Imagine you are at the Happiest Place on Earth with a pocketful of cash!
What could be better? How about being at the Happiest Place on Earth and that pocketful of cash has pictures of your favorite Disney characters!
You have a pocketful of Disney Dollars. How cool is that? It’s almost like a pocketful of Pixie Dust!
Carol likes to keep Disney Dollars on hand to use for special gifts . . . when friends or family are heading on a Disney vacation their birthday or anniversary gift from us will often include a small envelope stuffed with a few Disney Dollars. Occasionally when Carol settles up with a friend who has picked up a pin or Vinylmation for her they will find a few Disney Dollars in their little pay packet! Everyone is always delighted with a gift of Disney Dollars.
Where can I buy Disney Dollars?
According to the official Disney web site Disney Dollars can be purchased at Guest Relations at all theme parks and water parks, Resort/hotel front desks and Resort/hotel concierge areas. We have sometimes been unable to find them at the resorts so we normally pick them up at Guest Relations.
Where can I spend Disney Dollars?
Disney Dollars are accepted at Ticketing locations, Food & Beverage venues, Merchandise locations, Recreation areas, Resort/hotel concierge desks, Resort/hotel front desks and Guest Relations at all theme parks and water parks.
Disney Dollars were first released to the public on May 5, 1987. The bills came in $1 and $5 denominations from 1987 to 1989 but in 1990 they added the $10 bill to the list. Naturally they are collected by Disney memorabilia fans. Of course Carol is an avid Disney collector so she has set aside a variety of these highly desirable items in her permanent collection. You can take a closer look at her collection here: http://www.carol-anne.ca/Disney Dollars.htm
Over the years some of the series have featured specific themes such as park anniversaries or pirates and princesses. The Disney artists who design the notes never miss a trick as they strive for the “cuteness factor”.
Disney Dollars are printed on high quality bank note paper and incorporate anti-counterfeiting features such as microprinting, and hard to scan/copy reflective ink and imprinting on the front and back of the bill. In addition the bills are printed with serial numbers and letters which are unique to each bill. Disney Dollars created for Disneyland in Anaheim bear a serial number beginning with A and those created for Walt Disney World in Florida and The Disney Stores begin with D and T respectively.
In 2005 only, Disneyland (A) and Walt Disney World (D) released $50 bills that were designed by Disney artist Charles Boyer for Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Mr. Boyer personally signed a number of these bills and a signed copy is a very valuable collectible!
New Disney dollars have been produced every year since 1987 except 1992, 2004, 2006 and 2010. In 2011 the only bill produced was the $1 denomination and there has been no announcement yet whether a new 2012 version will be made.
Disney Dollars have even been portrayed in cloisonné pin form for Disney Pin Collectors . . . and yes, Carol has a full set of these too!
Many folks are afraid that Disney Dollars, a truly unique form of currency/collectible, will be permanently replaced by dull plastic gift cards. Ugh! Where’s the fun in that?
So if you want to liven up your gifts with a little Disney magic you might want to stock up on Disney Dollars during your next trip. I hope I’m wrong but I suspect that they may not be available too much longer!
Have you found a fun and creative way to use Disney Dollars? We’d all like to hear about it . . . so post a comment below and share your idea!
Absolutely lovely post, Gary! I also have very fond memories of doing chores for my coveted Disney Dollar to spend at WDW.
Would love to know if there are any Disney fans out there that might want to trade Disney Dollars…I have a few extra & do not want to put them up on Ebay. Would love to help someone complete their collection while helping mine too!
Hi Gary,
I’m so happy to know you can still purchase Disney Dollars because I thought they had been discontinued. When I was teaching kindergarten I would hand out a few DD to my students who were going to Disney World.
In 2007 I retired and in October of that year we went to WDW to celebrate my retirement and my 65th birthday. I took DD with me and if I saw a child had on birthday pin or if I saw a Make A Wish child I would give them a few DD.
I have a few special DD that I am keeping and I had Mickey sign one of my DD on my very first trip.
Now the next time I visit I’ll have to get more so I can give them to my grandkids!
When my son lost a tooth while on vacation in Walt Disney World, the Tooth Fairy left Disney Dollars under his pillow. He was thrilled to find them.
Really neat block Gary. Like most others I didn’t think you could get them anymore. I hope they keep them around.
Wendy
Gary,
I thought Disney Dollars were no more!! Thanks for clearing that up! My girls have been receiving Disney gift cards for the past 18 months (Christmas, birthdays, Easter, etc.) in preparation for our trip this June. Wait until they find out that they can buy Disney dollars with their gift cards. You just added a little more excitement to our trip!!!
Thanks for covering a subject that I have never seen on AllEars. Your blogs are a pleasure to read and very humorous. We only have to drive 865 miles. I can’t imagine driving as far as you have to. Please keep up the good work as some of us depend on getting a little Pixie Dust wherever we can.
Thank again.
I too thought the Disney Dollars were no longer available!! I’m so glad to hear they are still around, but it is a shame they are only available at WDW/DL resort. I wonder if you can call the Theme Park Merchandise phone number and see if you can order some that way? Otherwise I’ll be stocking up when we go down in September!
I still have my $1 from 1987 (looks like your $1 1990) and I didn’t know you could still get them! I’d love to get some for my kids on our next trip (2014- please hurry!!!)
I have a $1 celebrating Mickey’s 65th. My brother asked for Disney Dollars for his girls for Christmas & their birthdays for their WDW trip this June. Since I’m the family Disney expert, everyone was asking me where to get the Dollars. Had to tell them they’d have to get Disney Gift Cards since the Disney Stores no longer carry the Disney Dollars. Not quite as much fun as giving the Dollars but I wasn’t willing to give mine up. I love the Pirates bill. Maybe I’ll have to send some money with them to get me some.
Hi Gary!
Thanks for the article!
I love Disney Dollars, I just wish you could still purchase them from Disney stores. It was always my tradition to get some for birthdays, Christmas and Mother’s and Father’s Day when someone had a trip to Disney planned. I did fine until my Dad’s birthday came around the year the discountinued that option. Then I had to make my own (George Washington had Mickey ears) because I didn’t want my Dad being the only one without DD for the trip that year.
Now I do the gift cards but I think DD are more fun!
Thanks,
Sarah
[Gary adds: I agree Sarah, Disney Dollars are lots more fun than gift cards! But George Washington with Mickey ears is pretty creative too! LOL]
These are especially great for the kids…..they do not get it when you give them a card.
But when their birthday comes and their birthday card gets opened and the Disney dollars come flowing out (why I always ask for all ones), the faces light up and they start planning where they can spend it!
When I was little, my grandparents paid me for chores, lemonade stands, and other little projects with Disney Dollars, with the amount I made going up as we got closer to each trip to WDW.
I earned my souvenir money, and it made for a great countdown. I also thought Disney Dollars were gone, but now that I know otherwise, I’ll be getting some next trip to continue this tradition with my little ones!
Thanks for a great blog, Gary! We’re planning our first Fort trip for October in our “new” 1985 motorhome, and your other blogs have been wonderful as well!
Danielle
[Gary adds: Thanks Danielle, we’ll be there Oct. 22 – Nov. 5th. We always try to get the 700 loop, hope to see you there!]
I miss the days of being able to buy Disney Dollars at the local Disney store. We always used to stock up before our trips.
One of my fondest memories of Disney Dollars comes from our honeymoon in 2007. There was a little girl in front of us in the line for Space Mountain, beyond excited to be riding for the first time. We chatted with the family as we waited. Upon exiting the ride we saw the family and the little girl was crying because at the end they told her she was not tall enough to ride. I felt the need to spread a little Disney magic so I pulled out a $5 Disney Dollar and told her that it was special money that could only be spent at the park and she needed to buy herself something with it. Her face lit up and off she went with her dad to find her own bit of magic!
I thought I read these were already gone! I’m so excited to hear you can still get them! I will be picking some up on my trip this weekend!!!