Disney, almost by necessity, requires a lot of planning. Our family planning starts at least a year out.  Ideally this gives you the most options, and makes it easier to budget.  But how do you keep the kids involved?  With our kids we do several different things.  We have countdown contests – a real hit with my competitive bunch!  There are several different types we have.  One is a quick, how many days do you think it is until Disney?  Usually we are in the car when I ask this.  I have a countdown calendar app on my phone.  Sometimes I’ll ask how many weeks, sometimes it is how many days, and for fun I sometimes add days, hours and minutes. This is just for the fun of being right, or wrong.  Having one child who doesn’t quite get ‘time’, it helps for him to see it is coming up.
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By far, the kids favorite countdown contest is our weekly trivia contest question.  Starting a year out gives them the chance to get multiple ‘points’ with the winner getting a gift card!  It is really nice to do when you have multiple families traveling!  In this case it is best to use an email set to go out at a set time once a week.  When we have multiple families playing we like to have 2 points for the first correct answer and one point for the remaining correct answers.  For our extended family, it is a blast!  We are very competitive!

​This is a good question. Let’s start with what you do when you enter the park on your first day. Go directly to the Guest Assistance. There are two at each park. One is outside the gate and the other is inside the gate. We usually start at Animal Kingdom because it is our family’s favorite park. 
Go to the Guest assistance office. Have everyone in your party’s Magic Bands with you and the child or person needing the DAS. There is usually a short line. When you get to the front you tell them you need a DAS. They will ask you what you or your child needs. They are NOT asking for a diagnosis, and they do NOT want a note from your doctor. They are asking what services your child NEEDS. So, this is where you need to know what types of things your child needs in order to experience Disney. For some, it may be a place to wait for rides and attractions out of the direct sunlight. For others, it may be seated on the aisles of shows, or sitting in the back, or having a quiet place to wait. Some need assistance in hearing the show, or need it to be sign language interpreted