Awww! I feel your excitement! We leave this Saturday. This is the first trip for me, DD, 8, and DS, 7 (my husband doesn't remember much about his trip). The kids will be surprised this Friday via a scavenger hunt leading to boxes filled with Disney items. Our total party will be 15 at the parks, there are 7 of us driving there.
I would start packing no earlier than 2 weeks out mainly because you may need some of your summer clothes you plan to take. You can however start getting trip specific items. We are traveling from NJ via a road trip so I hope my list helps! I have been storing everything in a large bag in the storage room. Yesterday in the middle of the night I got the bag and started to sort it- tonight- packing!
Here are the things I ordered/bought for the trip wayyy ahead of time: (this is from memory so I may have forgotten a few things)
- mickey/minnie ears(I went to party city and got them for $5.99/ea. compared to about $20+/ea. at Disney)
- mickey and minnie bathing suits (on sale at Disney.com for $11/ea.)
-personalized towels to match said bathing suits (on sale at Disney.com for $11/ea. including name personalization)
-official autograph book (on sale at Disney.com for $5 compared to $8 at Disney)
-Mickey/Minnie drawstring backpacks ($5/ea. on
amazon)
-Mickey and Minnie landyards zipper pouches($4/ea. on amazon)
-colored sharpies (large ones as they are easier for the characters to hold)
-LED light up glasses and landyards ($1 at Target dollar section)
-star wars and minnie dog tag and necklace kits ($1 on clearance at
Walmart)
-glow sticks ($1 dollartree)
-princess dress (free- Elsa costume from a friend)
-Star Wars costume ($13 at Walmart- He will only wear some of the costume as it is hot)
-4 02 Cool necklace fans that blow upwards (4/$20 at CVS, they have them at Walmart too)
-large pack of batteries
-4Frogg Togg Chilly Pads mini ($2/ea. at Walmart)
-2 filter water bottles ($6 for Refresh2go bottles at target) water at Disney is supposed to be yucky)
-Star wars and Minnie themed hats ($6/ea. at Burlington Coat Factory)
-sun visors ($3/ea., from Walmart in women's sections,1 black, 1 pink)
-Mickey/Minnie shirts ($7 ea. at Walmart compared to about $30+ at Disney)
-lots and lots of activity books (from about 10 different Dollar Trees: we used these for a trip to Williamsburg from NJ and they were a huge hit, so every time I passed a Dollar Tree I would stock up on different activity books, playpads, interesting books, etc., I will just pack the crayons and pencils/sharpeners they have at home)
-New ipads for both kids
-2 portable chargers with 10,000 mAh for said ipads (amazon $10/ea.)
-1 portable charger with 20,000 for my phone in park (amazon $15)
-2 fluffy head phones for said ipads, 1 blue, 1 purple ($7/ea. at Burlington Coat Factory)
-2 ipad skins ($5/ea. on clearance at walmart)
-2 ipad neoprene cases ($/ea/ at dollartree)
-Spot It game with Disney Pixar theme (love this game for long lines/car/restaurants. $9 amazon)
-Disney Activity Book for Boys (Five Below $5- it was a bit pricey for my taste, but it was hardcover and just too perfect to pass up)
-Disney Activity Book for Girls (Five Below $5- see note above)
-3 travel Neck pillows (Five below $5, one for me and each kid, DH didn't want one)
-sunscreen stick for face
-spray sunscreens (they were on sale so I grabbed a bunch for the trip, and just to have)
-blister tape for feet
-travel packs of: Dramamine, Tylenol, Excedrin, Pepto, and Tums
-gel for my hair (I am very product specific so I bought a whole new jar and 2 mini containers for my wash and go curly hair)
-travel snacks (large box of welch's fruit snacks, individual chips, capri suns, fruit belts, Motts squeeze applesauce, cookies, beef jerky, trail mix, frozen gogurt for the cooler, frozen water for the cooler- on Sat. morning I will get some fresh fruit and make them into individual baggies)
- 2 mini coolers (Five below $5/ea. This way they have their own personal snack arsenal, also, doubled as large lunch boxes which can hold frozen water for camp)
-2 packs Mickey favor mini boxes ($1/ea at Dollartree- I will leave a note from Tinkerbell stating that if they are good they will receive a treat each day, which will be $5 in spending money that they can either spend the day of or save for a big souvenir-it totals $25/kid for souvenirs for the whole trip. Their pre-made "kits" have tons of stuff so there isn't much they should need)
I think thats it. I had a lot of fun gathering all these things in secret for the past few months. Doing things ahead of time allowed me to do research that will really save bucks when we go to the park. For instance, paying $7 a shirt is a fraction of Disney's $30/shirt. Also, Mickey ears were a steal at $5.99 compared to about $20 on site. I know I have a lot of stuff, but I got most of it for very cheap. With a 20 hour road trip I needed to have many items to keep them entertained. I didn't get a portable DVD player, but I am still thinking about it.
Have fun!
