I received free products in order to host a #NowMoreThanEver playdate party. The opinions expressed here are my own.
When I was asked to host a Disney Playdate Party, I couldn’t have been more excited. Disney is like…my thing. I’m a die-hard Disney fan, and anytime I can create moments for my kids to enjoy Disney too is simply magical. And getting to include other kids in it all? Well that’s some added pixie dust.
Two boxes arrived and we had a blast unboxing the whole thing. My kids got in on the fun and just went wild pulling all the items out – including the “Easter grass” that made a huge mess! Remember as kids when packing material was more fun than what was inside the box? Well, this was ALMOST like that…haha! Check out our unboxing video:
THE SETUP!
TTo help plan the party, the #NowMoreThanEver party kit was stocked with Disney party supplies (napkins, cups, plates, tablecloths, and decorations) in the Lion King and Lion Guard themes. We also had Disney-themed games, yummy snacks and food coupons from MichaelAngelos and Popped Passion Popcorn, Disney Dolls and Dress up costumes, and a special gift from Pillow Pets! There was barely anything left for me to do other than set it all up.
The PlayLIst!
We are huge digital music fans over here since I’m a dance teacher and studio owner. Apple Music has over 30 official parks playlists for you to take the magic of Disney parks wherever you go! Personally, I love the parks music because we are Annual Passholders and go to the parks often…heck, even when we weren’t passholders, I’d be jamming out to the Carousel of Progress in my car! Head to apple.co/disneyparks to try it out 3 months for free.
The FOOD!
Our party was in the early evening, so we were really grateful to have MichelAngelos gift us a couple of meals to share with the kiddos. We chose Cheesy Pizza Pasta and Chicken Parmesean, and both options were delicious and perfect for picky eaters. We were able to heat them up in the microwave too! Bonus win. The ingredients are simple too – if it’s not something you’d find in your pantry, you wouldn’t find it in these meals. You can borrow some of their family recipes for your own family dinners at www.michaelangelos.com for your next meal.
Our popcorn cakes from Popped Passion were unbelievably cute and even came with a little cookie Hidden Mickey on top! I’ve never had a popcorn cake before, and neither had my guests. It’s pretty much like a giant popcorn ball but that you cut into slices! If you love popcorn balls, this could be your new favorite thing.
Popped Passion is the first company to offer customized Popcorn Cakes! They customize each cake with your favorite candy, nuts or dried fruit and finish it off with sprinkles and your choice of milk chocolate, white chocolate or peanut butter drizzle.
The games!
A number of really cute themed games came along with our Playdate package. A standard memory-style game played between two players was on a nearby table, but the kids really enjoyed making “fortune tellers.” Remember those from when you were in middle school? You’d pick a color and a number and find out who you would marry. Well, no one was getting married in these, but it was great to expand our guests’ hand strength and motor skills in this paper-folding activity. And you’d end up on one of your favorite Disney characters!
Pin the paw on Kyan was a first for many of these little kiddos, and after we figured out how to keep them from peeking under the mask, this game ended with a lot of giggles. The “big” kids were able to do this one, no problem. The little ones had a little trouble, and Thomas even tried to help people by shouting out if they were close or not. It was really funny!
But the true hit of it all were the two Lion Guard pinatas! We filled them with all different kinds of candy and let the big kids have their own to be a little more rough with. I love having the pull string pinatas at parties if I’m going to have a pinata at all because it’s so much less dangerous than a bunch of kids swinging some kind of blunt instrument around aimlessly. Trust me, the rest of the moms breathed a sigh of relief too!
The prizes!
I think the prizes were probably the kids’ favorite part of the whole day! (Maybe the dance party was a close second though). In addition to all the awesome candy they got to take home, two lucky ladies were gifted beautiful princess dresses from Jakks Pacific! Ariel went to my niece Caroline and she was so excited to dress up that she even brought her own Ariel “heels.” My neighbor LOVED getting her very own Belle dress and couldn’t believe I was letting her take it home.
These Jakks Pacific dolls were a hit too! Thomas ran around with one of them for awhile before he “let” it go home with our neighbor. My niece didn’t have a Rapunzel doll yet, but before she left with it, she asked me braid her hair “like Elsa.” That Frozen train hasn’t left the station yet, am I right?
I would’ve taken a picture of our Mickey Mouse Emoji pillow pets, but those were confiscated before the party even happened by my crazy 2 year old and have lived in his crib ever since!
The party highlights!
Walt disney world news!
There’s just so much going on at Walt Disney World that #nowmorethanever is a good time to head to the parks! Since we’re regulars at WDW, here’s some great things going on around the resort:
We’ve celebrated Mickey and Minnie at the Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration in Magic Kingdom, and it’s absolutely magical. You can meet Mickey and Minnie in their limited-time colorful outfits inside Town Square Theater! Pluto is now stationed under the big top at Pete’s Silly Slideshow in Storybook Circus (he took Minnie’s place, which was one of my favorite ways to meet Minnie in the past, but Pluto’s setup is also really cute!)
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is celebrating 30 years this year! The new Pixar Avenue showcases characters from The Incredibles with appearances throughout the day at their extra special dance party! But the best part of the updates to Hollywood Studios has got to be Toy Story Land. I was amazed by all the attention to detail throughout the area, right down to the chairs that look like oversized Babybel cheeses.
I haven’t yet seen the Hakuna Matata Dance Party at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but we are headed there next week and are going to try to catch it! I’ve never been able to meet Rafiki or Timon, and that’s going to fun for Andrew and Thomas too.
Excitement is building as a new countdown clock at Disneyworld.com/nowmorethanever is ticking down to the launch of all these new experiences! Go check it out and let me know in the comments: how do you think we did on our Disney Playdate party?
