Unique Countdown to Disney

As if going on a Disney Cruise weren’t exciting enough in itself, I’m going to spice it up even more by building sweet anticipation from the time of the big reveal on Christmas morning to departure day with a unique countdown!

I can’t take full credit for the whole countdown idea, because I’ve checked out several very cool blogs, including “How Does She?”,  with similar ideas and taken bits and pieces from here and there and then threw in my own flare to create a countdown that’s perfect for us!

So, without further delay, here is “The Plan”!

Christmas morning will be the kicker, with Santa leaving the tickets! I’ll create some sort of display-probably just paper Mickey heads with the countdown numbers on them as a visual reminder of how many days we have to wait. It will probably look something like this adorable, yet simple, version I found on Pinterest. (All we’ll have is 11 days, thank goodness!)

Day 11: We’ll make Disney themed paper ornaments to decorate our “all holiday tree”. (FYI-the “all holiday tree” is a tree that stays up in our breakfast nook year round that we decorate for each month and/or holiday/celebration.) I figure this will probably consist of Disney images printed from the computer or even pages from coloring books. Nothing fancy, just simple fun!

Day 10: Bake Disney treats! Quite a while back I found both Mickey and Princess pans with reusable plastic decorations on clearance at Wal-Mart for $2 each! We could bake cakes in those, or perhaps make Mickey cupcakes like these Pinterest inspired ones.

Day 9: Leave out a cruising necessity gift, like new swim gear (think cheap-goggles and snorkel purchased when all the summer stuff goes on clearance!) sprinkled with “Pixie Dust” (aka glitter). I’ll explain and probably leave a little note that tells of the cool pools on board the ship and the ocean that we’ll be dipping in.

Day 8: Make “See Ya Real Soon”, Mickey’s famous saying, cards to take to close family members that we’ll want to visit before we leave. Again, these will be really simple construction paper cards with computer printed images glued to them. The girls have Minnie ears, so we may take a snapshot of them wearing these and attach to the cards as well. I figure that this will be more fun and cheaper than mailing postcards from the ship!

Day 7: After church we’ll go visit the family members we made cards for and deliver them! It’s kind of a Sunday ritual to “make the rounds” after church to visit the grandparents that live here in town (3 sets), so we’ll stick with that and bring them a surprise too :o)

Day 6: Officially start packing and let them help. I already have a list made out of things we’ll need, but I want the girls to feel included in every part of this trip. Nothing makes them more happy than packing a bag! LOL, up to this point it’s been no more than a night at Nana’s, but still, they enjoy packing and I enjoy letting them help.

Day 5: Toy airplanes! If we fly, this will be the girls’ first time, so I want to introduce the concept and begin going over rules and things to expect. We’ll talk about it and practice until the actual day of the flight!

Day 4: “Pixie Dust” covered “Doodle Bears” for collecting autographs from the characters onboard! We’ll take permanent markers for autographs, but I think that signed stuffed animals will be more fun for them to have autographed than the standard book or tee shirt. I will be taking my autograph book from my first trip to Disney, but I think the bears will be more fun for them. Also, they’ll look darling being displayed in their room when we get home!

Day 3: Pirate party wear! On day 3 of the cruise, after an amazing day at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island, there is pirate themed deck party onboard after dinner! Cruisers are encouraged to dress up as pirates, or in pirate wear of their choice. I found these super cute pirate costumes for the girls at a consignment sale two nights ago and plan on “blinging” them up a bit with rhinestones or sequins because my girls are ALL girl! As for DH and I, I plan on finding us cute pirate themed tee shirts to don with the signature Disney pirate bandana that is given to all cruise passengers at dinner the evening before the party.

Day 2: Call from Mickey Mouse! After booking our cruise, I ran across the option to schedule a call from either Mickey or Goofy, and decided that this would thrill them to bits. (This can only be done after your reservations have been officially made.)

Day 1: Backpacks filled with goodies to keep them entertained on the plane! Of course I’ll sprinkle more “Pixie Dust” and leave a note from the characters saying how they can’t wait to meet them, and off we’ll go!

And I'm going to keep my eyes open for clearance Disney party plates and napkins so the girls can enjoy meals with their favorite characters while we wait!

There it is! That is my magical countdown to Disney plan! I’ll add pictures as I can :o)

Have you done a countdown to Disney? Am I forgetting anything to awesome to pass up? Share your experiences in the comments below!