Hey all, 3 weeks and counting. I'm excited! I haven't been to DL since 2002. Right now I'm making lots of little preparations to make the trip far more enjoyable. My niece is saving all her cash, for souvenirs and giant lollipops. My parents are investing in collapsable walking sticks and testing healthy pocket snacks for the parks, and I'm just trying to make as much money as possible so I can have a truly "care free" vacation.
I'm trying to think up fun traditions that I can start implementing into my life (and future kids' lives) for the week leading up to the trip. I remember being little and watching VHS recordings every night of ABC's Sunday night Disney flicks (which I really wish they'd bring back) with Michael Eisner (not so much). I remember being extra obedient (brushing my teeth earlier, making my bed more often, etc) as not to do something ultimately childish and stupid that could put me on the outs with the parents.
I'd love to just watch a ride related movie every night for the week leading up to the trip. Indiana Jones, Pirates, Roger Rabbit, etc. if only to get excited for the trip. But beyond that I'm kinda coming up dry.
Anybody else have any cool traditions or tips for the week leading up to your Disney getaway?

I always watch all the Disney movies in the weeks leading up to the trick.

Since my BF has seen very few of them, I am making him watch them all with me (much to his chagrin) over the next few months leading up to our trip -- We have this compromise when we watch movies together -- He picks, then I pick, then he picks, etc. That's how I get the Disney ones in. :~D

I usually start packing about a week before we leave ('cause it's fun) and I really enjoy going to the drug store and getting all the little toiletries and things we'll need.

And of course, I'm always counting down, making dining ressies, etc.

Planning the trip is half the fun!!

This is our 1st family trip with our 3 and 5 yr old boys. My husband and I went in 2001 before kids. We are soo excited! I am planning on having a "disney" party the night before with disney themed food. I also love your idea on the videos during week (which I am going to do so thank you!). Maybe you could put little disney trinkets to leave on their bed before they turn in for the night. Or even the "paper chain" where you remove the paper links as each day gets closer. I don't have a whole lot planned for the week before but I'm also going to make mickey mouse cookies and sandwiches to eat on the drive down there.

I love getting-ready-for-Disneyland traditions!! We have a list of movies we start watching about 3 months beforehand (pathetic, I know) which include most of the older Disney live-action and some newer favorites (Summer Magic and Swiss Family Robinson are our faves!). But what really gets me pumped is watching some of the Disney Treasures series that feature Disneyland. The Tomorrowland set, the Disneyland USA set, and the new Disneyland:Stories and Secrets set in particular. You will especially like those if you are interested in vintage Disney footage.

We also have a special Disney party where my husband makes Monte Cristo sandwiches (recipe available on the net) and order donuts made from a Mickey Mouse shaped cookie cutter from our local donut shop. What a grand time!!

We also start packing way ahead of time and I have already made a countdown sheet and preliminary intineraries for each day (we are not leaving till June ;) ). Not anal, just excited!

oh, i do the packing early too! i pack, then unpack, and repack, and pack again- all about a month in advance. :eek: i also start checking the weather reports.

i also make the dinner reservations and see where everyone wants to eat, etc. i just booked our fantasmic premium seating, so that got me excited. my wallet wasnt so thrilled, tho. :|

you could try looking thru old disneyland photos and recount any previous trips. i made a slideshow of my last trip and im going to watch it soon. maybe today... :D

We watch our trip videos and look at pictures. The kids do the paper chain a month before. The week that we are due to leave I buy little things for the car trip. I also take the Disneyland vacation bank (the kids save money and loose change months before trip) ,cash in the coins and use the cash to get disney dollars at the Disney store. It is more fun for them to shop with disney dollars.

We make a countdown calendar out of the Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot!

We make a countdown calendar out of the Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot!
Fantastic idea!

Wow I love reading everyone's traditions!

My boyfriend and I usually make a list of things we haven't seen/done/eaten that we haven't taken the time to do before (there is always something one of us hasn't done hehe) we will forget them all if we don't b/c we get so excited when we finally get there lol

We usually start going "Oh you know what I can't wait for!" a couple months before hand hehe

Oh yeah I check on here to get updates and ideas for our trip-but really I do that even when I'm not planning lol :D

The paint sample idea is awesome!

