How do you build the excitement?

[ursalita]

Our family (Me, DH, DS9 and DS6) are going in April. I want to do some Disney things over the next few months to build the excitement for my sons. They are excited but since we're not leaving tomorrow it's not real to them, you know? One idea I had is to rewatch some Disney classics and some films that are new to us to get ready for the trip. I want my sons to be excited when they see the characters, theming, etc.

What are some activities or other things you do to get the kids into the spirit?

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

We have a long time...16 months before our trip so my plan is to do a monthly themed dinner revolving around a Disney Movie. Plus I am making a 100 day countdown calendar and our ELF is going to do all Disney themed activities at Christmas.

 

[WDGPCFR]

Kids live for today, don't over do it. I am the biggest Disney fanatic in our family and drove my wife and kids crazy before our last trip. At this point your trip is around the corner. Download maps and watch some videos to plan your trip.

 

[msquoted]

My kids (especially my 8 year old) have been wanting to do some kind of countdown to our trip. We aren't going until August and they've been asking since September to do something. We just passed the 180 days until our trip mark and so we have started a countdown of sorts that I don't think will overdo it (everyone in our house loves Disney so I'm not to worried about us getting sick of it). We are watching a different Disney movie every other week and then we are going to try to have some fun foods that go along with the movie and maybe an activity/game.

The plan was to start this last week by watching Brave and eating all kids of Scottish goodies (sausages, potatoes, Cranachan, shortbread, etc) but my youngest son ended up getting sick on the day that I was going to head to the store for these goodies so we improvised with the meals we already had planned for the week.

So, instead of Scottish theme we had Queen Elinor's and Merida's fresh caught Salmon w/ salad and rice (my husband made the delicious dinner) and witch's brew (which was actually something I usually call "bedtime milk"- warmed milk with a touch of sugar and vanilla. I added a bit of green food dye). Since everything was throw together last minute we didn't do any kind of activity but I let the kids eat in the living room while we all watched the movie together and we had a great night together as a family.

Next up... Alice in Wonderland. Hoping to get lots of "queen of hearts" type stuff post Valentine's Day. Planning to have a mad hatter's tea with tea sandwiches, crumpets, etc. Or... we could do a "unbirthday party" complete with cake and ice cream.

 

[jennynyholm]

Oh I love the idea of themed dinners with movies!! There was a cute countdown on Pinterest I saw where each day has a disney activity or disney fact on it. I'm going to make one 30 days out or so. Right now I'm at 330

 

[lustergirl]

I look at my ticker alot. I have an APP on my IPhone. I also look at my airfare everyday to see if the price has went down. Right now I am buying the little stuff for my suitcase such as toiletries.

 

[Ceryssa]

We do a countdown chain; I let the kids help cut it out and put it together, and they loved pulling the links off. We got one of the Mickey waffle makers (that actually come out more like pancakes lol) for Christmas, so I'll make those on Saturday mornings sometimes. And we do Disney movie family nights--so far we've done Tangled, (they "braided" breadsticks to look like Rapunzel's hair), Beauty and the Beast, (I made French onion soup, croque monsieur, and the Grey Stuff), Lilo and Stitch (pot stickers, teriyaki chicken, etc), Alice in Wonderland (we had a tea party), Cinderella (party food), The Princess and the Frog (gumbo and king cake--we did this one during Mardi Gras) and Toy Story (we made pizza, obviously!). Next up is Big Hero 6 (we're having sushi! My husband's request). We all really enjoy them (even my husband who rolled his eyes at the idea to begin with).