfast in bed treat when he was about the same age!

Megan made me a video that was just so lovely that I cried some more!  She is doing so tremendously well pursuing her dream career and grasping every opportunity that comes her way.  She is an inspiration. She does us so proud!

A Facebook message from my eldest Joe let me know that he was thinking of me, as he spent a day with his own little family :)

I had a lovely chat on the phone to my own fabulous Mum.  I love her to bits!  She loved all her presents and the Moonpig card I sent her, which featured old family photos of us together alongside photos of her with my kids.

Ella playing her guitar and singing for me whilst I baked some cakes was a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.  We followed it up by catching up on the new series of How I Met Your Mother snuggled under a duvet.  Simple things make me happy.

I adore my brood and feel so blessed.

I love being their mum more than anything else in the world.

They make me so proud everyday.

****

I was also sent a little pamper hamper from Virtual Bathrooms so I could enjoy a lovely scented candelit bubble bath.  Thanks to them too :)

Wish I Was There Photo Competition #AFWishIWasThere

The January weather is wet and miserable.  The sky is grey and the rain is unrelenting.  Not a great way to start the new year.  As I sit and look out of my window at another dull day, my mind is wandering back to last summer.  The unexpectedly gorgeous weather was the perfect setting for spending many a glorious day basking in the sunshine.  In August we took the family to Disneyland Paris.  The weather was positively tropical with the temperature creeping over 30 degrees, which was a huge bonus.  My kids adore Disney so spending five days onsite with a premium dining plan was the perfect vacation.  The Disney magic was sprinkled over our holiday in abundance as we watched parades, enjoyed rides, met characters and spent quality time together as a family.  For us, this is the perfect ingredients for the ideal holiday. The smiles on the children's faces were simply priceless and the laughter, fun and memories we shared will last a lifetime.  I wish I was back there now!

If you have a photo of your summer holidays that makes you wish you were there, Al Fresco Holidays would love you to share them.  You could win £300 holiday vouchers or a Nikon Camera! Ten runners up will win a printed copy of their photo.

Find out more at http://blog.alfresco-holidays.com/2014/01/15/wish-i-was-there-photo-competition/

Win a copy of Disney's Frozen Soundtrack

I can't wait to take the kids to see Disney's latest movie, Frozen, especially after listening to the original soundtrack.  The songs from the film took me back to the Ashford and Menken glory days of Disney songwriting.  Each of the eight original songs propels the storytelling and adds emotion and humour. "Let It Go" sung by Demi Lovato delivers a poignant and powerful message about self discovery.  It would make a perfect stand alone chart song, it's very credible and relevant with a great catchy and empowering chorus.  Other songs represent a return to Disney's musical excellence.  "Do You Want To Build a Snowman?" is a heart tugging tune filled with raw emotion whilst Olaf's "In the Summer" is laugh out loud funny!  The score is inspired and epic, embracing the beauty of the setting and the emotion of the story.  The music takes you on a wonderful journey.  If this CD is anything to go by, Frozen is going to be a beautiful and stunning movie!

We have 3 copies of ‘Frozen’ The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - which features a recording by Demi Lovato - to give away. Frozen OST is out to buy on 2nd December and includes music and songs from the festive new movie from Disney.

To enter simply fill in the Rafflecopter entry form and tell me what your favourite Disney song is as a blog comment. This will unlock bonus entries!  The prizedraw closes at 11.59am on the 5th December.  Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

‘FROZEN’ The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is available from 2^nd December from Walt Disney Records

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Phineas and Ferb Rockin' and Rollin' Album

A new digital recording: Phineas and Ferb: Rockin’ and Rollin’ has been released. It features 25 favourite tracks taken from all four seasons of the show, including two from the special summer Mission Marvel episode. The songs on the album have flavours of R&B, Country and Dance so there is something for everyone to enjoy.

We've been listening to it streamed online to review and it is totally cool.  Fans of Phineas and Ferb will love it.  It is quirky, funny and full of the humour of the show.  It would be a perfect recording for the car to keep the kids entertained, singing along to the catchy lyrics and laughing at the madcap musical antics of Phineas and Ferb.

TRACKLISTING:

1) Platypus Walk – Swampy and the Marsh-mellows

2) Real Boy – Norm the Robot

3) Football X7 – Robbie Wyckoff

4) Big Honkin’ Hole in My Heart – Baljeet and Buford

5) Let’s Spend Half a Day – Kate Pierson

6) The Way of the Platypus – Rick Cowling

7) Isabella’s Birthday Song – Isabella

8) We Are the Moms – Jen Hirsch

9) What Is this Thing? – Fee Waybill

10) Drusselstein Driving Test Waltz – Aaron Daniel Jacob

11) Ferb Latin – Phineas and Friends

12) Evil for Extra Credit – Carl the Intern

13) Extraordinary – Candace

14) Funhouse – Aaron Daniel Jacob

15) I’m Me – Vanessa

16) I’m Handsome – Dr. Doofenshmirtz

17) Livin’ with Monkeys – Candace

18) Just the Two of Us – Danny Jacob

19) Runnin’ from Love (in a Bear Suit) – Robbie Wyckoff

20) Waggle Dance – Ginger and The Fireside Girls

21) Dance Baby – Aaron Daniel Jacob

22) Feelin’ Super – Ian Osborne

23) My Evil Buddies and Me – Danny Jacob

24) Izzy’s Got the Frizzies – Carmen Carter

25) Quirky Worky Song – Danny Jacob

                            

My favourite song is We are The Moms, a great look at maternal instinct!  I can totally relate!