We don't have any specific Disney traditions, but my favorite thing before any happy vacation is to go to the drugstore to replenish the little travel-sized toiletries. I know I could save money by using full-sized ones, but those little 99 cent deodorants and tubes of toothpaste always say "VACATION!!!" to me. :)

oh, i do the packing early too! i pack, then unpack, and repack, and pack again- all about a month in advance. :eek: i also start checking the weather reports.

i also make the dinner reservations and see where everyone wants to eat, etc. i just booked our fantasmic premium seating, so that got me excited. my wallet wasnt so thrilled, tho. :|

you could try looking thru old disneyland photos and recount any previous trips. i made a slideshow of my last trip and im going to watch it soon. maybe today... :D

LOL - I do the same thing with the packing WAY early and the weather reports every single day!! :p I am so INSANELY organized that I have a packing list for every person SPECIFICALLY for disney trips -

We do the paper chains for a month or two (if I am particularly insane) and the calendars - we have a mickey head punch for scrapbooking that we use - the kids go through all the old scrapbooks and we watch our disney movies too like many of you!

I always start planning what I want to do for my scrapbook when I come home so that I can take pics of specific things if I want to center around a theme!

And of course we TALK ABOUT IT CONSTANTLY to anyone who will listen to us ramble

Whoa, almost forgot about this thread. Cool stuff! I told my parents, repeatedly that I'm bringing my laptop along so we can watch movies in the hotel room and on the plane, and talk about a pair of dirty looks. Just because we're going to a theme park doesn't mean we can't watch the Pirates trilogy after the parks close! C'mon people!
My niece still has trouble adding double digits, so according to her we have 3+16 days until our trip. We'll be leaving about noon on the 17th, so I've decided that I'll wake plenty early on Thursday morning and make blueberry Mickey pancakes.
Currently the mood around the house is tense. My sister (IE niece's Mom) is quite flakey. She hasn't had a job in 4 years, and still lives with her parents along with her kids. Her husband's pretty flakey, too. That's why I tried keeping the trip on the down low, but once my parents were in on it, it became common knowledge. Now my sister won't speak to me, because I'm going to DL, and even though I'm paying for it with my own cash, she feels she should go with my parents paying the bill. I popped in 101 Dalmatians yesterday, and holy crap was she shooting daggers my way...
So the plan is to keep things pretty normal for the next two weeks, and come the week of the trip, I'm entering Disney mode.
Currently my niece is hunting for chores she can do around the house to earn spending cash. We set up a few chores for her. Make sure your bed is made and your floor is clean = $1.00, Empty your hamper and separate your laundry = $1.00, Change the litter box = $3.00, Clean all the toilets in the house = $5.00. Well her room's a mess and her clothes are dirty, but the cat's have fresh bathrooms along with the owners. The little economist is money hungry.

We do countdown calendars and spend the weeks leading up to our trip watching Disney movies and listening to Disney music and ride soundtracks (well, more so than usual anyway, lol). Sometimes we'll take a "mini-trip" and drive out to Quartzite for lunch or something. We call it a "practice run", but we know we don't need any practice, lol! :D

Startling (and positive) realization....I'm not as nuts as I thought I was!! I do alot of these things that everyone has mentioned, but I really thought I was kinda obsessive. I guess Disney nuts are alike, heehee;)

We make shirts!! We get shirts, paints, iron-ons, etc. from the craft store and make Disney themed shirts. We do the front one night and the back another night. My daughter and sis-in-law will wear theirs to school the day we leave and then we'll all wear them for the car trip down. If someone doesn't ask me about my shirt, I'm going to tell them about it, haha!

We also go back through our old photo albums and videos. Watching the rides on youtube has become quite fun this year. Another little thing I do is change my computer background, phone background, and ringtone about once a week, all Disney themed.

First of all, Santoanderson you are a wonderful uncle to care so much! Your niece is so lucky to have you, and I'm sure you will have a great time!

