Sharing our #DisneySide with a pile of kids

It’s my second year sharing a really fun party focused on all things Disney. We received free products in order to host a #DisneySide @Home Celebration from Disney Parks and Mom Select. The opinions expressed here are my own.

If anything, our love of Disney became incredibly clear last year. We had a chance to visit Walt Disney World three times (including one of the sweetest moments ever), I ran in a runDisney race at Disneyland in January and we mix in Disney fun at home as often as possible. That’s why the kids were super excited when I told them we were picked to host another #DisneySide @Home Celebration at our house this year. Instead of just inviting a few friends, we invited Jordan’s entire third grade class. Her teacher thought I was crazy. Maybe I was. My house has an interesting age range of Disney interest – from elementary school to the tween/teen experience. We merged both into our big event.

With the help of party supplies sent to us from Disney Parks and a pile of fun things I found on Amazon (including really fun Hallmark Monsters U decorations), we decorated the entry hallway, dining room and kitchen with Mickey Mouse decorations. The living room had some Finding Nemo flair. The basement was full of Monsters U.

One of the coolest things we had planned for the party was a new Toy Box Cameron built inside Disney Infinity. We had 25 kids at the house and many of the boys and a handful of girls learned how to play the game by taking turns competing with different Disney characters. Cam was incredible at managing the crowd and keeping the competition civil. He totally wins the “best party manager” prize.

We also used our Disney Movies Anywhere account to show Big Hero 6 off of my Google Play account. (The basement has the Apple TV, the living room has a Chromecast.) There were a bunch of kids who hadn’t seen the movie yet and they were enthralled.

The parents spent most of the time in the kitchen playing our #DisneySide games like Disney Trivia and Disney Word Search. We handed out prizes (including Disney nail polish, stickers and Mickey pencils) to kids who participated in “Pin the Mouth on the Mickey.” The two best “mouth pinners” won a Palace Pet! There was a snowstorm hitting our town as the party was going on and somehow we only needed to help one car out of our neighborhood after everyone went home.

This year’s #DisneySide party was more chaotic but even more fun. We had so much food to keep the kids happy. Our kick-butt home helper/part-time nanny, Amy, helped bake a Mickey cake and a really cool Mickey Rice Krispies Treat (the Mickey pan was a gift from Disney Parks). My wonderful friend, Kate, made a pile of tie-dye cupcakes thanks to the Duff Goldman company sending us cake mix in our #DisneySide box.

We had a blast. It isn’t every day when that many kids take over our house. They were awesome, mostly respectful and I know they had fun.

The #DisneySide @Home Celebration is part of a promotion with help from Disney Parks and MomSelect. I received a free celebration kit to host the celebration. The opinions expressed here are completely my own.