It's available to download now priced at £8.49.

Disney's Planes Remote Controlled Driving Dusty

Freddy was sent a Disney's Planes 1:24 Remote Controlled Driving Dusty toy from Character Online. For a boy who adores all things Disney this was a toy that brought a huge amount of excitement!

The 1:24 model of the big-hearted, fast-flying crop duster Dusty from the new Disney film Planes, looks absolutely brilliant.  The animation lends itself perfectly to the creation of quality merchandise that looks totally like the film counterparts.  Dusty is full of character and the design of the model is very detailed.

First and foremost for anyone considering buying one, the RC Dusty does NOT fly.  It drives around the floor controlled by the RC handset.  This did not worry Freddy at all and he loved being able to drive Dusty around.  In the film, Dusty is afraid of heights, so his lack of flying is not at all out of character!

The handset is very user friendly for small hands.  There are two levers, one for backwards and forwards and one for left and right. There is also an on/off switch.  The RC handset also makes engine and plane sounds as you play with Dusty.

Freddy very quickly got to grips with the controls and had Dusty going back and forth and going around corners.  The propeller spins around as the plane whizzes along which is a nice touch and the wings dip as it takes corners.  The plane is robust and is surviving crashing into the sofa, door and wall under the control of my 4 year old. He has tested the durability of this toy quite extensively so far!

                         

I would have liked to have seen a speed limiter which would give little ones more control over the plane, because once it gets going, Dusty really does drive fast.  There would be fewer crashes if Freddy had more time to stop or turn Dusty.  But saying that Freddy thought it was hilarious to zoom Dusty around at high speed!

RC driving plane "Dusty" is equipped with a dual-channel wireless RC handset and full turbo function. He comes with sound and body drift. The plane is available in a 27 and 40 Mhz frequency. 1/24 scale model. Remote (3x 1.5V LR03 AAA) Plane (3x 1.5V LR6 AA). Not included. For ages 4 and over. RRP £49.99.

http://www.character-online.com/products/Planes/Planes-1-24-Remote-Control-Driving-Dusty-Plane/

Our Disney Holiday Photo Album

We have just come back from 5 amazing days at Disneyland Paris...we enjoyed glorious weather (30 degrees plus), fantastic food (thanks to our free and very generous half board dining plan), great accommodation in our cabin in the Davy Crockett Ranch (with quality air con), some really cool rides (Tower of Terror is my personal favourite) plus plentiful amounts of incredible Disney magic!!  Here is a selection of the 1000+ photographs we took featuring my very own Disney Kids: Megan, Ella, Kizzy and Freddy enjoying being together, having fun and making magic moments at Disneyland Paris :)

Save the Bees!

British families may soon have to wave goodbye to the idyllic summer sound of wild buzzing bees. 

A poll of British families has revealed that 20% of children under 10 have never even seen a wild bee.

The research showed that 20 per cent of the 2000 UK parents surveyed are unaware of any drop in British wild bee numbers and 46% of parents are unaware that the decline in bee numbers will have an adverse effect on the economy, as they do not realise the bees contribution to agriculture and the food industry.

Despite the catastrophic forecast predicted for both the environment and economy, 19% of parents admit they would find summertime more enjoyable without bees, with 16% admitting they find bees a massive inconvenience.  This is so sad.  Maybe they are confusing bees with wasps?  I love to see bumble bees buzzing around the flowers.  It's always been something synonymous with British Summertime and it is a tragedy that this is under threat.  

We can do something to help the bees and a fabulous campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the plight of the bee with Disney’s The Hive toys in association with bee charity Adopt-a-Hive.

Tony Gray, Beekeeper and founder of Adopt-a-Hive, commented : “The popularity of the characters from Disney’s The Hive can play a key role in educating children – and their parents - on the plight of bees. This campaign is all about raising awareness and helping to educate people on ways they can do their bit to save the British bee.”

Using the popularity of bees amongst children, the campaign will be aimed at families, hoping to educate and offer tips on how to save bees. Throughout, the spring and summer months, The Hive toys will be offering a host of prizes, including beehives and playsets. 

