Souveniers that are worth the $$??

[Zoemakes5]

Well, I think it's all relative, but things that have withstood the test of time for our family are:
Magnets....we get magnets wherever we go and have a huge collection of them on the fridge and file cabinets. I'll catch the kids looking at them and making comments about "this vacation" or "that vacation" on a regular basis.
Picture frames...I particularly love the Disney ones that are ceramic with the characters. They are all over my desk at work and in our home with pic's of our visits. There is one in each of my kids rooms with their favorite characters (and they get new ones as their fav. characters change....my DS2 is on a villans kick right now....)
Pins....before I get flamed, I have to say that I finally broke down and bought the kids lanyards and pins the last trip. They LOVED them, and they currently have them hanging up on a peg in each of their rooms and talk about "when we go next time. Anything that survives more than 5 minutes in my kids rooms and memories is something worthwhile to me!
Autograph books...each of my kids has their own autograph books. DS1 still has the first one we got for him when we went when he was 20 months old. Every time we even talk about going to Disney, they go find their books. (See the note re: pins! )
Jewlry....I bought gold pooh bear earrings when we were there for my honeymoon, still have them and wear them.
Ornaments...I always get the year that we visited and anything else that suits my fancy.
Kitchen 'stuff'....my kitchen is decorated in Disney w/primary colors, so I can always find stuff there.

Oh, edited to add....I LOVE the beach towels. Got a matching pair of BuzzLightyear ones for DH and DS1 when we went when he was 20 months and we still have it today.
On the higher end, I love the snow globes and lithographs/animation cels!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

HOW... did i ever forget to mention the silouhettes? The silouhettes are great i love them, they are the best souveniers i've ever bought at Disney.

We have those too, & I love them. I also forgot to mention ornaments. I buy those for my souvie on all vacations, not just Disney. My fav. place to buy them at WDW is the Germany pavillion. I only buy blown glass ornaments, & they have some great ones imported.

 

[mommiepoppins]

my Christmas orinaments (sp) we get 3 each time we visit!

 

[nluvwithmickey]

It took me 2 trips to WDW before I realized that alot of the stuff I was buying was not very useful. How many pens do I really need?

So here is a relatively short list of the things I love to get at WDW:

Ornaments. Buy some every time. They are timeless and bring back many wonderful memories. Been buying them since the first vacation.

Jewelry: I have a few nice pieces that are really special to me. They will never go out of style or shrink!

Started buying kitchen stuff since we have recently remodeled our kitchen. I got a beautiful wooden Mickey head clock, and salt and pepper shaker. We are planning on getting a bunch of utensils next time we go.

My Disney blanket. Made of sweatshirt type of material. Kept me warm all winter.

My Mickey Mug. The one with the feet. Some how, the coffee just tastes better.

My perfume from the Norway Pavillion. Ahhhh I have fallen in love with the scent of Laila and couldn't resist. Every time I wear it, I think of the day I spent in Epcot WS.

However, every time, we can'T resist buying a bunch food items. Mickey pasta, cookies, chocolate bars etc. Last minute airport shopping.....

as for pins, we get them on Ebay cheaper and more fun for the kids to trade. I no longer buy many of them. I get one or two special ones and let the kids do the trading.

Have fun, I say shopping for souvenirs is a must at WDW.

 

[crisi]

We don't buy souveniers anymore -- not just at Disney, but on other vacations too. The decision has worked out well for us. Our decision was mostly based upon the fact that vacation souveniers rarely turned out to be favorites -- instead, they were quickly forgotten and tossed into the yard sale bin. Also, I disliked the gotta buy something for the sake of remembering the trip, gotta buy something even if I don't see something I need or want attitude. It seemed that shopping was becoming a main focus on the trip, and that's not what I want from a vacation.

My kids don't even question our no-souvenier stance. They understand that they can pull out their own money (though we make no special preparations for them to have "extra" on vacation) if they wish, but they never do. They understand that they go on multiple vacations every year, and that skipping souveniers is one part of being able to go somewhere just about every month.

I've never been a "big" souvienier person - my husband is more likely to buy them. But I think you are right. Some people really treasure their stuff - but for us - yep, not even the yard sale bin - usually the trash. But I'm not a huge shopper either, I can stay out of the Mainstreet Emporium and Mousegears for an entire trip without feeling I missed anything. In all my trips, my cel is about the only thing I treasure (and that I bought on my honeymoon with my first husband - it isn't a souvienier in the sense that it recollects fond memories).

We often end up with a shirt, but of late, only if I see something I want and need. Its been two trips with no shirts for us.

 

[BonnieA]

On my most recent trip (last week) I bought another mickey wine bottle stopper. It's shaped like the hat in MGM. I already have a mickey head shaped one. They really come in handy and get used a lot. I also have a mickey head bottle opener. It's very sturdy and good quality as are the stoppers.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

DH and I usually get christmas ornaments, magnets, shot glasses (or whatever it is that WDW calls them ), and occasionally a t-shirt.

The souvenier I've gotten the most use from is my WDW cookbooks. They're great!

I think the key is finding something you really like, will use frequently, and is worth the money you spend on it. Everyone's list will be different...

Jen

 

[Teresa Pitman]

On our last trip, my daughter and I had a great time browsing through the Epcot stores at each country. We didn't actually buy much, but we did find some lovely (and very inexpensive) small pottery bowls in Japan. We bought several, in a couple of different patterns, and use them all the time. They hold dips (for veggies and dip), or seasoned olive oil (for dipping bread), or M&Ms for snacks while we're watching a movie. And they always remind me of the fun we had exploring Epcot together that day!

