In case you didn’t notice, we don’t just go to Disney. It’s a pretty big deal around here. And, the preparation and anticipation of the trip is nearly as fun as the trip itself. Okay, that’s not really true. I’m just trying to make a point. The trip planning is a good time. My sisters and I started talking about resorts, ideas, events, dining options about a year ago (good thing too, because some of those events have to be reserved way early, like 6 months before the date). And, of course, the kids were pretty into all the prep too.

We started by ordering Disney’s free trip planning DVD. It’s free, and I like that. Plus, the kids think it’s a full-feature film worth paying money to watch in a theater. They love these DVDs. They watch them over and over and over again. And, frankly, for my eldest who needs to know what things are going to be like before he actually is there, this DVD is perfect for him. He can see clips of rides and shows and see the lay of the land before walking it himself. Perfect.

Another free thing you can get from Disney is custom maps. These are so cool. They take a few weeks to arrive, so give yourself plenty of time with them. But, frankly, they are just as fun to do when you get home. Sit at the computer and tick off the attractions or restaurants you do not want to miss. When you are done, Disney sends you really neat looking maps in the mail with your family’s name on them with all the attractions you noted. They are neat souvenirs–especially since they are free.

During our previous trip to Disney, 3 years ago, I purchased a 2-disc music cd of the music of Disney World. I had to hunt for it and only found it at the humungous Disney Store in Downtown Disney. But, it was so worth hunting for. The kids listened to it after we got home and could relive the rides through the music. And, I used some of the tunes for a video montage of the trip. I thought we’d use it again to prepare the kids for the next trip so that they’d recognize the music going into each of the parks and on some of the attractions, etc. But, in the 3 years since we got it, it really never got put away. Please tell me we aren’t the only family who sings Grin Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize; Yo-Ho-Yo-Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me; and There’s a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow regularly. This isn’t the exact same cd set that we have, but it’s pretty similar if you are interested — Disney’s Happiest Celebration on Earth.

We found a surprising gem in the book Kid Tips for Walt Disney World: Touring Advice by Kids for Kids. I had borrowed a previous version from our local library a few years back and thought it wasn’t worth purchasing — just a bunch of quotes from random kids with their suggestions and comments about rides, etc. Here we are 2 weeks today since we got back from Disney World, and my son is still carrying this book around. Yup. He took it to the grocery store today and was reading it in the cart. Yesterday, he took it to Bingo night at school in case he got bored (thankfully, he didn’t. But, we were prepared just in case). He loves this book. And, yes, it’s pretty much just a collection of thoughts and suggestions from random kids around the country. But, Evan loves those random thoughts. Before we went to Disney, he read the tips and made notes about what to make sure he did (like find “PUSH” the robot in Tomorrowland). Since then, he still reads them over and over and tells me, “Hey mom, next time we go, we have to make sure we do this….” and then proceeds to tell me what little Suzy from GA said every kid should do. The best part of the book? There are maybe a dozen pages in the back for him to fill out himself — a packing list, lists of things he doesn’t want to miss, etc. for before the trip. Then, there are 4 pages for him to share his own tips. What could be more exciting than this? He very thoughtfully wrote his name and age and then gave his own tips about his favorite restaurant, rides, resorts, etc. Now, it’s my job to send it in to the publisher and beg them to publish something from him in the next edition. Tracie A. Cook, if you are out there, please, please put something from Evan in the next edition. I promise to send you a Mickey shaped rice krispie treat on our next visit if you do….

Another good one from Tracie A. Cook is this new book, Walt Disney World Adventure: A Field Guide and Activity Book for Explorers. If you are a homeschooling mom making your Disney trip a field trip or a mom who is feeling guilty or has had someone try to make her feel guilty about taking her kids out of school for a week to go to Disney (insert throat clearing here), you would probably really like this book. It’s got all sorts of stuff in there about Disney World (pictures of things to look for, some history about the park, info and tips about rides, etc.) as well as educational info on every page (e.g., a lesson about forced perspective when talking about the Streets of American in Hollywood Studios, an introduction to onomatopoeia when talking about the Indiana Jones stunt show, a lesson about turtles when talking about Turtle Talk With Crush, a timeline of technology when talking about Carousel of Progress). And, of course, it’s got oodles of activities (e.g., decoding a secret message from Mr. Potato head, identifying dinosaurs, putting the time on clock faces on the Mad Tea Party page, word searches, mad libs, and the like). For my just-turned-7-year-old who loves activity pages and homework books, she got into this one. I wish it were actually a spiral so that it would be easier for her to handle rather than a bound book with the faux spiral cover. Though she didn’t attach to it like my son did to Cook’s other book, she did enjoy doing a bunch of the activities before we left. I took it with us for her to do on the plane and during downtime, but who am I kidding? There really isn’t much downtime when you are in Disney. So, we never actually used it on the trip. She is planning on finishing every page though and will probably even enjoy Cook’s website when she’s done that has some additional activities and certificates to print out. It is a good way to use some of the fun of Disney to teach your kid more than “Disney World is the most magical place on earth.” That is, if you feel like you need to teach something other than that. You may not.

I gave this book to my nieces for Christmas and then ended up buying ourselves a copy as well because I just got into it — Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World’s Best Kept Secrets, 4th Edition. There are scavenger hunts for each park for hidden mickeys with varying points for each one found (since some are harder than others to spot). We bagged the scavenger hunts, but we did read the “hints” section to actually find exactly where they were so that we could help the kids spot them. They totally got into this and were finding hidden mickeys everywhere (I think some were more in their head than anything else, but who cares). And, Evan was super proud of himself when he even spotted a hidden R2D2 in the Great Movie Ride (look for it in the hieroglyphics in the Indiana Jones section). If you have older kids or have been to Disney a handful of times and are looking for a way to do something different to keep the trip exciting (not that you’d need to!), a competitive scavenger hunt from this book would be super fun.

One of my sisters sent us this book before we left – The Mystery at Walt Disney World (Real Kids, Real Places). It’s part of a series Carole Marsh writes that are mysteries taking place in touristy locations like Yellowstone, Hershey, Williamsburg, etc. I had seen it on Amazon but due to really bad reviews there did not buy it. I have to confess that despite lots of editing errors which bother me a lot (just the way I am) and a plot that is less than picture-perfect-magical (involves kidnapping), my son loves it. Evan loves reading about the main characters riding the rides he went on and seeing the things he saw. Getting him to read for 20 minutes a night for part of his homework is nearly impossible. But, this last week, Mark has been reading him a chapter of this book and then he’s been reading on his own. Perhaps this book does have some pixie dust sprinkled between the pages redeeming it. If you have a kid who can handle a potentially scary story, try this book. You can buy it used on Amazon for a whopping $.01–it’s worth every penny…or one penny.