The Sneaky Way Disney Is Making You Spend More on Souvenirs

Disney is TRICKING you into spending more money on souvenirs!

Nope, it’s not through price increases or hidden fees. It’s much sneakier than that! Have you noticed lately just how many customizable souvenirs there are in the Disney parks?!

I recently made a trip to Ever After in Disney Springs, and my visit there opened my eyes to a pricey souvenir trend that’s taking over Disney World…customizable, well, EVERYTHING.

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It started with the create-your-own headbands making their way to Disney World from the overseas Disney parks. You purchase the headbands on their own, then add the various character plushes to the top to make a unique design. You can swap them out, mix-and-match, and theme the headband to your outfit for each park day.

But to buy one of these? The headband itself is $11.99. Each of the individual plushes to go on the headband is $13.99. So if you’re starting out with just the headband and two plushes, your base price is already about $40! Currently, a regular pair of Minnie ears in Disney World typically costs $34.99.

But that’s not all! Apparently, the headbands were successful enough that Disney started to expand this customizable souvenir business. The next big step is curating the perfect park bag. There was an entire display of keychains and magnetic plushes to attach to your backpack or purse.

These run anywhere from $11.99 to $16.99 each. If you grab a couple of your favorite characters, that adds up quickly!

The opposite side of the display had more items for your park bag. You can purchase simple black bags and totes, then enhance them with “bag charms” like ribbons, coin purses, and little jewelry dangles, in addition to the character keychains. The coin purses were $16.99 and came in a few different varieties. If you chose four different accessories for your bag, you could be looking at spending $60…and that’s not even including the basic bag yet!

Some of the bag accessories are kind of fun, though! These keychains are designed to hold your Minnie ears to your bag when you’re not wearing them. That’s perfect for rides, shows, or just when the sides of your head are starting to ache at the end of the day.

But the ears and bags weren’t all! Ever After also now offers customizable jewelry. There are charm bracelets and charm sets ($25 each), charm necklaces, phone straps, bag charms, and even SHOE jewelry. Is the new trend to include tiny touches of Disney in every part of your outfit? Sounds cute, but also expensive!

Ultimately, this version of souvenir shopping allows you to curate something that’s uniquely you. That’s super fun in its own way, but it’s going to raise the cost of your souvenir budget significantly when you stack it up against the cost of the same-old souvenirs that everyone else purchases. If you’ve got the funds, you can go nuts!