Getting Ready for Mickey! - Part 1

I've been having so much fun making things in preparation for our trip to Disney World later this year. I'm reeaaallllyy excited about this trip and even though I know it'll be an amazing trip without my help, I'm doing what I can to add a little extra magic here and there. :)
Here's what I've done so far:

~BINGO~
I'll confess this took me a long time to make, but that's mainly because I'm a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this. I researched websites to find out which characters appear in the parks and then I scoured Google Images for nice looking photos of said characters and each park's logo. Then I had my husband whip up a program that equally distributed the characters over 10 game boards so there's a fair shot for each person playing. Lastly I printed and cut everything and then finally our Disney bingo game was ready to play with! James loves it and we play it often. It's been a great way to get him acquainted with the parks and the characters he's not so familiar with.

~Mousekeeping Tags~
I was inspired by this (much cuter) version. The housekeeping persons that care for the rooms at Disney parks are called "Mousekeepers" (love how Disney throws a little magic everywhere!). I know tipping housekeeping isn't required and that it's not everyone's cup of tea to do so, but we like to show our appreciation when a job's been done well. So, these tags will serve to do just that - they were quick and easy to make, all it took was just a bit of colored paper and ribbon, this font, and a paperclip! I made one for each day of our stay.

~Spilling the Beans!~
Several of you wrote asking me if we're keeping the trip a surprise from James. The answer is no! Not only because there's just no way I could've stopped myself from accidentally spilling the beans over the next few months, but also because I believe the anticipation is half the fun! I made this countdown straight away which has removed any of those "Is it almost time to go to Disney??" questions.

Here's how we told James about the exciting news: I created a "secret message" for him to decode. Take a closer look at the photo, hopefully it's self-explanatory. :) I put the message in an envelope and placed it in the mailbox. James collects the mail each day and was really excited to see he'd received something "top secret and confidential". We video taped his reaction as he read the completed message, which was: "You are going to Disney World!!" He was *SO* excited and repeated the message over and over before finally saying, "Let's go now!".

~Pressed Pennies~
I've heard about the autograph books you can buy/make for the characters to sign, but I've also heard many parents say that while their child enjoyed getting the autographs, they really don't do much with the book afterward. Then I heard about the pressed penny machines available in the parks and knew James would really get a kick out of those. He likes collections of things and I could see him pulling out the pennies and using them to play with, count with, etc.

So, thanks to Pinterest, I made these pressed penny money tubes using graphics from this site. We'll use just one tube (that'll make 19 pennies) - I made the others for some friends that are going to Disney next month.
A few pressed penny tips:
1) For shinier pennies, select coins pre 1982 - apparently they have a higher content of copper.
2) Make an activity out of cleaning the pennies before you leave. Click here to see what I mean.
3) You could also choose brand new pennies from your child's birth year or the year you're visiting Disney.
4) The machines cost 50 cents plus the penny you're wanting to press.
5) Within the tube stack the coins in 51 cent increments, this will make for a more user-friendly visit to the pressing machine. :)
6) I used small Mini M&M candy tubes. Filled to the top each one held $9.69.
7) Click here to find a complete list of where to find the machines throughout the parks and which images you'll find at each machine.

That's all for now! In the coming months I'll have more Disney things to share as well as a big giveaway! Click here to see other parts to this series.

~Thank you for your comments!~