Christmas Wonderland 2015 at Gardens by the Bay

December 16, 2015 No comments

Christmas Wonderland returns to Gardens by the Bay and this year, it’s bigger and better with new attractions for the whole family with their presenting sponsor, AIA Singapore.

We were there 3 weeks ago for the official opening of Christmas Wonderland and were back again last Sunday as one visit is simply not enough. Being there at different timings offered different experiences and depending on what you’re hoping to see or experience, I’ll say a good time is go is 5pm where the crowds is still decent. The hubby who’s usually quite nonchalant about Christmas had a twinkle in his eye when he told me that he felt the festive atmosphere in the air. A sure sign that this Kaleidoscopic visual treats left a huge impression on him!

At the entrance of the Golden Garden, we were greeted by the magnificent Luminarie light sculptures at the Frontone. And just like guides, the trail of lights guided us into the Festive Market at the Supertree Grove; The Fairground near The Meadow; and the Christmas Toyland floral display in the Flower Dome.

Christmas Toyland, Flower Dome
For Christmas, it’s a kids dream come true in the Flower Dome where toys take centre stage. At the entrance, we were greeted by Teddy Bears at the North Pole who were ready to take us on an enchanting adventure aided by their reindeers!

This one’s for the family album

For the Yuletide season, poinsettia, that are traditionally used for Christmas flora displays graced the fields along with Christmas rose, winter heather and holly and oh how it added to the Christmas cheer.

My favourite is no doubt the 11-metre Christmas Pyramid that looks like a giant Christmas tree. Do you notice the toy soldiers and teddies on each level and there’s also a wooden carousel. I heard that this Christmas Pyramid transforms into a live stage for festive performances right here within the Flower Dome, which is a first too. How cool!

Quartet of angels waiting to serenade you

Look who’s got lots of letters waiting for him …

Why it’s for Santa Bear of course and look at his long list of presents from children all over the world. I wonder if I’ll get mine in my Christmas stockings. Don’t you just love the whimsical display and I felt like an excited little girl trying to spot the helpful teddy elves who are packing off the toys for Santa.

The only thing that’s missing is just SNOW to complete the whole Christmas festive spirit. There are lots of photo opportunities and all you need are willing subjects unlike Sophie here who shot me a, “Are you done taking photos already, mummy?” look. She was hurrying me to move on to the Fairground where I promised her carnival rides and games.

The Fairground

To the Fairgrounds we go and we headed over with style on this classical train!

Over at the new area, The Fairground, you can find a delightful offering of rides and games for both young and old. There was the European vintage-style carousel that flew in all the way from Europe as well as the tallest slide in Singapore, Helter Skelter, at 14m high.

You can also try your hand at the game stalls where you can walk away with Disney plush toys from Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh and Baymax!

Helter Skelter – tallest slide in Singapore!

We missed the Swinging Chairs on our visit and Sophie was so excited to take this!

But the main highlight for our visit last Sunday is the Ice Skating Rink in the Ice Palace, yet another new attraction this year.

For those with younger kids, you can take them to the Snow Playground where kids get to play with real snow and create their snowman! Each session is 30 minutes and prior booking is advised to avoid disappointment. Adults and child need to pay $12, which includes boots but you’ll need to purchase gloves and socks .

Did I mention that Alexis was actually more excited to go ice skating than Sophie since it’s been ages since he last ice skated. It was Sophie’s first time ice skating and since she knows the basic to in line skating, she did quite okay and was aided by Mr Cool Penguin here.

Attempting to make snow ball with ice shavings. Will just have to settle for this until we go for our white Christmas holiday in future.

It’s a good idea to bring your own socks and gloves and come prepared with jeans and a jacket as the ice skating session lasted for 45 mins and you need to pay $14 for 45 mins which includes ice skates rental.

Father and daughter has such a fun time on the ice skating escapade and I think I’m going to come back again just for this! Even though Sophie fell on her bum 8 times, she did well and had an enjoyable time with no complains. It was good that we got here earlier for the second session at 4.20pm so it wasn’t too crowded.

Don’t forget to take a whacky photo at the AIA Trick Art too! From the photos I’ve seen, it looks even better with more people. This 3D optical illusion artwork is one of the free activities at Christmas Wonderland and we were a jolly good time posing for it.

Don’t forget to check out the European style Christmas Festive Market where they have a variety of food, crafts, handiwork, and specialty stores. And if you feel more indulgent, there is also the Spiegeltent that serves a specially curated festive menu from Harry’s. I heard they’ve got weekend brunch as well!

