How to Save on Disney Souvenirs and Keepsakes

Disney souvenirs can derail even the most carefully planned budgets, especially when parks and attractions are offering spinning light up wands and other ilk that, to a 4 year old, seem to be the “best ever” keepsake, but will be cast aside within a day or two (or when the battery dies). One of the most obvious souvenirs from a Disney trip is character plush, but these can run a pretty penny, even if you purchase them outside of the parks.

$Disney souvenirs can derail even the most carefully planned budgets. But, if you plan ahead and you'll be able to grab keepsakes at a fraction of the cost.$

Souvenirs & Keepsakes

Again, almost everything I read says to plan ahead in the souvenir department, especially if you have young children. I happen to think this is a brilliant idea, but I’m not ruling out any souvenir purchases while in the park — my son always does pressed pennies when we travel, which is a great, inexpensive souvenir option. With that in mind, I was able to grab a few Disney plush in advance of our Disney trip (thus saving a considerable amount of money on stuffed animals likely to be cast aside within a year). We plan to dole one out each day of the trip, with the Monster Mickey perfectly themed for our Hollywood Studios day (hello Pixar!).

Again, Swap.com came to my rescue, and I was able to grab an 18″ Mickey Mouse, Goofy & Pluto, and a Monster Mickey for $16. Yes, $16.

I can’t believe how lucky I was to grab these, as they were all in new condition, and arrived to us bagged! If my kiddo decides he’s not a Disney plush kind of kiddo, we’re only out $16, as opposed to $50.

Autograph book

Not knowing what my son would prefer, I grabbed both an autograph book and pins for trading. Instead of a traditional Disney autograph book, I went with the recommendation of many — the Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. Not only will my little guy have an autographed book full of Disney characters, but I plan on pulling it out to entertain him while waiting in attraction lines at the park. I added a pack of retractable Sharpie markers to bring with us, for a total of $20.49.

Pin trading

I made my own little starter set for Disney pin trading, should my son prefer that to autographs (who knows with a 4 year-old?). I purchased a Mickey lanyard and a lot of 25 pins to get started, spending $17.09.

$Disney souvenirs can derail even the most carefully planned budgets. But, if you plan ahead and you'll be able to grab keepsakes at a fraction of the cost.$

Keepsake coin purse

Since I know my kiddo is going to go nuts for pressed pennies from the parks, I got him this fun, inexpensive Mickey coin purse to hold onto his souvenir pennies. I know how easy they get misplaced (he likes to pull them out from his treasure box from time to time, spreading them out all over the floor), so the coin purse is a fun way to keep all those pennies safe. I got the Mickey plush coin purse on Amazon for $3.99, including taxes and shipping (we have Prime).

If you’re keeping track, the total spent is $57.57, which leaves $42.43 of my kiddo’s $100 in Christmas money left to spend (or not) in the parks. As for the pressed pennies, my little guy has an oversized piggy bank that has been accruing change and dollar bills since he was born — we’ll fish out plenty of quarters and pennies for him to bring along to the parks.