Pick a pearl, yay or nay?

[la79al]

I am looking for ideas on what souvenir we can get from our all girls trip next month. It will be me, my mom, my sis and my DD. When my mom and sis went on a cruise over the summer, they got the 4 of us anklets (DDs is a tad too big so after one 'lost' scare, she doesn't wear hers). I am thinking about ordering the carriage cages from Ebay and then having us all pick a pearl in Disney (though it may be from DTD instead of Epcot). WDYT? Too expensive, too impractical, better suggestion?

 

[twinsplusone]

Our girls (6 and 8) chose oysters and our ds chose one for me. They loved it. I think it's a great keepsake. We did it at Epcot and there is a ceremony that they do when they "present" you with the pearl.

 

[DisneyDizzy]

My son picked one for me in Epcot. They did the little birthing ceremony with the drums and I had it set in an inexpensive setting for a necklace. I'm wearing it right now!

I love it and it is a wonderful memory of our trip. My son was so proud of the pearl he picked for me, too.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

I also was given one my son picked out at EPCOT. It was a fairly inexpensive souvenier, but so precious to me <3

 

[minniebeth]

Definately a yes!
We did Pick-A-Pearl on our girls' trip in September and one of my DDs got twins so the three of us have a pearl we had made into necklaces. They are a precious souvenir/reminder of our wonderful time together.

 

[Cinbride]

yes!!! epcot. a wonderful memory maker and tradition

 

[Befferk]

Yes!! The two I have are two of my favorite souveniers!

 

[luvmy3]

Definitely one of the highlights for my dd. Of course she picked a huge beautiful silver/blue pearl so it was memorable for her. She got it put on a pendant and doesn't wear it much, but she loves to show everyone when they come over and tell them how she picked out the ugliest oyster because I read it online (here on the DIS) and she just knew it would have the most beautiful pearl...... She's a bit of a drama queen

 

[thegreggersmom]

What a great idea! How much does it cost to do this? Sounds like there is one price for the pearl and then lots of different prices for the settings?

 

[DaisiLou]

We did this in DTD in Nov 2002, DD picked a very pretty small white pearl and I had it set in a small charm that I wear on my charm necklace. I don't recall what it cost, but it was fairly inexpensive and it was a great souviner as compared to some plastic cheap toy that would have long ago been lost.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

It was my son's Christmas present to me a few years back. He picked it, picked the setting and I paid for it. I absolutely LOVE my ring.

 

[Sandy321]

Definately a YES!

but I would watch sales and buy and then bring a sterling silver chain (Penny's puts their tarnish free ss necklaces 60% off - you can get a really nice one for $10!!)

I believe it cost $14 to pick the pearl (it may be a few dollars more now)

then you pick a setting - there is a long thread on the theme park board with pictures - the sterling silver heart one is around $20 -

Japan is better than DTD (apparantly Marge at DTD is a bit rude and she doesnt have the cheaper SS choices - just 14k gold)

The advantage of getting it set in Japan is they drill the hole and add the glue - you can just get the pearl and Japan sizes it and puts it in a bag
(no pressure to buy a setting - they have earrings, rings, pendants, )

Ebay has sellers that if you google carriage pendant pick a pearl - they are cheap - gold color but the pearl has to be 7mm - 71/2 mm I believe - or the pearl is too big to fit in the carriage (which is only $3! ) but since its not gold posters are replying they put clear nail polish on it to prevent it from tarnishing (which it does fairly quickly according to some posters) But it is nice to have a $3 Cinderella carriage for the pearl too!

Good Luck!

 

[DisneyDizzy]

With the pearl and the setting mine was around $40. It's a lovely setting and sterling silver. I just use a chain I had at home. We loved watching the girl drill it, glue it, and clean it etc. I think it's really cool you can watch the whole thing from "birth" to finished product.

 

[auralia]

i got a few of these i did the ebay cages for gifts and picked a setting out there (gift from hubby for me) it is addicting... i needed 5 pearls, one for me, on for my daughter, 2 for neices and one for a sister in law... in my 5 pearls i got one set of twins and a sliver.... i couldn't help it i got them set in a setting that holds 3 pearls and it looks alittle bit like mickey mouse... so i had to get another pearl to make up for the extra that i mooched for my "mickey mouse" necklace. it took them about 30 minutes to set mine. I also did a pearl pick for my other neice at typhoon lagoon and i didn't like doing it there vs at epcot... she was trying to convince me my cages weren't good and they would ruin the pearls and i wasn't getting my neice a nice gift at all because cages are sooo bad.... and this was in front of my neice it made me feel like a cheap scate but i was getting all 3 girls in her family a pearl so using the ebay cages saved me about 70$.... i really didn't like that.

 

[dsneybride]

I agree with the pp. This is highly addicting!! I have done it several times. I have two rings and two pendants. I love that carriage cage....looks like I'm gonna have to get another one when we go for Thanksgiving!!

 

[thegreggersmom]

Thanks to all for the answers! We're definitely doing this next month.

 

[PebblesMK]

We just got ours last month. It is 14 or 15 (comes to 17 even I think) and Epcot does the little ceremony. DTD Disney only had two "buckets" with like two or three oysters in them. I will say that I made the mistake of not getting the pearl set at Epcot. I waited until the last day and picked up almost the exact same setting...however, the one in Epcot was about 15, the one DTD was 50...that sucked. I suggest doing it, it's great fun. And yes, go for the ugly ones, the girl behind us got twin chocolate pearls. I was so tempted to pay her for those since it's always been my dream to have a chocolate pearl.....but I digress. Go and have fun!

 

[Amber Leigh]

I have always wanted to do it myself. The pearls itself is not to much you just need to watch out when you let them pick the settings cus some are cheap, but other not so much. I always like the more expensive ones... HENCE why I have never gotten a pearl. Make sure to do it in Japan at Epcot though. They make a great show out of it unlike the one at DTD what just opens it and washes it off.

 

[Princess Bling]

Yes, you MUST do this. Epcot is the best place. The people there are much nicer and the selection is better. They have lots of silver choices and gold choices. My DD and I did this back in late Sept. and we both got 7mm creamy white pearls. Hers is in a carriage setting and mine is a pendant with a little stone at the top. We LOVE them. A great way to remember your trip.

 

[tjmw2727]

This has become a tradition for us - my dd's pick a pearl every trip and look forward to it. Hands down Japan is the best experience!!

My younger dd has picked "twins" twice and we have seen some gold tinted and some very big pearls picked. It was @ 35 for two oysters last week.