Question about souveniers from Disneyland

[Nanseev]

I'm shopping for Christmas, and I have a 4-year-old neice who lives in the northeast who is obsessed wth Mickey Mouse....loves everything Mickey, Clubhouse, etc. (I'm in Southern California).

From what I've heard, she has "everything" already (since disney stuff is so easily accessible now through the Disney Store)....but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any souveniers/gifts that are ONLY available at Disneyland. I was thinking I might just take a ride to Disney to get her something special, rather than just pick something online that she may already have.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Sherry E]

I'm shopping for Christmas, and I have a 4-year-old neice who lives in the northeast who is obsessed wth Mickey Mouse....loves everything Mickey, Clubhouse, etc. (I'm in Southern California).

From what I've heard, she has "everything" already (since disney stuff is so easily accessible now through the Disney Store)....but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any souveniers/gifts that are ONLY available at Disneyland. I was thinking I might just take a ride to Disney to get her something special, rather than just pick something online that she may already have.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Does she like things like magnets and ornaments? The reason I ask is because last year, Disneyland sold a really cute line of Mickey 'gingerbread cookie' knick knacks. (<^Look at my avatar - that is one of the cookie ornaments.) There were some adorable Mickey and Minnie gingerbead cookie magnets that came on a little mini cookie sheet. There was a GREAT cookie Castle ornament (mini sculpture) which I love. There was a mini cookie picture frame. There was a really cool cookie castle snowglobe with cookie Mickey and Minnie at the base of the snowglobe. There was a great mug - the big kind that can hold soup, chili, cereal, etc - with Mickey and Minnie cookie decorations on it, as well as a peppermint candy Mouse head on the mug. Really cute stuff, not TOO terribly expensive if you don't buy all of it like I did!! I fell in love with it and bought nearly everything, and that stuff was theme park-exclusive! I am not set to go to DLR until next week, but from what other DISboard members have said, some of the gingerbread cookie things may still be around. If you are interested, you can always call Disneyland DelivEARS and double check that they have it this year.

Otherwise, there are TONS of cute pins everywhere - pins are all the rage. The watches that are sold at DLR are usually exclusive to the parks and not sold in the Disney Stores. The Mickey Santa ears are sold, of course...the list goes on and on! There are theme park exclusive snowglobes - big ones and little ones. I hope I gave you some ideas!

ETA: Here is a picture of the Mickey and Minnie gingerbread cookies on a cookie sheet magnet!

 

[Nanseev]

That's exactly what I'm looking for...something that's unique. Hopefully I'll be able to make a trip up there before XMas.

Thank you!

 

[Sherry E]

That's exactly what I'm looking for...something that's unique. Hopefully I'll be able to make a trip up there before XMas.

Thank you!

Disney is pretty crafty (translation: frustrating) in that they sell really cute things like all the cookie knick knacks I explained to you for one or two years, and then the next year either all the stuff is gone OR they sell, for example, only 6 out of the 10 original pieces and the sutest ones are gone. So it is one of those things where you never know if you will have another chance to grab something another time if you don't get it then. Now, someone from DISboards said they saw some of the gingerbread cookie things this year, but not all of them. I got mine in the Gag Factory in ToonTown. So if you like these magnets I posted the picture of in my first post, and you don't see it in any of the Main Street stores, check the Gag Factory. I think I have actually bought more cute stuff in Gag Factory and in the China Closet on Main Street than in the Emporium. Again, you can call DelivEARS beforehand and ask if those items are still being sold in the parks and where.

Also, if your niece likes Mr. Potato Head, they sell theme park exclusive Disneyland pieces to go with Mr. Potato Head. They even have Santa Mickey ears for him, and a tree with Mouse Heads on it. There are all kinds of Disney parts for Potato, and you can get as many as you can cram into a box for $18!! They used to sell Potato in Gag Factory, but now I think he is only sold at EnginEars in DCA!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh gosh that magnet is so cute. I want one.

 

[Sherry E]

Oh gosh that magnet is so cute. I want one.

I know! Isn't it adorable? You should see the cookie Castle ornament and the mini-picture frame, mug, snowglobe, etc.!!! It is that sort of cute stuff (and the ornament in my avatar) that might be gone this year! I don't know for sure that is gone, but I know how sneaky Disney is with selling these darling items and forcing us (me) to get them on the spot for fear of missing out on them completely the following year! Darn that limited edition merchandise!

 

[bumbershoot]

Just in case she's into Star Wars like my 4 year old (boy) is, they are now selling a Mickey lightsaber. No, not the one you're thinking of, with the rainbow colors etc.

But it's in the Star Tours shop, it's meant for littler kids (the one "mainstream" thing we do is make sure DS's toys are for the right age). It has a belt clip, it's blue plastic (unlike the clear plastic build your own sabers), it has a light AND sounds. It also retracts fully, unlike the build your owns. It's brilliant.

And it has a button shaped like a Mickey head, and some Mickey head accents on the handle.

I don't KNOW if it's limited, but it seems like it!

 

[kaoden39]

I know! Isn't it adorable? You should see the cookie Castle ornament and the mini-picture frame, mug, snowglobe, etc.!!! It is that sort of cute stuff (and the ornament in my avatar) that might be gone this year! I don't know for sure that is gone, but I know how sneaky Disney is with selling these darling items and forcing us (me) to get them on the spot for fear of missing out on them completely the following year! Darn that limited edition merchandise!

I am so bad at that. I normally pick the wrong one as the thing that won't be there next time. And I go back and that is the thing there again. Oh well. That doesn't change my love.

 

[Sherry E]

I am so bad at that. I normally pick the wrong one as the thing that won't be there next time. And I go back and that is the thing there again. Oh well. That doesn't change my love.

I think have done that once or twice with some other items. Based on my previous experiences of not getting something cute while it was there and then never seeing it again, I snapped up some things in a hot minute when I first saw them. I was certain this was the usual once-in-a-lifetime merchandise opportunity that only Disney could present to me! And sure enough, next time I went to DLR, I think I saw those same items (can't recall what they were - maybe pins or keychains or something) in every single store I went into!!! They weren't rare at all!! Back in 1994 my friends and I all got our reindeer Mouse ears (pictures are in my Trip Report). When we got back home, I showed the ears to another friend who wanted them too. So the next time I went at Christmastime to DLR, I searched high and low for those darn reindeer Mouse ears, and they were gone forever! The Santa Mickey ears are sold every year and have been since the '90s, but those reindeer Mickey ears were like a one-year only deal and gone forever! Grrrrrrr......