[Tinkerbella]

Just wanted to share some Disney related tips I have for traveling with children.
I recently used disney clipart and made a list (with pictures) of characters including villains that we might see in the parks next to each picture i put a small check box. I figured on our way back to the resort or just before bed we could check off (or use disney stickers) the boxes of the characters we saw that day. I hope to use to get my four year old to sleep, she doesn't sleep to well away from home so I hope this will help.
I would send this to anyone who would like it but i am not sure how to send it and its in Microsoft picture it format. So you would need picture it to use it.
Sorry I am not that computer savy.

Another idea i have used in the past is to bring a journal and each night write down what you did that day with lots of details. When you get home its really nice to have on days that you really miss Disney (or there is just to much depressing snow ). Just this evening I read our 2003 trip to my daughter for her bedtime story. She love to hear about her reaction to things and the ride she liked best. Its also a nice way to help the little ones remember their trip.

Feel free to add any more tips I look forward to more ideas.

[FireAngel]

I always make my daughter her own photo album with her pictures that she took herself at Disney and she can write down all that she did on her trip and look at the pictures that she took. It's about 3 rolls of film each trip

[OffKilterFan]

snacks ;) and ones that take a while to eat! I was 11 on our first trip, and whenever I got whiny (and hot sticky 11 year olds do) dad would hand me a tough piece of jerkey....it always worked ;)

[pumouse]

we always drive to disneyland because we live in arizona, it is about 7 hours away. We leave at 3 or 4 in the morning, the kids fall back to sleep and by the time they wake up we are almost there. Also we make a Sams club or Costco run and buy a case of water and soda, and lots of snacks. Then we take them with us to the park each day to avoid paying $3 for a water or soda and to put off lunch as long as possible. lunch time is the shortest wait for rides during busy days.

[Disney6]

We bought a travel cooler that plugs in and keep in the back of the van near the kids along with their dvd player. Now they only fight on where who gets to sit in the back and who gets to sit in the second row.

[CaraMia]

DS (3 yrs old) has an autograph book that the characters sign. I make sure to take a picture of each character. When we get the pictures developed I put a picture of each character next to the name. This way he knows which autograph is which at a glance. He likes to look at it when we are on the bus either coming or going from park to hotel. He also likes to look at it on the drive home (2.5 hrs).

If you are staying at a disney resort, at night they play bedtime stories for kids. When we were there they played Little Mermaid and then Tarazan. Both nights ds went to sleep easily while watching it. He actually only saw about 1 minute of Tarazan. He was out like a light..lol

[karliebug]

We bought a white baseball cap for each of our DD to have the characters sign. They wore them all week and it was a great souvenier to take home. We packed pipe cleaners in our carry on to play with on the plane. They are quiet and you can make all kinds of things out of them. Travel size magna doodles are great too.

[Tinkerbella]

I love the pipe cleaners thats a great idea my DD would love that too

[queensmama]

Originally Posted by karliebug

Travel size magna doodles are great too.

WE never leave home without our mini doodle. DD is only 3 and can just about write every letter, and can recognize them all by sight. Very educational toy if used with parent!

[Tinkerbella]

Here is a picture of the Disney character hunt I made for our next trip.

Sorry I can't make it any bigger

[ccorbet]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbella

Here is a picture of the Disney character hunt I made for our next trip.

Sorry I can't make it any bigger

That's a GREAT idea!!

[CathysCAT]

Tinkerbella- did you make that or find it somewhere? I copied it into Word document, but couldn't enlarge it too much without loosing detail. Great idea!

[Tinkerbella]

Originally Posted by CathysCAT

Tinkerbella- did you make that or find it somewhere? I copied it into Word document, but couldn't enlarge it too much without loosing detail. Great idea!

I made it with microsoft picture it thats why it was hard to get into this thread. If you want I can e-mail it to you I also have 2 more with diferent characters.

[CathysCAT]

I did some searching this afternoon and found 2 great sites with free Disney clipart: www.clipart.disneysites.com, and www.magicalears.com/clipart. What site did you find your pictures on. I couldn't find one of Jack Jack. I saved a bunch of images and inserted them into tables in a Word document. Still working on it. Maybe I'll post the finished pages when they're finished. Thanks for the idea.

[Tinkerbella]

http://www.geocities.com/disneyclipart/

This is the address I used.