The new and improved Toddlebike2!

When D was little we bought him the original Toddlebike. He loved it (full review here in an old blog post) but now he's a bit too big for it and has moved onto his scooter and balance bike. Then a few months ago Iz was offered the chance to test ride the new, revamped Toddlebike2 (RRP around £24). I wasn't sure how Iz would respond as she'd never really tried to ride D's, but showed her a picture online and wow, that was that! Immediate cries of " MYYYYY TODDLEBIKEEEEEE!". 

When it arrived she was so excited she tried to climb in the box and as soon as it was out of its packaging, she was on it and riding. Don't want to stereotype her but she was definitely won over by the all over pinkness of it :) (it does come in other colours though if pink is not your thing!!)

And since then it's been an instant love affair. I can't get her off it!!

At the park

Chilling in the kitchen...

Having a snack

Watching TV!

So how is it different to the original Toddlebike?

This picture from their website sums it up best. 

Little tweaks have perfected the earlier model but it still has all the good aspects of the original model. It's still super light and easy to hang over your buggy handlebars but best of all the new design made for super easy light-pimping (see end of the post!).

The new large under-seat space makes it even easier for toddlers to hold 

And if you're wondering what weight it will hold... we tested the original one to over 75kg :) (Iz wasn't going to share her bike with anyone!! Lol)

Using it outside

Although Iz is pretty much attached to it 24/7, the times it is really put through its paces are outside in the park. 

Yes, it even gets it's own swing sometimes!

Probably because Iz was slightly older when she started using it (just over 2 versus D being 18 months) she immediately sat on the seat properly (rather than straddling the bar) and seemed to instantly know what to do. On its first outing she was scouting up and down ramps in the park and going faster than I could keep up with! 

High speed Iz!

Since then the Toddlebike has been everywhere with us, and Iz is so confident riding it. Love watching the kids race together!!

Ready steady go!

Iz can also keep up with D when he's on his bike

Or sometimes speed past him :)

Summary

Overall you may be able to tell we loved our original Toddlebike and are now massive fans of the new Toddlebike2. Simple to use, easily portable and pretty stylish - what's not to love?! And D is now confident on his balance bike, definitely helped by his Toddlebiking background. So if you are looking for a last minute present for a toddler in your life, look no further!!

Pimping your Toddlebike

So now you've got your Toddlebike2, what are you going to do next? Make it look even more awesome!! I bought 2 strands of battery-powered fairy lights from Poundland and taped them round the plastic frame - not very technical but Iz loved it!

She couldn't wait for it to get dark and was the total envy of all the other kids in the playground! It also meant it was really simple for me to keep an eye on her, she could see better in the dark and was easily visible to everyone else. The fairy lights are now a permanent feature and next I'm going to pimp D's bike and scooter!

Tips for visiting Disneyland Paris

As part of my celebrating-because-I've-now-got-a-permanent-consultant-post D and I went to Eurodisney for 4 days in mid September. We had an awesome time and D was the perfect age to understand the magic and excitement - I think Iz would have been too little and would've got annoyed by the queues and might have been scared by the characters etc but D (nearly 4) loved it.

We went on the Eurostar from St Pancras direct to the Disney village and it was so easy. I would definitely recommend it as a "short break" destination with preschoolers upwards :)

(Note - obviously there were lots of things D couldn't do because of his age/size and so you may well get even more out of it with a 6 or 9 year old for example. But there was more than enough to keep us busy for 4 days and at D's age he properly believed in the magic - he was sooooo excited when he got to meet Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those of you not up to scratch with your fairytales!). 

Anyway if you are thinking about going here are my top tips... 

Make the most of "magic hours"

If you stay in one of the Disney hotels you can enter the park 2 hours early (ie 8am rather than 10). The park is soooo much quieter then and this is the perfect time for character meets - in 30 minutes on our second day we met Chip and Dale, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Pluto... if you tried to do that after 10 you would wait at least 30 minutes per character! It is also a really good time to go on some of the busier rides (eg the Buzz Lightyear laser shooting game - zero queue so we went on it 3 times in a row - came back at 11am another day and the queue was crazy!). So get to the park for 8 and enjoy the quieter time.

 

His favourite superhero!

Disney cafe / princess lunch

If your little one is excited to meet the Disney characters then this is the easiest way to do it. Not the cheapest but then you're already paying to go on holiday to Disney... 

We had lunch at Cafe Mickey and met Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Eeyore, Pinocchio's father and the chipmunks. It cost about £40 in total and we both had a 3 course meal with delicious food. The characters took time to chat properly to each child and D was so excited by the whole thing.

