A while back, I shared some of my favourite free souvenirs from Disney World and this week it’s about the CHEAPEST souvenir at Disney – Pressed Pennies.
This souvenir will only set you back 51 cents – almost as good as free!
What Is A Pressed Penny?
I discovered pressed penny machines during my December 2007 trip and made a few for my babymoon travel scrapbook. Unfortunately I never had time to start or complete the said scrapbook so I carried the 3 pressed pennies in my wallet for 5 years.
If you’ve never come across a pressed penny machine before, it’s a machine that presses a penny into a flat oval shape and then imprints a design on it.
For $0.51 you can get a design imprinted onto a penny and for $1.25 you can get designs imprinted on a quarter. There are a few pressed quarter machines at WDW but they are definitely not as popular as the penny machines.
Pressed coins are an affordable souvenir option – especially for those parents (myself included) with kids who have a bad case of the “Can I have…”s. It doesn’t take up a lot of space too as our suitcases are usually filled with baby gear.
RELATED READING: Cheap or Free Ways to Have Fun at Disney World & Disney Springs
They Are Everywhere!
These coin pressing machines are everywhere! Inside each of the parks, at the resorts and many can be found in Disney Springs.
Every major attraction or ride has a penny machine located near the exit or the gift shop that you end up in after the ride (great planning on Disney’s part!). The designs usually have the name of the attraction or a character that was featured in the show or ride.
We didn’t really expect our daughter to get into the whole penny pressing thing but were quite surprised that she was the one that kept looking for the machines while we toured the parks and resorts.
All week long she searched for machines that would press her favourite characters (Princesses, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Duffy) onto pennies.
We eventually ended up buying a Penny Collection book ($7.95) because she ended up “making” over 20 pennies (to split with her younger brother she said).
We wanted way to keep them organized and safe instead of having to carry them in my wallet again for another 5 years. When we got home, the 3 pennies that had been in my wallet for were also added into her book.
There’s plenty of empty slots left and our daughter says she will be packing this book into her suitcase for our next visit to Disney World. Time to start saving some pennies! Canadians, since we don’t have pennies anymore, bring nickels and have them exchanged for pennies when you get to the US.
You can get list of machine locations for each park at Guest Relations.
Happy Coin Collecting!
There you have it. A Disney souvenir that for under $1 (or $2 if you go the pressed quarter route – there’s 6 slots in the book shown above for pressed quarters.)!
Although if your children are anything like mine it may end up costing you more than 51 cents. Still a lot more affordable than some of the plush dolls we saw in the gift shops.
Do you have a pressed coin collection? If yes, where are they from?
Have You Read These?
9 Practical Gift Ideas for Families Heading to Walt Disney World
Celebrating the Holidays at Disney World – Travel Tips for Families
Everything You Need to Know About Disney World Value Resorts
View Comments (22)
I love pressed pennies! We have them from San Diego Zoo, San Diego Safari Park, Lego Land California, Sea World, Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, Canada's Wonderland, Toronto Zoo, etc....
I've been trying to look for a generic pressed penny passport. All our pennies are in a spice jar right now - LOL!
Hmmm... I'm not sure where to find a generic one. You could always try using baseball card holder pages or stamp collector pages (in a binder) although those slots are much bigger so you'd have to stick the pennies on a piece of cardstock to keep them in place. You must have many if they're in a spice jar! Good thing you aren't carrying them around in a wallet. HA HA!
I honestly had never seen or heard of pressed pennies until I lived in Corpus Christi, TX for awhile and went to the Texas State Aquarium. I still have that pressed penny kept in a safe place. :) (and the Aquarium is awesome btw...)
I have a lot of pressed pennies from tourist attractions...I have no idea where they are currently, I used to keep them in my jewelry box. It is a great souvenir, and I am totally keeping this in my hat when my daughter gets older and wants everything in sight!
What a great souvenir! Love the idea that you can keep them in a book. My boys would love this! Great idea for family travel.
Thank you for linking up to Travel Tuesday and sharing your tips!
Kerrie
http://www.familyfoodandtravel.com
When we went to Disney pins were the big thing, love the pressed pennies!
Pins are still very popular Judy but pennies are much more affordable :) We like to do both but have maybe less than 10 pins.
Hello, KoaP.
Cool idea. I have some of these from other amusement parks. As you mentioned they can be collector items and are a great, affordable and durable souvenir that one can keep indefinitely. I did not know there were websites about them or that one could get a list of the machine locations for each park at Guest Relations or a website. Really great post. Thank you, Kids on a Plane.
Oh, wow. That's cool. I didn't know it's that cheap! I will have to get this next time.
I hadn't heard of this souvenir! Great collection for any child to have!
We have gotten these when we were in Niagara Falls and places in Vancouver. They make a great little souvenir!
I had never heard of a pressed penny machine. What an interesting idea! (And great that they're inexpensive and don't take up much space).