If there is one must have souvenir....

[Father of Four]

I am taking my whole family (loving, wonderful, DW + 4 kids) to WDW in November. This is the FIRST TIME for all of us!!! I have wanted to go since I was a child, and now we are finally doing it (A Disney Virgin no more).

We are staying at a Disney Resort and will have 7 days to tour the parks. I want this vacation to be the best ever, and plan on spending quite a bit of $$$ along the way.

I would like WDW "veterans" thoughts on what is the must have, most memorable, most enjoyable souvenir that they have come back with. Info on where you got it and cost would also be helpful as I am a Disney naivete, although learning quickly thanks to this forum!!!

I just registered on Disboard today...so please be gentle if I am not following standard protocol. Thanks,

 

[DawnAK]

Congratulations on your upcoming trip. Once you go, you will be hooked! My favorite souvenir is a good picture of my family with a fun picture frame. Be sure you have someone take a picture of your whole family together, you will find that people are so kind and won't hesitate to take the picture if you ask them. Buy a frame that will remind you of your trip. I often buy a frame with the year and that year's "theme" on it. They don't cost much but we enjoy it greatly. Most stores sell pictures frames. Even your resort's gift shop will have some to choose from. Have a great trip. When are you going? You will have a blast, and have so many wonderful memories! dawn

 

[Jackie H.]

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

I hope your trip is absolutely wonderful!

Actually, the souvenir we seem to enjoy the most are the refillable mugs! They last the longest and we use them all the time for drinks and soup.

Now I am photograph nut and I take LOTS of pictures and buy frames too. But we do enjoy the mugs. They remind of the trip everytime we use them.

 

[lUVTOGO]

I always buy a beach towel. It is something I use all the time at the beach and swimming, so I gets lot of use out it!

 

[loriandmatt]

OH, Father of Four - you will have such a wonderful time.

Let's see, must have souvies.....

Autograph books for the kiddies. (even my teen niece HAD loads of fun collecting Autographs from the characters. We take a picture of the kids with each character and then paste them on the oposite page after getting home. Don't forget to pick up a fat pen - easier for the characters to hold when signing.)

Mouse ears all around. (Don't forget to get the names on the back!)

We love to take and look at our pics. I take at least 12 to 15 rolls of film each trip and put them in a year themed photo album i buy on each trip. (after film and developing that is a bit expensive, but we enjoy them over and over.)

On our first trip i bought a charm bracelet - each trip i add a new charm.

DS and my neice (both 8) love collecting pressed pennies. They each filled up a pressed pennie book last trip and they are their favorite souvies.

A christmas ornement with that year marked on it. We recall our trip each time we hang them up.

There are so many more, but those are the first to come to mind.

Good Luck - lori

 

[trracers]

Lori and I must have gone to the same "how to enjoy Disney after you get home" school!!

I too buy charms each time I go. I only have one daughter, so this isn't all that expensive!! ha.

I do the same thing with the autograph books and photo albums. We look through each trip photo album over and over. My DD5 is anxiously looking through them every day making lists of characters and must-sees.

I just started scrapbooking and this trip I will be purchasing stuff to create a whole scrapbook just for this trip. I can't wait!

We buy the mugs and use them all the time at home. We usually go all out and buy whatever we want to get us through to our next trip! Have a great time!!

 

[PatriciaH]

This year I think we will be getting a Pal Mickey. If you look around on the boards you will see some info about him. He is a small stuffed Mickey that you can clip to a belt or neck strap and take around the parks. Mickey has a chip in his nose that downloads new info each day for the park you are in! He tells you wait times, tips about the rides, jokes, etc.. He sound really neat. Even DH want to get one since he is a computer geek and thinks it sounds fun.

 

[Strings]

My must haves are the photos we take, an ornament, and of course a new Mickey watch.

 

[jkovick]

DH loves to take photos-- so we buy a photo album almost every visit and have no trouble filling it. DH's all time record was 12 roles of film in one 7 day stay-- That's ALOT of pictures. I also think you can't go wrong with a posed picture of you and your family in front of Cinderella's Castle.

 

[Harambe]

ALthough we buy things here and there througout our trips - I always buy a Christmas ornament. As someone else said, it is fun to put them on the tree every year and recall our good times. My favorite is a gorgeous one my husband picked up for me at the Poly. It is actually an etching of the Poly! I love that one!

 

[luvdamouse]

I think my top two are those already mentioned - definitely personalized Mickey ears and some form of jewelry (DH saved up and bought a beautiful pocketwatch that he really loves, I've been collecting charms, as well).

