Creative Disney Countdown Ideas?

[5starmom]

I'd love to make a countdown chart type thing for us all to enjoy these 200+ days until our vacation! The anticipation is killing us and we just made our reservation today! LOL

Any great ideas? I like the idea of paper clips that we take off one per day because they're small and we have a long way to go. Any other suggestions?

*I see that this was asked in another forum--sorry! But I'll still take ideas! lol

 

[BlakeNJ]

If you have a mickey head punch (or can purchase one--they are rather cheap) I used mine to cut out 75 mickey heads (our countdown number) and wrote the number of days remaining on each punch. Then, each morning I hid the punch in a spot I knew my kids would find. Stuck on the bathroom mirror, on top of their clothes I had laid out, in their cereal bowl (before I put the cereal in!!!) and in other clever spots.

I have also heard of the disney chain made out of colred construction paper and each day you break off a link. I am sure you'll get lots of great ideas from other posts. Good luck!

 

[pha1226]

Search here for "countdown chain". I think I printed mine off themouseforless.com. There are links with all kinds of Disney characters. My kids loved gluing them together and ripping them off every day. We did a paper clip chain for one vacation and had problems with it getting tangled. There are printable calendars at the disney site too www.disney.go.com.

 

[LISAVWL]

we did a Disney paper chain last year and my kids had a blast decorating it and then ripping one off each morning. We used stickers, crayons/markers, glitter, sequins and my Mickey head punch for decorations. I didn't start the countdown until we were 30 days out, they're young so I thought anymore would be overwhelming.

 

[5starmom]

If you have a mickey head punch (or can purchase one--they are rather cheap) I used mine to cut out 75 mickey heads (our countdown number) and wrote the number of days remaining on each punch. Then, each morning I hid the punch in a spot I knew my kids would find. Stuck on the bathroom mirror, on top of their clothes I had laid out, in their cereal bowl (before I put the cereal in!!!) and in other clever spots.

I have also heard of the disney chain made out of colred construction paper and each day you break off a link. I am sure you'll get lots of great ideas from other posts. Good luck!

I *just* went out and bought this at our craft store! LOL I love the idea of hiding them, too.

I also got some thick red yarn and over 200 mini clothespins ! I'm going to punch out multicolored Mickey heads, put on the numbers and stick one on each clothespin. Then, we're going to wind the yarn all over one wall and hang the clothespins on it--they can take one down every day.

I have no idea if we'll be able to keep it up (and in a way, I don't want them to obsess TOO much over the trip) but it will be fun to see our clothesline dwindle over the next several months!

I'll post a picture when I'm finished. Lots of great ideas here! Thanks everyone!

 

[Juliee8]

I got the mickey head punch and punched out all differents colors and then glued one of them on each day of a calendar for my son. He took a marker and did a countdown on each day and then we hung it in his room. This way every morning when he gets up he can mark off a day and see how many days are left until our trip. He loves it!!!

 

[5starmom]

that I'd post pics when I finished my masterpiece! LOL!!

I started at 180 days because that's when we can make our ADRs and the thought of making 230 of these little Mickey heads on mini clothespins made me dizzy! 180 was bad enough.

This thing starts at the ceiling and goes alllll the way to the floor! LOL But I let my kids do the Mickey head punching and clipping them onto our posterboard strip. I made the top Mickey head just by tracing with a plate and cup.

I'm going to take Blake's idea of hiding the Mickeys--just the last 20 that are at the top--each night for the kids to find the next day. Occasionally throughout the months ahead I'll clip a fun little piece of Disney trivia under that day's clothespin, too.

We're so EXCITED!!!!!

It's gonna be a long 8 months...lol

 

[tadamom]

That's really cute!! You did a great job!

We made ours 2 days ago....

This hallway leads to their bedroom, so we will not be forgetting about it!!

I made the poster and let my son decorate with Disney stickers. Everybody that is going has a Mickey head on the sign!!

 

[5starmom]

That's great! I love it, especially the poster!

 

[Mari annie]

We've never done a countdown, I would love to put on on my page here, avatar, don't know how it's done any ideas?

leaving in 8 Days for SUNNY WARM FLORIDA!
But want to do a countdown for April Trip!
I am already thinking about our 2nd trip down!!!
Never enough, right?!!!!

Have fun on all your trips!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Mine was very simple and easy to make. I went to the Disney Artist webpage and created calendar page(s) with Disney characters at the top. I then used my Mickey head punch to punch out daily markers, then ran these Mickeys through my Xyron to make them into stickers.

Each day DS6 could take a sticker off the strip and affix it to the appropriate calendar date square. DS was still learning about how to read and understand the calendar, so he loved it, especially counting how many days until our trip!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

5starmom your countdown is the cutest!!!!!!!! You are going the same day we are!!!!!

