Disney World Trip Countdown Calendar

By admin on September 8th, 2011

When we were planning our daughter’s very first trip to WDW, little did I know that one aspect of our trip planning would become a new family WDW tradition!

In December 2008, our daughter was almost 4 1/2 years old. At that time she was not able to grasp the concept of time……Christmas is in 2 days, we visited your grandmother yesterday, etc. We decided to try and help her understand how long it would be until we were heading down to the Happiest Place on Earth! I read about people making countdown calendars to help build anticipation and give a good visual element that actually show the days left until departing for WDW. So with ideas in mind, I started making our first countdown calendar! And Brooke loved this! Each night before she went to bed, we marked off the day and counted the days left until our big trip. By the time the big day arrived, she was so excited and ready to go!!

So now, just about every time we have a trip to WDW planned, we HAVE to make a countdown calendar! Brooke is old enough now that she enjoys helping make the calendars.

Our first task is to head to Home Depot to stock up on Mickey paint samples (shhh!). Then we make sure that we have poster board, glue sticks, markers and stickers. Here is a look at all of our supplies before we begin creating.

Getting organized!

All the supplies!

Stickers!

Then we figure out how many days we want the countdown to be. Usually we have about 30 days on the calendar. After we study the calendar and figure out the dates, then we draw the grid and write in the dates. Brooke likes to write the dates, and she concentrates really hard!

Brooke working hard!

The grid with dates

Now it is time to put the Mickey ears on! We take the paint samples and pull off just the ears to make it smaller.

The Separation

After we pull off the ears, then we glue one down on each day of the calendar. We have fun picking the color ears that we use on each day. We even have fun with the actual name of the paint colors. This time Brooke really liked the color A Smakeral of Honey!

All of the Mickeys on board!

When we are finished gluing all of the ears down, then Brooke gets to decorate with all of the stickers that she wants! She has such fun with this part adding her own personal touches. You can never have too many stickers on a countdown calendar!

Brooke's Sticker Work!

The Finished Product!

Each night before Brooke goes to bed, she gets to mark off a day and then we count how many more days until we leave for our next adventure. When we first started doing this, it also helped Brooke learn to count (she was just learning this in her pre-school class). Gotta love an educational element thrown in there too!

Our countdown calendars may not be the fanciest ones, but we sure do have fun making and then using our creations!!

How do you countdown to your next WDW Trip?

Here are two other great ideas for countdown calendars if you are more skilled with computers than crafts from our friends at Disney Photography Blog and Disney Tourist Blog.

Share on:

8 Responses to “Disney World Trip Countdown Calendar”

Melanie says:

September 9, 2011 at 8:09 am

Wonderful job, Brookie!! Can’t wait to start ours! I know Riley has seen y’alls at the house, but I don’t think he realizes what exactly it is…He’s gonna have a blast!!

Reply
Katie Marino says:

September 9, 2011 at 11:28 am

I love your countdown calendar. It makes me think I need to make a craft one and a photoshop one- you can never have too many countdown calendars, right? (I actually have one at home and one at work already!)

Reply
- admin says:
  
  September 9, 2011 at 11:30 am
  
  Never enough!
  
  I keep one on the iPhone too:
  http://www.whereindisneyworld.com/2011/essential-iphone-app-for-disney-world-trip-planning/
  
  Reply
Terrie says:

September 13, 2011 at 9:57 am

Ours is on the laundry door as we speak….counting down to Disney is so much fun this way! Thanks for the idea!

Reply
- admin says:
  
  September 13, 2011 at 9:58 am
  
  How many days left til your trip?
  
  Reply
hcg says:

November 11, 2012 at 1:01 am

Tremendous. Thank you for doing such a good job. I’ll come again to read more and inform my people about this

Reply
Tina says:

January 5, 2013 at 11:33 pm

Does every home depot carry the mickey ears and do they cost?

Reply
- admin says:
  
  January 7, 2013 at 4:03 pm
  
  Home Depot no longer carries these unfortunately.
  
  Reply

Belle & Beast Hunt for a New Castle...

Have you ever wondered how a Disney Princess would choose the home just right for her? Disney Parks Blog walks us through Belle and Beast’s journey to finding their perfect castle. With all the new real estate we’ve added ...

Interview with Katie Marino

We were excited to interview Katie Marino, or Dr Marino to you! She is a very inspiring photographer. Her unique firework location photos, different perspectives on common WDW scenes and ...

Where in WDW can you swim with sharks?

Did you you can swim with the sharks at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon? The Shark Reef is a snorkeling adventure for the whole family! You'll swim in a saltwater lagoon with sharks, stingrays, and schools ...