Before our first Walt Disney World trip, I prepared my step-son for the pressed penny machines. I thought he might like a penny here or there to put in the scrapbook. Little did I know this was the beginning of a pressed pennies addiction.
Since then every walk in the park is a pre-meditated prowl for the penny press machines. Yes, it’s 51 cents to get a cent back…but it’s relatively inexpensive and he really enjoys it. I’d much rather have him collect those and have them forever than to invest $11 in a toy that lights up during the parade and/or fireworks and breaks before either is finished.
The penny press situation can quickly become trouble if you aren’t prepared. Cutting across oncoming traffic to run to a penny press, dig through the fanny pack, back pack, or camera bag for pennies and quarters is frustrating and time-consuming.
I’ve come up with Quick Tips that will make your penny pressing addiction problem free.
- Buy a roll ($.50) of NEW pennies from the bank. The penny you put in the machine is the one that gets pressed, the shinier the penny the better it will look when pressed. Start asking your bank in advance, new pennies aren’t always in circulation.
- Start collecting quarters. Whether you want your kids to raid their piggy banks or you want to just purchase a roll, you’ll need 2 quarters for each penny you want to press.
- Collection container-The best thing you could do as a penny presser is have a container of your pennies and quarters ready to go. Candy containers work great for this-especially containers from M&M mini’s. We take the label off and make our own decorative penny containers. Then you stack them in layers: 2 quarters, 1 penny; 2 quarters, 1 penny…repeat until it’s full. This way when you approach the penny machine all you have to do is pop the top and slightly tip the container until 2 quarters and a penny fall out. No muss, no fuss and you’re ready to press in no time!
- Grab a press penny receptacle-a tiny ziploc bag from your local craft store works perfectly, or an empty change purse. This helps you keep all your pressed pennies together and you can put them in the pressed penny book at the end of the night. Carrying the book around all day is cumbersome, it gets very heavy. Not to mention the penny’s are hot after they are pressed and the sleeves in the book are plastic…so you end up with a steamy sticky mess trying to get them in there during the heat of the day. Drop them in a change purse and move on. Keep them all in one place so you don’t have miscellaneous pennies going into the washer and dryer later on.
- Plan ahead and print the list. There’s no reason to drive yourself crazy and waste time running around the parks wondering where the next machine is or if it’s worth while. The Penny Press website will tell you what’s where and this site is reliable and is updated often. You can also go to Guest Services at the parks and they have a map for you to use.
How about you do you collect the Pressed Pennies at Walt Disney World? Let me know in the comment box below.
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i just shared this to my husband, mine are in my dresser, their’s! and old pocketbook…good craft idea, Thank You 🙂
Pressed pennies are one of our favorite souvenirs. We always take several of the large mini M&M tubes full and fill up a penny book each trip. Lots of fun and pretty cheap. We use the Mentos Gum tubes in the parks to hold our pressed pennies until we get back to the room in the evening to add to the new book. Agree with the previous comment that the pre-1982 pennies are good to use since they don’t have zinc. I clean them up in vinegar and then use a bit of baking soda to polish.
I like to use older pennies. Pre 1982, these are the copper pennies. When you press them, you don’t have the zinc showing through. I usually take a couple of rolls and clean them before we leave. The kids and their friends will save their pennies for me to go through! I’ll usually take the copper ones and roll the zinc ones for them. When I get change at stores, I usually throw in the odd amount so that I get quarters as change. Every couple of weeks, I will go through my change and toss the copper pennies and quarters in a jar. When I get in the mood, I will roll the quarters and put them in the bottom of a safe. I have been doing this so long that the last time I checked, I had over $700 worth of rolled quarters. I usually only take a few rolls with me since I have a lot of the pennies at Disney!
After the pennies are squished, they fit will in a Mentos Gum container. Quarters are too big, but pennies fit. There are websites that have checklists of the Disney pennies for both WDW and DL/DCA. Awesome resources.
I have a few. No rhyme or reason to the ones I press. If I see one at a ride, park or resort, and like it, I do it. Right now they are scattered in with the stuff from each trip, but I was just now thinking of putting them with my pins when I mount them. I was thinking of a shadow box, but saw a Mickey head silhouette that I might like better. We’ll see if I ever actually DO it!