​I admit it...total sucker for a pretty gift card. It could even be empty and a little voice in my head goes Ohhhhhh and it sounds a LOT like the Little Green Men from Toy Story for some reason...

A few years back, I was incredibly disappointed when Disney did away with the pretty gift cards! They completely stopped, and only had the red Mickey. I bet you know which one I mean. The one that everyone sells. 

I'm thrilled that a few months back, they brought BACK these amazing gift cards. Best of all? There are SO many incredible designs to choose from. I bought myself the three above. When you order your gift card, it comes in a nice envelope. 

And then once you open the envelope...is your gift card, in a beautiful card! 

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The card tells where you can use it, how you can use it, and the value of the card. 

I'll be honest...I'm not sure what I love most! The pretty card, the pretty gift card, or the fact possibilities are endless...you could frame the cards...make ornaments...bookmarks...gift tags...there's a lot of creative possibilities here. 

We typically pay off our Disney vacations with gift cards. Here's why! (Hint! I don't pay retail!) And when strolling through the parks, a gift card is how we cover our meals, souvenirs, and etc. The kids also have a souvenir, and one of the ways I like to tell which is the food card, which is Kid #1's card, etc, is by each thing of person having their own separate card. It helps me see if we used all we had budgeted for or not. 

As a matter of fact, there are a LOT more ways to use a Disney gift card than you may realize! I've got a list of 11 different ways you can use your Disney gift card while on your vacation. 

Our kids loving making their own purchases too, and it's such a time saver to pull out the Iron  Man card and know who it belongs to, or the Darth Vader one. I'm never even worried about my kids losing their gift cards. Why? Well, because of the 10 second, less than a dollar way to make sure you kid won't lose it! 

When you buy these gift cards from the site, there is a minimum of $25 to get the card. If you are a card collector, Disney Stores and Disney Parks will still let you put as little as $15 on a card. When we vacation, I snag a few of these cards for $15, and gift them along with the kids' birthday cards, or Easter baskets. It's an easy way to help them save. As a matter of fact...one year Santa even dropped some in the stockings! How awesome of him!

We are planning our summer trip to Disney World, and there are droids to be build, saber accessories to buy, and more plushies than our van can likely hold, so the boys know they need to save up! 

Stop by Disney's site to browse their gift cards. What's your favorite? I've so many I love! 

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Apologies for not updating sooner. After avoiding covid for so many years, well, it's paid a call. This will be a short post, but we are all doing well, and trying to recover and get caught up! 

Are you a pressed penny collector? My boys are! I'm a HUGE fan of the medallions though! It shouldn't be any surprise that Disney will make sure there are special things ONLY available during the 50th! Places are sharing that the final machines are in and ready for your pressed coin purchases! 

Here's the official Disney Parks Blog Post. Now, just how many pressed pennies are they? Holy mouse, guys! There are SO MANY! Check out these photos! 

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Which are you most excited about? Those tags are pretty fun looking! 

Now, these are scattered all throughout Disney property...that means all four parks, the reports, and Disney Springs. Are you the ambitious sort who wants to collect them all? I know myself...I can be the sort who would want them all, but to be honest, the only ones I want are the generic, 50th anniversary ones. I can't wait to get them in a few months!

Remember...the machines have changed! Very few actually take your pennies and quarters now. Most are credit card. Sure, that's fast and easy...but is it as much fun? While I'm not sure how many of the old locations have the new machines, here's a fantastic list of locations to get you started!