 

[TheDizMom]

that I'd post pics when I finished my masterpiece! LOL!!

I started at 180 days because that's when we can make our ADRs and the thought of making 230 of these little Mickey heads on mini clothespins made me dizzy! 180 was bad enough.

This thing starts at the ceiling and goes alllll the way to the floor! LOL But I let my kids do the Mickey head punching and clipping them onto our posterboard strip. I made the top Mickey head just by tracing with a plate and cup.

I'm going to take Blake's idea of hiding the Mickeys--just the last 20 that are at the top--each night for the kids to find the next day. Occasionally throughout the months ahead I'll clip a fun little piece of Disney trivia under that day's clothespin, too.

We're so EXCITED!!!!!

It's gonna be a long 8 months...lol

Oh my gosh how incredibly cute is that. I am going to have to make one now too. We are about 50 days out now, so I won't have to work quite so hard. I thought I would give you another fun thing for when you get closer to the big day. We did this last time we went and my DS has already asked if we are going to do it again. This starts at 10 days out.

10-start to plan a D dinner party. Pick amusement park type foods like hot dogs and ice cream bars . If you are going with more people then just your immediate family you can invited them too.

9-have your kids make a list of the things they want to do at MK

8-Make a list of addresses for the people you want to send postcards to. Don't forget the grandmas or to pack it!

7-have kids make a list of things to do at E

6- take colored paper and make MM ears to wear around the house

5-make list for MGM

4-have a Disney movie night complete with popcorn

3-make an AK to do list

2-get ready for your dinner party and throw it. Have the kids share their lists with you.

1- pick out clothes for departure day and have them pack their own bag with snacks and toys for the flight or car ride down. Hit the sack early cuz tomorrow's the big day!

We really had fun with this last time. When you're closer to the trip it gives them something to focus their excitede energy on!


Have a fun trip!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

TheDizMom, really cute ideas for the last 10 days prior! I love the idea of getting the kids involved in planning their own vacation, I hadn't really thought of that. My DS2 is too young probably, but DS6 would get a real kick out of it, I think.

 

[TheDizMom]

that I'd post pics when I finished my masterpiece! LOL!!

I started at 180 days because that's when we can make our ADRs and the thought of making 230 of these little Mickey heads on mini clothespins made me dizzy! 180 was bad enough.

This thing starts at the ceiling and goes alllll the way to the floor! LOL But I let my kids do the Mickey head punching and clipping them onto our posterboard strip. I made the top Mickey head just by tracing with a plate and cup.

I'm going to take Blake's idea of hiding the Mickeys--just the last 20 that are at the top--each night for the kids to find the next day. Occasionally throughout the months ahead I'll clip a fun little piece of Disney trivia under that day's clothespin, too.

We're so EXCITED!!!!!

It's gonna be a long 8 months...lol

I copied your idea today and it turned out sooo cute. I made most of the pieces myself and when my kids got home they helped put it up. The best part was it helped my DD with her counting. Now they have this to count down and then when we get to 10 days out we'll do our 10 day count down too.

 

[GirlTideFan]

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have any new ideas? I am trying to plan our countdown and am wanting to see some more of these.

 

[StuckInKS]

that I'd post pics when I finished my masterpiece! LOL!!

I started at 180 days because that's when we can make our ADRs and the thought of making 230 of these little Mickey heads on mini clothespins made me dizzy! 180 was bad enough.

This thing starts at the ceiling and goes alllll the way to the floor! LOL But I let my kids do the Mickey head punching and clipping them onto our posterboard strip. I made the top Mickey head just by tracing with a plate and cup.

I'm going to take Blake's idea of hiding the Mickeys--just the last 20 that are at the top--each night for the kids to find the next day. Occasionally throughout the months ahead I'll clip a fun little piece of Disney trivia under that day's clothespin, too.

We're so EXCITED!!!!!

It's gonna be a long 8 months...lol

Wow! That is great! We usually just tape our mickey heads to one of the kids' bedroom doors and then let them take turns taking one down each night before bed, but I like yours so much better. Maybe once I decide on firm dates for the next trip I will start on something like that.

 

[DonaldDuckFamily]

This was our countdown. The first year I had a picture from a previous vacation and the second year I used pictures from the previous vacation as well as Disney Trivia questions.

 

[emilyindisney]

I'm a huge fan of the countdown chains! My mom used to make those for Christmas when I was a kid and I always loved ripping the links off. Of course, these can be a little impractical when you're 200+ days out. I've also seen people do decorate cards (like note card size) with a picture and the number of days left. I'm thinking about doing this myself with the number of weeks to save wall space! I was also thinking of filling a jar with paper punched Mickey heads and taking one out each day. When the jar is empty, its time to go!