Countdown to Disneyland {Days 1-8}

Day 1:  Write a letter to your favorite Disney Character

Of course my daughter chose Elsa.  My son chose Mike Wazowski.  They each dictated their letter to me, since they aren't writing yet, and we sent them off to:

Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL  32830-0040

We made sure to Attn: the character we each chose.  The kids had so much fun writing their letter to the characters.  They helped to draw some pictures for their character as well.

my daughter's letter

my son's letter

A few weeks later, we already got out reply letters.  Now, I must say that your child will get a standard post card back.  They won't necessarily get something from the character they chose unless they are on the post card you see below.

my daughter's postcard

my son's postcard

Nevertheless, my kids were PUMPED to be getting mail from some familiar characters.  They weren't the least bit disappointed that their favorite characters didn't write back.  :)

This activity was simple and exciting.  I wanted to put it near the beginning of our countdown so that the kids would hear back before we left.  If you want that as well, make sure to place it in your schedule accordingly.

Day 2:  Have Disney Dinner and a Movie {Enchanted}

In case you haven't heard of a Disney Dinner and a Movie night, it is basically just having a themed dinner to a specific Disney film and then watching the movie together afterward.  We have been doing these off and on for the last few years as my kids have become more in love with all things Disney.  You can be extravagant or not for these meals.  It's just getting the kids more excited about the movie by eating something special before watching it.

For Enchanted, we chose this menu.

These are the recipes we used:

Pip's Pizza -
We ordered take out pizza to keep this dinner simple and delicious.  Feel free to make homemade pizza.

Robert's Breadsticks -
Along with our take out pizza, we ordered breadsticks as well.

Giselle's Green Beans -
Green beans from the can tonight.  :)

Poisoned Caramel Apples -
This recipe is from Kraft.
4 apples, washed and dried thoroughly
1 pkg (14 oz) KRAFT caramels
2 TBSP water

Insert Popsicle stick into stem end of apple.  Grease large plate with butter or cover with waxed paper.  Cook caramels and water on med-low heat until completely melted, stirring constantly.  Dip apples in caramel; spooning caramel on if necessary.  Scrape bottoms of apples and set on prepared plate.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Let stand at room temp 15 minutes before serving.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Next time I make caramel apples, I don't think I'll use waxed paper, our apples stuck a bit.  Also, be sure not to cook your caramel too long....it makes it hard and cracks instead of soft and chewy.

This is how we decorated our table.

I had this checkerboard vinyl tablecloth that we use for camping.  I pulled it out and it made it all feel like an Italian restaurant...well, for the most part.

We had fun making the poisoned caramel apples.

 

I bought these fun Disney themed popcorn boxes from my local Dollar store.  We have been using them for all of our Disney Dinner and a Movie nights.  Just another little thing to get your family excited for Disney!

Another thing we do on Disney Dinner and a Movie nights is to pull out our sleeping bags and watch the movie that way.  A small tradition of ours.

Day 3:  Color a picture of your favorite Disney movie

You can find all sorts of free coloring pages for Disney online.  That was my plan, until I stumbled across these magic marker coloring/activity books at Target's dollar spot.

Quick and easy, and the kids loved them!  The bonus, is the magic marker.  Your kids can color this on the couch and it wouldn't leave a mark...and all for a buck.

Day 4:  Play Beat the Parents

you can buy it here

We LOVE this game!  Natalie actually bought it for us last year at Christmastime.  Our kids aren't old enough to read quite yet, so we don't play kids vs. parents.  We play teams.  One parent and one child versus another parent and child.  It's fun to brush up on your Disney knowledge.

Day 5:  Have Disney Dinner and a Movie {Wreck-it Ralph}

Another one of our favorite Disney movies!

We chose this menu.

Here are the recipes we used:

Ralph's Sloppy Joes -
I used my mom's sloppy joe recipe.  It's pretty simple and you kind of play it by taste, however, you just need 1lb. ground beef, 8 oz tomato sauce, squirt of ketchup, squirt of yellow mustard, a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce, and a TBSP or two of brown sugar.  Brown the met and drain off any excess fat, then add the rest of the ingredients.  I usually just keep adding whatever I feel it needs until it tastes just right.  Put it between two buns and you've got it made.

Felix's Fix-it French Fries -
We used frozen french fries.  Simple.

Qberts Grapes -
My kids love purple grapes, and so that's what we used.

Sugar Rush Sugar Cookies -
The cookie recipe is another of my mom's.  It was a childhood favorite of mine and I use it all the time.  Whenever I make it, I always plan on doubling the recipe. My family can't help but steal the dough, so I always have extra for that reason.

3/4 c soft butter or margarine
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

In med mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until they are blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, blend together.  Sift flour, salt, and baking powder - mix everything together.  Put dough in fridge and chill for at least 1 hour.  Roll dough 1/4" thick, and cut into shapes.  Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

I cut ours into car shapes so the kids could decorate their own sugar rush cars.

This is how we decorated our table.

I went for more of a Sugar Rush theme, over a Wreck-it Ralph theme.  The white crepe paper hanging form the light is supposed to mimic the mentos stalagmites from the movie.

I also added Tapper's Rootbeer to our menu last minute, because I forgot we had these cups!

The kids really enjoyed making their own racecar cookies.

They may or may not have put too much frosting.  It all depends on who you ask.

Day 6:  Make Mickey shaped brownies

I bought these Mickey cookie cutters from my local party store.  They were perfect for our count down activities.  I'm not sure how I made it this long without getting some, however, I have them now!

you can buy them here if you can't find them at your local party store

We mixed up some brownies and baked them in a 9x13 pan.  Once they were baked and cooled, we simply cut some out using our cookie cutters.

Sweets are always a win at our house!  To add extra fun, the kids watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while they enjoyed their treats.

Day 7:  Search for Hidden Mickeys in the house

This is a common game to be played at Disneyland.  There are hidden Mickeys all around the park and from what I hear, it is so much fun to look for them as a family.  I took that idea and mimicked it for home.  I used a pattern I found online to trace and cut out my Mickey heads.  Since my kids are younger, I used bigger Mickey heads.  If your children are older, you can make them smaller so that it is harder for them to find.  I had (9) Mickey heads for each child to find.  All in different colors.

If they were able to find them all, they could earn a prize!  Disney socks that I found in Target's dollar spot.

I hid them in 2 rooms of the house, sat the kids down to explain the rules, and they were off to finding.  They were so excited to collect all of their colors and earn their Disney socks!

Day 8:  Make a list of Top 5 Characters you want to meet

First, because we haven't been to Disneyland before, I kind of went through a list of potential characters they could meet at Disneyland.  Then, I let them decide which 5 characters they really wished to meet while we were there.

i tried to convince my son that dumbo wasn't a character you could meet.  he just kept saying that he was going to fly on dumbo and he could meet him then.  how could i argue with that logic?

This helped me in planning for the vacation, so that I can make sure to find these characters before our days are done in Disneyland.

Next week, I will share some more of our countdown activities with you.  Hope you come back to check some of them out!

Valerie