The Hive playsets, from Mookie Toys, portray the characters from the hit Disney TV, allowing children to re-enact their favourite scenes or make up their own imaginative games.  Freddy was sent the Slide Playset which is part of the playground collection, which consists of a swing set, merry-go-round and see-saw that can all interlock together.  All the playsets, characters and items are compatible with each other. The Slide Set came with everyone's favourite bee Buzzbee and his friend Jasper.  The two friends can whizz down the slide and buzz up the ladder.  The colourful playset is fun for little fans of The Hive and Freddy enjoyed playing with it, making Jasper and Buzzbee go up and down the slide!  (RRP £14.99)

The playset has a sticker on it directing parents to visit the website where, every month until August 16th, someone will win a bee hive adoption which includes all the lovely honey that the bees make!  Runners up will receive a share in a hive and a jar of the honey or a toy from The Hive collection.  The site also has lots of information about bees and what we can do to help them.

Tips on how to make bees welcome in your garden!

• Plant colourful clusters of differently shaped and sized native flowers in your garden.  
• Have a range of plants flowering all season.
• Do not use pesticides.  

For more information, or to win a hive for your family, please visit www.thehiveadopt.co.uk

Toy Story Remote Control RC Review

The Disney Store is magical all year round, but at Christmas something really special happens in my family's favourite shop.  The place is brimming with hundreds of fantastic gift ideas with toys, clothes and other items featuring all our favourite Disney characters.  You just can't go wrong when buying gifts for Disney fans at the Disney Store

We have been sent a fantastic Christmas present for Freddy from the Disney Store, a Remote Control RC with Buzz and Woody.  It is completely brilliant!

We all remember the scene in Toy Story when Woody and Buzz try to get back to Andy whilst whizzing down the road on the back of RC aided by the lighting of the 'Big One' rocket that Sid had strapped to Buzz's back.  Well, with this great toy, children can re-enact that very scene, or create their own hair raising scenarios starring Buzz, Woody and RC.

The set includes a brilliantly detailed RC, a Buzz figure, a Woody figure, Woody's hat, road cones, The Big One rocket and a steering wheel motion hand controller.

The figures are articulated for positioning.  The rocket fits on Buzz's back and when his wings are out he will be ready for some high octane role play!

The controller is easy to use with buttons for forwards and backwards movement and a steering wheel action to turn RC left and right.  This makes it much easier for younger children to control.  The car and controller take a total of six AA batteries so be sure to have them available for Christmas day!

This toy is suitable for ages 3 and up and will definitely be a huge hit with fans of Toy Story.  Like the other Toy Story merchandise available at Disney Store, everything is beautifully designed and true to the Pixar characters from the films. 

We absolutely love this toy.  Toy Story is one of our favourite family films and there is something so wonderful about bringing the characters to life through play, in your own home.  The controls are responsive but easy to manage, even for little hands, which for me puts this above other RC vehicles when buying for a young child.  

The Toy Story Remote Control RC with Buzz and Woody is a Disney Store exclusive and this is the product details:

• Toy Story Remote Control Toy Set With Buzz and Woody
• Buzz Lightyear and Woody action figures
• Racing car
• 'The Big One' rocket and 3 x cones
• Pack measures H23 x W20.5 x L34 cm approx
• Age 3+

It is £30 RRP but is currently available for £22.50 online with delivery free on orders over £50.  It is also available in store.

Take a look at the Disney Store Website for hundreds of fantastic gift ideas for Disney fans big and small!

Aldi Special Buy Toys

Keep your eyes peeled in Aldi Stores in the run up to Christmas for some great value Special Buys that will give you some great ideas for the kids.  Aldi are stocking a range of toys which will be ideal for stocking fillers, gifts for little friends or for popping under the tree.  From December 9th while stocks last, the following will be available in store:  a Pocket Library, Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles and Wooden Model Toy Kit.  I've been sent some to try out.

Pocket Libraries £2.49

This little box of six mini board books is excellent value.  Featuring kids' favourites such as Cars, Disney Princesses, Chuggington and Mickey Mouse, the little books focus on subjects such as colours, shapes, sharing and counting.  The size is perfect for little hands.  The back of the books can be put together to make a bigger picture which adds an element of fun to the set.  The set also includes a sheet of stickers.  The colourful pages and the engaging text will hold the attention of little ones.

Wooden Jigsaws £4.99

These puzzles contain two jigsaws in the box.  The chunky wooden pieces are sturdy and easy to handle.  They don't bend so won't get damaged.  They feature favourite characters from Cars and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse also Disney Princesses. The puzzles come in 16, 25 and 50 pieces so be sure to pick the one that suits your child's age and ability.  One of the puzzles comes with a printed back so you can easily sort them out.

Wooden Model Kit £4.99

Hands and minds will be kept busy with these model toy making kits.  Children as young as 5 can build a model with adult help.  Children aged 8 and over will be able to work independently.  The kits come with everything needed to make a wooden model.

These toys will definitely make little ones very happy on Christmas morning, without breaking the bank!