And no visit to Christmas Wonderland is complete without staying to admire the dazzling Spalliera at 7pm daily. The Spalliera is the largest Luminarie that towers over 20m and will certainly take your breath away when they are lighted. What’s even more spectacular is when Blizzard Time starts where you get to see ‘snow’ in tropical Singapore 🙂

There’s still two weeks more to visit Christmas Wonderland if you haven’t already done so before it ends on 27 December. Access to Christmas Wonderland is free, while admission charges for the Flower Dome apply.

Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay
4:00PM to 12:00 midnight daily
Free admission

The Luminarie Light Sculptures will be lit from 28 November 2015 to 3 January 2016 from 7:00PM to 12:00AM daily.

Spiegeltent, Ice Palace, The Fairground (rides & carnival games) & Festive Market opens from 28 November 2015 to 27 December 2015 from 4:00PM to 11:00PM daily.

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Junior Explorers Monthly Subscription Review {Giveaway + Discount Code}

December 8, 2015 Comments: 21

When it comes to learning, I always believe that hands-on interactive learning makes all the difference. So when I got the chance to review Junior Explorers, I jumped at the chance.

Junior Explorers is an educational monthly subscription program for kids aged 6 and up to learn about wildlife, nature and the environment by using innovative and interactive mediums which gives them a holistic learning experience.

The subscription has two components to it, an offline Mission Kit that is delivered to your home every month and a corresponding monthly online experience.

For our first Mission Kit, we received a cardboard box with a Junior Explorer sticker. This was a trunk to store our monthly missions that came in an envelope. Inside our envelope, it contains

A welcome letter from Kia & Kyle to the Junior Explorers club with an official ID card
Themed stickers to decorate the trunk
A Biomes of the World map and a handy Field Guide
Wristband and pin, fun collectibles for each month
Temporary tatoos
Junior Explorer waterbottle to remind the young explorers to stay hydrated

From left: Checklist of our fun tasks, handy field guide about biomes, badge and mini collectables

I’m a Junior Explorer

After going through the physical materials, we logged on for the online part of the mission with our password to get access to exclusive online content. The site is easy to navigate and my six-year-old didn’t need much assistance from me as there are simple instructions with audio narration to guide her.

After choosing her avatar, she’s off to explore the different biomes. Along the way, there were fun and interactive games and quizzes that tested Sophie’s knowledge on the habitats that she’s learnt.

First Mission – Mission Arctic

As we also received our first Mission Kit shortly, Mission Arctic, here’s a preview of it.

Our task as a Junior Explorer is to help find find the polar bear cub’s mother so that the family can be reunited.

Sophie reading her task at hand

A Mission Checklist to ensure we have everything we need

The content for our first mission was similar to the Welcome Kit, but this time it included post cards, a factsheet of the habitat and climate we can expect and animal cards that gave us informational facts to learn about the creatures that we will encounter on our mission.

When we went online, we had to select the appropriate gear for our mission and get movin to look for the polar bears mother.

There were a series of games, from puzzles to interactive learning and that’s when the flashcards comes in handy to supplement and compliment the learning with facts and information about the animals as the kids and try to solve mystery challenges thrown their way.

Upon completing the mission, Sophie received her Certificate of Achievement that allowed her to personalise it and I can see the pride on her face as she typed her name away. The online portion took about an hour to complete and it’s a good idea to remind your child to take a short break in between to give their eyes a rest from the screen.

But before you log off, there is a section called Mission Giveback, whereby children get to donate their points gathered during their missions to either the World Wildlife Fund or Nature Conservancy which the company will turn into actual monetary donations. I think it a fantastic idea to educate our little ones about nature and wildlife conservation and how they can play a part.

Finally, Sophie completed the last section for the mission, the Activity Book, which had crossword puzzles, spot the difference and other games which she tackled with ease.

Review of Junior Explorers

To be very honest, I had some inital reservations when I heard about the online portion for the mission as I wasn’t keen for Sophie to get too much screen time. But after having gone through it with Sophie, the rich content of it had me sold as it was presented in an engaging and interactive manner which complimented the learning.

In addition, the quizzes made Sophie pay close attention to the narration and there was a ownership for her learning as she wanted to ace at the quiz. The physical materials like the factsheets and flash cards had interesting and fun nuggets of information that young kids can easily understand and share with their friends. And of course, the little toys, tattoos and stickers makes it a delight for young kids to look forward to their next mission.

