Cheap Souvenirs

[MemoryMakers2669]

OK, help me guys. My friend has a VERY tight budget and has 4 kids, a husband, mother and father to take stuff home to. What kinds of things can she find at Disney that are good, but cheap?

 

[TNKBELL]

My kids loved the fantastic plastics exhibit at Innoventions at Epcot, they each got (Dh&I too!) to make a plastic colorful robot to keep they would make nice gifts to kids back home, you can do the exhibit as much as you like but it takes about 45 minutes or so each time. Also visit Miyuki at the World Showcase in Japan for free beautiful lollipop sculptures, also free, kids can make masks and various other crafts at the kidcot stops around Epcot. At Downtown Disney there is a new store ..10.00 and under it's more a less tucked into an alleyway, but they have a 4/10.00 section with lots of great Disney merchandise as well as 6.99 grab bags that have great stuff inside worth much more. Hope this helps!! Don't forget people love getting Mickey soaps and shampoos from Disney hotels and maybe you'll be the lucky people blessed with a towel creature from Mousekeeping. For adults, Basin at DTD had 10.00 grab bags with lots of great gifts inside worth way more!!!! Everywhere we went the kids were showered with stickers, we had plenty left to give friends and family when we got back. Maybe you could find some inexpensive pins to trade for favorite characters of friends and family back home? www.mousepinsonline usually has some great deals on pins and they are great for trading, we brought home lots of great pins! If transportation is available, you could go to Melbourne Beach for some great seashells, these make great souvies as well.
I forgot to add...at the arcade at Contemporary(we went here) and the All Star resorts they have games that give tickets redeemable for prizes, my Dks favorite prizes were the cute jumping bugs(actually very well made) that were only 1 ticket! So you could spend 25 cents and receive several tickets and bring home lots of cute souvies for the kids and your Dks got to play a game on top of it! If they are doing the dining plan they could save some of thier snack credits and get Mickey Rice Krispy treats to use as souvies too!!
Sorry to ramble! One last thing...aat Ghiradelli at DTD when you walk in they give you a free wrapped chocolate as a sample, save it for a tasty gift!

 

[etwinchester]

At Downtown Disney, I purchased the Mickey Ice Cube tray. It was very cheap and I get so many compliments on my ice cubes.

Makes me also think of our last WDW memories everytime we use them.

 

[WDWFAN9]

Not as an official souvenir, but when my kids were younger I always stuck a few WDW napkins in a baggie, brought them home, and occasionally put them in the kids' lunch bags as a little Disney surprise.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The pressed pennies; there are machines all over the place. You need a penny (preferably new and shiny) and two quarters. There are three choies per machine, with different characters and situations depending on the locations.

If you want to spend big time, there are pressed quarter machines which use a quarter which you provide (again, it should be shiny) and four quarters to activaate the machine.

An example is in the Contemporary Resort on the 4th floor next to the escalators to the monorail are four pressed coin machines.

 

[DeanDoug]

We've also bought Mickey silly straws (about .25 each?)... available at most food courts at the resorts...
Also, packs of Disney pencils, etc... put a few together with a big red bow (and maybe a Mickey soap from the hotel) and voila! cute little souvies for very little...

You could also go to the Disney Store before or after you go to see what's on clearance... I just bought a stuffed pooh for my daughter for $2.99... this is another great way to save $...

Good luck!

 

[Goofy22]

If you can get to the Outlet Mall they have disney stores in there that have merchandise that you see in the parks but maybe a different design etc... you can get boxes of candy for $2 - $3 you can get T-shirts for $10 they have alot of really cheap souviners! Also LBV (Lake Buena Vista Area)
has alot of souviner stores where you can go and buy cheap souviners and it's not far from downtown disney they are off of Apoka-Vineland Rd past the crossings shopping center and they are nice size stores with a wide variety of gifts/souviners!

OK, help me guys. My friend has a VERY tight budget and has 4 kids, a husband, mother and father to take stuff home to. What kinds of things can she find at Disney that are good, but cheap?

