I can multi task I promise .....

So this week another lucky Brit joined the Disney moms panel, joining Disney Emma (of Phil, Ben and Emma fame - what do you mean you've never heard of them off you go to youtube to watch some of the best Disney holiday videos there are). Anyway back to the point, sadly that lucky lady wasn't me but its great to see another Brit got in......I'm not disappointed much

If you don't know what the Mom's panel is it's an official Disney forum where you can ask panellists questions about your upcoming holiday and can be found on the official Disney website

But what else has happened this week.....I tried and failed miserably to do some Christmas shopping so I am thinking I might have to go down the online route; which has the added addition of not having to deal with the masses but the downside you don't get to actually see the products you are just relying on a little picture

As well as that work has been absolutely mental and finding time to just take a breath has been difficult so to amuse myself and give myself a little bit of light relief I got right back into listening to my podcasts.....yes I was sitting in my office laughing out loud to myself I won't lie

I have a few favourites which you will always find on my iPod including the Dibbcast, dis unplugged and mouse chat....all of which aren't necessarily the sugar coated version of Disney but the views of Disney fans. Podcasts are a great planning tool which you can take with you.....and are great for making the walk home more bearable

You get restaurant reviews, news, the Dibbcast does a new starter guide which is brilliant even if you aren't a first time visitor; but enough shameless plugs there is one thing that happens when I listen to them at work......I get distracted and start holiday planning in my head when I should be concentrating on what I should be doing which probably means I send emails that make absolutely no sense.....well less than normal

So the moral to this story, yes women can multi task but as long as it's doesn't relate to disney (James, please note I said women can multi task - telling me you are watching sport while reading the paper just doesn't cut it!!!!)

Until next week xxx

Where did they all come from?

Something strange seems to have happened over night, its like everyone has suddenly realised that Christmas is less than 6 weeks away; so they decided to set up a flashmob and all go to Lakeside today.

We went to Bluewater one evening during the week and although it was busy there was an air of calm about it (well everyone else was calm but me, Emmie Lou and Nicola Claire seemed to have a bit of mischief in us) No one there seemed in much of a panic and it was all very polite; but just a couple of days later  and after a quick trip through the Dartford crossing it was bordering on mayhem and all I wanted to do was get out of there as fast as I could.

I can deal with crowds, after all I've been to Magic Kingdom on July 4th which is definitely a challenge to deal with but I just don't understand why everyone is suddenly in such a rush......after all Christmas is on the same day for all of us.

As with everything in life there are always those people who think they are more important than everyone else (like the person on the motorway who flashes their lights to try and get you to pull in) where as I will happily wait my turn as long as no one invades my personal space (that's what irritates me)

I wouldn't say I enjoy queueing, actually I can tell you times when I down right hate it - check in at the airport, waiting to board but that is more about my fear of flying than anything else; but if I have to queue I will

At Disney they post the current wait times outside of the attraction so at least you can decide if you want to join the queue and now they are getting smart and making the queues interactive - so far they have done Soarin, Little Mermaid, Big Thunder Mountain and the Haunted Mansion or you have the option of Fastpass and coming back at a specified time with a shorter wait

So what would I queue/ wait for - here are some of my favourites:

And yes, I know its sad but I will queue for the TTA, its one of my favourite things to do; its 10 minutes away from the madness with some air conditioning thrown in for good measure!

Maybe some of our retailers could start doing interactive queues, and I don't mean putting more impulse purchases there but its a thought....maybe then you wouldn't have so many angry shoppers tapping their feet and sighing loudly (behave James).

I'm off to see what presents I can find on the net and then the postman can take the strain; until next week xxx

Holidays are coming.....

Last night it became official that the holiday season is finally upon us (even though its a whole six weeks away) when the Coca Cola christmas ad hit our tv screens; I know its sad but I love it and I think from the comments on my facebook page last night I am not alone.

Working in retail its hard to get excited about Christmas when we start working on it so early but I did manage it while doing a little bit of holiday research; oh my goodness this is looking like one very busy holiday for us next year.

We knew we were going to be there to see the Halloween decorations but there was a big question mark over us being able to see the Castle Dream Lights or the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing lights but it would appear the Disney gods had been listening to my random thoughts and the internet was full of info

This year the Halloween parties finished on November 2nd and the first Xmas party took place on the  8th with all of the decorations in place on Main Street and to top it off someone posted a video of the holiday version of the Celebrate the Magic projection show which end with the dream lights......poor Emmie Lou has received loads of texts from me this week where my excitement is hardly contained

Normally James and I don't really plan to much, we have even been known to change our minds at the hotel bus stop about where we are going but I think next year is going to be a bit different with all of the things taking place while we are there and I want to make sure Em gets to see everything she wants to 

So here is the dilemma, do I go full on planning and become even more OCD than normal with a laminated plan with each day planned with military precision (you know the type even the toilet breaks are scheduled) or do we make a list of things that we must do and ensure these are crossed off which I am sure will make the holiday a whole lot more enjoyable?

Personally I think we are going to have to go for the latter as its the little things that always throw a spanner in the works - like James saying he needs to go to a shop in world showcase and walking the long way round or Emmie Lou clearing a shelf of cuddly toys and having to forcably remove them from her (I have my eye on you young lady!)

What would be on my list.....of course Wishes, Soarin, the Castle Dream Lights, Philharmagic; actually I am now beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be easier to say what I dont want to do - on that thought I'm off to dig out some park maps and ponder.....until next time xxxx

A bit of a bang.....

This week got off to a bit of a bang and I don't mean some numpty setting off their fireworks a week early but instead autumn came in with full force. We were warned of torrential rain and gale force winds and it didn't disappoint, James was on call that night and I prayed that he wasn't going to get called out; which he didn't but still I didn't get much sleep as you could hear stuff flying around - all very odd.

On top of that the lovely husband decided to share the gift that just keeps giving with me and I have been full of a snotty cold all week which has also impacted on my sleep; I see a theme here.....I don't sleep because of James!!!! My tiredness has been all consuming to the point I was beginning to think I was seeing things....

Whilst walking to work on Saturday morning, I walked past a person dressed as a skeleton but with no face paint on (this was just before seven in the morning); for a brief moment I was confused but then remembered it was Halloween this week either that or it was a serious walk of shame

Halloween this year for us is very different to last year, where we had our first experience of how the Americans do it. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with going all out and I don't even object to adults dressing up but we were at Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and I reckon about 50% of the adult females costumes came from a sex shop - Snow White never showed off her assets like that!!!

So what can you expect from MNSSHP, dance parties, exclusive meet and greets, different parade, amazing Hallowishes fireworks and to top it off trick or treating. I am sure I read somewhere that for each party they use over 2 trucks of candy.....look at our haul from last year

And then to finish the week it has also been bonfire night, strangely I don't do fireworks here but I think that's because I have been spoiled by Disney cause you can't beat a bit of Wishes; on that note I'm off to watch the xfactor to see who's still in it - take care xxx