With Sophie going to Primary One next year, I can see how this helps her develop independent learning where she’s encouraged to read and find out things on her own. And the use of the computers will no doubt be inevitable in this day and age, so having this bit of exposure helps her be more confident when she needs to use the computer for school work in the near future.

Discount Code for Readers of A Juggling Mom

If you’re keen to sign your kids as a Junior Explorer, I’ve for an exclusive discount code for you. All you have to do is enter the promo code, AJM10 that will entitle you to a 10% discount on all subscriptions. Do visit their website, and Facebook page for updates as well as promotions.

– – – – – – – -– – – – – GIVEAWAY FOR A JUGGLING MUM READERS – – – – – – – – – – – –

What better way to kick off the Christmas season than a giveaway for you my readers. Thanks to my sponsor, I’ve got 2 three months subscription worth S$66.99 to give away to 2 winners.

To take part in the giveaway, simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please note:

Giveaway ends on 16 Dec at 23:59pm
Only readers residing in Singapore is eligible for this giveaway
Winners will be notified via email and have 24 hours to respond to email otherwise a new winner will be drawn
All false FB accounts will be disqualified from the giveaway

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Hong Kong with Kids Part 2 – Ocean Park

December 4, 2015 Comments: 17

When we were planning for our Hong Kong trip, we were in two minds if we wanted to go to Ocean Park. Because if you thought that Disneyland is crowded, Ocean Park is way, way worse with horrifying crowds from bus loads of tourists from you know where.

But Alexis being just a theme park junkie couldn’t pass up the chance to take on more roller coasters since the ones at Disneyland the day before were way too mild for him. So it’s off to Ocean Park we went.

From our hotel, we took the MTR to Admiralty station and took the direct bus 629 there. As we turned into Ocean Park’s entrance, I noticed that they were going to have a new MTR station and it looks maybe 90% ready. In future, going to Ocean Park will be so much more convenient!

At Ocean Park!

For those wondering if there’s anything to do at Ocean Park, there’s actually lots to see and do with a marine park, amusement park, oceanarium and animal theme park all rolled into one over 226 acres.

While it may be a dated attraction, they have done well to rejuvenate the place with new attractions, rides and shows. I don’t think I’ll say this, but Ocean Park does have a charm of its own, except for the crowd of course.

Getting the most of our day at Ocean Park

To avoid the queues, we bought our tickets online and just had to proceed to the entrance to get our e-tickets scanned. Anotner fantastic tip I got from the staff on my last trip was to either take the ‘Ocean Express’ funicular railway system or the cable car to get to the Summit and slowly make your way down. That way you’ll avoid the crazy crowd who tend to head to the nearest attractions like the aquarium and the giant panda exhibition for an hour or two.

Weekdays will no doubt be less crowded but Alexis was there on a working trip so we could only go over the weekends. But do avoid the public holidays as you’ll be in for a really human jam within the park.

Of course, don’t forget to grab a map and listing of the show times. Since we didn’t managed to cover the entire park on our last visit 2 years ago, we decided to be more selective and skip the ones that didn’t make an impression the last round.

‘Ocean Express’ funicular railway system

After exiting from the Ocean Express, we headed to the Polar Adventure for our North Pole Encounter. While Alexis made a dash for the Arctic Blaster roller coaster and all the other thrill rides before the crowd starts pouring in, Sophie and I went to look for the cute penguins!

It’s a good idea to pack along a sweater even though the weather was hot as it was freezing into the penguin enclosure. We were lucky to catch the feeding time for the seals and sea lions.

Bird’s eyeview of Polar Adventure and Thrill Mountain on the summit

Feeding time for these seals

I didn’t get a chance to take the Arctic Blaster the last time, so this time I made myself do it and I think one roller coaster is quite enough for me.

But Alexis? He went on the Hair Raiser which is the fastest roller coaster in Hong Kong as well as Dragon, which has two giant loops up on Thrill Mountain as well as the Mine Train at Adventure Land.

Can you spot Alexis?

The Dragon Roller Coaster

We didn’t take the other thrill rides as Sophie was too young for that, but we did spend some time at the game stall, which was just an expensive affair at $10 a game 😛

But surprise, surprise, it was my lucky throw that scored her a mini soft toy. So small that she couldn’t care much for it and wanted to play some more. But I told her, we’re better off buying a soft toy from the shop than playing the game since we weren’t feeling lucky that day.

