The Best Way to Countdown to a Disney Trip: Weekly Disney Movie Nights and Themed Dinners
There are lots of different countdown ideas for a Disney trip, but my absolute favorite has nothing to do with calendars or paper chains and everything to do with Sunday nights at home.
About two months before we travel, we start a tradition that my kids now look forward to just as much as the trip itself: weekly Disney movie nights with themed dinners!
Every Sunday, we pick a movie, I plan a dinner to match (sometimes simple, sometimes over-the-top), and we spend the evening enjoying a little Disney magic together. By the time our trip arrives, the anticipation is through the roof, and it makes the whole experience feel longer and more special.
I started sharing these nights on Instagram and so many people have asked for a full list of what we’ve done, so here it is!
Why We Love Disney Movie Nights Before a Trip
There’s something really special about stretching out the excitement of a Disney vacation instead of saving it all for the trip itself.
These nights:
Give us built-in family time during busy weeks
Help my kids connect with the stories and characters they’ll see on our trip
Make the trip feel like it starts weeks before we even leave
Create traditions and memories that are honestly just as meaningful as the vacation
It’s simple, flexible, and doesn’t have to be Pinterest-perfect to be fun.
How We Choose Our Movies
This part is very official in our house: the kids are mostly in charge.
About two months before the trip we make our list, and the kids contribute the vast majority of the options! One caveat is that I do try to gently guide things so a few of our movies tie into our upcoming trip.
For our current countdown, we’re getting ready for a sailing on the Disney Destiny, so I made sure to sprinkle in a few themed connections:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (because of the Marvel theming onboard)
Wreck-It Ralph (inspiration for the kids club spaces)
The Lion King (since we’ll be experiencing the Pride Lands dining)
A Real-Life Note: Not Every Week Is “Extra”
Some weeks I go all in with themed menus, decorations, and fun details.
Other weeks? It’s takeout and a loosely themed dessert.
And both are equally loved.
If you take anything from this post, let it be this: you do not need to do the most for this to be magical. The consistency and the anticipation are what matter most.
Our Disney Movie Night Lineup, Counting Down to our Sailing on the Disney Destiny
Here’s the full list of movies we used for this countdown, along with the themes I built around them! I’ve included links to all the dishes that I made so you can have the recipes and replicate them yourself :)
The Pride Lands restaurant on the Disney Destiny is Lion King themed!
🦁 The Lion King Movie Night
We chose the Lion King because Pride Lands: Feast of the Lion King is one of the three rotational dining options on the Destiny (read all about it in my post reviewing the Destiny here). My kids hadn’t seen this movie in a long time so I wanted to refresh their memories before the cruise!
This was our first movie night of this countdown so I wanted to go all out with the dinner. My goal was to try a bunch of new recipes and focused on African foods. Here’s what I made:
African Peanut soup - there were a bunch of recipes out there for this but I liked that this one had chicken in it. It was SO GOOD!
Fried plantains (my kids loved these!)
Dirt cups (slimy, yet satisfying!)
🌺 Lilo & Stitch Movie Night
This is one of my kids’ favorite movies so naturally it made it on to the list! We went back and forth on whether to do the animated or live action movie, but we stuck with the original! Here’s what I made:
Ham and cheese sliders - after last week I wanted to do something simple, my kids like these, and they are on Hawaiian rolls so…. it went with the Hawaiian theme enough!
Pineapple slices
Spider-Man greeting guests in the grand hall of the Destiny!
🕷️ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Movie Night
No one in my family had ever seen this movie before! But I wanted to do something Spidey themed since he has such a prominent role on the Destiny. My kids love Spidey from Spidey and his Amazing Friends. I wanted a cartoon movie and something PG so this was the best option. We all enjoyed it! I also was being lazy this week because I had just returned from a work trip that Sunday morning. So our dinner consisted of ordering pizza because Spider-Man is from NYC! Boom, done.
👹 Monsters, Inc. Movie Night
Ok, this one I also pulled together last minute. I searched the internet and wracked my brain and really couldn’t come up with many great ideas for Monster’s Inc. But my kids love this movie so it made the list. Here’s what I made:
Guacamole in a bowl with a babybell+black olive “eyeball” in the middle (to look like Mike Wazowski)
Green jello (also Mike Wazowski inspired)
Burgers - yes, this has nothing to do with the theme but it was a nice night and my 7-year-old loves burgers
🍎 Snow White Movie Night
My kids LOVE Snow White. They especially love the live action version, so they specifically requested to watch that. This also gave me a great opportunity to make an apple crumb pie that I tested out at Thanksgiving this year and was DELICIOUS! We went with a German theme and I always love an opportunity for German potato salad too. Here’s what I made:
Grilled bratwurst
Apple crumb pie with homemade cinnamon ice cream
🦊 Zootopia Night
Ok, I had never seen this movie before (but my kids had). I had absolutely no idea what this movie was about and the internet wasn’t giving me great ideas for themed foods. All I did was get donuts for dessert because I read that donuts appear in the movie. Not gonna lie my kids were a little disappointed with the lack of a fully themed dinner, but they were happy with donuts at least!
🧠 Inside Out Night
The theme for this night was COLORS! We love this movie. Here’s what I made:
Fruit salad appetizer: Strawberries (anger), oranges (anxiety), mango (joy), green apples (digust), blueberries (sadness), purple grapes (fear)
Anger: Homemade tomato soup. I’d never made this before and now I don’t think I can ever go back to Campbell’s. It was so easy, so good, and even my 7-year-old loved it!
Joy: Grilled cheese sandwiches
Disgust: Grilled broccoli
Sadness: Blue kool-aid
Rainbow sherbet for dessert
The slide to enter the kids’ club on the Disney Destiny is themed on Wreck-It Ralph!
🎮 Wreck-It Ralph Night
This was another movie I hadn’t seen before, but we picked it because the kids’ club on the Destiny is Wreck-it Ralph themed! We also kept this one simple with burgers, onion rings (apparently those are in the movie), root beer, and candy!
How to Start Your Own Disney Movie Night Countdown
If you want to try this with your family, here’s how to keep it simple:
Pick a start date (6–8 weeks before your trip works great)
Choose one night a week (we like Sundays)
Let your kids help pick the movies
Tie in a few movies to your trip theme if you can
Decide your energy level each week (simple vs. elaborate!)
That’s it. No pressure or perfection required.
Why This Has Become One of Our Favorite Traditions
As much as I love planning the perfect Disney trip, these movie nights have become just as meaningful. They build anticipation, give us one night a week to do something fun together as a family, and they turn a vacation into a full season of memories. My kids truly love doing it so much, they look forward to it every week!
If you try this, I’d love to hear what movies and themes your family chooses!
And if you’re planning a Disney vacation and want help creating a trip that feels just as magical as the countdown, I’d love to help you make it happen!