Doing Disney
Differently

You can eat like a queen in this Aladdin themed restaurant. There were great salads, rices, houmous, leaf wraps, beans, chickpeas, artichoke spreads, curries, falafel, tagine, vegetables, potatoes, fresh fruit, dried fruit, salsa, guacamole, spices.

Vapiano

This eatery in Disney village actually does gluten free vegan pasta, and hold onto your Disney ears people… gluten free vegan PIZZA. I know right?!

No matter how good the food is, I would suggest taking snacks (especially water to avoid those pesky plastic bottles) – everything is eye-wateringly expensive!

You won’t believe how dedicated I was to get a selfie wth a Disney Character! Here’s my tried and tested guide to getting that all important photo!

1. Book a Disney character breakfast or lunch and you’ll be guaranteed selfies with each character that’s there on the day.

2. In Magic Hour head straight to fantasy land (next to its a small world) and hope to get to the front of the queue for a slot to meet a princess. Queues are usually 2 hours long!

3. Snag a front row seat to the Disney parade (unmissable) by getting there 1 hour before it starts and wait outside the gates next to its a small world in fantasy land (opposite the Italian restaurant)

4. If you’re lucky you’ll spot a Disney character walking through the park but you’ll have to be quick and hope their minders don’t get in the way! As we were leaving the park on our last day, I spotted one of the chipmunks and in total celeb hysteria shouted at my daughter “run Aila, Chipmunk” and in my total amazement he ran towards me at full chipmunk speed, bypassed my daughter Aila and gave me the biggest chipmunk hug, caught on camera phew! He obviously realised who the real fan was!

Not forgetting the details –

You will be shattered at the end of each day so finding somewhere close to rest your head is essential. There were 4 of us in our group so we booked a log cabin just outside the park in Davy Crockett Land. You still have the benefits of staying at a Disney hotel  but with a little outdoor terrace, kitchen/diner lounge to chill out at the end of a long day. Unfortunately there is no shuttle bus so you do need a car to drive to the park. Be warned, the car park is then a 1 mile walk to the entrance.

Stay at a Disney hotel which gets you into the park 1.5 hr (the magic hour) before the gates open. It takes a while to walk to the rides so make sure you’re at the gate ready to go in. You also get fast passes to most of the busy rides which saves hours of queuing.

Most Importantly –

Sing along to your favourite Disney tunes blasting everywhere, eat candy floss and pull silly faces and let your inner child roam free!