Walt Disney World shopping haul

There are only two things that provide a quick fix for those unrelenting Disney holiday blues. One is booking your next trip, and the other is making the most of everything you bought while you were there.

I blogged about my holiday shopping wishlist a couple of weeks before we left and I managed to pick up most of the things I wanted to buy. It's also quite fair to say that I bought a few extras. We received a $200 gift card with our holiday booking which was a great bonus, so lots of the items in this post were bought using that. Free money!

We also had some productive trips to the many shopping outlets outside of Walt Disney World, but I'm just focusing on my Disney haul for this post.

Two of my favourite purchases! A little Dooney and Bourke bag and a Mickey Mouse topiary charm for my Disney Pandora bracelet. 

I bought some lovely clothes this year, including a baby pink spirit jersey which was even prettier than the rose gold one I'd coveted beforehand. I also bought a pin for my office lanyard, and I couldn't say no to these two pairs of amazing Disney Parks ears. 

I bought some practical items for the house including fridge magnets, a new mug and bowl, and several pens (which I definitely didn't need but just had to have). I also bought a beautiful Dumbo necklace, just to go with the continuing Dumbo theme. 

As per my wishlist, I bought the special edition Flower and Garden Festival Minnie Mouse. Look how pretty she is! I also bought Figment, Dug, and a Tramp costume for Duffy. I wasn't supposed to buy any more costumes for Duffy but it was $10 in an outlet store so I couldn't resist.

We spent a long time over several evenings in the fascinating Art of Disney store and eventually decided on this beautiful Dumbo sketch and a Mickey, Minnie and Pluto postcard for our newly redecorated bedroom. 

We bought a new Minnie Mouse collar and tag for Jessie along with some Disney toys. The pictured toy only lasted a day before she broke it, but her squeaky Mickey waffle is thankfully still going strong. 

Have you blogged about your Disney hauls recently? Send me your links, I'd love to read them! 

My holiday shopping wishlist

There are just 13 days to go until we're back in Walt Disney World... where has this year gone?!

As a general rule, I don't particularly enjoy shopping. However, shopping while on a Disney holiday is a completely different ball game and adds an extra element of pre-holiday excitement. I've got quite a few things on my shopping wish list for Florida next month.

I wrote a blog post about my holiday shopping wishlist last year, and it actually helped me to (mostly) stick to my must-have items rather than buying anything and everything. Consequently, I've decided to go the same thing this year!

Firstly, I've been coveting lots of things from the amazing stores situated in Disney Springs and at the parks...

Thanks to Instagram, I really want to bring home

some kind of pink/rose gold spirit jersey.

I'm hoping to treat myself to a small Dooney & Bourke bag

to use in the parks.

We'll be buying a few Disney-themed dog toys for Jessie on our travels. 

THEY'RE NOW SELLING DUFFY AND SHELLIE MAY PANDORA CHARMS. 

Capitals were completely necessary there. 

How cute is this beautiful Minnie Mouse plush from

the Flower and Garden Festival?

I'm on a mission to collect all the Disney dogs.

I might add Nana to my collection this year!

We want to get a cute Ratatouille-themed print for our

kitchen (just not one that costs as much as this one).

I always add to my fridge magnet collection whenever we go on holiday. 

I need to wear a lanyard every day in my new job...

perfect opportunity to buy a Disney pin!

Although lots of the items I bring home from Florida tend to be from Walt Disney World itself, we also enjoy visiting the many shopping outlets nearby. '60% off' signs are very common in these outlets and I love a good bargain. With this in mind, I've got a few non-Disney items on my list.

I'm on the hunt for a little black bag, so I'll be scouring the Kate Spade outlets. 

I'm in desperate need of new gym/running clothes, and Under Armour
is much cheaper in the US than in the UK.

I shouldn't really buy any new Ugg boots, but... 

I might blog about my holiday purchases when I get back... do you think I'll stick to this wishlist? 

My post-Christmas sale bargains

I very rarely buy anything at full price. I've always got lots of website links for potential purchases saved on my phone, and I either wait for them to go down in price or for a discount code to swoop into my inbox. This means that the post-Christmas sales are a highly exciting event for me!

