Yesterday I told you that I was going to take pictures of some of the best souvenirs from our trip last year.
This is the birthday card from Mickey that was waiting in our room for our daughter.
We were chosen as the Pop Century Family of the Day on our first day there! If you tip Mousekeeping, they often leave you trinkets. We also got a towel animal, extra soap and shampoos and everyday when we came back to the room our stuffed animals were doing something cute!
We ate at 1900 Park Fare for dinner on her birthday and she got a personalized place mat signed by all the characters.
We also did the Unbirthday Tea Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter at the Grand Floridian. She had a blast and they gave her this special autographed photo and holder.
What is your favorite free souvenir you brought home from Disney?
Did you know they have trading cards for the boats, trains and monorails.. One trip we focused on get all the cards – My son was weel knew by the end of our trip :) Staff were hunting in lockers for the 2 last cards we needed – We got them :)
Also, my son got a train conductor card for saying “all aboard” on the train.. staff even took our picture as we looked out the back of the train.. they went down on the track behind the train at the main street station.. staff are WONDERFUL at disney :)
we were planning to go to celebrate all 4 of my kids bdays (they are all 4 within a 2 week span same with my dh and mom) can you do a birthday pin for every one at the same time (my kids think there birthday is the same day as grandma and daddy as well as each other) its birthday paloosa for us the first 2 weeks of jan. lol
Yes, they will give you a pin for everyone… If you are staying on site – just let them know before you go and the pins will be already made in the morning before you arrive :)
My son had on all 8 pins at once – funny to see Just married and happy anniversary on a 10 yr old LOL
On one of trips to WDW we booked the pirate cruise adventure out of the Grand Floridian for my son who was not quite 6 at the time. He started to cry before he even went on the boat but I sent him anyway, ( I know bad mommy) thinking he would be fine once they got started. Needless to say he was not and they brought him back. When they “docked” they were supposed to find buried treasure, etc.No big deal. Except when we got back to our room that night, on our bed was a bag of “loot” and a pic of Captain Hook. I was so happy that Disney did that for him and that it was left in our room as a surprise for a little boy who was upset by something I had hoped would be so much fun for him. Of all my trips to WDW, to this day that is still one of my fave memories of all.
We came home with tons of great pictures after being selected to be the “first family” of the day!! We got to have a private meet and greet with all the characters before the park opened, got to ride on the train and throw pixie dust!! The whole trip was nothing but great memories and wonderful experiences. My biggest tip…ask questions! We got some awesome experiences simply because I asked! I can’t wait to go back
I love the pens and pencils in the shape of the characters!!
There’s a lady on a side street off Main that did beautiful silhouettes of my children. They were very inexpensive.
I love mickey mouse. I got a silver mickey head hot pad. I love it! I have smiled so many times when I see it sitting on the table!
We went in Aug 2008 a month after my husband returned from a year in Iraq. When we checked into the Crystal Palace for breakfast with Pooh and friends, they asked us if we were celebrating anything. I said that my husband had just come home from Iraq if that counted. I didnt’ know it, but the woman at the counter put it in the computer. When we got to our table, it was all decorated with Mickey Confetti that said Thank you on it. Then during our meal, Pooh brought my husband a picture frame with a certificate that said Welcome Home and Thank you for your service. We have our family picture with Pooh in it. It was nice of Disney to Thank him for his service and a great memory.
Oh I am so happy for your family that Disney did this. I am sitting here almost in tears for you. Thank you to your husband as well as to you and your family for your military service. Even though he went to Iraq it was the rest of you who had to keep everything going while he was gone. Thank you.
on our first trip to disney in 07, my whole family got food poisoning from the outside mexican restaurant in epcot! disney paid our medical bills (almost 400.00) and comped us free 3 day passes for all 4 that don’t expire until 2060! we are going back in dec. 2011, and hope to have a do-over with no illness! we lost 3 days of dining and park fun, that is why we got the 3 day passes. disney took great care of us! and we will definately tip this time! we didn’t know about that little tidbit, either! never really gave it a thought! thanks, kritin, for the great advice as always!!
My son has a pic of Goofy that says Happy Birthday on it! He’s now 20 yrs and still has that pic from 10 yrs ago!
Photos of our entire family! With Photopass you can see that all four of us went on vacation – even me who is not usually in the pictures!! Split the cost with other families going at the same time and have every photographer you see snap away!!
Our son was 3 at the time and was chosen to pull the sword from the stone by Cinderella’s Carousel. They awarded him with a certificate and a plastic bejeweled kings crown.
We still use that crown for every birthday. It’s so cute!
