Rethinking Disney Souvenirs

We started to take down our Christmas tree yesterday and I carefully packed away our ornaments. I am probably more sentimental about these ornaments than most anything else in our house. The thing I love about our Christmas tree is that I can see my life in ornaments. There is the ornament of the baseball player that I received the year I dated my first “real” boyfriend, the chalkboard ornament that represents my time as a teacher, the delicate angel ornament I received from one of my religious education students, the Disney ornament we purchased on our honeymoon, and different personalized ornaments that show the progression from a family of three, to four, to five.

As I wrapped up our Disney ornaments, most of which are souvenirs from our trips, it got me thinking. Souvenirs are not my thing. They just aren’t. The fact is we rarely return from Walt Disney World with souvenirs tucked safely in our suitcases. Why? Well that’s a good question and I’ve been trying to get to the root of it. First, I’m really not a shopper and I definitely like to stick to a budget. Then there is the clutter issue. I like everything in its place and to me anything that could qualify as a knick-knack or display item is really a dust-collector in disguise.

I realized that all our Disney souvenirs have a purpose and were all planned with the exception of one – my impulse buy. There isn’t anything very interesting about our planned souvenirs – a couple of t-shirts, Disney notepads that I use for my weekly grocery list, and Christmas ornaments.

The impulse buy that inspired this article is the set of twelve small, colored Christmas balls shaped like Mickey heads. I adore these ornaments. They are full of cheer with their bright colors and their small size means finding them nestled on our tree’s branches is a delightful surprise.

These Christmas balls almost never made it to our tree. My husband and I were on a Disney vacation alone when I purchased them. If I remember correctly, he was riding Tower of Terror which I can’t bring myself to go on because it DROPS, as in you feel as if you’re plummeting towards the hard and unyielding ground below (at least in my mind although my husband tells me it’s not like that at all). I had some time so I was browsing the gift shops and happened upon these ornaments. I wanted them but I walked away. After all, we already purchased our Disney Christmas ornament for the trip and I was determined to stick to the budget. They drew me back to the gift shop and I couldn’t resist my impulse buy.

Years later, I cherish these ornaments as we carefully hang them as the finishing touches to our tree. It saddens me that I almost didn’t purchase them because of my strict rules on souvenirs. The lesson I learned is that sometimes an impulse buy isn’t all bad. Sometimes you have to relax the rules and you’ll be richer for it in the end.

Lisa M. Battista is the author of Beyond the Attractions: A Guide to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers When she’s not chasing after her little ones, you can most likely find her at the beach or in the kitchen trying her hand at a new recipe. You can follow her on Twitter @DisneyExplorer or become a fan of Beyond the Attractions on Facebook.

Related articles

• Disney in Christmas: Celebrating at home (chipandco.com)
• Disney World Quick Tips – Don’t Visit Walt Disney World Through A Viewfinder (chipandco.com)

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!