Did you know that planning a vacation has been shown to deliver positive mental health benefits similar to actually taking a vacation? It all ties back to the idea that experiences provide more enduring happiness than material items do, and it’s been studied time and time again. With this in mind, the next time you are planning a Central Florida Disney vacation, be sure to squeeze every last drop of vacation-planning goodness out of your trip and hold a creative countdown to your departure day. Here are a few fun ways to count down to your next Disney vacation, based on your personal planning style.
For the Traditionalist
If keeping it simple keeps you sane, go the traditional route and count down to your vacation the old-fashioned way with a calendar or calendar-style tracker. Something as simple as marking off the days on a paper wall calendar can contribute to building the excitement that has shown beneficial mental health effects in studies. Whiteboard or chalkboard countdowns are other easy options for keeping your eyes on the vacation prize. For your desktop, there are plenty of woodblock or framed desktop countdown options that will do the trick as well.
For the Creative
Elaborate countdowns for holidays, deployments, due dates, birthdays, back-to-school, and vacations have gained in popularity in recent years, so there is a huge variety of beauty, food, drink, and toy-based calendars available on the market now. For your vacation countdown, you could repurpose a holiday advent calendar filled with candy or other trip-themed treats into a tracker. Or, get little ones involved in a tangible daily countdown by creating your own interactive counter. One easy way to do this is to use two jars, one filled with small items, like pebbles, shells, or large beads in the number of days until your vacation and the other empty, and move one item from the full jar into the empty jar for each day that you are closer to your departure date. This fun daily activity will help build anticipation for your upcoming journey while keeping kids engaged.
For the Techie
If you are less do-it-yourself and more technologically inclined, you can use a computerized countdown to head towards your special day. There are a variety of customizable online countdown options that can generate a ticker counting down to the event of your choice with specific themes and visuals. Or, you can keep your countdown at your fingertips on your phone with this vacation countdown app, available in the App store.
For the Collector
To completely customize your countdown for a Disney vacation, check out this collectible Disney pin set, available through the shop Disney website. Designed to count down to the holidays, this set could easily be repurposed into a vacation countdown with a Disney character mystery pin for each day you count down.
However, you choose to count down to your vacation, when it finally arrives, make sure you are getting the most of your time away by staying in comfort and style. Head to the Wyndham Orlando Resort & Conference Center/Celebration, and Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc, for a worry-free stay, or check out Aloft Orlando International Drive, Comfort Inn International, Element Orlando International Drive, or Best Western International Drive. If you’d prefer to stay adjacent to the Disney action, affordable options are the Crowne Plaza Lake Buena Vista.