 

[SaraMc]

I found that the prices of souvenirs was a lot less than it used to be when we went last Feb. They have books of postcards that cost a lot less, all the little souvies were always no more than $5 each. There is always lots of clearance I found as well. Mouse ears with embroidery were like $5 I think..

 

[stephaniebatesjones]

I have done the bring home napkins trick and also put them in my dd lunch box. She loves it. I have also given the mickey soap, shampoo, etc. that comes in the room. Once, someone told me to bring them the cheapest gift that I could find, and I gave them one of those laundry bags that housekeeping gives you at the resort ( I think it was yellow and may have been for dry cleaning). ANOTHER THING I LIKE TO DO IS STOP AT A SHOP IN THE PARK (USUALLY MAGIC KINGDOM) AND BUY A PACKAGE OF PENS THAT SAY DISNEY WORLD ON THEM. I think it may be a package of 5 for $10.00 or something like that and usually have one from each park. But it works out great because it's only $2.00 per gift per person. You can give them to kids as well as adults, and what you don't give away you can keep. Another thing we like to do for the grandparents and family members is to give them a picture of my daughter with a funny hat on (or something) or on a ride at the park ( first roller coaster ride) and give it as a gift. If you do this with the napkin thing, soap thing, the pennie thing, etc.you'll do great. Also consider doing a autograph book with pictures for the little one's or those young at heart. You can get the books at the dollar store before you leave and just let the characters sign. Kids also might like the park maps.

GOOD LUCK

 

[Taja]

I haven't purchased sourveniers on my recent trips and don't know the prices, but these are my usual adult items:

Key chains
Playing cards
Cup/mug/tumbler
Pens/pencils

I like to give things that are useful. I rarely buy t-shirts or other clothing, as everyone I know is very fussy about what they wear. Only a couple of people actually wear t-shirts/sweatshirts!

I purchased a key chain for myself in 2003 that was on sale for about $6--it was the least expensive one I could find that was suitable for my needs. I needed a ring on the clip on my battery operated fan so I could slide it on my finger! They seemed to be about $7 and up for the most part.

The key rings and other items at the outlets (in 2003) were generic Florida. I did purchase some (along with pens and pencils) for the children of colleagues. They were $1 to $2 each.

 

[isla bonita]

The pins take up litle room and are under 10$

 

[disney_me]

Whe we went in Feb. of this year. I found that in the Disney store you can find washclothes of Micky, Minnie and the rest of the crew. If I remember right, you can buy like 3 for under $4.00. great little gift to bring back home for friends and family.

 

[rockin_rep]

At Downtown Disney there is a new store ..10.00 and under it's more a less tucked into an alleyway, but they have a 4/10.00 section with lots of great Disney merchandise as well as 6.99 grab bags that have great stuff inside worth much more. Hope this helps!!

How new is it? Was it there last spring (april) and we missed it, or did it open since then?

 

[TNKBELL]

How new is it? Was it there last spring (april) and we missed it, or did it open since then?

I believe it is brand new, because when I asked several cms at other DTD shops they hadn't heard of it. I lucked out and stumbled upon it, it is literally tucked into an alleyway in the middle of DTD.

 

[maggiew]

I always recommend the store in China in EPCOT. They have a lot of nice inexpensive souvenirs. I have purchased beautiful journals/diaries with oriental fabric covering for cheap (maybe $4?). We also always bring home these little fans that have a nice oriental painting on them for $2.50. They will even write someone's name in Chinese on them for free, if you want. I posted a picture of them a couple months back on another "cheap souvenirs" thread. I will see if I can find them. These fans are in the back of the store in a bin on the counter.

Also, many times the kids get plastic cups with their meals at the sit down places. We have brought these home and put in a bag from one of the stores at WDW and threw in a mickey soap and shampoo, free stickers, etc. and gave them to my kids' neighborhood friends. They love them and they were all free! You can see one of the cups I am talking about in this picture:

Maggie