A tradition I like to do for my sons is to visit Target (alone) the week before the trip down. I purchase crayons, coloring books, granola bars, etc. to keep them entertained. They each have a special backpack into which these items are placed. I make it a big mystery as to what is inside the bags. I know it doesn't sound like much, but they seem to enjoy these special "trip bags."

Hey, Thanks Drew. Yeah, she's typically kind of annoyed by me, but we're definitely on the ups with the DL trip. We bought her a sleeping bag today. (I really don't get kids. We'll be sleeping in a pretty nice hotel room, where we could get a pull out, easily, but she is absolutely determined to sleep on the floor!) We'll be flying in, so we'll probably avoid crayons and busy books. But I will have my Ipod, and I've already ripped a couple classic Disney cartoons to it. I just need to buy an earphone splitter, and we can watch a movie on the plane.
I will be bringing along some snacks (Craisins, 100 cal packs, etc) Just enough to fill a half gallon zip lock bag, and stick it in my checked bag, because I really want to avoid making grocery runs in Anaheim, and you never know if you'll find the same stuff in California that you can find in Salt Lake.
I bought a new Manchester United jersey this week, especially for the trip. Those soccer jerseys breath extremely well, especially if they're a Dry-fit shirt. So if anybody sees a 6 and half foot tall white guy in a #11 Giggs shirt, that's me. I'll buy another if I get some more freelance work this week.
19 days.

That is too cool about the sleeping bag! Kids have such an awesome sense of adventure. And you know, she'll probably have a great time sleeping on the floor! The jersey sounds cool. Once again, have a wonderful trip!

We're actually going in May for my birthday. I can't wait!

Some friends of mine took their kids on a surprise Disney cruise. (Imagine keeping that a secret?) On departure morning, they woke them up by loudly playing a recording of the ship's whistle blowing "When you wish upon a star." (I have no idea how or where they got it.) Even after seeing the bags by the door, the kids didn't believe it was real until their shuttle showed up. I don't think the kids will ever forget waking up to that!

If she'll be overnighting with you guys, can you wake her up on departure day by playing something from one of the park cds? Walt's speech, the train conductor's call -- something that is an unmistakable Disneyland-only sound?

This is really dumb but totally free -- when we have something fun or exciting going on, I'll stop randomly (anytime, anyplace! LOL) and say, "Everybody who's going to Disneyland next week, raise their hand!" Even if we're in public, my daughter grins and raises her hand. (Of course, the Disneyland part changes; I fill in whatever exciting is going on :p)

Hope you have an awesome trip!

When my kid's were young we also did the trip bags.

I wrapped the items in white tissue paper and put times on them. (Like 7:10, 7:45, 8:00 spread out, however many treats you have.) Then on the plane they had something to lookforward to. The tissue was pretty thin, but they didn't seem to mind, they liked trying to peek, and the tissue crumpled well for compact garbage. We always had new crayons/colored pencils, coloring book/ notepad,candy, their favorite gum(we rarely had gum because they would swallow it) stickers and anything else small enough to pack. My daughter is 17 and still asks for a treat bag when we fly.

Great Thread!

So I am very guilty of writing and rewriting an hourly schedule for the 2days before we leave and the day we leave. I include things like going to the store to pick up thoes little travel items, going to the bank for money & trvlrs chks, laundry, you get the pic..... I also write my packing list atleast 3 times in different places because I always think of stuff to add when I don't have a list on me so I rewrite one. I also watch home movies and write down where & what I want to take pics of this time, getting ideas from Darkbeer and DaddyB.

Personally, I start looking for unique bargain buy pins on ebay in the weeks leading up to a trip. (Last year I added to my collection of DL 30th anniversary pins. This year, I've already picked up a LE300 Star Tours pin.)

Our trip is still two and a half months away, but I've already put a bag in my closet for collecting little things I expect to need/use on our trip. Things like lanyards, coupons and special presents for the kids go in that bag. We got some autograph books really cheap at the Vegas AMS store, so the kids are getting those this trip.

We make a countdown calendar out of the Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot!

Rentayenta - That sounds so fun! How do you construct this countdown calendar?