6 Fun Ways to Countdown to Your Trip to Walt Disney World

6 Fun Ways to Countdown to Your Trip to Disney

The waiting for a fun vacation can be nearly unbearable! Make it a Disney trip and it’s even harder to wait. Help the kids (and yourself) tick off the days with a fun countdown, I have 6 ideas for you below including a FREE Countdown Printable.

Make a paper chain – Do you remember making paper chains every year to countdown to Christmas? They are good for a lot more than just that, they are the perfect activity to keep a tangible record of the days that have passed and the days still to come before your trip.Use Mickey colors or those of your favorite princess, villain, or hero.

Lego creation – If your child(ren) love LEGO’s they will find it a great way to pass the time by making a Disney Themed creation every day leading up to the big event. Here are some simple ideas to get them started…

• Make a Mickey Mouse balloon.
• Recreate a scene from your favorite Disney movie using bricks and mini figures.
• Spell Disney with bricks.
• Create a new Disney Character

Watch Disney movie – The week before our trip to Disney we enjoyed a different Disney movie each night. I stacked all our choices up and each night we chose one, watching the stack get smaller and smaller gave them a great visual of passing time. This helped build up the excitement, reacquainted them with characters they might see (this is especially good for those children that are timid with costume characters), and filled up the waiting time. Some of our favorites are:

• Finding Nemo
• Cinderella
• Tangled
• Monsters, Inc.
• Little Mermaid
• Peter Pan
• Beauty and the Beast

Dry Erase Counter – Use this fun Mickey themed printable I have created, pop it in a cheap frame with glass (or laminate it) and use a dry erase marker to count down the days. Kids will love writing in the days every morning.

6 Fun Ways to Countdown to Your Trip to Disney - Countdown Printable

Paper Bag Surprise – Decorate Paper bags with Disney themes- Mickey, Goofy, Ariel, Nemo, and so on, for however many days you want to countdown. Place a small goody in each bag-pennies for pressing, stickers, an autograph book, spending money, etc.., Fold bags over and staple, let your child open one each day to get them excited for their trip.

Disney Hide N’ Seek– If you don’t have one already pick up a cheap Disney stuffed animal and hide it somewhere in the house each night with a number (to represent how many days are left until the trip). The fun of the game and watching the numbers drop will help pass the time.

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19 Comments
  1. Rach Ferrucci says

    These are cute ideas. We’re going to Disney the end of October and I’m super excited. I need someone to cunt down for me!

  2. Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says

    These are all great ideas. Whenever we go to Disney, we get the Magic Kingdom train rolling before we go by binge watching Disney movies. It’s a great way to start the vacation off on a super fun note.

  3. Catherine Sargent says

    These are all great and fun ways to count down. We have annual passes and drive over to Disney at least once a month.

  4. Brandy says

    These are all really great ideas. Watching Disney movies is a great way to prepare for your trip.

  5. Pam Wattenbarger says

    The dry erase counter would probably be what we do. Half the fun of trips like this is the anticipation.

  6. diana elizabeth says

    I sure wish I could be counting down to Disney now!!! I love their signature dining at Disney World, and well, I’ll take Disneyland any day as well. Such great ideas I’ll have to pass along to my friends who are going and bringing their kiddos.

  7. Lisa Favre says

    Finding Nemo is one of my favorite Disney movies as well! Love your tips for counting down to Disney!

  8. Liz Mays says

    These are super clever. I think this is an awesome way to build up excitement and add to the experience.

  9. Theresa says

    We also watched a Disney movie each night before our trip. It really got our girls excited to see their favorite characters upon arrival. We also did a countdown calendar that heightened the excitement.

  10. mary says

    I love the movie countdown. My kids love Disney…Disney movies…and of course Disney World. They would love to watch movies to countdown and prepare to go!

  11. I love all your ideas! Counting down the days of vacation makes it more fun and exciting! This makes me want to plan for a Disney trip! 😀

  12. Amanda Love says

    There’s only so much that you can do to make the kids even more excited for your trip to a Disney theme park! I really think these are great ideas!

  13. Jeanine says

    Great ideas. We’ve never been to Disney before but hope to at some point so these will be great for us to do and countdown!

  14. Oh how I wish I had a Disney trip planned that I could countdown to! I am hoping one day in the not-so-distant future that we will be able to go!

  15. Rosey says

    These are fun ideas. The paper chain is my favorite.

  16. Kita Bryant says

    This is such a cute idea! I’m saving this for sure!

  17. Cinny says

    Oh, those are adorable ideas! It’s been so long since the last time I went to Disney! I want to go soon.

  18. kristin says

    So cute! what a great way to countdown to vacation. Love all of these ideas!

  19. Very nice tips! These will definitely make Disney much more memorable with the before and afters. This is also an excuse to whip out our old Lego toys!

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