What souvenirs do you budget for?

[AMaloy314]

I've read up on all the money saving ideas for buying souvenirs early and bringing them with you. My question is: which ones do you save up for to buy in the parks? I've read that name badges are good. The pressed pennies are definately ones that we will be doing, too. I was thinking of doing the mouse ears, but am not sure if it souldn't be smarter to have my 2 and 3 yr old wear baseball caps for the Sept sun. What are you guys doing?


Thanks!

 

[maggiew]

Your 2 and 3 year olds will probably want light chasers for during the parade. Lots of little kids have them so they will want them too! So be prepared (these you can buy ahead of time at Disney Store).

We do the pressed pennies. Save your pennies and quarters ahead of time and put them in the M&M minis container. This is really convenient to put in a fanny pack. There is nothing like searching for a penny or quarter when the kids want to do the pressed pennies.

Personally i like to get a Tshirt at the parks. I do not need any other knick-knacks, but I want a shirt. Last trip I didn't buy one because I was sticking to my strict budget of money I made off of eBay. (DH said he didn't think I would be able to pay for the whole trip with eBay money and I was bound and determined to show him I could!) But now I regret not buying one. There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't mention this to DH. He says next trip I can buy as many shirts as I want!

If you need cheap souvenirs to bring home to family or coworkers, China had wonderful soaps for $1 each. They were rose petal and jasmine, etc. These are great little souvenirs. They also had cute silk screen fans for relatively cheap (~$2) that we bought for my girls to bring home to special friends. For coworkers, I brought home a can of Mickey Coffee and Mickey shaped sugar cubes. They loved the coffee but still haven't touched the sugar cubes because they are "too cute".

Overall, I think your kids are small enough that any "souvenirs" you prepurchase from home will satisfy them. When they get a case of the "I wants", just pull out a Tshirt you bought from the disney store for $7! I think your ideas of pennies and guest of honor badges are good to buy at the parks. Maybe also an autograph book??? Buy the Mickey ears from The Chapeau (I think that's the name of the store on Main Street) and they will embroider it with their names for free.

Maggie

 

[disneyatl]

T-shirt in the park (I'm with maggiew on this one)
Autograph book and disney pen
Disney hat
Couple of pins

This year I'm also budgeting for a castle (if I find one I like). I've been wanting one for years.

I guess that's about all the souveniers we budget for.

 

[PattiPB]

The professional photos from rides and w/ characters are my personal souvenier, and they can add up, so I budget for them.

I agree about T-shirts, because I want mine to say WDW, and the year if possible. BUT...I buy T-shirts at the Disney store in advance for the kids, and BRING them to character meals so the characters can sign them. They go from being "just t-shirts" to wonderful keepsakes for the kids! My kids LOVE it, and we get tons of comments from other people in the parks about the signed shirts when the kids wear them. One year after Cindy's my DD (then 5) went into the bathroom in the restaurant to change because she just had to wear the t-shirt the princesses had just signed! LOL!!!

 

[maggiew]

OOOOh! I forgot about pins. You kids may be too little but you may get involved! I would budget for pins too! You can buy trader pins off of eBay for cheaper than they sell in the parks. These you can trade with any CM.

I also buy one or two special ones to keep. I like to get one from the hotel we are staying at and also anything special we did that trip (like Hoop Dee Doo, or Thanksgiving Pin or Star Wars weekend pins).

Maggie

 

[hockey mom]

My standard list is- Picture and frame-$40
Christmas ornament-$25
Drink mugs(DH is a mug nut)-$20
5 t-shirts-$100
One pin for each kid-$25 (they also have traders)
Every year I add a new piece to my kitchen collection$-25

Then I bring extra in case I see something I really want-like that housecoat at TOT

 

[DFSquare]

Anyone know how many pressed penny machines there are? I saw DL has a pressed penny holder, does WDW sell on as well?

I know several of you like them and have them, so any input on how many there are and/or how many "spaces" in the holder would be great.

Thank!

 

[Jockaroo]

Pressed pennies (quarters)...
Hubby loves these. We got a list from the YC. We were touring resorts looking for the machines and a CM offered to print us a list--we were not staying at YC either. There is a list on AllEars, but I don't know if it is current. You should be able to ask and get a list. Yes, there are books for both pennies and quarters at WDW. (You can do a search for "pressed pennies" or "elongated coins".)

Our must gets each trip:
Pins, pins, and yes---more PINS
T-shirts from the character warehouse--for us to wear at parks and for hubby's family.
Something nice for my mom since she is puppy sitting for 2 weeks and my two can be a handful! Last trip she got Mickey Kitchen Canister set. She's the one person I tend to go overboard on!

 

[Ratpack]

For us it is pressed pennies, pins usually one attraction for the monorail set and then we just see what they have for the current year and pck up a few things like picture frames and such.

 

[100%Disney]

They have a book that you can buy at Epcot that holds the pressed pennies, they also have the passport books at Epcot. My DS loved going to the different countries to get a stamp in his book and they even write things in the language from that country, he still cherishes that book.

 

[disneyfor3boys]

pressed pennies! My sons absolutely loved these! They are absolutely everywhere!

One other thing we spent extra money on were the professional photographs. We ended up getting one from each park, (2 different poses from Epcot), Splash Mountain, and Chef Mickeys. These are some of our most treasured souveniers and I highly recommend them to any Disney goers.

Have a great trip!

Laurie

 

[hugabearjo]

we do post cards-

We make a journal of postcards. everyday we buy one and the kids dictate what they want me to write about, (I always help them so they can remember more) then I put them in a cheap photo album and they have a journal to see all the things they did on vacation and their thoughts and some of mine as well. We have been doing this for years and they love to look back on books.

Best of all they are cheap.