Bringing the Disney Magic Home

Every year, at the beginning of May, our family takes a trip to Disney. This year was going to be extra special as my mom and brother were going to join us. However, due to Covid-19 and the closing of Disney, we obviously had to cancel our trip. It goes without being said, that we were all pretty bummed. My kids, ages 3 and 4, had been talking about their Disney trip with Nana and their Uncle for months. They had it all planned out from who was riding which rides with who, where we would eat, sleeping arrangements, and on and on. But, things happen and this was a chance for them to learn to roll with the punches. However, since we couldn’t go to Disney, we decided to bring Disney home!

Here are some of the ways we managed to bring the Disney Magic home:

Clothing 

Go through those closets and pull out all of those Disney shirts, Minnie Ear headbands, Mickey hats, etc! Why not wear them and make it fun? Let’s face it, everything is a little more fun when you are wearing Minnie ears! My kids thought it was absolutely hysterical when they came downstairs and saw me making breakfast in my Minnie ears. They quickly ran and grabbed their own “ears” to join the fun!

Food 

Disney food is something special! While getting exact replicas is a bit hard, you can get close and have some fun. We made our own Disney Dole Whips, Mickey Mouse Soft Pretzel, Mickey Pancakes, and Mickey Chocolate Chip Cookies. Below are the links to some of the recipes.

Mickey Mouse Soft Pretzels – these were a huge hit and so easy to make! Next time I want to get more creative and maybe try out some Cinnamon Sugar pretzels.

https://mommymouseclubhouse.com/mickey-pretzel-recipe-easy/

Disney Dole Whips – for this recipe I swapped out the pineapple juice for coconut milk and used a little less ice cream. I then topped with Whip Cream. They were DELICIOUS!

https://www.instrupix.com/disneys-pineapple-dole-whip-recipe/

In addition to these, anything Disney you can find in the store will be a hit. You can buy Mickey Mouse Veggie chips, Mickey Mouse Goldfish, Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bars, etc. Also, any food you can make into the shape of Mickey Mouse will be a winner.

Crafts & Activities 

When planning, I tried to pick a movie or theme a day.

Mickey Mouse Crafts  

This Mickey Mouse Paper Plate Craft was super easy and got us going with our Disney week.

https://thesimpleparent.com/mickey-mouse-paper-plate-craft/

Mickey Mouse Color By Number 

https://www.simpleeverydaymom.com/disney-color-by-number-printables/

Mickey Spray Bottle Art

https://www.sisterssuitcaseblog.com/creating-with-kids-spray-bottle/

Frozen Crafts

Elsa inspired paper towel roll bracelets. My three year old daughter absolutely loved making and wearing these. 

https://www.darcyandbrian.com/disneys-frozen-theme-paper-roll-bracelet-craft/

Olaf Popsicle Sticks

https://www.creativechild.com/articles/view/10-frozen-crafts-for-kids

Make Your Own Snow  – we added some glitter to this recipe for the extra sparkle and used our Anna, Elsa, and Olaf toys to play in the “snow”.

http://www.huckleberrylove.com/2013/12/huckleberry-life-play-snow-sensory.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+huckleberrylove/maau+(Huckleberry+Love)

Moana Crafts & Activities

On Moana day we made the Dole Whips and ate them while watching the movie (honestly, this mom was exhausted and just needed a little break!). We then made our very own Paper Plate Tamatoa. We used little “jewels” that we had left over from my daughter’s birthday, but you can make Tamatoa “SHINY” with anything: sequins, beads, glitter, foam pieces/shapes, cut out pieces of construction paper, etc.

https://www.colorthemoon.com/post/moana-paper-plate-craft

Disney Bingo 

This was a fun game that we will keep playing for awhile. My little ones are all about BINGO right now, and throwing in Disney characters makes it even more fun! 

http://robbygurlscreations.blogspot.com/2012/12/disney-bingo.html

Cosmic Yoga 

If you haven’t checked out Cosmic Yoga yet – do it! My kids absolutely loved the Frozen and Moana themed yoga lessons. There are so many other options to choose from that we will be coming back here often. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

 

Music

Another fun way to bring Disney home is to stream your favorite Disney music. From Disney Sing-Along DVDs (my kids love the one from the early 90’s where the kids are running through Disney with the characters!), movie soundtracks, Amazon’s Disney Station, and my personal favorite “The Disney World Official Album” which is available on Amazon Music and makes you feel like you are walking down Main Street.

Virtual Rides & Shows

Thankfully it is 2020 and you can find anything on the internet. With that, we had so much fun watching the Magic Kingdom Fireworks show, The Mainstreet Parade, and riding virtual rides. We found watching the rides to be fun because the kids got to “ride” rides they normally wouldn’t because of their ages and height restrictions.

Fireworks Show 

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/04/disneymagicmoments-virtual-viewing-of-happily-ever-after-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

The Mainstreet Parade  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NDa3AdodPQ

Virtual Disney Rides

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAAFD85A2A573C781

 

So while nothing will fully replicate the magic that is Disney, this fun “Disney Week” definitely brought lots of smiles to our faces and broke up the monotony of Quarantine Life. And for now we just keep reminiscing and talking about how special that first trip back to Disney will be!