On Monday 5th August we headed to London on the train. This is one of Esther and William’s favourite things to do at the moment. Riding to London on ‘Spencer’ and then travelling across London on the underground train.

We were heading for Disney HQ in Hammersmith to see a special preview screening of Disney’s Planes.

This was a very special day for us as it was not just a special screening, it was Esther and William’s first ever trip to the cinema.

And they loved it!! William in particular thought the whole experience was wonderful.

He loved his special seat, with a giant sofa cushion to make him tall enough to see! And he loved his 3D glasses. He sat on his special cushion, glasses on and did not move for the entire film. Esther enjoyed it too but was more fidgety, being recently potty trained did not help her with this. She also did not get on so well with the glasses! But William, well, he was in his element!

The only full length movie Esther and William had ever seen before Planes is Thomas (Misty Island and Blue Mountain Quarry). We watch those at home and can have breaks whenever we need to. It is very rare for them to sit through a whole film without breaking for a play. I was not at all sure what they would make of Planes.

Planes grabbed them from the beginning. The size of the screen was wonderful and new. They loved the music and the characterisation of the planes and other vehicles. There was a lot of technical language at the beginning of the film which I found quite boring but Esther and William seemed to enjoy it and certainly managed to stay focused through it.

Esther and William loved all the action of the planes flying but they also loved the characters and really understood the story. Their favourite characters were the hero, Dusty Crophopper and all the female planes. Esther and William always love the girl characters, their favourite Thomas train is Emily.

Esther took longer to settle into the film but once the race began and there were less technically dense conversations between planes and engineers she was much happier.

I was worried that William would talk all the way through the film but actually he did not and I found that I was the one asking him questions and paraphrasing parts of the dialogue. During the last leg of the round the world race I found myself getting really excited and encouraging William to cheer Dusty and his friends on. I must admit that I really enjoyed the second part of the film.

Esther and William understood that Dusty wanted to race but was not very good at flying fast. They understood that his character was kind and that his friends helped him because they liked him so much. They knew who the naughty aeroplane was and they talked about all the characters all the way home. They thought the film was wonderful, the whole experience was magical for them.

The highlights of the movie for them were Dusty flying through the tunnel and almost getting hit by a train and when Dusty fell into the sea and was rescued by a helicopter. They are still talking about that almost two weeks on.

The film was a great introduction to cinema for young children. It is a wonderful family movie and I found myself laughing out loud at the characterisation and also feeling quite emotional as Dusty finally won the race and Skipper took to the skies once more.

A wonderful movie, a wonderful day out. We are definitely going to go to the cinema to see this again.

Esther and William want to take their Daddy!!

Disney Planes is now available to see in a cinema near you.