What are your favorite WDW souvenirs?

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I just got into pin trading on our last trip. I also love to collect popcorn buckets (DH hates this!!), Christmas ornaments and I have to get at least one novelty t-shirt on each trip.

 

[heimlichfan]

I'm very picky when it comes to Disney stuff, but I've found one thing that I love... it's childish but I love it all the same!

They're called Disney Collector Packs- I think they're up to a sixth series now? Anyways, each pack has 3 miniature figurines from the parks. I get a few packs on each visit and have a small shelf for all of my figurines. They're plastic, so it's a little expensive at $5.00 a pack.

The best part is you can trade them (only at Once Upon a Toy in DD unfortunately) if you already have the ones you get. I have all the figurines from the first three series, now I'm working on the later series.

I don't think they're very well known - I sent one of my students (who was going to WDW) with some spending money for me to buy a couple packs, and he never found them. So he asked a cast member at POFQ (where they were staying) who also didn't know, so the cast member e-mailed me to find out exactly what I was talking about.

 

[BirdLegsRed]

I like the idea of collecting magnets from various rides. I had no idea those were even available! I always get a snowglobe from each trip.

 

[Secondgradememories]

It's fun to talk about what he might want before you go, so you can plan and let him know that the $150 light saber won't be going home in your suitcase. The list idea works well; you can even draw a slip each morning to see what you'll look for that day. Or, you can do as my DD does, go straight for the stuffed animals and wait to see which one asks you to take it home. On our last trip we let the kids spend their budgeted money as they wanted - so they could save up for one thing or get little things. They can also bring along "extra" money they have saved from birthdays and such if they choose to do so. It was nice to see them really think about each purchase. Have fun! Shopping at Disney is one of my favorite things to do!

 

[squirrel]

I have been collecting the shaped pens each trip.

Last year I also started collecting magnets, and Potato Head parts.

My niece started a charm bracelet. She is planning on getting a Stitch to add this year.

 

[sherabby]

Pins and T-shirts. My son got a pressed penny book but we didn't really go crazy finding them. I think we only did maybe 6 and we have about 6 from our last trip!

 

[zefyr]

Aside from photos I take, my favorite souvenir are the pressed pennies. You can get a book that will hold the pressed pennies, and the machines are everywhere. I try to find a pressed penny the represents each ride or character associated with the ride. It's a really inexpensive souvenir, easy to pack, and even after many years of collecting I still love looking at them.

 

[MusiqChic99]

Magnets, keychains and I always pick up pads of paper...some times in abundance!! In fact I haven't been to Disney is almost 8 years and I still have a pad of minnie paper at home!!! My sister picked me up some from her last trip that I use to make notes on at work!

 

[ransom]

Our favorite souvenirs are:

- Miniature (1' tall) of the Humphrey/Donald/Goofy/Mickey totem pole from the Wilderness Lodge

- "Hidden Mickey" kitchen sink drain stopper (no, really; this is one of the things that makes us smile daily!)

- The "Sorcerer Mickey" print that is in our living room

- The lovely, frameable and genuine credit card bill we received shortly after returning home.

 

[MissMagnolia]

I always get a 14K gold charm for my bracelet on every vacation (it seems that I have an overabundance of WDW ones... ).

 

[TatenEly]

TATENELY
Where did you find the monorail?

My son bought the monorail that was sorta like Matchbox cars last trip and love it, but he would go gaga for the one you bought.
We are going in Dec and I will make it my mission to find one like yours.

Of all places, we found ours in the gift shop exiting Dinosaur in AK. We had it sent back to the resort and then I started seeing it in all the stores! So just about any gift shop had them, be it park or resorts.

 

[puddleduck]

The souvenirs I enjoy the most and still have are the toy soldiers I bought at the the Toy chest in England at Epcot and the Ferrari I got in Italy and this is going on 25 years. My ds, who was 5 at the time, favorite souvenir is a brass lamp he got from Morocco because it looks like Aladdin's lamp.
The boys wore their AK hoodies into the ground but aren't as attached to the ears, which we love.
I recommend finding something unusual. Also let him know that he can only get a certain number of things. hopefully small in number, because memories are weakened when they are divided up by a large number of souvenirs. 1 is way better than 5. This will help him pick what he really wants, not what he sees.

 

[neyankeefan]

Christmas plates, ornaments and mugs....We get new ones each year we go....Our home at Christmastime is a Disney museum.

 

[fakereadhed]

My DS favorite is the Golden Book about Mickey and Disney bear(under $3) and his Disney bear. Found the book at the BouTIKI at the Poly, but it's probably sold in the parks as well.

