Our 4 Favourite Disneyland Souvenirs

Since coming home from Disneyland several of my friends have now started planning their first trips with their little families. I am so excited for them to go, and I cannot wait to hear all about their trips when they get back. I wanted to share with all of you what our 4 favourite souvenirs are from our trip to Disneyland. The things that we would spend money on if it was our first trip, and even on a future visit to the most magical place on Earth.
1) PhotoPass+ was strongly recommend to us. We ordered ours before we left for the trip, about two month in advance, through the website. We saved about $20 by doing this, as the price is increased if bought in the park. We made sure to take photos with the photographers in the park at every opportunity. We used it when photos were taken of us on the rides, and we used it for our photos during our character breakfast. Our goal was to at least get a photo per dollar we paid for the PhotoPass+. We definitely succeeded, and then some. We came home with hundreds of photos that we then got to go through and select our favourites. I added borders to some, and special character signatures to others. I was then able to put in my order for a digital download copy of all the photos we wanted. Within 24 hours it was available and we were able to print all the photos from our trip. 

2) Photo and Autograph Book As soon as we entered the park on our first day, we immediately went searching for the perfect autograph book. Back home at the local Disney Store there had been a few books, but they only contained room for an autograph on each page. We wanted to find one that could also have photos added in later. We finally found one at Main Street Photo Supply that was exactly what we were looking for. Our daughter very quickly got the idea that she could take her book up to the different characters and have them write in her book, and she could get a photo taken with them. The time each character spends with the children is great, but I am so thankful for our photos we have. This one ties back into why we loved having the PhotoPass+ as we had both professional photos, and some from our own camera when there were characters who did not have a photographer with them. All our special character moments were covered. This books gets flipped through at least once every day, and we are asked who has written on each page. It’s a very special little souvenir.

3) Mouse Ears These may be my one regret from the trip, I regret not getting them first thing when we got to the park on day one. We picked up my pair of Minnie Ears half way through our stay. If I had our trip to do over, I would get them right away. It is a souvenir I love. It was something that I always wanted to get – it was my first time to Disneyland – we decided against getting our daughter a pair because we knew there was no way she would keep them on her head all the time just yet. She has since claimed mine as her own, which I figured would happen any ways. If you are thinking about getting some sort of mouse ears either for you, or others in your group that are going to be in Disneyland, do so right away. Why? They really do add to photos. I love so many of the photos we have of when I am wearing them, or my daughter is. Whenever we go back again to Disneyland I will definitely be making sure everyone has the proper Mickey or Minnie ears before the big adventure begins. You cannot miss them in the park, there are lots of options all of you are sure to find ones that fit your personality, or go with your favourite Disney character. 

4) Disney Pin Trading This is another where we made a bit of a goof. In the package we got through booking out trip on the Disney site we received a coupon to receive a lanyard with a pin on it for each member of our party. This meant three lanyards, and three pins. We didn’t remember about this until our second last day was part way finished. We added the 3 pins onto one lanyard, because all the pins were the same, and we kept our eyes open for cast members who we could trade with. Our daughter caught on fast to this as well. She knew exactly which pin she wanted to trade for when she saw it. Tinkerbell was the first one she made a trade for. What I wish I had known when we were in the park is that cast members in the park with teal-coloured lanyards that have pins on them have pins that are for only trading with kids under the age of 12. This is nice because you would then be able to let your kid take a bit of time to see if there is one they would like to trade for. I did find that all of the cast members who had pins to trade were absolutely wonderful to our daughter when she was looking at all the pins. She definitely loves the pins, and it is something we will bring with us the next time we go. We never did find a Dumbo so if any of you head to Disneyland any time soon please keep an out for one for her!

*A random tip… if you purchase something in the park, even something small like a coffee or a pretzel, check the bottom of your receipt there is almost always a discount percentage offered on it. You can show your receipt in certain stores to get a discount off of your entire purchase. When we went the discount just needed to be used by 1pm each day, but you could carry over the receipt to the next day if you didn’t make it to a store before that time. It was nice to save a bit on our souvenirs.

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