Post family Disney-theme night ideas HERE!

[PrincessTigerLily]

LisaG, I'm having one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments! That's perfect. Thanks!

[kkheburn]

For an art idea you could use black bingo dobbers and have them put spots on a dog cut out. Playdough and dog bone cookie cutters are fun too.

[ellenmiele]

We do "countdown" dinner parties - 150 days to WDW, 100 days, 50, etc. I go on allearsnet and get WDW recipes and set the table with a Disney theme. Most recently we had 150 days til our first cruise with a DCL & pirate theme. I set the table using the DCL ship Mickey colors - red tablecloth, yellow napkins, etc.. After the cruise we'll stay at BWV for a few days so I picked some recipes from the EPCOT, BW and B&YC area. That was also when we told the kids about the cruise for the first time so I also had a little gift for each - Disney Dollars and a pirate tshirt from our local DISNEY store. And I had recorded the Disney Cruiise show from Travel Channel and we watched it after dinner while we dug into our "Kitchen Sink" for dessert. Now I see the allears has menus from the Wonder so I'll try to work that into our 100 day dinner!

[MeMom]

We had a couple of themed parties leading up to our July all-family trip last year.

Here are pictures from one we had just a few weeks before we left.





Disney has "The Kitchen Sink". We had "The Wheelbarrow."



We love the turkey legs in the parks, and these didn't disappoint.





And one from our homemade Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.



We also went to Disney on Ice:100 Years of Magic later this same evening. It was a very fun day!

[ballle_98]

Originally Posted by PrincessTigerLily

I would love to gather everyone's ideas for family nights based on a movie or ride! Please choose a movie/ride/attraction, and a menu (recipes welcome!) and activity to go along with it! I would love to have a box of ideas that I can use a couple times a month!

Here's one to start:
Movie - Lilo and Stitch
Menu - grilled chicken skewers and peanut dipping sauce
coconut rice
bread pudding with bananas foster sauce
*recipes for dipping sauce and dessert from 'Ohanas can be found on allearsnet*
Activities - construction paper and straw leis, crepe paper hula skirts (family
fun magazine from a while back)

Plus if you think of other food or activities to fit in with someone's theme, please post it!

You could also serve peanut butter and banana sandwiches (Elvis's favorite) or tuna sandwiches.

[PrincessTigerLily]

Thanks for all the super great ideas! I love the Elvis angle! MeMom, DH is begging me to ask you for your turkey leg recipe! Please share!!!!

[NHdisneylover]

Okay, so I asked the kids.

DS suggests the following:

Movie: Cinderella
Activity: SLipper Hunt (hide all of mom's high heels all around the house. SEPERATE the pairs. See how many pairs each person can find)
Meal: Royal banquest: anything fancy served on the good china, cloth napkins, the works!

Movie: ToyStory
Food: Pizza (pizza planet)
Activity: play with potato heads, army men, etc

Movie: The Jungle Book
Food: "ape food" bananas, "bear food" berries, etc
Activity: practice walking with a bucket on your head like the village girl (plastic bucket )

DD suggests:

Movie: The Parent Trap (she says to tell you the orginal is best but both are good )
Meal: hot dogs and s'mores made over a campfire
Activity: "camp" in the backyard or living room and play any "camp like" games you know. Sing silly camp songs around a real or pretend campfire

Movie: The Lion King
Snack: Pumba's ants on a log (celery filled with peanut butter toped with raisen "ants")
Activity: Make Lion masks from paper plates

Movie: Alladin
Food: kabobs and cous cous
Activity: make "magic carpets" (cut a piece of felt big enough to sit on and cut some slits on each end for "fringe" have the kids decorate their carpets with sticky backed felt or fabric paint)

[NHdisneylover]

Okay, the kids won't stop throwing ideas at me, here's another:

Movie: Mulan
Food: Chineese Take Out
Activities: Learn to eat with chopsticks! And make paper chineese style dragons and paper lanterns (search familyfun.com for chineese new years activites and pick anything really)

[ChrisMouse]

Subscribing, LOVE these ideas! I'm going to try to compile enough ideas for every Friday night until our trip (May 10th...so I only need to pick 13 ideas!!!)

This is great!

[PrincessTigerLily]

NHDisneylover, LOVE these ideas! You and your kids are very creative! My goal is to write all of these great ideas onto 4x6 cards and put them into a file box so I can pull one out whenever we need a Disney pick-me-up!

Just to add, I think it would be fun to make baklava for "Aladdin" night!

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/worldgreek/baklava.html

[PrincessTigerLily]

Movie - Pocahontas

Menu - An abbreviated Thanksgiving feast!
Turkey (of course!)
Canned cranberries
Corn on the cob
Native American fry bread

Activities - Read a real letter written by John Smith to the Queen of England
about his friend Pocahontas, encouraging her to be greeted with
the greatest respect! www.easyfunschool.com/article2150.html

Make toilet paper tube totem poles

Fry bread recipe: 4 C flour/1 T powdered milk/1 T baking powder/1 tsp salt/1 1/2 C warm water/oil for frying

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add water. Knead until soft, then set aside for one hour. Shape into small balls. Flatten each ball into a circle with a rolling pin or by hand. Fry in a skillet half-full of oil until golden brown on both sides. (Really good with jam too!)

[MeMom]

Originally Posted by PrincessTigerLily

Thanks for all the super great ideas! I love the Elvis angle! MeMom, DH is begging me to ask you for your turkey leg recipe! Please share!!!!

These are all fun ideas. We'll definitely add them to our list of pre-trip parties...as well as post-trip 'getting over the Disney blues' times.

As for the turkey legs, my daughter found them at the store and just baked them on a broiler pan in the oven. Just rub them with butter and bake at a low temperature for a long time so they're extra tender. They were delicious!

Our next trip is in March, so I may try to get a party in before then and invite the family friend who will be going with us this time to join us. She's only been twice in her life - once to Magic Kingdom and once to MGM, and each for only one day. We're going to show her how to do Disney the right way!!!

[disneybound08]

Love the ideas

[PrincessTigerLily]

Movie - Dumbo

Menu - Circus food, i.e. hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts (I suppose we should
round it out with some sort of vegetable, eh?!)
Make Elephant Ears (see recipe below)

Activities - Pin the feather on Dumbo's trunk, Pin Timothy on Dumbo's hat
Family Circus (each family member has to perform a trick or act,
don't forget a Ring Leader! Maybe you can train your dog or cat
to jump through a hoop!)

[PrincessTigerLily]

OOPS! Forget to include it in the last post!

1/4 C butter, melted
1 C flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C milk
3 T sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
sugar

(Did I mention sugar?)

Stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in milk and 3 T melted butter until dough forms. Knead 10 times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a rectangle, 9x5 inches. Brush with remaining butter, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Roll up tightly, beginning at narrow end. Pinch edges of dought into roll to seal. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Place cut sides up on cookie sheet. Pat into 6 inch circles. Sprinkle with more sugar. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes 4 elephant ears.