And the buttons, birthdays & Anniversaries, we still wear them.
Oh and the pressed pennies. Our son started a collection when he was 3.
Our favorite souvenir to bring home are the Disney Dollars. We love them! We try to get a few each trip and we just save them :)
That is HILARIOUS, last year we went and stayed at Port Orleans, they met us at the bus with balloons and said, Congratulations! You are the family of the week! We were all excited, but they pretty much just gave us a signed card, took a picture of our family and called a couple times to make sure we were happy and congratulate us. We thought, why not add a couple perks? Fast passes 1 day, free mouse ears, something easy? Not much excitement after all…
I think our favorite souvenir is the autograph book. Our veterinarian of all people, suggested we buy an autograph book with photo pages in it so we could put the picture of our kids with the corresponding character next to their autograph. It turned out to be a great idea!
Even better, on a whim, I put my kids’ names on the inside cover of the autograph book and at least 2 characters sneaked a peek before signing the books and personalized the autograph. So if you’re doing autograph books, make sure you put names on the books so the characters can see who they’re signing the book for!
I don’t know if they still do it or not, but when my kids were younger they got free souvenirs from the country’s in EPCOT. At the first country they got a mask and each country after that they got some kind of little trinket to add to the mask. They made great souvenirs, kept the kids interested in visiting all the countrys and didn’t cost us a thing!
I remember meeting mickey mouse. I was so excited and my parents bought me a 2 1/2 feet tall mickey mouse stuff animal. I still have it today out in my boys room. I can’t believe that it has survived all these years. It is 32 years old!!
My husband & I went for our first anniversary and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. He told them why we were there when checking in & they upgraded our room for free. The next day when we got back to the room, we had a picture that all the main characters had signed wishing us a Happy Anniversary.
My blue stainless steel coffee mug that has a picture of the Castle and Mickey heads all over it – I use it every day!
Man, I live here and didn’t even know about these cool extras. LOL!
When you all do Disney…you DO Disney. I love it!
When we took our first family trip to Disney (quite a few years ago), my youngest daughter was obsessed with Snow White. We tried to meet her in the parks but never had any success. On our last day in the Magic Kingdom I finally went to the visitor’s center and asked if they could tell me if Snow White would be appearing at one of the parks that day. We had already missed her but they gave us a beautiful 8×10 photo of her with a note “signed” by her for my daughter (who was only 4 at the time). It made her day!
Look for her in Germany in Epcot. We usually find her there on the walkway by herself!
Tell us more about the “family of the day” at Pop? We have stayed there 4 times but I have never heard of that.
We got the certificate and we got a personal phone call from 3 big wigs at the hotel congratulating us. That was the extent of it. :)
If it’s your first time, you have to get a my first visit to Disney pin! Both my kids got one on their first time. We got them in Magic Kingdom while waiting around for the parade. They told one of the cast members it was their first visit and he went and got the pins for them. They wore them on their lanyards the whole trip.
My husband and I got free champaign flutes from Cinderella’s Royal Table when we went one year. Totally cool surprise!
Last year on our anniversary, my husband and I asked to ride the Lilly Belle (Walt’s private car on the trains) at Disneyland. When you finish the guided tour, they give you a souvenir ticket for each person that rode. Very cute. :)
What can you tell us about tipping? Usually when I go away we tip at the end of trip?
I recommend tipping every day, because you don’t have the same mousekeeper daily. Tipping puts a smile on their face and improves their day. I tipped $3 a day on our trip last year.
Doh! I so wish I knew about tipping them last yr. I so would have. Most days we didn’t even have them come clean our room. Now I know! Thanks!
I have a huge musical globe of Beauty and the Beast that I had shipped home!
my girls were chosen to help tink set off the fireworks while we were dining at the california grille! They have a signed picture of the fireworks and a message from tink herself!Very cool!
A towel animal – that must have been cute. The first and only time I was at Disney was when my daughter was just one year old and I was pregnant with my son. I hope to go back some day……
We redid our honeymoon there on our first anniversary (We’d both gotten sick on our actual honeymoon, what a bummer!) and we wore our Just Married buttons everywhere. When we went to Hollywood Studios, we stopped by the fudge shoppe. They cleared the way for us, gave us gloves and paper hats, then let us dip chocolate strawberries behind the counter as the customers watched us. We got to take the treats home in a fun little box and they gave us a certificate saying we’d had a magical moment in their shop. What a wonderful, unexpected treat!
My favorite souvenir – photos! You just can’t beat the looks on children’s faces when they finally meet their favorite character. We have the best photo of our daughter with Barbie – taken 16 years ago!