Countdown Activity Ideas

[CaliDisneyMama]

I'm making our Disneyland Countdown today (basically a paper chain in red, black, and yellow for Mickey), and I'm writing an activity on each chain for DS to do each day.

I want each activity to relate to Disneyland in some way, and I want them to be mostly free, with only a few being elaborate at all (to save my sanity lol).

Here's what I have so far. I need 47. I'd love your ideas, if you have any!

(the order will be mixed up when I put them on the chain, so the movies, for example, will be spread out throughout the countdown)

-watch Peter Pan
-watch Monsters Inc.
-watch The Little Mermaid
-watch Snow White
-watch Finding Nemo
-watch Sleeping Beauty
-watch The Nightmare Before Christmas and make Jack Skellington cookies (this one we'll do right around Halloween)
-watch some Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers on Youtube
-watch Dumbo
-watch A Bug's Life
-watch Cars
-watch The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
-watch The Wind in the Willows
-watch a Muppet movie or show (I think I'm going to put this one on the day after Thanksgiving and make it Muppet Family Christmas, which is one of my all time favorites)
-watch Pinnochio
-watch Fantasia
-make Mickey pancakes for breakfast
-make Mickey sugar cookies
-decorate mini m&m tubes to use for penny press machines
-go to the Disney Store and pick out something for the car ride
-go to Target and pick out coloring books/crayons/etc. for the car ride and hotel (this will probably be for sometime in the few days before we leave, so the temptation to color in them is minimal)
-pack our suitcases/surprise gift (I'll have a Disney something or other waiting in his suitcase or backpack for him to find when we go to pack his things; I think it will be something like Disney underwear or a new Disneyland shirt or something like that; obviously this will be on the day before we leave or so)
-go to Target and pick out a new Disney Songs and Story CD for the car ride (they're $5 and really well done!)
-go to Target and pick out a bunch of glow in the dark things from the Dollar Spot to use at night in the parks
-play games on the Disney Jr. website (this is a big deal to him because he's not usually allowed to use the computer)
-Daddy will read two Disney books (I'll probably use this one a few times)
-Mommy will read two Disney books (I'll probably use this one a few times)
-go shopping to find some new Disney jammies to use on the trip
-play Toy Story Yahtzee with Mommy and Daddy
-???

 

[disneyxica20]

there are lots of other board/party games with disney versions that you could check out. there's the scene it games, apples to apples (super fun!), monopoly jr...and you can find some of them for pretty cheap online so you don't hurt your wallet too much
how about decorating your car windows for the ride? you can write something like "disneyland bound" and draw mouse ears all over and/or use window clings to decorate.

 

[julieheyer]

What a great idea!! Wish you were my mom!


We like to look over old Disney pictures (from past trips) and old autograph books. Like reliving the adventure!!
We buy ( and eat) the Mickey shaped cheddar cheeses (similar to the mickey pancake idea)
Find our older Disney shirts and try them on, deciding which ones we'd like to take this trip.

Love the movie ideas, we do that too. Trying to focus on movies they'll see shows or rides of at the parks - toy story, cars, dumbo... I think you already got those ideas.

It's so much fun!!

 

[CheshireGato]

You can have him make a list of things he wants to do/characters he wants to see.
Make up a story with Mickey (or some other character) as the main character.
Have a Mickey Mouse drawing contest (hang all of them on the fridge).
Dress up like a Disney character or in Disney themed clothes one day.

 

[lalasmama]

We love watching the Disney Sing-Along Songs DVD that's Disneyland themed. Your library may have it--ours does! It's from 1990, and definitely looks it, LOL, but my DD doesn't mind at all!

Maybe watch Aladdin (I may have missed it on your list). DD knew the movie, and *LOVED* the show at DCA. Seriously, she sat in her seat, silent, mouth agape for the whole 40 minute show!

Maybe pick out/pack a special park bag. We used a soft-sided lunch box. It held her water bottles for the day, her medication (she has ADHD, and needs "top off" meds mid-day), a place to keep her long-sleeved shirt if it gets too warm, a snack or two, and any night-time toys (glow sticks, necklaces, bracelets, etc). And I may have snuck my anti-nausea medication in there too A cheap cinch-pack would work well for this too. The only reason we used a lunch box was because DD loved it because it matched her suitcase.

 

[CaliDisneyMama]

Thank you all for the ideas! I'm adding a bunch to my list!

We love watching the Disney Sing-Along Songs DVD that's Disneyland themed. Your library may have it--ours does! It's from 1990, and definitely looks it, LOL, but my DD doesn't mind at all!

We actually own that!!! And I'd totally forgotten about it! Thanks!

Maybe watch Aladdin (I may have missed it on your list). DD knew the movie, and *LOVED* the show at DCA. Seriously, she sat in her seat, silent, mouth agape for the whole 40 minute show!

I can't believe I forgot Aladdin (and Alice in Wonderland, apparently, too!). I've added it to the list, too! I hope DS will like the live show as much as your DD. I haven't seen it yet (one of those things I keep meaning to catch, but never have), but my Mom is coming with us, and she has asthma, so I'm thinking it'll be a nice break from walking for her (and the rest of us, too). I can't wait to see it!

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

Just wanted to add a couple of things we did in the past.
We made Autograph books, if you type in Disney Autograph pages in Google you can get some really cool ones. What makes it fun is that in our case we got some Disney stickers and decorated our own book. Our .99 cent store has tons of Disney stickers to chose so it didn't cost a lot.
We also got the Disney Parks: The Secrets, Stories and Magic Behind the Scenes Disc 2 from our Library the disc is nothing but Disneyland.
I also used these sites to print out Activities and Coloring pages http://spoonful.com/disney/disney-character-fun & http://disney-stationary.com/coloring-book/Disneyland-DisneyWorld.php you can find lots of cool stuff on both of those sites to do.

 

[elphaba91]

- You also forgot Cinderella!
- Decorate Disney cupcakes (a really easy design is to just use chocolate icing and then mini Oreos for the ears sticking out, or there are other cute designs out there)
- Make Jack Skellington sandwiches
- Draw pictures of Disney characters
- Wear Disney clothes (all of them family must participate)
- Decorate envelopes for housekeeping tips
- Help Mommy decide what clothes to take and make sure they're all clean.
- Decorate the cover of a trip scrapbook/diary. Help Mommy to write about how you're feeling about the trip.
- Make a list of the top 5 things each person wants to do. Pick which thing you're going to do first.

There are also lots of ideas, including activity pages, etc. here:
http://spoonful.com/disney
http://home.disney.com.au/activities/
http://family.go.com/printables/pkg-disney-coloring-pages/

 

[CaliDisneyMama]

Just wanted to add a couple of things we did in the past.

Thank you for your ideas!

- You also forgot Cinderella!

I thought about watching Cinderella, but I have SO many movies already on the list and there really isn't a Cinderella attraction (that I can think of?), so I dropped it. Poor Cinderella lol

- Decorate Disney cupcakes

We're actually going to do some Toy Story Alien cupcakes! I saw them on someone else' activity countdown and they're so cute! Just green frosting, candy eyes (which you I've seen all over right now in the Halloween baking area), and some kind of mouth. Super fun.

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[luulu1999]

My kids also like the disney vacation planning video, my dd wants to watch it every day lol, maybe watching some things on you tube about disneyland too