Best souvenirs for kids

[christineka]

I was reading tips on getting more bang for your buck and learned about Disney Mr. Potato head parts. That sounds really neat. It's a bit more that I'm wanting to spend per child, but I thought maybe we could just buy a few things for everyone to share and pennies for each of the kids to have all their own. Or something small. Is there anything else neat (under $50) that would be good for kids aged 10 and under. (My kids are: 7 months, nearly 3 years, 5, almost 7, 8, and 10.)

 

[LavenderPeach]

You can get a huge souveneir map of DL for $5. They have them a the little stand near the exit gates. It's very detailed so it's neat to look at all the rides and attractions we went on.

Also, I don't know if you saw that there are 2 sizes of potato head boxes you can get. I think the smaller one is around $25? My MIL bought one of those and split the pieces between my DS and her other grandson and they both had a ton of pieces. You can really cram a lot in there.

 

[szubieta]

smashed pennies, dime, quarter and the passport books are fun to find and collect are pretty cheap to boot. I talked to one of the CM's while in TT and she gave me a 2 page info sheet of all the locations for each machine. We have collected them for years and it's just part of the fun of the hunt. We also take picture of the Hidden Mickey's. Plus I let the kids pick out there own toys at 1 trip to World of Disney with a limit. This can take some time with smaller children without the understanding of money.

 

[letthembelittle]

There are several different sets like this available at the park (http://www.themeparkshopper.com/servlet/the-1220/Tub-Cinderella,-Sleeping-Beauty,/Detail), I think they were about $12 for the tote. My kids LOVE them!

 

[christineka]

How much does the pressed penny machine cost? I have the full list, but wondering how many we can plan to get to and buy. I have rolls of pennies and that is no problem. I'm concerned about quarters.

 

[Mugglemama]

over the last decade we've bought many souvenirs from disneyland (my kids are 5, 8, 11, & 17 now but we've been going all throughout their childhoods)....but the favorites were definitely the light-up spinny toys when they were say, 7yo and under. after that age, they seemed to always like their disneyland t-shirts best (my son has a POTC "dead men tell no tales" shirt and my oldest daughter buys a special t-shirt every time we go now).

the only other thing that any of my kids every really LOVED for years after we bought it, was a little red metal airplane toy that we bought on my oldest son's 4th birthday at DCA. they still carry them in that store right across from the entrance of Soarin (about $7 i think), and they have several colors. he played with that thing for years (carried it everywhere), until it finally disintegrated!

we did the mr. potato head thing but honestly, my kids NEVER played with them and i ended up feeling like it had been a waste of money.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

I second the spinning toy thingies and light up guns. We got ours on the kids first trip 3 years ago, and they are one of the few toys in our house that gets used on a daily basis. They are also great because every trip we pack them with us and don't have to buy another one while we are there.

 

[sahbushka]

I second the spinning toy thingies and light up guns. We got ours on the kids first trip 3 years ago, and they are one of the few toys in our house that gets used on a daily basis. They are also great because every trip we pack them with us and don't have to buy another one while we are there.

I agree with the spinny toys...we have had one for 4 years that gets played with all the time and we got another one this past Sept! Please, even I like to play with them?

SarahMay

 

[jimsocks]

Spinny light up things are good....as far as bang for the buck, my girls (11, 6) LOVE pin trading.....doesn't have to be expensive -you can get them on eBay for less than a buck a piece....they really look forward to the whole trading experience - then, when we're back home, they get to arrange them on some cork board or on their lanyards (also cheap on eBay) to hang in their rooms...interacting w/ the always friendly cast members and getting to choose which pin to get really adds a fun dimension to their experience...

 

[geekypeach]

We like pressed pennies. With the potato head, you can buy a standard p.h. with all their regular parts at Target for $10, THEN splurge and fill the box at disneyland on the disney themed parts. We searched everywhere for where they sold them and finally found them at EnginEars Toys right inside and to the right in DCA. Ear hats too. We got ours for $10 and $15 including embroidering.

 

[Mugglemama]

I second the spinning toy thingies and light up guns. They are also great because every trip we pack them with us and don't have to buy another one while we are there.

yep, that's what we do, too!

 

[szubieta]

How much does the pressed penny machine cost? I have the full list, but wondering how many we can plan to get to and buy. I have rolls of pennies and that is no problem. I'm concerned about quarters.