This time, we skipped the Adventure Land since Sophie couldn’t take the water flume ride and went to catch the dolphin show at the Ocean Theatre. Try to make it for the first show at 11.30am because the tour groups will usually not reach the summit until 12pm. We didn’t get much problem getting a seat for the show even after arriving 10 mins into the show. But for the later shows in the afternoon, you may have to get there at least 10-15 minutes in advance to get a seat.

While the format of the show wasn’t quite what I remembered from 2 years ago, with a ocean conversation message, it was nevertheless an enjoyable show especially for my little Dolphin fan.

We liked the Marine World and spend quite a bit of time at the Sea Jelly Spectacular and Shark Mystique. At Shark Mystique, we got to see different species of sharks and learnt interesting facts about them.

6,000 teeth!!!

Along the way, there are snippets of facts and information of the marine life and Sophie was glad to be able to read them and gain new knowledge too.

The sea jelly exhibit was really mesmerising for me and we took time to slowly admire them. Don’t you think it’s so therapeutic and serene watching them float in the tank? And of course, another reason is to hide in the air conditioned area before braving the crowds again.

If you’re pressed for time, I’ll say skip the Chinese Sturgeon exhibits.

On the cable car in Ocean Park

On our way down from the cable car, you can see the new MTR station still being constructed.

Another section of the park that we enjoyed was the Old Hong Kong Street where they recreated the olden streets of Hong Kong. The main ride was the Sea Life carousel and they even had a very interesting parent and child seat!

Lots of photos opportunity at every corner and even Sophie asked for an #ootd photo? Talk about being a blogger’s child.

Sophie’s #ootd

This looks way better that it taste

Over at the Whiskers Harbour, we caught 2 shows and one was at the Amazing Bird Theatre where we saw different species of birds from owls, eagles, parrots and macaws. As the theatre is rather small, do go early to get a seat and don’t miss the photo taking opportunity at the end too.

Sophie was off to play at the playground you see below. Funny how she didn’t care much for the rides at all and preferred to just run around at the playground while we were happy to take a break from running around the whole time.

Photo taking with the mascots

We wanted to hang around for the last show, Symbio, a musical and lights show in the evening and went to the Grand Aquarium and Goldfish Pavilion. But you know after what we have in the SEA Aquarium, not many aquariums will impress you anymore 😛

While Symbio was pretty impressive with projection on it’s 360 water screen, Sophie didn’t like the loud music and sudden burst of fire effects one bit. But she must be so tired too after so much walking. And thankfully, she’s much older now and don’t need us to carry her any more. So mummy rewarded her with a small toy and souvenir from Ocean Park.

It’s a pity, we were there too early before any of the Christmas deco went up. And I’m sure they would have special performances and themed activities to add to the festive mood. The last time we went, they were celebrating Halloween and the park had pumpkins and all kinds of western and asian ghosts and goblins.

Hopefully the next time we return to Ocean Park, Sophie will be tall enough to go on the thrill rides with Daddy. Overall, it was an enjoyable day and definitely a family friendly attraction not to be missed in Hong Kong that’s suited for the whole family.

Here’s more of my Hong Kong trip

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Onward to Primary One – Sophie’s Primary One Orientation

November 29, 2015 Comments: 6

The most common question that Sophie gets asked these day is, “Are you looking forward to Primary One?” But instead of answering with an enthusiastic yes, she would have her reservations and mixed feelings about this next milestone. For some reason, she think that the teachers will be fierce and she’ll be faced with endless days of homework.

Thankfully, there’s the Primary One orientation two weeks where she visited her new school and met her classmates.

On the day of the orientation, I briefed Sophie on what to expect and told her that I may be away from her for the parents briefing and talks. Since she didn’t have any friends attending the same school, I encouraged her to get to know one or two new friends and to remember her name. We packed along a small bag with her stationary, water bottle and a purse with $2 in case the teacher was going to give them some thing to do when they went to their class.

When we arrived, we went to find Sophie’s class list before proceeding to the hall where the children had to join their class. I sensed Sophie’s anxiety when her eyes darted around to find a familiar face in the crow especially when some of the kids were calling out to their friends as they entered the hall. I lingered around for a while to settle her feelings before leaving her with her new class.

With her new class

For the parents, we had to attend a talk by the principal where he shared about the vision and mission of the school. And like many schools in Singapore, they adopt a holistic approach where the students are groomed for life and. It just for academic success. And as a SAP school. They emphasis on incurring Chinese values such as 孝顺 (respect for elders), 好学 (studious) and 守礼 (quick to comply) as well as instilling in them a strong sense of responsibility and integrity.

