Back in August, my Mum and I met up with my boyfriend in Covent Garden for a spot of lunch and a little trip to the Disney West End Pop Up. If you didn’t know, I am a massive fan of Disney and Musical Theatre so this little pop up was right up my alley. Also, I really wanted to visit this year for a couple of reasons. Disney had a Beauty and the Beast Musical section (which is not only my favourite film, but I am also seeing this musical on the 12th September, review coming soon!). Secondly, this would be my first Disney experience since the pandemic happened. Down in the New Forest, you don’t get much Disney about. Also sadly, my local Disney Store has closed down, so I haven’t even visited a shop with a Mickey in! So this was a very emotional day for me!
I booked our free tickets a few months in advance as for the first time due to the pandemic, it was a ticketed event. The cast member checked our tickets in Mrs Corey’s Sweet Shop from Mary Poppins and off we went. The first costumes we saw was Mary Poppins’ classic red coat and Burt’s costume. Beautiful!
Next, we ventured to Agrabah where we entered into the world of Aladdin. In here was the lamp that used to be outside the Prince Edward theatre, a cardboard cut out of the Genie and the Aladdin arcade game. I spent a fair while on the arcade machine. It was very nostalgic as I remember playing this game on my game boy. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I purchased it on my Nintendo Switch so that I could play it all the time. Unfortunately, that was it in the Aladdin section. I was really shocked that they hadn’t put any of the costumes on display as the show is currently not performing on the West End, or anywhere in the UK for that matter. So I can’t lie, this room was rather disappointing.
After this we entered the Beauty and the Beast Room. The first thing you see as you enter the room is the enchanted rose front and centre of the room. Then behind this, the dress. GORGEOUS! This dress was used in the Shanghai version of the musical. I’m pleased its not the one they are actually going to use in the show. That means it will still be a surprise when we go and see it soon. Even though this isn’t the dress, it was still lovely to see. I can’t lie, I’m not a massive fan of all the flowers on the dress. It doesn’t look right for me. So hopefully, Belle’s dress in this version will be even better!
I have never been lucky enough to see The Lion King on stage. I would really love to. We were supposed to go in 2020 as The Lion King was on tour and was actually in Southampton on my birthday, but alas, thanks to the pandemic that didn’t happen. Fingers crossed for 2022 right? I’ve seen some of the costumes and puppets from this show in previous pop up shows however they still amaze me. The amount of beading and detail in the individual costumes is insane! The masks that the cast wear as well! It’s so amazing to be able to see the costumes up close.
Finally, they hit you with the Frozen fever. You are immediately hit with Elsa’s ice dress. I think this is the most stunning dress I have ever seen. One thing that I keep saying in regards to the West End costumes is the detail, and this ice dress did not disappoint. There are so many crystals that just elevate the magicalness of the dress. INCREDIBLE and Disney, please can I have one! Around the corner from this stunning dress is a video screen that plays short videos about how they have made the show. Mum and I stood and watched them all and it only made us want to go see Frozen so much more! All the work and effort that has been put in the show is insane and I can’t wait to hopefully go and see this show at some point.
After watching all the videos we made our way to the last stop which was Elsa’s coronation dress. Again, another beautiful costume and so accurate to the movies! One thing that irritated me, was the amount of the general public that presumed it was Anna’s dress. My boyfriend kept laughing when I was correcting everyone that it was still Elsa’s dress and they didn’t believe me! There were so many pictures on the walls showing the two sisters in their coronation dresses but they were like nope, this is Anna’s dress. Clearly, they weren’t as big of a Disney fan as me! It would have been nice to have seen one of the dresses that Anna wears as this probably would have made a lot of sense, so the public wouldn’t confuse the dresses maybe? I dunno, it just wouldnve been nice to see more from the new Frozen musical.
I had a marvellous time at the Disney West End Pop Up show. Seeing all the costumes just inches in front of me was so lovely. It makes me want to go and see every Disney musical and all the other shows in between! Unfortunately, the Disney West End Pop up show is over for this year. But I would recommend keeping an eye out over on the Disney Tickets website for details on another pop-up. I know I will be!
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