My favourite Disney pairings

I don't usually succumb to the incessant commercialisation of Valentine's Day. However, the Disney Store has scuppered my principles for this year!

I wandered in to the Cardiff store a couple of weeks ago to get a little dose of Disney magic (I miss Walt Disney World, don't judge me) and decided to browse through the Valentine's section. 20 seconds later, I was sheepishly standing in the queue. Who could have left these beauties behind?

I don't think I've ever seen Bianca and Bernard plushes anywhere, not even in Florida's massive World of Disney store, so I just had to pick them up and make them mine straight away. I've learnt from past experience that certain products don't stay in the Disney Store for long and, true to form, these had already sold out when I went back a few days later.

This lovely little purchase got me thinking about my favourite Disney pairings, and I decided it would be a great topic for a blog post. I'll note at this point that my favourite pairings include sidekicks and best friends, as well as actual couples. Disney has an excellent knack of portraying and promoting all kinds of love and loyalty, not just the romantic kind! 

Belle and the Beast 

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite films, and Belle and the Beast are two of my favourite Disney characters of all time. In fact, I much prefer the Beast to the prince at the end. 'For who could ever learn to love a beast?' 

Pongo and Perdita 

I'm pretty sure my love for dalmatians comes purely from watching 101 Dalmatians so often when I was younger, and Pongo and Perdita have been one of my favourite Disney couples for a very long time! 'Perdy, we'll take them home with us. All of them. Our pets would never turn them out.'

Jaq and Gus 

I could quite happily watch Cinderella over and over again, but not because of the princess and fairy godmother factor... just because of Jaq and Gus! Especially Gus. 'Cinderelly Cinderelly!'

Tod and Copper 

I can't actually watch The Fox and the Hound very often because it makes me cry like a baby, but Tod and Copper are right up there with my favourite Disney characters. 'Forever is a long long time, and time has a way of changing things.'

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Tangled is one of my favourite modern Disney films, and Flynn and Rapunzel are definitely one of my favourite Disney couples. Flynn Rider is hilarious and endearingly cocky, and Rapunzel is determined to keep her dream alive. 'Here comes the smoulder!'

Timon and Pumbaa

Surely these two should be on everyone's 'favourite Disney pairings' list? They bring lots of much-needed cheer to the Lion King and we could all learn a lot from their motto... 'Hakuna Matata! It means no worries for the rest of your days.'

Mickey and Minnie 

And of course, no Disney pairings list would be complete without the most iconic Disney couple of all - Mickey and Minnie Mouse. 'Oh Minnie, you're all the music I'll ever need!'

After scheduling this post, I suddenly had a few qualms that perhaps I should have published it on or around Valentine's Day rather than on a random day in February. However, I always argue that Valentine's Day is pointless because you should show people that you love them every day, so I'm applying the same principle to this blog post!

Who are your favourite Disney couples, friends and sidekicks? 

Tourists in London

Last weekend, we went on a coach trip to London to see The Lion King in the Lyceum Theatre. We booked the package through Ticketline UK and the trip included coach travel to and from London (as well as coach travel to our various destinations over the weekend), theatre tickets, and bed and breakfast at the Guoman Tower Hotel. If you want a stress-free weekend break where everything is taken care of for you, I'd highly recommend this option!

We left Cardiff at 8:45am on Saturday morning and stopped at Reading services on our way to London for an obligatory sandwich stop and toilet break. It took us a while to get through central London due to standard traffic jams and a few accidents, but we eventually arrived at our hotel at around 2pm. Tower Bridge was quite literally on our doorstep!

As our rooms weren't ready for us when we arrived, we went for a walk to explore our surroundings. In addition to Tower Bridge, the Tower of London (with the impressive Shard building in the background) was also within walking distance of our hotel. We called to Wagamama for a quick lunch then walked back to the hotel to get settled into our room before leaving for the theatre. 

When we got back to the hotel, we discovered that there'd been a mix-up with our room which meant we didn't actually have one assigned to us. However, we spoke to very apologetic manager who offered us a new room and upgraded us to an executive suite, so we couldn't complain too much. We had an hour to ourselves before getting back on the coach to get to the West End, and I mostly spent that hour admiring the view and the rainbow outside our window!

The coach driver picked us up outside the hotel at 5:30pm and took us to the West End where we were the first drop-off. The show didn't start for another hour and a half so we went for a walk to Covent Garden and happened to stumble into Venchi...

I went for a combination of salted toffee and white chocolate and it was SO GOOD. We wandered around a very busy Covent Garden, with our ice cream, sorrowfully noting that the Disney Store has disappeared from the main square, then headed back towards the theatre ready to take our seats.

The Lyceum Theatre is such an impressive building, both inside and out, and I was so excited about setting foot in there to see the acclaimed show I've wanted to see for years. We were seated in the Grand Circle which meant many many stairs up followed by many many stairs down to our seats in row C, but we were really pleased with the view we had of the stage (and the many flights of stairs were good for my Fitbit stats).

There just aren't enough superlatives in the world to describe how good the show itself was. I was completely blown away by the costumes, the set, the choreography and the general goosebump-inducing music the whole way through, and I'd see it again tomorrow if I could. I loved the show's take on Rafiki in particular, and Timon and Zazu were also firm favourites. The transition from young Simba to adult Simba was cleverly done, and the extra scenes added to the show which don't feature in the film didn't disrupt the flow at all. I loved every second of it!