There was also talks by the head of Primary One and Two level on how they will help the a Primary Ones transit , as well as presentations by parent support group head on how parents can play a more active role to support our child’s learning in and outside of school. Overall, I felt more confident knowing what to expect and how to ease Sophie in her transition to make it an enjoyable journey of her lifelong learning.

Next it was time to hit the bookshop! Since Alexis was overseas, I couldn’t do a tag team and had to queue to buy her textbooks and uniform separately which I see many parents doing. And though it took some time for he purchase, the whole process was systematic and efficient as the books are all packed if you choose everything on the booklist. We also took the optional Chinese flash cards and dictionary but later learnt it’s hardly used in class >.<

Showing me where the teachers brought her when I was listening to the talks

While waiting in the queue, Sophie excitedly told me that she made one new friend and the teacher took them to tour around the canteen, assembly area and classroom.

For the uniform purchase, the vendor opened a class so that the kids could try the sizes before joining the queue. And as expected, Sophie has to take the smallest size and it still looked oversized on her. I told her she better eat more to fill up her skorts, else it will drop to the floor by the time she walks from the home to school!

Bought her own food from the canteen

The orientation concluded after three hours and both of us left feeling more assured of what to expect in the first few days of school. Oh and I had a mild panic attack when I heard the school is not allowing parents to come into the school in the first few days of school. So it’s going to be a drop off with a hug and kiss and see you when school ends kinda arrangement. The principal assured us that our kids will be fine and well taken care of by the teachers as well as their P4 buddy during recess. So guess it’s the inevitable time for us to learn to slowly let go as our kids gain greater independence in Primary school.

Our Primary One journey starts in about a month’s time. We can’t wait for this exciting milestone and meanwhile I’m prepping Sophie to learn how to count money, read the analog clock, start a routine and teaching her how to deal with issues like bullies, etc.

Do send us any advice you may have for Primary One and all the best to you if you’ve got a budding Primary One for next year too!

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Hong Kong with Kids Part 1- Christmas in Disneyland

November 24, 2015 Comments: 14

The months of October and November were the holiday season for us as we jetted off to Bangkok, Penang and Hong Kong. Even though we joked that we needed to go on more holidays before Sophie starts Primary One next year, some of these vacations were unplanned so we’re truly thankful to have been able to enjoy this little indulgence.

I have so much to write about each holiday and I’ve decided to write about our most recent vacation to Hong Kong starting from where else but my most favorite-est place on earth- Disneyland!

Since we were going on the third week of November, I was hoping that the theme park will be decked out in Christmas lights. Imagine my delight when I saw the Christmas decorations from the entrance! Disneyland feels extra magical during my favourite time of the year!

This way to Disneyland Resort!

It’s Christmas in Disneyland!

The massive Christmas tree that you can’t miss at the entrance

Phototaking with Mascots

Like most guests, we joined the snaking queues to have our photos taken with the characters once Disneyland opened its gates. And while it’s expected that everyone wants a photo with Mickey and Minnie, the queue was moving very slowly and we abandoned the idea and instead joined the one for Donald and Daisy since we didn’t get a photo with them.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a secret which allowed us to take photos of the other characters without joining the rest of the queue. This is gold especially if you’re not keen to wait in line for them.

Usually the characters will go for a short break in between the photo session and they will ajourned to the exit that’s located next to City Hall, that’s where you rent your strollers from. They will be accompanied by staff and I got Sophie to just walk alongside them as they made their way to the changing room while I snapped away. The characters will usually not stop for photos but they may still interact with the kids in their path, so that’s how we still got photos with Duffy, Mickey and Minnie!

Why hello Mickey and Minnie

And of course, here’s the photo with Donald and Daisy Duck. Can you feel the Christmas spirit in the air just looking at them all dressed for the holiday season? While the wait might have taken about 15 mins, the time that they took to ‘interact’ with the guests with high fives and hugs made us feel all so worthwhile. And the staff who helped us take the photos on my camera was fantastic too as they kept snapping away unlike some other places where they just take a miserly one shot.

Sophie getting a warm hug from Donald Duck

Chip and Dale!

The prime time to see the characters is really just after they opened and if you walk down the main street, you’ll also see Pluto, Goofy as well as the Princesses. But no Princess Elsa was in sight.

Usually, what we do is to grab the map and grab the fastpass. In this case, Hong Kong Disneyland only offered 2 fastpass for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Space Mountain. The latter of course is not for the faint hearted.

