You cannot call yourself a true Disney fanatic if you do not own a pair of Mickey or Minnie Ears. You are barely an enthusiast if you do not own at least one Disney sweatshirt. You are merely a pedestrian if you do not purchase a Mickey balloon, giant turkey leg, bangled bracelet, bag of sour balls or box of bright yellow popcorn every time you visit a Disney Park. But, do you ever crave a distinct Disney souvenir to call your own?
Disney creativity touches everything from tradable pins to the parking-lot, and yes, absolutely the gift shops. If you commonly blow off shopping, or if you habitually shop but pretty much always for the same things, you should know Disney souvenirs are not limited to stuffed animals and shot glasses. Yes, absolutely buy another coffee mug, if that’s your thing, but exploring the multitude of avenues and options can add an extra level of adventure to an already enjoyable experience for you and the kids. Plus, you might wind up with something cool and enviable.
1. E-Ticket merchandise
Are you flooded with nearly unnerving nostalgia when you encounter something truly vintage Disney? I don’t mean a rack of contemporary Oswald dolls, but rather something akin to an old SkyWay car or actual admission ticket from the 70s? If you love Disney the way you ought to, you are aware of that incredible longing you get just from hearing the PA announcements or seeing certain parts of the park in certain types of light. Old Disneyland and Magic Kingdom ticket books are the concentrated form of that.
Incredible silver and gold plated E Ticket recreations are available for purchase in the Art of Disney, Epcot, and WonderGround Galleries, Downtown Disney, both Florida and California. These are limited edition items, which means pricey, and not always available, but if you’ve got one, you are the envy of the rest of us.
For dramatically less money, World of Disney offers vinyl magnet ticket books and tee shirts. You are beyond buying Disney shirts you say? Well, have you ever been caught in a Floridan flash rain storm? What about those times Splash Mountain gets you particularly soggy? You’ll wish you had another shirt, and why not one that gives you that happy/sad part of something wonderful feeling? The magnets, too. Cheap for a souvenir, certainly by Disney standards. The artwork is perfect. Just looking at them gives you that kid-again sensation. Your kids won’t understand why they can’t use them to hang things on the refrigerator, but you can’t fault children for not understanding fine art.
2. Buzz Lightyear attraction souvenir photos
Of all the inflated, ever increasing, oftentimes outrageously priced items, the souvenir photos offered as you exit several Disney attractions are the most indefensible. I am, of course, vehemently against theft, and the child in me still cringes at the thought of snapping your own picture of the screen rather than purchasing the photo, though the fiscally aware adult in me completely gets it. If I’m going to pay $20 for a picture of myself on Space Mountain, Selena Gomez better be sitting next to me, and the print better come with her autograph.
The Buzz Lightyear photos are different. Buzz Lightyear photos are not memorabilia, they’re evidence. They clearly show the two combatants in each cruiser and their respective scores on the ride. Yes, you can take your own photo of the screen at the end, which also shows these things, but those photos can get lost. Those photos somehow get erased when it comes time for someone to pay off their churro bet. Do not fall into this trap. When you clearly beat the person sitting next to you, despite what they declare was an oversight in not telling you the target underneath Zurg’s arm is worth like 50,000 points, purchase the official photo. Get the 8×10. Purchase the frame, too. Put it up on your mantle next to the trophies that the person with whom you’ve been sharing a life, which now seems like a lie, claims to have righteously earned.
3. Beaded jewelry of the Epcot World Showcase outpost
Got beads? Are they plastic? Why not go green, be more globally conscious and replace them? In the spirit of being excellent at everything else, Disney also does a stellar job of conservation. Okay, they go through tons of paper products, but here’s part of their effort to improve their processes, and provide a whimsical and charming gift item for guests.
Conveniently along the bustling bread- and booze-kiosk lined World Showcase esplanade you will find the Outpost. Among a healthy mix of familiar and fairly atypical items you will find a one-of-a-kind African bead stand. If you’ve ever wondered what Disney does with extra menus, maps and programs? Well some of them are turned into “sustainable and stylish” souvenir bands of beads. Recycle your glass beads, stop purchasing plastic and truly take a bit of the magic home with you.
