Halloween Time at Disneyland and Walt Disney World is the happiest haunting on Earth. The parks are enchanted with grinning ghosts, spooktacular entertainment, boo-tiful fireworks shows and all sorts of not-so-scary Disney fun! Glowing carved pumpkins line Main Street U.S.A. and frightfully fun decorations are scattered around the lands. Everyone's favorite villains are out and haunting the parks. Even Mickey gets to dress up and enjoy the Halloween festivities.  

The days leading up to a Disney vacation can get pretty scary. Especially at Halloween time! Time slows down. Excitement begins to bubble. The anticipation is crippling. It is torture waiting for the fun to begin! The cure? Adding a little magic into the mix to make the countdown to Disney a fun treat instead of a wicked trick.

This cute Disney Halloween Countdown Chain is perfectly themed for Halloween Time at the parks. Take away a link of the chain each day and watch your departure date creep closer and closer. When all the links have disappeared, it's time for your Disney vacation to begin!

Start by printing the free Disney Halloween Countdown Chain template for your destination. It has the countdown header and the pattern for the Mickey Mouse ears chain link.

Cut both of the template pieces out. Set the header aside. 

Use the Mickey Mouse ears pattern to trace the link shape onto black cardstock. I was able to fit four links on each black sheet of paper. Trace the outline of the pattern onto the black cardstock using a pen or pencil and then carefully cut them out with scissors. 

Each link has two Mickey Mouse ears. You want the ears to stand out when you make the Disney Halloween Countdown Chain. Fold the ears up at a 90 degree angle. Crease the fold so it stays in place. 

Next, you will cut the strips for the colored portions of the chain. I used my rotary cutter to make this step easy and fast. Make the yellow and orange strips 1 1/4 inches wide. The green strips are slightly more narrow at 1 inch wide. This helps the green fit between the Mickey ears when you put the chain together. 

Once all of the pieces are ready, it is time to build your Disney Halloween Countdown Chain. I started with the Mickey Mouse ears link. Fold the paper into a circle and use a stapler to attach.

Then, link an orange strip of paper through the black circle and staple it into place. 

Continue linking paper through the circles in the pattern black, orange, yellow, green. In theory, this link is supposed to be Mickey Mouse! The black is his head, the orange is his outfit, the yellow are his shoes, and the green are his arms. Mickey has some pretty festive costumes during Halloween Time and his orange one is one of my favorites. 

Cut some small white buttons out of regular paper or sticky foam paper. Even white label paper would work as long as it is sticky. Place the little white circles onto the orange links of the Disney Halloween Countdown Chain. This makes Mickey's outfit complete! 

When you have connected enough links to make a proper countdown, add the header to the top of the chain. I think a two to three week countdown is a pretty good amount of time. But, you could even do a month ahead if you want to be extra excited about the Disney vacation! 

Add the header by lacing a small bit of ribbon, about 5 inches, through the top link in your chain. Then, tape the ribbon to the back of the header paper. 

Hang your finished Disney Halloween Countdown Chain in your house where it is visible. Make sure to take one chain link off per day! 

I hope your Disney Halloween Countdown Chain brings some magical Disney fun into your home! Halloween Time at the parks is so festive and frightfully fun. The decorations make for adorable photo opportunities and the events are totally unique to the season. Everything spooky is scaled back to make it appropriate for all ages and scare levels. It's not a trick, but an absolute treat to be part of the Halloween Time magic.  

You can get a scary good deal on your Halloween Time vacation when you book with Get Away Today. We offer discounted tickets, reduced hotel rates and more to help you save the most! Book online or give our Disney experts a call at 855-GET-AWAY.