Cook like a Disney chef

Image: Jeff Christiansen, Flickr (license)

While Disney cookbooks are a popular feature in the theme parks, you don’t have to shop on property to get these. Just head to Amazon, eBay, or a similar site and you’ll find plenty of options. If you don’t already have some Disney cookbooks on hand, pick out a few to work through in the weeks or months leading up to your vacation.

Most Disney themed cookbooks feature recipes straight from the parks and hotels. Delicious Disney Desserts gives you the key to cooking up Le Cellier’s Maple Crème Brulee and Boatwright’s Bananas Foster Angel Food Cake. Delicious Disney Just for Kids has recipes for Boma’s African Fruit Fool and the Sci-Fi Dine-In BLT Tomato Soup. Delicious Disney has the famous recipe for Tonga Toast.

You can also find good representations of some popular Disney recipes online. Pick a few special meals to recreate and try your hand at them before your vacation. You can compare your efforts to the real thing when you finally get to the parks.

Add pixie dust to story time

Image: ~Beekeeper~, Flickr (license)

If your family has a regular story time each night, this offers an outstanding opportunity to get in a magical mindset leading up to your vacation. You can find a nearly endless supply of Disney themed books at most bookstores and libraries. Disney’s published several collections of five-minute bedtime stories for younger children. Teens and adults can get in on the fun with books like “Before Ever After: The Lost Lectures of Walt Disney’s Animation Studio” or “Everything I Know I Learned From Disney Animated Feature Films: Advice For Living Happily Ever After.”

Don’t forget to include some guide books in your reading as well, particularly if you’re a first-time visitor. You can browse through attraction and dining reviews with your family and pick out the ones that you’re most interested in including in your stay. Many guidebooks will also offer fun tidbits, details, or hidden Mickey’s that will enrich your experiences when you’re in the parks.

Get in the Disney spirit long before your vacation and you can enjoy the lead-up to your magical escape as much as you enjoy your time in the parks.