I always save a certain amount of money throughout December to make sure I've got enough to spend in the sales after Christmas, and I also had some Quidco cashback and eBay funds to spend.

It's safe to say that I've picked up some amazing bargains over the last few weeks. I use the post-Christmas sales to stock up on new dresses for work, holiday clothes, and anything else I need/want which I didn't get for Christmas.

I've included links for the items below wherever possible, just in case you fancy grabbing a bargain before they all disappear.

Hunter wellies from Schuh - I've wanted Hunter wellies for ages

and got a children's pair in the sale with a discount of £16 (and a huge £61 discount on the pink pair I saw on ASOS). Hooray for having small feet! 

A floral dress for work, a lacy pink dress and a black midi dress from Debenhams. These three dresses combined cost £39, and I saved £96 on them in total! 

A black and white dress for work, a playsuit ready for Florida, and a pink summer dress.

I saved £32 in total on these items which were all from New Look.

A blue summer dress from ASOS ready for Florida.

At £7.50 with a saving of £17.50, I couldn't go wrong!

Rose gold sequin shoes from New Look - a saving of £11. 

Cosy jumper dress from the Fat Face outlet in McArthur Glen - £25 off! 

Winnie the Pooh pyjamas from Asda - a saving of £7. 

A floral openwork charm from Pandora for my

grey leather bracelet - half price and £10 off.

Bath bomb and gift box from Lush - both items

were half price which resulted in a saving of £10.75. The gift card I had from my brother for Christmas paid for these purchases!

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush tin from Boots, half price with a saving of £5. 

And last but not least, the photo doesn't do this beautiful Ted Baker bag justice...

half price in John Lewis with a saving of £40.

I happily worked out that I've saved a whopping £270.25 in total, which is a lot more than what I actually spent. This makes my bargain hunting heart very happy. 

Have you blogged about your post-Christmas sale purchases? Please send me your links if so! 

Disney Pandora has arrived in the UK!

As of a couple of weeks ago, you can now buy Disney Pandora charms in the UK. I've raved about this collection previously but, rather shockingly, I'm not thrilled that the range is now available a few miles down the road. Why ever not, I hear you ask?

Exclusivity 
I really liked the fact that, previously, I could only buy the Disney charms in Walt Disney World. It made them exclusive and an extra special souvenir, and I used to look forward to choosing my new Disney charm whenever we went to Florida. Now that I can buy the charms at home whenever I want, along with every other Disney fan in the UK, buying them on holiday will no longer have the same appeal. On the plus side, I've noticed that some park exclusive charms will still be sold in Walt Disney World and nowhere else, so perhaps I'll just have to limit myself to those!


Availability 
Linked to the last point, I was secretly glad that I could only buy Disney charms once per year as I only wanted one Disney themed bracelet rather than multiple ones. I also don't like it when my bracelets are too full, so there was a finite number of charms I could actually buy. Now, due to this new ease of access, I feel as if the temptation will be too great and I'll end up buying more Disney charms in place of charms from Pandora's standard ranges. I proved this last weekend when I bought this Mrs Potts charm! However, in my defence, this beautiful charm was on my list last time I was in Florida and it was out of stock everywhere, so it wasn't a completely out-of-the-blue purchase.

Variability
I'm quite disappointed that the Disney Pandora collection that's launched in the UK is entirely made up of charms. In select locations in Walt Disney World, you can also buy a wide array of rings, earrings and necklaces. I'd definitely be more excited about the launch of the collection in the UK if there was a greater variety of products available.


My bank balance 
And, last but not least, my bank balance is extremely unhappy that Disney charms are now available in the UK! They've previously been carefully budgeted for as they've been bought with holiday money, but it's a little different when they're available on my doorstep. Although I've promised myself that I won't buy any in the near future (after Mrs Potts, of course!), I have a feeling that I won't have the willpower to keep that promise for very long.

What do you think of the new Disney Pandora collection? Will you be rushing straight out to buy a couple of charms? Let me know! 

My Florida wish list!

I can't quite believe that we're off to Florida in 20 days! Although April seemed like such a long way away when we booked this holiday last October, 2017 has absolutely flown by so far. I definitely feel ready for a break and some retail therapy, and Orlando is the perfect place for both in my humble opinion.

