Making The Trip Magical

[sweakley]

Our family of 8 will be headed to DisneyLand May 10-15. We've counted the days and there are 113 left. I'd like to start a thread to see how many ideas we can come up with about things to do to while we're waiting to make the trip even more magical for our kids.

So far we have

1. Made a Disney Countdown Chain. We went to home depot and "borrowed" those mickey head paint samples and made our 118 day chain!

2. Ordered the Free Disney Planning DVD.



I know there HAS to be more ideas than just these two! Help!

 

[DangerMouse]

Watch some of the more obscure Disney DVD's that have rides related to them at DLR like The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. That way the kids have a story to relate to the ride.

 

[kerickson]

Watch some of the more obscure Disney DVD's that have rides related to them at DLR like The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. That way the kids have a story to relate to the ride.

That's a great idea. Our first family trip (DD 3 and DS 9mo) my DD hadn't seen many Disney movies. She knew the Princesses but it would have been alot more fun if she had seen Toy Story, Peter Pan, Monsters Inc...

Can't wait for our upcoming May trip!

 

[sweakley]

When we went in 2003, we planned ahead of time (by calling) a cast member at Disney and had her leave some "magic" in our rooms before arriving. She left us autographed pictures and mickey ears. And then on my Dad's birthday we had her surprise him at a Character breakfast with a birthday ballon and surprise. Does anyone know if this type of cast member pixie dust is still available and if so... who do we call? Last time we found her contact information on forums, but I can't find anything like that now.

 

[DisneyJulieZ]

Maybe you could mail your family a card from a Disney character with some pixie dust (glitter) sprinkled inside of it, so that it is all glittery when you open it.

Maybe like one a week leading up till when you guys leave?

Even though it's you who mails it to your house, no one else needs to know that!

Sign it as Mickey, Minnie, whoever you can find a card of (if Cinderella is on the front of the card, have it signed as coming from her!)

Just say something quick inside, like "Looking forward to see you in DL!! Only 8 more weeks left!" or something to that effect.

Also, renting movies of the rides is a great idea, as a PP said.
One other thought: similar to the Christmas tradition--wrap up a Disney character children's book (in Disney paper, of course!) and open up one a week or so--on the weekend?--and read it to the kids. We do that every night in December leading up to Christmas, except with Christmas books wrapped in last year's discarded (but still useable!) Christmas paper!

Have fun! And be sure to put a different Disney sticker on each link of your chain!!

 

[ballarinamom]

I had a fellow DISer mail my daughter and Mother-in-law a post card from Disneyland
You could also print the maps from the web site and get acclimated with where everything is.
Check out allears.net for menus and paln where everyone wants to eat
Go to the Disney website and have a character call your house. I think it's
$3-4 but really fun
If you have the Travel Channel, they show several shows with behind the scenes and history of Disneyland
Have fun!!!

 

[ballarinamom]

Also, if you have Disney Store nearby (or I also think you can order online) buy some Disney Dollars and put them in Easter Eggs, tooth fairy gifts, good grade rewards, etc....

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

When we're in the car we always play a game called I'm Going To Disneyland. We start it by saying, "I'm going to Disneyland and I'm going to ride Peter Pan." or whatever you want to do. Then, the next person has turn and does the same thing. It gets the kids pretty excited and thinking about the things that they really want to do.

We also watch YouTube for parades and rides.

 

[sweakley]

These are such great ideas! I didn't know about the character call and the disney bucks and the car game! The more I read the more excited I get! I think we'll make our own DisneyLand Banks! This is great, keep the ideas coming!

Oh ya, and thanks for the video ideas. My daughter's only 2 1/2 and she's been stuck on Cinderella for the past 3 months so it was nice for someone to mention the movies....last night we branched out to Little Mermaid and Aladdin. She loves those as well. I'm excited to see how she'll be when she meets these characters for the first time!

 

[Queenbillabong]

If you're staying at one of the DLR Hotels, you can call Vacation Planning and arrange for the autographed pictures and other things to be left in your room. Some things are free (the pictures), but some things you have to pay for.