Teresa

 

[Shanan]

I bought a beach towel with the Fab Four on it. I also bought a box full of Mr. Potato Head parts that I like to "play" with. I also bought some silver charms and started a silver charm bracelet with nothing but WDW charms on it. I plan to buy some more charms and also another beach towel when I go.

 

[Sweedee]

My dh bought a hat. He needed one for the parks anyway. We bought the HUGE HUGE mugs for 14.95. We use them EVERYDAY...nothing like a HUGE cup of Minnie's bed head glaring back at you, filled with liquid life! My 12yods enjoyed the pressed pennies. We find them all over the house. It's almost a game now to see what we will find when we pick the penny up! LOL The pins aren't really WORTH it to the practical souvenier shopper, but they are FUN. The money we put into them was worth it because of the joy it brought us. It is something all of 4 of us enjoy doing together as a family....there isn't much that can bring together teens and their parents nowadays! For me, pin trading/hunting/buying is totally worth every nickle cause we do it together as a family! (yeah, I know that sounded sappy, but TOO BAD! LOL) We also bought big fat Disney pens for their autograph books. We have been able to use the pens when we got home. HTH

 

[TSM1993]

CJMZ - Where did you find the cookbook and the ice cube trays? If you can remember. Those sound pretty cool. I have never seen them anywhere. TIA

I think she got those at Downtown Disney. Either from the World of Disney Store or from over by The Earl of Sandwich there is a store that sells kitchen stuff.

 

[pjlla]

One of DD's more prized souvenirs was a pearl she got from an oyster in the Japanese pavillion in Epcot. Haven't had it set or anything, but we will someday (she is only 10). We have also gone the route that others have mentioned and limited our souvenirs to "photos and memories" sometimes. I truly have found our best "souvenirs" are the scrapbooks I create for each child after a trip. I keep a fairly detailed trip journal and combine that with the photos in the scrapbook. They love to look at them and read them over and over. Even if you don't scrapbook, you could combine your trip photos and journaling in a regular photo album for a great memory book. We do buy the ride photos sometimes too. And I can't wait until our next trip to WDW so I can try buying the photo CD!...................P

 

[lnh'smom]

Wow, I had no idea they still did the oyster thing. I kinda forgot about it. We went to Disney 22 years ago this June. (We have been there since, just didn't really look for the oysters again.) Anyways, My older sister who was 12 at the time, wanted to use her spending money on trying to get an oyster. She ended up winning a blue pearl. My parents had them put it into a necklace for her. I just called her and she says she still has it. Now that was a souvenier!

 

[FergieTCat]

I'm not a big souvenir buyer. I will usually buy something to add to my "Alice in Wonderland" collection or a special coffee mug.

A few years ago, WDW had little diecast vehicles with different characters on different rides. They were only $6 each, and I bought a few of them over the years. I now have a parking lot on my wall unit and I still love looking at the cars.

As it were, I went to Disneyland last December but decided the souvenirs were too expensive. In February, I went to a Disney Outlet store in Las Vegas and they were selling Disneyland souvenirs 1/2 price!! I bought a retro clock and a 50th anniversary photo album for $30 total. So I guess you could say I bought my souvenirs 2 months later!

 

[peas&carrots]

Great thread! I will definitely keep these ideas in mind on our trip next month!

Thanks.

 

[MEM]

This past trip I bought a bracelet made of Venetian glass beads at the Bulgari store in Italy. It was less than $40 and I receive many compliments on it - the beads are chunky rather than delicate and so far, so good.

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

My favorite souveniers are beach towels, disney photo album, disney pretzels (the kids loved taking them to school for snack time--they shared with the class) disney noodles--we had fun cooking them just when we were missing disney most! The girls fav's were their princess coloring books/marker sets. They will definately be limited on the number of stuffed toys, meaning ONE, as they only play with 1 of the 3 they got, well I guess they sometimes pick out the others. oh and we LOVE our photo's they took of us in the parks! I especially love the one after the girls had their hair cuts/done up!! too precious!
Becky, Paige and Hailey
POR Feb. 2005
POP or CSR Feb. 2007

 

[S. C.]

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I didn't read the whole thread, I just skimmed through it so these may have been mentioned. My very favorite souvenier was free (unless you count the meal), we got plastic Mickey plates when we ate at Disneyland, instead of throwing them away we washed them out and kept them. I kept one for each child and we use them every day for lunch. They're the perfect size, one ear for fruit, one ear for veggies, and the face for the main course!

We also got DS 2 a Disneyland jacket because he NEEDED a jacket, it's very nice quality and he wears it every day.

DD loves her Mr. potato head with Disney parts. DH has a grumpy shirt and hat that he wears alot (the hat is a ball cap) and also a keychain.

My personal favorite is a beautiful wood picture frame. I bought it intending to put our park photo taken by the CM's in it, but I messed up. That picture was horizontal and the frame was vertical (it has words on it) so instead I made a collage online of our vacation pics and put it in there, it came out beautiful. As other posters have mentioned, I also get a Christmas ornament every trip and a magnet.

 

[casey49781]

Picture of me standing in front of castle. Tink in my hand .. very sweet!
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Were do you get a picture like that taken????My daughter would love one of there...she is her favorite...Could someone please tell me , Thankyou