For those of you who may have missed it, the UK has been in full flow this past weekend as we celebrated the Queens Diamond Jubilee, 60 years on the throne. You cannot move anywhere in the country without seeing a Union Jack flying and celebrations in full swing. One of the min events of the weekend for families was the Jubilee Family Festival in London’s Hyde Park.
The event itself could only be described as the UK’s largest Village fete. Hyde park was full of stalls, food vans, entertainers, inflatable objects and large stages which would hold much of the entertainment throughout the day.
As you can see from the photo above, there was much for the whole family. British holiday company Butlins presented the Kids Zone and its entertainment that saw some of the UK most popular characters live on stage. You’ll notice that there was no Disney on the schedule. That was due to them having a much larger presence at the event.
Around the outskirts of the venuw were many stalls that showcased many Britsh companies. In each area, guests had the chance to take part in activities for the whole as well as a large number of freebies. Most of these venues had large queues for the majority of the day but it was the Disney tent that was by far the busiest.
May guests spent an hour and a half to 2 hours to get in to the venue. That was unless you visited the Disney Cast Member handing out Fastpass bracelets. Just as it works in the park, guests were given a wristband with a return time on it and were guaranteed entry without queueing. Once inside, guests could then enjoy a range of activities suitable for the whole family. Towards the back of the tent, guests had the chance to say hello to the stars of Cars 2: Lightning McQueen, Mater and Finn McMissile.
Younger guests also had the chance to take part in a Princess makeover where they could decorate and take away your own crown. There was the chance to step inside the Club Penguin snow dome, Play the latest Disney Kinnect games and watch a film in 3D. If you were getting a little peckish, you could pick up some free candy floss or popcorn before heading over for a meet and greet with Jake from Jake and the Never land Pirates
Finally, the Art Attack Zone asked kids to help create a Union Jack flag using coloured Mickey Mouse stickers. Each child was encouraged to put their own little message on before sticking it to the wall.
This wasn’t the only element Disney brought to the table as at 5.20pm on both Saturday and Sunday, the Disney Concert Orchestra, West End Singers and Disney characters brought a show to the Main Stage entitled “The Magic of Disney in Concert”. The 90 minute extravaganza brought songs from classic and contemporary movies, both animated and live action, to the stage. It also included a live performance from the cast of the Lion King as am added surprise. A fantastic ending to a great day. Take a look at a few of the photos from the concert.
Check back later this week for video from the Disney tent and another video of the entire Disney concert.
This is the most heartbreaking thing i have ever taken my 7 year old twins to in their lives , They where and still are heart broken , as am I to, I dont know how long it will take to get over the discusting way my little excited boys and myself have been treated. To advertise this as Disney , and to then close the Disney tent at 3.15 is an absoulte outrage . My little boys had been exstacit to find out we where going to the Disney Festival at Hyde park , where they where going to see Life size Lightening Mcqueen, Buzz and Woody amungst all their other favourtine Disney Charectors. We traveled from Oxoford in the pouring rain , once we got to Hyde Park we realised that the even was not as good as the advertisers made out , We walked round , the so called family festival , and thought it was disapointing , So when we got to the Disney tent I was relived there was the thing My little boys dreamed of seeing , but when we got the the que , we where deveastated to find it had closed ?????? this was only at 3.15 ???? and the main “event” the only thing the children wanted to see ! It was a disgrace to close this as it was supposed to be open for the whole day , Sainsburys have utterly ruined their Juilblee weekend , not to mention breaking out hearts , How do you explain to two little boys that they are not even allowed to join the que to see their heros , I have no idea how to make this awful day up to them, we are trueley shattred by this , and the foil way the staff treated us, I was a pushed away !!! I will do everything in my power to let everyone know , and will take this as far as possible , Im going to every national paper !!
Family festival in Hyde park was great, there was something for all the family and what an amzing atmosphere.
Unfortunately we too missed the Disney tent as we arrived past 15:15 but this is no-bodys fault but our own, we should have got there sooner as should anybody else who is upset that they missed it. The festival was open from 10:30 so the Disney tent was open for most of the event.
The staff were all very much in the spirit and made the day even more special.
And not forgetting the amazing and magical Disney performance in the evening, my niece was so excited as was I at seeing all the Disney Princesses and hearing a full concert of all some of the best Disney songs. A really great way to celebrate the Queens Jubilee and Great Britain.
Really disappointed with the day, paid lot of money and travelled a long way for my children to see the cars ( only reason we went) but Disney closed the queues at 2.30 with no warning despite the festival being open until 7 pm. Very upset children. Were told the show on stage at 5.20 was fantastic so waited around for that only to find out when it started it wasn’t the characters, just random singers! Again very disappointed kids. As a family who has always loved Disney and their events, we feel cheated. The main gates were also late opening and the day seemed to be geared towards queuing for everything- not the family friendly day we had imagined.