Once I managed to tear myself away from the tempting merchandise stand, we walked back to our pick-up destination and the coach took us back to our hotel via a few other pick-ups s in various parts of the West End. After admiring the nighttime view from our room, we promptly fell asleep ready for a busy Sunday of sightseeing.

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning, we were back on the coach by 10:30am ready to be dropped off at the Haymarket for a day of exploring, sightseeing and shopping. Although it was supposed to rain heavily all day, London obviously didn't receive the memo. We made the most of the sunshine and blitzed all the famous sights in the area, taking lots of photos while we were at it. We walked to Trafalgar Square then to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament...I've visited this area with work recently but it's been years since I was an actual tourist in London!

After taking in all the sights, we walked back to Covent Garden and did some shopping. We did mostly browse rather than shop, but I can never resist purchasing something small in Ted Baker when I'm in the area. We also went into M&M's World in Leicester Square for the first time which was possibly even more impressive than its New York equivalent. On an unrelated note, I did feel as if I was playing Monopoly bingo when I looked at all the street/area signs around me!

All shopped and sightseeing-ed out, we sat down for an hour to have our lunch then made our way back to the pick-up point via a few more shops, including a quick stop at Ben's Cookies. We were completely exhausted by this point and I fell asleep on the coach almost immediately.

We arrived home at around 8:30pm on Sunday evening. It was a lovely full weekend and we managed to fit loads in alongside our main objective of seeing The Lion King. I definitely want to book another theatre trip soon as they're pretty addictive... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll manage to get tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child one day. 

Have you seen The Lion King in the theatre? What did you think? 

My top ten Disney songs of all time

I've been listening to my 'Now that's what I call Disney' CD in my car for the last few weeks as it really is one of my favourite CDs in the world. It brings back childhood memories of watching some of my most dearly loved films and also reminds me of our three (and counting) lovely Disney holidays.

I thought I'd try to compile a list of my top ten favourite Disney songs, then realised that this was a much more difficult task than I first thought. There are a LOT of excellent Disney songs. In order to make the task more manageable, I've narrowed the list down to just songs from Disney's Animated Classics (which means I can't choose any songs from Pixar films), and I'm also not allowed to choose more than one song from the same film. I had to implement this rule or most of my top ten would have been from The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. As you can tell, I'm taking this whole thing very seriously.

Drum roll please.... here's the unveiling of my top ten classic Disney songs of all time!


I see the light - Tangled

I absolutely love this song, particularly as we chose it as the song for our first dance at our wedding last year. I get goosebumps every time I hear it.

Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast (obviously)

This has been one of my favourite films for as long as I can remember, and this has to be my favourite song from its amazing soundtrack. I'll never get bored of listening to it!

Circle of Life - The Lion King

I think everyone must have a song from The Lion King in their top ten... I love so many songs from this film but Circle of Life has to be my all-time favourite. It's just so epic!

Part of your world - The Little Mermaid

Although The Little Mermaid isn't one of my favourite Disney films, I absolutely love this song. Yet another Disney song which I could listen to over and over again (and have been known to do so at top volume in my car).

A whole new world - Aladdin

Surely this song is in everyone's Disney top ten? Such a beautiful song. When did you last let your heart decide?

Go the distance - Hercules

I always forget about Hercules' amazing soundtrack until I watch the film again. Although most of the songs from this film are featured on my Disney CD, they left out the best song of all!

I wanna be like you - The Jungle Book

Another one of my favourite childhood films. I'll always have fond memories of this song as my mother used to sing it to herself all the time when I was younger. She still loves it to this day!

Reflection - Mulan

Mulan isn't a film I'd watch again and again like some of the others on this list, but I really love this song and its thought-provoking lyrics.

Colours of the wind - Pocahontas

Yet another Disney film with a beautiful soundtrack! However, Colours of the Wind is by far my favourite. 'You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you'... very indicative of today's society.

Heigh Ho - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Not one of my favourite Disney films, but I've always loved this song and the seven dwarfs. I love it when it randomly pops up when I'm on my way to work!

Do you agree with my song choices? Have I made any glaring omissions, in your opinion? Let me know what you think! 

Frantic about Florida #7

This is the seventh post in my Frantic about Florida series, and I'm definitely not running out of ideas yet! You can read all the previous posts in the series on the links below.

Frantic about Florida #1
Frantic about Florida #2
Frantic about Florida #3
Frantic about Florida #4
Frantic about Florida #5
Frantic about Florida #6


Here are yet another five things I'm looking forward to...

1. Fantasmic night show at Hollywood Studios

Amazing water and laser show, and a boat full of characters!

2. Epcot's Cooling Station

Free samples of fizzy drinks from across the world

3. Cheesecake Factory

Massive slices of cheesecake... they do amazing main courses too!

4. Sheikra at Busch Gardens

Extremely high rollercoaster... they leave you 

hanging at the top for what seems like forever!

5. Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom

Absolutely spectacular. 

Look out for the 8th instalment in a fortnight's time. It will almost certainly feature some kind of food item. I like recurring themes and I like food, what of it?