4. Alex & Ani bangles
Locker tokens were once the cheapest keepsakes in the Parks; apart from post cards. If you are under the age of twenty you may not even know what they are. For you youngsters, then, the lockers of the Disney Resorts used to take tokens. Before that they probably took quarters, but for the first half of my life it was these shiny gold tokens. There was an excellent rendition of the castle on one side, and if you got a new one out of the dispenser, it was a thing of beauty. For a few years they were only a dollar, and I usually kept at least one.
Around the turn of the Century, Disney instituted the numeric-code system, and locker tokens disappeared. Wish I’d paid more attention, I could have horded a few more. They sell for a pretty penny on Ebay. Perhaps that’s why Disney did away with them, people like me kept taking them all. Wouldn’t have done me any good to horde, though, I can’t find the ones I have.
Enter the “Disney Collection by Alex and Ani.” A number of the finer shops throughout each resort, Heritage Manor Gifts, Elias & Co., etc., and the World of Disney Stores offer this essentially exquisite charm jewelry. But, for those of a more sentimental inclination, you will instantly recognize the bangle with the castle as a spot on match for the locker tokens. If you’re not charmed by a locker token (you should be) the collection includes Mickey, Ariel and a number of additional characters and landmarks. The price of a keepsake has gone up slightly, as you might imagine, though these are not much more than the current cost of a locker, now that I think about it.
5. Attraction posters
Upon entering Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom, passing within sight of the authentic attractions posters, if you are not struck with combative forces of peace—as though you have arrived safely home after a troubling journey—and unease—as if from loss, and the recognition that these treasures are part of a world just beyond your reach—then your Disney experience is not as finely tuned as it could be.
Who among us has not stood facing the beautiful artist renditions of the Space Mountain, Disneyland Railroad, even the kids from “it’s a small world” and not yearned for their own? Who then hasn’t attempted the frustrating feat of taking your own photos of the posters, only to be foiled by dicey lighting, reflections and an unceasing throng of passing guests?
You can buy one. Full-size, in color, and a little bit less than a thousand dollars. Or, if you take the time to go into the Emporium or World of Disney gift shops, which you have sworn off because it is a misuse of going-on-rides time, you can purchase smaller versions of many of your favorites. Those pictured above are from an available set of twelve, 12” x 18” reproductions. They’re unframed, but sell for about $20, and are a stretch better than trying to print blurry, photo-bombed copies of your own. If you believe you are beyond the point in your life where you can put such things on your walls, the larger shops have attractions-poster mugs and t-shirts, and even a jigsaw puzzle.
6. Eeyore Tsum Tsum minis
Disney Merchandise Communications Manager, Steven Miller, put it best when he said, “Last summer, my son (and the rest of the world) discovered Disney Tsum Tsum.” And yes, Eeyore is the biggest Disney cult character this side of Steamboat Willie, and, for the moment, Oswald. So an Eeyore Tsum Tsum souvenir is hardly unique. But, do you know about the mini 3 1/2” plush? If you do it’s a credit to your Disney dedication, because it hasn’t been available forever, and they’re sold in that section of the Emporium that is bristling with plush toys. Between the kids and the chaos it could be overlooked.
Disney merchandisers have outdone themselves concocting anything as cute as the Tsum Tsum Pooh pillows, but then came those adoreable ball-shaped plush toys (pictured above). They’ve gone one step further, cuter, with the 3 1/2” minis. Eventually, they will offer a keychain-sized Tsum Tsum that will be so precious it will break just from you’re looking at it (some of the Disney keychains are fragile, perhaps you’ve noticed), but for now the mini is the cutest Eeyore in the land.
Eeyore, Pooh and pals are, of course, available at Hundred Acre Goods, Magic Kingdom and Pooh Corner, Disneyland. If you can plan and stand to do your souvenir shopping before making your final way down Main Street with everyone else, the above shops lend themselves to a more relaxing experience.
