Disney 100 Exhibition Review - Excel London

By Scarlett Shepherd

The Disney 100 Exhibition is your chance to step into 100 years of Disney magic, wonder and excitement. The Disney archives have opened their vault of historic memorabilia and artifacts, to put it on show for the world to see and wonder upon.

We visited the Disney 100 Exhibition at the Excel Centre in London, and had an AMAZING time.

Booking

Booking tickets in advance was quick and simple through the fever website.

There were multiple tiers of admission tickets including:

General admission – admission to the attraction at a specified ticketed time.

Flexi fast track – flexible admission at any time on the selected day.

VIP – flexible admission at any time on the selected day, branded laminate and lanyard, soft drink with branded can holder, exhibition silver pin and print from the new Wish movie.

Within the different tiers of tickets, there is options for adults, children, senior, student and NHS. There are also discounted tickets for groups and families.

Prices range from £16.50 for general admission for child, senior and NHS to £50 for a VIP adult. Children under 5 are free.

We booked three VIP tickets for adults and utilised the free entry for our baby.

Travel to the Excel London

The Excel Centre is located in London, and is easily accessible from public transport using the transport for London services, including the underground and DLR.

The Excel Centre is also accessible by car. We opted to drive to the Excel on this occasion, and we were very happy with how easy it was to reach by road. There was little in the way of traffic around the Excel, and when we arrived there was plenty of parking available. The parking is located below the Excel Centre, and from there it is a short walk to the lift / stairs, which you have to go up one level to reach the main floor of the centre.

There was also the option to pre-book parking via the Excel website, however we chose to park and pay on the day which cost £25.

Entry into the Disney 100 Exhibition

To find the entrance for the Disney 100 Exhibition, we had to walk to the main entrance of the Excel building, then go outside. The entrance was then located just to the side of the main entrance doors.

As we had the VIP tickets, we were able to enter at any time on our chosen day. We showed our tickets to the staff at the doors, and they directed us towards the VIP line.

Entrance to the exhibition was seamless and easy. Our tickets were scanned at the entrance, and we were given our lanyards and pin. Following this were directed to have our photo taken, which was available for purchase at the end, and then we headed down a corridor to the start of the exhibition.

The Exhibition

The Disney 100 Exhibition starts in a room where a short show is played which gives some history on Disney. The show is an immersive experience as it plays all around the room, and there are amazing effects with lights that give you the feeling that you are stepping into something magical.

The show plays on a constant loop, so we were held outside for around 3 minutes before waiting for the next show to start.

Following the show, the curtains opened, and we walked out into the exhibition.

The exhibition felt large and took us around 1 hour to walk around in total. It is split into smaller areas that demonstrate various aspects of the Disney company over the last 100 years.

There is a large variety in the artifacts that were on display, these range from historic documents and drawings from the early days of Disney, through to icon costumes and props from the modern day. Some of the standout artifacts was a Mickey Mouse doll from the 1930s, Winnie the Pooh bear, Black Widow costume and the Cruella Devil dress worn by Emma Stone.

Along with the amazing artifacts, there was also lots of information and history on the artifacts and the Disney company. There were artifacts that everyone would like, from the classical fairy tales and princesses, to Marvel, Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. The artifacts did not end at the movies and animations, there was also exhibits about the Disney parks and musicales.

Along with the impressive range of historic artifacts, there was also lots of interactive exhibits and activities. These included photo opportunities, touch screen tables and other interactive activities.

At the end of the exhibition was a small gift shop. The merchandise here mostly included t-shirts and soft toys, but there were some more expensive items also. There were some exclusive Disney 100 exhibition merchandise, but this felt limited.

After the gift shop, there was another corridor which brought us to the bar where we were able to collect our soft drink, branded can holder and Wish poster. Unfortunately, there was no seating area around the bar, so we had to take our drink out with us and sit in the main Excel Centre to drink them.

The Kingdom of Winter

As we visited before the 7^th January 2024, we also got free admission to The Kingdom of Winter.

TOP TIP: Pick up the Kingdom of Winter flyer from the Disney 100 Exhibition, as this will be needed to gain free admission to the Kingdom of Winter.

The Kingdom of Winter is located at the other end of the Excel Centre from the Disney 100 Exhibition.

Showing the Kingdom of Winter flyer from the Disney 100 exhibition will gain you free entry. Entry is otherwise £9.50 for peak times.

On entry to the Kingdom of Winter you will get a wrist band to allow you to go between the various parts of the exhibition, along with a voucher for 1 free ride or hot drink.

The Kingdom of Winter felt a little like Winter Wonderland in London. Although Winter Wonderland is better.

The Kingdom of Winter had lots of fairground rides and some stalls that sold food, drinks and Christmas gifts. The number of stalls felt very limited, and most sold food.

Trying to use our free drink voucher was a very difficult task. We went to two different bars to try and get a hot chocolate, but at both bars we were told it would be at least a 10 minute wait, as they were either re-filling or fixing the hot chocolate machine.

Overall, the vibe of the Kingdom of Winter was lacking a bit. It was spread out over a large area, but it just felt empty.

Taking an 11 month old to the Kingdom of Winter is probably not a good idea, as there was not a lot that she could really participate in, especially as most of the rides were for older kids and adults.

There were also extra paid activities including ice skating, a circus and ice exhibition trail. However, ice skating is not suitable for a baby, and the ice exhibition trail and circus were fully booked and needed to be pre-booked in advance due to it selling out quickly.

I am glad that we did not pay anything extra for entry to the Kingdom of Winter, as I felt that there was little to do there with a baby. It is probably more suitable for adults and older children that enjoy fairground rides; however, I think that Winter Wonderland offers a much better experience due to a better vibe and larger variety of activities and stalls.

Summary

We would highly recommend the Disney 100 Exhibition. It was a magical experience with lots of history and fun along the way. We really feel like we were transported into the magic, and taken for a ride through the 100 year history of the Disney company.

Having the VIP tickets was useful for the anytime admission on the day, and we liked the pin and lanyard, however, they were significantly more expensive than a standard general admission ticket.

Having admission to the Kingdom of Winter extended our day at the Excel Centre, and it was nice to walk around the Christmas stalls. However, I would not make a trip to the Excel Centre just for the Kingdom of Winter.