prepping kids for Disney trip

[Suz36]

Has anyone ever done something neat for their kids in the weeks/months leading up to a trip to Disney? My kids certainly don't need any help getting excited about the trip, but I was looking for some ideas of things I could do to help countdown the time. Thanks!

[Marilyn Michetti]

If they're younger, tell them you're going to Gramma's. That's like giving them candy before church.

I'm just kidding, (partly), but if these kids hear too much, they are gonna wear you out !

You'll get actual, practical advice from someone younger than me here on Intercot, so don't be offended by my "tongue in cheek" advice. Our kids were 10 and 12 our first trip, and they were pretty cool about it, but they didn't know much about Disney World, and it was only MK and Epcot then.:D

[diznedreamin]

On my son's first trip, we made a paper chain link out of construction paper for the amount of days that we had left. I put numbers on the "links" along with Disney stickers for the days. I started when there was a reasonable time frame to manage, around 30 days out. He had so much fun taking 1 link off each day and then reading the number on the next link to determine how many more days were left. Again, I don't know how old your children are, but if they are young, they would probably enjoy doing the craft and it's a great way for them to learn numbers!!!

[septembergirl]

On my son's first trip, we made a paper chain link out of construction paper for the amount of days that we had left. I put numbers on the "links" along with Disney stickers for the days. I started when there was a reasonable time frame to manage, around 30 days out. He had so much fun taking 1 link off each day and then reading the number on the next link to determine how many more days were left. Again, I don't know how old your children are, but if they are young, they would probably enjoy doing the craft and it's a great way for them to learn numbers!!!

Love this idea for DD3! I know she would get a kick out of this!

[DREAMADREAM93]

For my little sisters first trip, my parents didnt tell her ANYTHING. That was, until we began loading up the car and she started to ask where we were going. She was about 3 at the time and when we handed her a little Mickey Mouse doll holding the annual passes, her eyes lit up :]

Classic moment - for sure.

JOrdan :]

[BashfulMom]

Something I have done for our trip in July is pick up some small gifts and items that will make the trip fun for the kids. I have put them in colored bags and will give them one each day about a week before we leave.

[Minniemouse27]

We are going in December and my 6yo dd is about to burst! :D

We came up w/ the chain idea together and are going to work on it in the next few weeks.... counting down 150days using red, black and white paper. They have been studying counting up to 100 in kindergarten this year so 150 isn't all that much!

Ds isn't even aware or the whole thing. He will be turning 2yo while we are there so he will be oblivious to it until we leave.

[irish1967]

The one thing I WOULDN'T do is make any promises...

We took our niece to Disney when she was 3 - 12 years later talks about how we spent the ENTIRE trip looking for Pochahontas!

Maybe you could spend some time on the Internet with your kids researching different Disney things every day.

The month before we left last year, I sent my family daily e-mails with different themes (three families plus grandpa were going)...one was about the hotel we were staying at, several were about the history of characters (do you know Donald Duck's middle name?), three were about the different TS restaurants for which we had made ADRs, some were about the construction of the rides, one was about the monorail, one was about hidden Mickeys, etc. (ok now I am remembering sending my dad an e-mail asking for ideas ' cuz toward the end, I starting struggling for topics)

But, it was a lot of fun to do. You could also supplement with different travel books from the library!

(But, you might want to preview the sites first, I recently did an image search for Mickey Mouse and, well, :blush: I'm glad my kids weren't around to see the results (my laptop isn't filtered because of topics I have to research for my grad school classes))

If your kids are young enough, another thing is you could search on "free Disney coloring pages" (also on Google) and make a book of coloring pages for them to do each day as a countdown (I did this before our trip to London a couple of years ago - DS (at the time 5) LOVED it and every day counted how many pages he had colored and how many pages were left.)

Can you tell - I have as much time ANTICIPATING our trips as actually being there? :mickey:

[jkj1224]

when we were planning a trip with friends (their first trip) we bought a book that had all the disney characters in it so every night before bed their son could read a little about each character so when he got to Disney he knew who everyone was.

[little disney lovers]

Hi, I'm going to send postcards to my kids from Mickey and the Princesses. If they are young enough don't bother with the stamp and posting, Just pop them in your letter box and have your kids check the postbox. I'm going to write things like - Please come and visit me at my house, Love Mickey or Can't wait to see you again, Love Cinderella. They feel very special.

:mickey:

[Lizzie]

I like to rewatch all my Disney movies before a trip so I am familiar with charachters and story lines.

[crazypoohbear]

Last year I told my DS's they were NOT coming with me. They didn't find out they were until we got to the airport. They thought they had packed for a trip to Hampton beach with their dad. That was exciting. This year my youngest talked me into telling the oldest that their friend can't come with us.... He is coming. the friend is in on the secret as is his whole family:secret:

[baby minnie's mommy]

Hi, I'm going to send postcards to my kids from Mickey and the Princesses. If they are young enough don't bother with the stamp and posting, Just pop them in your letter box and have your kids check the postbox. I'm going to write things like - Please come and visit me at my house, Love Mickey or Can't wait to see you again, Love Cinderella. They feel very special.



Ooooh, I love that idea! My DD is 2 and LOVES to get mail!!! I'm gonna go out and get some postcards this week! :thumbsup: