Live Disney characters abound, and kids of all ages delight in spotting them. You can discover where some characters are “hiding” by checking with Guest Relations at each major park. If you want to “bag your catch,” take photographs—and try to get yourself or your family in the picture! Keep in mind that characters are popular and crowds will form. If you know when your characters will appear, show up early to greet them. (Tip: Ask a Disney cast member about character appearances for the day.) You can also collect autographs from characters who are able to sign their name. Special autograph books are available at most shops, or you can bring your own. Or use the PassPorter’s autograph space starting on page 306. Try to bring a wide-barreled pen or marker so the character can hold it easily. You can also have the characters sign hats or shirts (which must be Disney or non-commercial), but shirts cannot be worn while they are being signed and you need something to slip under the fabric to provide a writing surface. We have an entire 266-page e-book called PassPorter’s Disney Character Yearbook, which is all about finding, meeting, photographing, and getting character autographs, and includes a full page dedicated to each character you can meet at Walt Disney World—for details, see http://www.passporter.com/disney-character-yearbook.asp.

A pressed coin machine in
Tomorrowland
by lissybri

One of the least expensive souvenirs at the Walt Disney World Resort is pressed coins. Souvenir Pressed Coin machines, found throughout the “World,” press different Disney designs onto pennies or quarters. Cost is 51 cents for a pressed penny and $1.25 for a pressed quarter, but there are two newer machines that are $1 per pressed coin (no penny needed) or $5–$10 for all 8–12 designs at the machine—you’ll find the 8-die machine with Frozen designs at Once Upon a Toy in Disney Springs and the 12-die machine with Disney Heroine designs at the In Character shop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Designs differ from machine to machine, making a complete collection a worthy achievement. Bring rolls of shiny pennies and quarters along with you—the hunt for a money-changing machine isn’t as much fun. While there are good lists of pressed coin machine locations on the Internet (try http://www.presscoins.com), finding them is half the fun! Tip: Buy a keepsake book at Disney’s gift shops to store your coins.

Disney may be a mecca to capitalism, but there are still free things for the taking, and they make great souvenirs! Some may even become collector’s items one day. You can collect guidemaps, brochures, napkins, paper cups and plates, containers, bags, menus, and more.