Saving money on trip souvenirs can be easy with a little planning ahead of time. I start watching for souvenir type toys a few months before a trip. Just fun little things to make the trip special, so we don’t give into expensive theme park gift shops.
I found the best ever (at least for Quinn) souvenir recently at the 99 Cent Only store. It was a light saber; perfectly sized with three different light settings. You can see it in action below.
(By the way this is my first attempt at working with video/YouTube. So I would love some honest input! Just don’t make me cry!)
And I actually have a 2nd video to share with you. Despite what I said above and my general belief that theme park gift shops are overpriced…. Peter actually found a GREAT bargain at Disneyland.
A set of 8 Star Wars Men for $12.95. <—And if you aren’t screaming in delight over the price than you (1) don’t have a Star Wars Fanatic at your house or (2) have no problems spending lots of money on Star Wars toys.
Star Wars is pretty much king in our house and Quinn’s favorite toys are his little men. I have been grabbing the galactic force 2-packs for about $8 at Target. They are the only appropriate (3+) ones I can find. All of the other kinds are 4+ or 5+ and while I don’t have to worry about the the big brother monster eating little parts, I do have to worry about the little brother monster. Elliot wants to stick everything including the kitchen sink in his mouth. <—And he would if he could figure out how!
So just finding this set of all one piece Star Wars men with non removable limbs/weapons was awesome. Peter only picked up the set out of curiosity of the price since he figured it would be expensive.
He was so shocked by how cheap it was that he thought it was a mistake. <– cheap being relative of course, but compared with the prices we normally see
Luckily he checked more boxes and they were all marked $12.95. It was no mistake, just a great deal! Woo Hoo! Daddy scores a deal!
So while I believe that buying anything at Disneyland gift shops is generally not a deal, we definitely made out on this find! Or I guess Quinn did!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my goodness, “Big Brother” would D.I.E. for those!!! He LOVES Star Wars (even though he’s only seen a couple of movie clips). He has been BEGGING for C3PO and a few other characters that I can’t find anywhere. Plus, like you said, many of them have little weapons and removable parts! Now, I just need to find someone to pick one of these up at Disneyland, Lol!!
Oh–forgot to ask, where in the park did you find them? The Star Tours/Space Mountain gift shop?
Yup Star Traders. And you could try and call DelivEARS merchandise guest services @ 800-362-4533. I wish I had known I could have picked one up… we are going back in Sept though, if you don’t have any luck.
Love the lightsaber. I am going to look for one at the 99-cent store for my 6-year-old. My favorite cheap souvenirs at Disneyland (and lots of other places) are smashed pennies. 51 cents total, lots of designs, available almost everywhere.
We haven’t started the smashed penny game yet, but I know Quinn will like it. He likes turning the cranks on those machines, well any machine really.
Well, I thought the $25 Buzz Light Year was a deal since I remember seeing them for $50 at Target around Christmas. The thing is played with everyday and sometimes we wish we bought 2. For a about a year all N. had was a little plastic one that didnt’ move arms or talk. When we were at Disney and he saw the “real” one-he mentioned it was jsut like Q. has! We broke down. But usually we dont’ buy souveniers on vacation period.