 

[herbanretreat]

We like the pins and the pressed pennies, but when you're 5 . . . . ther's a POTC gift shop that you could go crazy in. They also have lot of really cool hats in the gift shops (kinda pricey though) And not sure if they still have these but in 2007 when we went they had these wooden treasure chests that were like $15 to fill with jewels and coins and piratey stuff and even though I thought it was the biggest waste of money my DD still has it out on her dresser and goes through it regularly and thats 2 years later!! So I guess you never know whats going to be a hit!!

 

[vcgirl925]

Autograph Book:
I like the ones that you can get the siggy on one side and put a picture in the other side. This way it's always fun to look through.

Pressed Pennies & Pressed Penny Book:
This will be new for us this year but my ds loves to do this at other places. I think it will be fun for him to run around looking for a pressed penny machine.

Ears:
Definately some sort of ears. Mickey ears, goofy hat with the big droopy ears, captain jack wig, something like that. Then you can keep it and pack it up for them to bring on future trips. My ds 5 still has the mickey ears we bought him two trips ago and we'll bring them again this time.

Light up toy:
I know....you sigh....you think it's a overpriced piece of junk that they won't play with. But i tell you my son still has his buzz lightyear light up spinning toy and loves it.

Stuffed Animal:
Let him pick out at least one stuffed animal. Maybe after he rides the Buzz ride he'll want a stuffed buzz or bullseye.

Then for the other days let him find something else he likes, you can set a limit (or don't if you have the $). But my ds4 (will be 5 in nov.) likes to come out of the pirates ride and look through there. He likes all the pirate stuff and has gotten different things.


ETA**
I want to start collecting those disney baseballs for him, maybe buy one for each trip. I started buying the porceline figurines for my dd. She has two, a tinkerbell and a cinderella.

 

[Experiment_626]

I like (along with a few more conventional souvenirs) the sort of things that everyone remembers and has pass through their hands, but few people have once they get home (and I'm not talking about cash!). Read on ...

Back in January, we took our little boy to Walt Disney World for the first time. He had turned two in August. He won't remember much from the trip, if anything. I got the idea to make a shadow box for him, and made it my business to collect items for inclusion. I have a Key to the World card, a Walt Disney World napkin, guide maps for all four parks, a price tag from a toy dinosaur we bought for him, a wristband from Extra Magic Hours, the newsletter from the resort (All Star Sports), a bumper sticker, an unused FastPass, a Times Guide for the time we were there, and a couple of photos of him from the trip. I put this and some other things I can't think of at the moment into a folder and have it put away until I get the chance to buy a shadow box large enough to hold everything.

I personally love baseball caps (I'm very particular about which ones I like, though -- I'm on my second one in 10 years), and a pin or two from each trip. I just buy the pins I really like -- I'm a graphic artist, and I enjoy the pins as great examples of what amounts to logo design.

I agree about photos. I'm not much of a snapshot guy, though ... we have very large framed photos of park icons hanging in our house. We have 18x24-inch photos of the gateway from the hub looking into Tomorrowland at dusk and another of the rocky spires of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad hanging in our living room. Just this very day I framed a photo we took on our most recent trip -- an HDR shot of Cinderella Castle late at night, bathed in vivid blue, pink and red light, with absolutely no guests in the shot! I'll probably be hanging that one tomorrow.

Another thing I really like are the reproductions of attraction posters sold at the Art of Disney. I have several. The Walt Disney World Monorail System poster is hanging in our dining room. In our bedroom, we have The Haunted Mansion poster on one wall and Tomorrowland on another. I also have posters for Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Walt Disney World Railroad still their tubes, awaiting the day when I can afford to have them framed. All the posters are the preprinted ones they used to sell, except for the railroad poster, which is one of the print-on-demand posters. There are still a few others I want as well ... more so than most things, having these is really like having pieces of the park at home, because they're actually on display here and in the parks!

SSB

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

On each trip we buy each of them a t-shirt and they get to pick how to use their "souvenir money". We provide a certain dollar value for each of our boys to spend at their choosing for souvenirs. This trip it will be $50. Keep in mind that this does have a parent veto available for our use, but we have never had to use it.

I think it gives our boys a good feeling that they have some freedom in what they get and also it establishes some responsibility to them. What a great way to learn about money management. When the money is gone, it is gone.

We have one of our sons that would spend it all early on in the trip and one that might just bring it home to save.

 

[disneyfanUSA]

We always get a picture frame, photo book, ornament with date, pins, snowglobes, and DD always gets a new stuffed animal.

 

[labdogs42]

For me? My Photopass CD's! For DS? Mickey ear hat and those insane light up toys! Oh yeah, and pressed pennies. They are a good, cheap, souvie!