I also love pens so that I can take a little magic to work with me, and normally try to get one each trip. They range from colorful plastic models to some nicer silver desk pens that I use in meetings.

The children love the stuffed animals that they have purchased each trips, and wear the various hats frequently.

Finally, I think that photos are one of the best. Even if you're not normally a shutterbug, you will be so thankful for every good photo you come home with. There's so much to see, you'll have a hard time remembering what was where, etc., and pics will really help!

Have a WONDERFUL time!!!
Jo

 

[jimmiej]

Father of Four:

Welcome to the DIS! If you need one more person to round out your group, I'll volunteer(LOL)


I'm a big Star Wars fan, so I always have to get something from the Star Tours gift shop. I also have to get a WDW t-shirt with the year on it. DW(wife) likes to get a fancy picture frame for our best photo & a Christmas tree ornament. Since we got a digital camera, our photos are a great souvenir. Use them as a screensaver & you can enjoy them every day. Have a great trip!

 

[Michelemouse]

Instead of autograph books we buy each child a WDW T-shirt (in a light color) and have the characters autograph that. We found that the autograph books ended up in a drawer but the t-shirt was something they could wear and relive their vacation.

As for me, I sometimes get a new Mickey watch. DH usually gets a new polo shirt.

I like to scrapbook so for me the scrapbooks of our WDW trips are my best souvenirs.

 

[LadyAurora]

Another vote for photo albums here. When DH and I take the kids for a week, we fill two albums! Everything in WDW is so photogenic!
My favorite souvenir is a glass Tinkerbell Christmas ornament, I believe we bought it at a shop in "Germany," in the World Showcase.
I like to buy postcards, some to send and some to keep.
And of course, we always end up with an assortment of t-shirts.

 

[Virgo10]

I also vote for a holiday/Christmas ornament. I have one from each of the years that I've been to WDW. Pretty soon I'm going to need a bigger tree!

Roberta

 

[goofy4tink]

Welcome to the Dis boards. You'll find incredible info here. My favorite souvies are....any of the attraction photo's that they take of you. We love them. We also continue to use and relive the magic with our refillable mugs. I get an ornament also each visit. And I have to say that this trip I will be getting myself a new watch. My b-day is coming and it will be a gift to myself. And of course a charm for dd.

 

[pooh2001]

We like the beach towels. New patterns to select from each year.
Very useful at home with our pool

 

[diznee25]

it's got to be nice artwork from the Art of Disney store. The two locations I know of are in Epcot & Downtown Disney.

We bought two hand drawn pictures, one of Lilo & the other one is Stitch. Both pictures were on sturdy cardboard. I believe each one was around $25 or $30. (Signiture of the Disney artist was on the front, lower right or left hand corner.)
Picked up some cheap frames from Wal-Mart and now they are hanging in our living room!

We also pick up a Christmas ornament every trip. There are two Christmas shops, one is in Magic Kingdom & the other is at Downtown Disney. For a really nice ornament expect to pay $15 or more. We purchased 3 items and paid roughly $60. (That includes 2 ornaments & one cake topper. The cake topper I remember being $22.)

Diznee25

 

[Jakesmom1]

I collect Coffee mugs, so I buy one at each park. Last trip we bought these 2 matching mugs at Epcot with Mickey and the whole gang on them. They are my absolute favorite. We use them every morning for our first cups of coffee. They are pretty inexpensive at about $6-$8 a cup. and we have them forever.

Also I collect Magnets, so we always pick up a couple of these also. I have all the characters, the SE from Epcot, the Castle, Figment and oh I cant even print them all. They are also very inexpensive and eveytime I open my Fridge, there they are!

 

[Terry in NJ]

A previous poster mentioned Disney pens. I love them! Keep them in the office, the kitchen drawer....

I love Disney coffee cups from favorite attractions too. The only thing is, my cabinet is getting full, so I have to lay off that one for a while.

Another cheapee souvvie is the disney "post-it". I have Mickey with the American flag.

Some trips I spend ($60 on a fleece WDW shirt or $38 on a nightshirt) and some trips I "graze", just fun cheap junk.
I'm going Labor Day, just DD and I, and I want my 6 1/2 year old to pick a new watch for me, with Daddy's money of course!!

You might want to pick up Christmas stocking or holiday present goodies, just to remind you all of the trip!!!!! I love doing that... putting stuff away of Tink, my DD's favorite....

Have a magical vacation!