Pennies cost $0.51. I can't remember if Dimes were $.85 & Quarter were $1.00. The passport have mostly penny slots. We have fun making it a scavenger hunt for the children (they don't get to see the list). We just keep track of the one we have. If they get duplicates, they give them to friends. I do let each child get their own passport. I let them know the # of coins they get each trip ahead of time.

They also get into pin trading. It's also a great way for the younger one to identify the CM just incase they every get lost.

The Little Green Men Store after Buzz's ride have around $10 space guns.

I would stay clear of the store "Star Trader" after the Star Tours ride. The "build your only lightsaber can get to $30 ez for one...we know...DH is a softie sometimes.

 

[christineka]

Does the Toy store have star wars potato head parts? My 6 yo ds has seen them and now wants them. He loves star wars. He' like the light saber thing too, but has two of them from the thrift store- no need to spend a lot on a disney one. The space guns sound like something ds would like too. I think we may look around, but not buy until the last day.

I'll have to look into the pins.

I'm thinking of giving the kids a set amount of quarters and the pennies to go with them. I also thought I ought to go buy some of those light up bracelet things at the dollar store to bring with us.

 

[carebee21]

I strongly second the pin trading for your older few. My son, 6, really got into it on our last trip. And as mentioned, you can find sellers selling for about $1 shipped on ebay. It's fun for the kids and then they can trade for the pins or themes they really like.

Another big thing for our son is stuffed animals(I just bought them at the Disney store before our trips though, not in the park) He loved to carry his "baby" through the parks and take it on the rides with him . It's a pain to drag around just one stuffed animal, so I can't imagine having to carry around multiples but just another suggestion.

 

[szubieta]

Another big thing for our son is stuffed animals(I just bought them at the Disney store before our trips though, not in the park) He loved to carry his "baby" through the parks and take it on the rides with him . It's a pain to drag around just one stuffed animal, so I can't imagine having to carry around multiples but just another suggestion.

I know how that goes...I bought a Pal Mickey (on ebay) in '07 for WDW and it hooked onto a landyard. Our youngest (now 6) has to have it at DL too, even though it only works at the World. He does sleep with it and sings the songs and plays the game so it nice to have. BTW - Heard they no longer sell them at the World, but the old ones still will work.

 

[kkmcan]

Definitely the ears for us! We take them every trip and now even at 12 and 10, my kids still wear them on our first day.

Our other favorite is pins. We get ours on ebay.

Those spinning toys were a huge hit when our kids were smaller and they got a lot of play time.

 

[Liltx]

I would skip the potato head unles you know your kids love them. Mine were all done with them by age four.
They did LOVE the My Little Pony box at WDW but I already knew that they played with those everyday.
The older ones I would just give them a budget of $10-15. They can buy a pin, candy, or somehting else small and they won't constantly bug you for things you can't afford. The little ones I would let them pick out one thing. The light spinners are really fun!
For us this time we are only buying treats (candy, cookies). We are not buying any other souv. The kids already know this. I think it will even be easier since now we have no reason to go into any of the shops.
I know they will still have a great time!
Monica

 

[rentayenta]

Pins. My kids love their pins. You can buy them on eBay uber cheap and they can trade for ones they want. They have been doing the whole pin trading thing for about 3 years and still love them. They enjoy hunting for that perfect pin and even trade with each other in line. It's the ever changing souvenir.

 

[gethane]

does anyone have a picture of these spinning toys? With a 4 and 6 year old they sound like a hit.

Ebay pins - do you just buy a lot of 20 or something so you have some to start with? I wish I knew what happened to all our WDW pins from 7 years ago. Moving cross country from Nebraska to California lost a lot of stuff

Lanyards - unless I change my mind and book DLH, we won't have free ones. Where do you buy them? Just from the Disney store or what?

 

[carebee21]

If you go on ebay and type in disney trading pins and then click buy it now. Then narrow it down to Price + Shipping: lowest first. Then they show the cheapest sellers. They have what they call pick your own size lot, and the cheapest I see up right now is $1.03-$1.10/per pin shipped. So you could buy a lot of 10, 15, 50 or however many you decide at that price.

And here's a link to a couple spinning light toys: http://www.disneystore.com/disney-parks-mickey-mouse-spinning-3-d-dream-light/p/1258166/305621 and http://www.disneystore.com/disney-parks-sorcerer-mickey-mouse-light-chaser-toy/p/1258230/305621/


And I just saw this on the page. We bought this for my son in the park and he loved it and it's fairly inexpensive: http://www.disneystore.com/disney-p...c-sword/p/1258226/305621/?prodFromCrossSell=1