Keeping the Disney magic alive

We recently returned from our first family trip to Disney World. I can without a doubt say that all four of us were feeling the magic. Two years ago I knew little about Disney and their characters other than I found the movies I had seen depressing. I definitely didn’t think any of the princesses were particularly good role models for my daughter. What I thought I knew? Ariel, trades everything for the affection of a man and Belle falls in love with her kidnapper. Stockholm syndrome anyone?

Flash forward two years.

I’m not sure how it happened but my daughter became obsessed with all things Disney Princess, in particular Belle. We’ve seen all the movies, read so many books, been to plays and listened to soundtracks on repeat. My daughters infatuation with these ladies forced me to learn more about them and realize I was wrong. Belle is beautiful, but more importantly she’s intelligent. She loves books, refuses to conform to fit in and is loyal to those she loves. She is also fierce. Not a bad role model combo.

Disney World itself was fantastic. It allowed my daughter the opportunity to enter an imaginary world she had spent the last two years of her life discovering. This world that she had read about in books and watched in movies came alive. She ate in Cinderellas Castle, performed a play for Belle, took a Journey Under the Sea and was part of Ariels world. When else in my four year olds life would she have had the opportunity to do this? So freakin magical.

Needless to say upon returning from our trip we were all a bit glum. This happens to us after any vacation but for some reason the Disney World vacation let down was much worse. The phrase “back to reality” takes on an entirely new meaning when the reality you were in involved princesses and castles. Here are some of the things we did to help keep the Disney World magic alive.

Gather and present the kid’s trip souvenirs in a fun way

Although we didn’t buy any souvenirs we still came back with a considerable amount of free goodies. The kids collected things like first time at Disney buttons, animal beads from Animal Kingdom Lodge activities, stickers, a sword from the sword in the stone memorable moment, etc. Before we left for the trip I purchased a couple of Mickey Reusable tote bags from the dollar section at Target. At the last second I decided against bringing the bags and left them at home. After the trip as I was unpacking our luggage I began discovering all the little treasures the kids had stashed away throughout the week. The Mickey bags popped into my head as the perfect way to store them. I gathered everything, put it in the bags and presented them to the kids. They couldn’t have been happier. It was as though they were getting these little trinkets all over again. Both kids still get out their Disney bags and paw through them.

Letter from Cinderella 

Before the trip I purchased a Cinderella dress from Little Adventures to surprise Anika with the morning we went to Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast. As I was packing our clothing Anika requested to bring a couple of dress up princess outfits she already owned. I realized that the Cinderella dress would not be needed. I left it behind and planned to give it to her for a birthday gift instead. A few days after returning from our trip I got the idea to “mail” it to Anika with a letter from Cinderella thanking her for coming to her castle. Anika LOVED this and it made the dress sooooo much more special then it ever would have been had I given it to her on the trip. 

Look at trip photos

We purchased the Disney Photopass Memory Maker and are totally satisfied with that decision. It allowed us to relive the trip through the photos taken by Disney photographers. Some of them included surprises with things like a tinker bell appearing in Anika’s hand. We also received voicemails from Mickey in our Photopass account that the kids loved. I’m currently in the process of making a photo book that I’m sure we will all spend some time looking through.

Make a list of what we want to do next time

We will be going back. I’m not sure when yet, but a return trip within the next couple of years is a definite. We didn’t get to everything on our list this time but in hindsight that worked out for the better. We still have plenty of firsts the next time around to look forward to. First time seeing the castle lit up at night, first time seeing the fireworks, first time going on Splash Mountain (despite three attempts to get on and the ride breaking right before every time). When Anika thinks of something that we didn’t do or something she wants to do again we add it to an ongoing list for a future trip.

Watch YouTube videos

When all else fails we watch a YouTube video. There are some great ones out there that almost make us feel like we are at Disney again for a few minutes. The Neverland Family is our favorite. They have a new video every Thursday and the kids and I both get so excited to watch together.