I found there is 4 things that work really well for us..
1: this is a pre-trip change but you need to have a break of planning before the trip starts. Do something not related to the trip like a movie night but plan, get to normal life and then do your disney trip. I was finding planning to blur into the trip itself almost like you never went when you got back so your in the mindset that your trip is still coming.
2: a new distraction. Holiday's are coming up. as a family start to plan what that looks like now. "We want to go sleding, we are going to see a holiday related play, we're going to drive to see someones light display, what we want to for the special holiday dinner". basically with the same whole family planning for disney, apply it to something new to look forward too.
3: this is a learning tool for both parents and kids in my mind... Re-evaluate your lives and how you could put more towards a vacation budget. For kids, it's an interesting way to teach the value of things when they have no income. Do you need the name brand cereal? do you think this toy is worth delaying our next disney trip instead of using that money for vacation? you need to find your kid friendly wordings for everything but you get the idea. For parents, same thing. maybe you can find places to cut out costs some more. do you need to buy coffee instead of pack a thermos? maybe hold off on that car replacement another couple years. is that dream garden for the veggies you pay a lot for worth your time every day to take care of insead of paying someone else? maybe it's motivation that it's time to look at different career paths that might be more fruitful or maybe get on a diet and drop food expenses, quit smoking to get that money into the budget, maybe you don't need that beer after work tonight.. etc etc etc everyone could find ways to save money and maybe this disney trip and wanting to get back sooner than later is the thing you need...
and last.. 4: enjoy forums like this or podcasts/vlogs of disney as part of your week. live through others and hear what's happening to both know when it's a good time to return and just daydream about what it would be like if you were there. don't get too obsessed or you sill be mortgaging the house to get down there again.
some other ones that lead into an interesting direction in the edge for me...
related to #3, I found that that more I went, the more I found ways to save money at disney. there is a lot more ways you can shave some of the costs down to be able to afford going as well as save more money in your personal life to make that happen more often. I made the mistake of ignoring what it would cost and be like to be off property and there is some killer deals that add only a few extra minutes (and vs disney buses, might actually be faster giving more park time or more sleep). the savings are especially large when you start to look at needing multiple rooms depending on the ages of everyone coming and how you fit into small disney rooms. disney doens't own everything you visit on property, there are other loyalty programs available for many popular places to eat or get coffee...
This searching out savings actually lead me to the largest savings of all, I moved here. In comparison to what life costs where I was living before, I have almost 30% more money from my paycheck while rent is 40% lower, disney is something I can do anyday after work or the weekend. My vacations elsewhere are lower cost than my disney ones were. I pay much less in taxes. I spent less on entertainment and get a whole lot more of it. I have all these off property places fighting for tourist dollars that I'm eating great food for less than I can make it for which has dropped the cost of my groceries giving me even more money in my savings.. At one point it sounded like a dream or fantasy to live here but in reality, it was one of the best choices I made solely from a financial perspective of what I was paying to live before and after the move.. Disney became cheaper my reversing my life and living here with vacations elsewhere.