I make lots of impulse purchases while we're on holiday, particularly when we're in Orlando and bombarded by the Disney factor and outlets galore, but there are a few items I'll specifically be looking out for so I thought I'd share those on my blog before we go. I'll have to narrow it down in the next couple of weeks as I won't be able to afford everything on this list, but I can dream!

Minnie Mouse - I've got a few Minnie Mouse teddies
but I love her pink and white dress so want to buy this specific one!

Baymax - I feel I need my own personal healthcare companion.

Minnie Mouse jumper - I love cosy Disney jumpers for
lazy days at home (or dress-down Fridays in the office!)

Chip mug - I haven't been able to find one of these in the UK so
 I'd love to find one when we're in Walt Disney World!

Disney Parks Pandora charm - It's really difficult to choose just
one Disney charm but I think this one is my current favourite.

Dooney & Bourke Epcot Flower and Garden Festival bag - I've seen
this bag on Instagram a couple of times and I love love love it, but it'll most likely be
beyond the constraints of what I'm willing to spend on a bag!

Kate Spade bag - I probably won't end up getting the pictured bag as it's a new season
item so won't be on sale in the outlets, but I'll be happy if I leave Florida with any
type of Kate Spade bag.

Fossil watch - I'm looking for a new silver watch so I'll
be paying the Fossil outlet a visit. 

Ugg boots - I did promise myself that I wouldn't buy any more of these this year
but I might be persuaded otherwise if I see a nice pair in the outlet!

I might blog about my purchases after I get back so hopefully I manage to pick up a few things from this list. Wish me luck! 

My favourite Disney collaborations

My favourite emails always have 'Disney' in the subject line. One specific email category is always guaranteed to make me smile... new Disney collaborations!

I love it when my favourite brands work with Disney to create exciting new products which just happen to be perfect for me (and for my Instagram account). However, the only difficulty comes when I have to narrow down my wishlist to one or two items. These collaborations tend to be a bit pricey and my bank account would have a hissy fit if I let myself buy EVERYTHING I wanted to.

Here are some of my favourite Disney collaborations... 

Disney x Cath Kidston 

I was really excited when I heard about Cath Kidston's collaboration with Disney as I could definitely see the potential for some beautiful new designs. The first collection (Winnie the Pooh) was released on the day of my operation last September which meant it wasn't on my radar at the time, but my lovely work colleagues clubbed together and bought a few items for me which I absolutely adore. They bought the overnight bag, mug, bed socks and passport cover, and my friend Sarah also bought a little make up bag for me from the collection.

When the second collection (Mickey and Minnie) launched, I made sure I was sitting at my laptop ready to order my favourite items the second they went live. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that simple. A few of the items I wanted sold out within seconds, it took me approximately three hours to order three items, and one of the items they sent me was the wrong one and had to be returned! However, putting those irritations aside, I do really love my notebook and little coin purse (which I actually use to store my earphones rather than coins). I'm now eagerly awaiting the details of their next collaboration!

Disney Pixar x Vans

I quite literally screeched with excitement when the email announcing the Disney Pixar x Vans collaboration landed in my inbox. I love everything about Toy Story and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to buy a pair of Vans trainers for the first time. After much deliberation, I bought the beautiful Woody and Bo Peep trainers and I'm in love. The trainers are such good quality with a fantastic level of detail and, crucially, they're just as comfy as my trusty Converse!

Disney x Pandora 

I've already blogged about my Disney Pandora bracelet but it's definitely amazing enough to warrant another mention. I started my Pandora collection a few months before our trip to Walt Disney World in 2015 and I was spoilt for choice when I decided to buy a couple of Disney charms as holiday souvenirs. I eventually narrowed it down to the classic Walt Disney World charm and the Mickey pendant charm, then decided to buy more when we went back in 2016 because I'm so in love with this collaboration. I bought the bracelet, the clips, the Belle charm and the Minnie charm as part of a great discounted deal, and my parents-in-law bought the Mickey swirls charm and the Minnie headband charm a few weeks later. I can't wait to go back to Florida in April to add another charm to my Disney-themed bracelet!

What's your favourite Disney collaboration?