If Disney princesses are your thing though then I'd recommend having lunch at the Auberge. Again not very cheap (our lunch cost about £90) but really good food - proper high quality restaurant food, not what I expected to find in Disney! There you get to meet several princesses - they come round the tables and do a few dances. We met Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella, Prince Charming and the mice from Cinderella (Suzy and Perla - who knew they were called that?!). D was just awestruck. He totally loves all the princesses and for him I think this was the most exciting bit. He still talks about it most days! My advice would be book early though - I booked a week before we went (it was a very last minute holiday) and the only slot left was 3pm - not ideal timing. 

 

Don't worry if they like "boring" things!

Some of D's favourite things were not the most exciting! He kept asking to visit the animatronic crocodile outside the Rainforest Cafe (!), totally loved the Alice in Wonderland maze and we must've visited the Monsters Inc area (where you can shout into the screaming canisters) about 10 times in 3 days!

See a show (in parade time)

There are amazing shows throughout the day which are all free but can get really busy and fill up long before the start time. Most of them have a showing during the afternoon parade time though and this is the best time to go as those performances are much quieter (eg only have to get there 15 minutes before start time rather than 45 minutes before!). We saw the Mickey Magician's APprentice one - with guest appearances by Elsa, Belle and the Beast, the Lion King cast and loads more it was an awesome show and D loved it.

Take healthy food from home 

I guess it's like any theme park (have you tried to eat anything healthy at Legoland?!) but because we were there for several days I noticed it much more. There are very few healthy options. I hardly saw any fruit or vegetables anywhere. I'd brought a lot of snacks from home and was very glad I had - it meant I had enough raisins, fruit pouches, Organix crisps, rice cakes etc that firstly I didn't have to buy expensive snacks there and also that D was getting something nutritious...

Make the most of breakfast

Similar to above, if you're staying in a Disney hotel with buffet breakfast make the most of it!! We also took a couple of brioche buns each day wrapped in a napkin for lunch - might sound skanky but you'll do the same once you see the prices and queues for the fast food inside the park :)

Choose your days carefully

I assumed weekends would be busiest and weekdays quietest. But actually the Sunday afternoon when we arrived was really quiet - if I'd realised how quiet it was then I would've made the most of it! Monday was much busier...

Buy the Digipass if you are planning to do character meets

I think ours cost about 40 euros for the whole trip and for that price you get digital files of every photo the professional people take when you meet characters. They typically took at least 5-8 photos at each meet-n-greet and the quality was way better than what I took on my own camera (see below example - mine on the left, theirs on the right!!). Definitely worth it if you're planning to meet a few different characters during your trip.

 

Don't bother with buses if in Disney hotel

There is a free shuttle bus that goes from the park to each Disney hotel. Honestly don't bother with it. It only takes about 10 mins to walk to all the hotels (and it's pretty around the lake) and you will wait much longer for the bus to come!

Do use the Disney Express service

Pay £16 and you can drop your suitcase in the Eurostar terminal and they'll deliver straight to your hotel. Means you can go straight into the park and not waste any time. And ditto on your last day - they'll drop your luggage back at the terminal from your hotel so you can enjoy the park up til the last moment :)

All the hotels are pretty similar - choose cheapest! 

I spent ages looking at all the different Disney hotels and trying to decide which was nicest. In real terms all the ones grouped around the lake (eg Newport Bay, Sequoia Lodge) are pretty much the same. They all have pools, a small shop, buffet breakfast etc. 

Go up in the hot air balloon

We did this on our last day and D had been looking forward to it all holiday as we walked past the balloon every day. It was a fun way to see the park from a completely different perspective and D was mesmerised :)

Buy a portable potty...

My husband completely laughed at me when I bought this (cost £5 on Amazon) but OMG it is the best invention ever! Why anyone ever bothers with a portapotty etc I have no idea... Basically it is a leakproof flask with a funnel for him to pee into. Then you screw on the lid and wait til you can dispose of it later. Amazing!

Anyone who has stood in a queue for half an hour can imagine the pain when you've finally reached the front and your toddler suddenly says they need a wee... This was very easy to use, very discrete (the funnel hides everything) and small (just larger than a 500ml bottle of water). It was leakproof so I could just stash it under the buggy until we got back to our bathroom. Definitely a good buy! And in case you're interested - there is also a girl version. Which I have already bought Iz for when we are out and about after potty training starts :)

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So there are my tips - if I think of more I'll add them above. And if you have any of your own feel free to add them below!