The two princesses

Among all the Disney movies, Toy Story remains a well loved one in the family and I find this area super photogenic. There are so many photo spots and it’s amusing to imagine what it feels like to be toy-sized like in Honey I shrank the kids. How cute is the ice stick bench and playing card.

Howdy Jessie!

Sophie doesn’t remember much about her first visit to Hong Kong Disneyland 2 years ago when she was just 4. But one thing she did recall was going on the slinky ride and initially we read that it was closed for maintenance. She was over the moon when she found it operational and her wide smile says it all 🙂

One ride she hated though was the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop and I regretted telling her that she was afraid to take the ride the last time. Turns out, she still hated it and almost burst into tears when it descended with sudden jerks.

Actually the tears came rolling but only after we got down as she was too nervous and worried to cry on the ride though I could see anxiety written all over her face and she was so mad that I didn’t give her a choice to skip the ride. Feeling bad, I offered to get her ice cream to make myself feel less guilty.

And of course, we indulged her with the prettiest ice cream to pacify her. Another must have in Disneyland is of course their huge turkey leg!

Unfortunately, by mid afternoon, it started to pour and the Flight of Fantasy Parade was replaced with Rainy Day Express where some of the characters drove by in their sheltered carriage. We were not the only ones disappointed but decided not to let the rain dampen our spirits and headed for the indoor rides and shows.

Since we didn’t get to watch any of the shows the last time, we made sure to check the timing of the Lion King Musical and were glad to finally watch it! The performance was fantastic and I was very impressed by the scale of the musical from singers, dancers, acrobats and even fire eaters! Do go early to get a good seat.

For Christmas, they were staging a new show, Mickey and the Wondrous Book. But we didn’t get a chance to watch it as they were having a media preview that day 🙁

Something’s coming up in 2016!

High 5 with Buzz Lightyear!

The rain kept us from the outdoor rides here so we went on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and it was so enjoyable even for us adults! In fact, I think we both had as much fun if not more fun than Sophie fighting to see who topped the charts in our quest to blast the ailens.

We made it on Oriton with our raincoats on and thankfully there was no danger of lighting. So do pack your raincoats especially if you’re going during year end when you can expect more rain.

We took shelter in It’s a Small Small World and as expected everyone was hiding from the rain as well and the queue was snaking. But it’s one of those ride that you never get tired of as it just makes you feel like a child in a wonderland.

Dining in Disneyland

The last time, we had our dinner at Plaza Inn that served Chinese food. I remembered that meal was quite expensive and this time we opted to dine at the Royal Banquet Hall where they offered international cuisine at more friendly prices and the restaurant looked enchanting with all the princesses and their prince.

Royal Banquet Hall

There’s Japanese food like sushi, ramen, Italian options like pizza and pasta as well as Chinese cuisine like dim sum and many others too. Besides the Mickey shaped pizza, they also had mickey shaped sushi too which is super cute!

Alexis and his 3 little piggies

Since there was some time to spare before the night parade, “Disney Paints the Sky” we wandered into the shops to check out their special Christmas merchandise.

So much cuteness!!!!

Almost bought this… almost

You want follow me home? I want to take you home too!

Attempting to look like sleepy Elsa! Take 1, Take 2

We didn’t go crazy shopping there and only bought Sophie a toy, a Buzz Lightyear toy gun while I chose an Olaf Christmas ornament that’s going up on the Christmas tree. Of course, I later cave and got her an Olaf Tsum Tsum at the Disney shop at the airport because she behaved well on the last leg of our trip when I was alone with her.

Frozen Christmas Tree Light Up

This Christmas there is a new Christmas Tree light up on the Main street by Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. A must watch for all Frozen fans! The buildings along Main Street was projected with snowfall and snowflakes as Queen Elsa sang and made her way to light up the tree with her sister.

We didn’t managed to get a good spot as everyone was standing and it seems that a good spot to watch this is somewhere near the huge Christmas tree right at the entrance.

Disney Paints the Sky Night Parade

Shortly after that, we went to secure a seat with a good view for the night parade. This was pretty new too and it gave us a second chance to catch the parade since we missed the one in the afternoon due to the rain.

Tinkerbelle

Monster Inc

Toy Story

Lighting McQueen

And the night doesn’t end at Disneyland without the fireworks. It’s certainly the highlight of the day and the best way to end a wonderful day at Disneyland! While it was tempting to capture it on camera, the best way is really to just sit back and enjoy the fireworks as they shimmer and glitter to all the classic tunes from Disney movies in the company of your loved one 🙂