There is a lot of fun to be had at Disney World, Disney Land or one of the many other Disney properties around the globe. And there is no doubt that the experience brings families together in a way that can’t be replicated elsewhere. But, unless you moved to Florida just to be at Disney every spare moment of your life, you can’t always be around the magic. So how do you create your own magic during the off-season (i.e. the other 51 weeks a year)? Here are five activities that will bring a little fun into the life of your family and bring you all closer together.
- Around the World – Whether you hit the local elementary school’s playground or dust off your own portable basketball hoop, a game of Around the World is a great way to have family fun. Also, the rules can be modified based on age and skill level to even the odds.
- Bologna – Teaching your kids to bluff early will pay dividends later in life! How better way to teach this skill than with a game of bologna. You need one deck of cards and at least three players.
- Modified Monopoly – Yes, this classic game can take three hours, but you can speed it up by adding three simple rules that you thought were there all along.
– The bank pays the center $500 at all times;
– Double payout if you land directly on Go;
– Trading property is allowed at anytime, by anyone, before anyone’s turn.
And a fourth, which is my personal favorite.
– A Get Out of Jail Free Card doubles as a “move ahead, or back three spaces” card and can even be used after the dice are thrown by its owner. The owner can also sell the card for whatever price he/she can negotiate to anyone, at anytime.
- Home Made Cracker Jacks – a twist on classic cake decorating. Home Made Cracker Jacks will allow you to “decorate” your own popcorn. You just need liquid caramel and fudge, as well as salted peanuts and of course, popcorn.
- Ghost Stories – Remember the rule of three: 1) there must be a ghost that encountered a mysterious demise, 2) the ghost cannot be anyone you knew, and 3) they lived in a location where you are currently (like a hotel) but they don’t live in the residence where you live permanently (you don’t want to traumatize the kids every night). Everything else is fair game… Around a fire with the lights out is of course the best.
Have fun with the family, it’s times like these that make the best memories and stories later on in life…
We also liked that the guide covers:
We have just sent the email to the luck winner of the third Total Disney 12 Weeks of Summer T-Shirt Give Away. This is the third of 12 t-shirts given away during the Summer Give Away! And the winner is:
Experiencing Disney World is more than just about being there in the moment, it is about re-living the experience over and over again throughout our lives. There are a lot of ways to do this of course, silent reflection, talking together about the experience, pictures/videos, and special gifts.
The next option is to take your photos and videos and view them together. We enjoy actual photographs instead of digital images because we can pass them back and forth slowly and talk about the nuances of each picture. “Remember when this picture was taken, you were six years old and had never been to the Magic Kingdom before…” We use Shutterfly.com for reprints, but there are dozens of services out there that will reproduce your photographs, they’re all about the same.
The last really special way we’ve found to re-live the Disney memory is to give a special precious gift after the trip to someone who went with you. Last week I was shopping for my wife’s birthday and came upon a Swarovski pure 
(and saw beautiful crystal 
and 
as well). It was a big birthday so I purchased it, and she loved it! Now at Total Disney we’re all about saving money on Disney World but this is so that you can either afford the trip if you can’t normally go or so that you can spend your hard earned funds in other areas. This is one of the other areas, for us anyway. These crystal figurines are not cheap (we’ve found them for less on Amazon though), but Swarovski is very precious and special, so one would not expect them to be. I am also thinking about giving one to my daughter for her birthday. My wife and I may miss a few dinners out but that’s okay, our daughter will just love it.
Steven Barrett takes us on a field trip and history lesson to the secret world of hidden Mickey Mouse silhouettes located throughout Disney World. Along the way Barrett locates almost 1000 Hidden Mickeys for us to enjoy.
Each location has spectacular pools, spas and restaurants designed in the theme of the individual resort and each offers one of four accommodation options: 1) a Studio (Sleeps 5), 2) one Bedroom Villa (sleeps 5 with more privacy),Two Bedroom Villa (Sleeps 9) and a Three Bedroom Villa (sleeps 12).
This is not an article on how to buy a Disney Vacation Club timeshare unit, this is an article on how to rent one. The fact is, unless you are 100% sure, you don’t want to buy any timeshare, Disney Vacation Club or other. You are committing to a certain type of vacation, every year, forever! Yes, the units are bigger, badder, offer many more amenities and are more comfortable that a Disney World Resort hotel room, and yes it’s a great place to gather the entire family for magic that can’t be replicated at home; but every year forever??? This is why we’re big fans of renting a Disney residence vs buying one. If you still love it as much after two of three years of renting, then consider buying.
