There are lots of great things about a trip to Disney World
We love the rides, the shows, and the food in Disney World. But there might be one thing we’re more addicted to than anything else in the theme parks — shopping! We LOVE digging around all the shops to find our next favorite Disney souvenir. The excitement of getting something sparkly, shiny, and new with our favorite mouse printed on it is unmatched.
But we don’t always think practically when we’re buying our Disney souvenirs, like “How are we going to get this home?” This is more of an after-thought (like, as we’re packing to get on the plane, after-thought). Well, don’t worry, we’ve played this game enough times, that we have some great tips on how to get those cool souvenirs home!
With all the neat souvenirs Disney sells in the parks, you’re bound to find something you’ll want to take home with you. The problem, though, is that not all souvenirs are small, light, or symmetrically shaped. So, how do you get them home? Follow these tips for some great ideas!
Pack Light in Your Checked Bag
If you like to pack both a carry-on bag and a checked bag, we recommend packing a little lighter in your checked bag. The more you stuff into your carry-on bag, the more room you have in your checked bag for all the souvenirs! We love this hardside Disney Villains suitcase, as it adds an extra bit of protection.
Checked bags, stuffed into all your clothes, are a great place to pack your new souvenirs, especially those that are a little more breakable than others. If the suitcase has a hard shell, the items are wrapped in lots of paper, and placed in your clothes, they should be well protected!
Use The Disney Bags for Added Cushion
Disney will usually wrap the more delicate and breakable items in extra paper to help keep them safe. But we know that with all the souvenirs we end up getting, we have LOTS of the Disney bags they come in. So we wrap them up in all those extra plastic bags to be sure they’re good and protected!
This is definitely one way to reuse those plastic bags that we have way too many of! Wrap everything up in them and stuff them between your clothes for added cushion. Even the most delicate holiday ornaments should (hopefully!) make it home safe and sound.
How to Take Home a Lightsaber
A fun experience at Hollywood Studios is getting to build your own lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop! It’s a cool memory to have, and the lightsaber is awesome to have at home with you. But how do you possibly get a massive, long, “weapon” home if you came on a plane?
According to TSA’s website, “Sadly, the technology doesn’t currently exist to create a real lightsaber. However, you can pack a toy lightsaber in your carry-on or checked bag. May the force be with you.”
If you have your lightsaber in a padded case, you’re welcome to bring it with you through security and place it in the overhead bins. However, per the website, they do prefer you to have it in your carry-on or checked bag. But regardless, they’re pretty used to Disney fans bringing them with them to the airport. It is always up to the TSA officer, though.
Ship Them Home
Another option is to just have Disney ship them home to you! For a bit of a fee, many of the stores around Disney World will ship them wherever you need them to go.
This can be super convenient if you’re worried about getting anything home. There are a few exceptions to this, though. One, Disney still does not take your souvenirs to your Disney World resort for you. This was once a convenient feature found in the parks, but it has not returned. Second, you cannot ship wine (which makes us incredibly sad). But don’t worry, if you choose to purchase some fancy wine in Disney World, we have an alternate way for you to get it home!
How to Get Wine Home
Adding your wine bottle to your hard case checked bag in between all the padding of your clothes is a good idea, but is it good enough? What if you added an extra layer of padding with one of these wine bottle protector bags?!
These conveniently blow up to add a layer of protection kind of like bubble wrap, and they’re designed specifically for wine bottles! Put your bottle of wine into one of these and tuck it safely into your clothes in your check bag. That wine isn’t going anywhere (we hope)!
We’ve only been to Disney World a few times (just kidding, we go to the parks every single day of the year!), and we’ve figured out lots of great tricks to getting our new prized possessions home. We hope some of these tips come in handy on your next Disney World trip!
In the meantime, keep following AllEars for more Disney tips!
We love getting our Disney souvenirs from home, too! Check out our Amazon storefront for our favorite!
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Do you have any good tips for getting your souvenirs home? Let us know in the comments!
Taking the lightsaber home on an international flight was by far the hardest thing to ever fit on a luggage. That and the Figment popcorn bucket (couldn’t leave Epcot without it though). ❤️AllEars