Disney Countdown - 30 Days of FUN

I love planning Disney trips. I mean I REALLY love it! That is why I am a travel agent and a Disney Specialist...it is a true passion for me! Every year since my son was old enough for "activities" we have done a countdown calendar. Each day for 30 days we pull down a Mickey and do an activity to get us (even more) amped up for our upcoming trip. 

Today I will show you how I design our countdown calendar and give you some ideas for activities for your family to do the same!

First thing you will want to do is to buy/gather some crafting materials. You will need: 

Poster board

Colored Card Stock

Sharpies

Stickers

Glue

Mounting Squares

Scissors

 

I like to get stuff that is themed towards the resort we will be staying at. This year is Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge!

In previous years I had used the "paint sample Mickey heads", however those are a thing of the past. This year I was able to find some colored Mickey heads just about the right size. Instead of getting enough for the whole project, I got two of them and ended up using them as tracers. I suppose, if time is an issue for you and money is not, buying a bunch of these would be MUCH easier! On the other hand, you really don't have to buy them at all! You could use something else to trace/stencil a Mickey head or print one from the internet!

 

 

I traced all of my Mickey heads out and began cutting. And cutting. And then I cut some more. I made more than I really needed in case of errors. 

Once I was done, I placed them onto the poster board to figure out the color pattern I wanted. 

 

I then took a scrap piece of paper and jotted out the dates and countdown days, working my way back from the day we leave for Florida. This bit is important. Too many times I had to re-do dates in the past because I assumed it would be easy to just figure it out as I go. Live and learn :)

 

After you get it hashed out, go ahead and number the Mickeys. The number will be in the front and the date will be on the top of the back. Leave room for your fun activities...that is the next step!

Here are some ideas:

Watch Disney World youtube videos

Look at scrapbooks from past trips

Watch Disney movies

Listen to Disney park music 

Disney dance party (anything upbeat)

Draw a picture of your favorite ride

Color a Disney picture

Pack car travel bag

Pack outfits for a specified park
Explore park and resort maps
On the 1st of the month - Pull up resort activities and movie line-up!

 

I live to variate them, but the movies are typically on a day when we will all be home as a family. I have also done Dinner and a Movie. An example of this would be watching Lady and the Tramp and eating pasta...or Toy Story and pizza! 

 

 

 

 

Once they are all numbered and the activities are filled out, you can start to sticky tab them! I use one tab on each ear. Using tabs will make it easier to pull them down each day (as opposed to glue).

 

 

After all of the Mickey's are tabbed and stuck to the poster board, you may begin decorating with stickers and whatever else you may want to use! We have had holiday themes in the past. One year we even did a 90 day countdown with three boards and each board's corner had a different activity highlighted. For instance, one corner had the water park and another may have had something about a character meal. The sky is the limit to what theme you could use!

Your countdown calendar looks beautiful, doesn't it?? And I always get butterflies in my tummy when I hang ours up! You will, too...I'm sure of it!


I use 3M wall hanging tabs to stick ours up...

There....let the countdown BEGIN!!