I’m not sure how it started. I’m not sure when it started. But somehow, some way, my husband Sean and I have amassed quite a collection of both Walt Disney World T-shirts and collectible mugs.
T-Shirts
Every time we go to Walt Disney World, our suitcases consist of nearly 100 percent Disney shirts. That wasn’t always the case. I remember for my first trip, my closet had no Disney shirts gracing the hangers within it. This was about eight years ago. Having never gone to Walt Disney World before, wearing Disney shirts were something I just never found interesting. Oh, how naive I was back then! Sean told me I couldn’t go without having at least one Disney shirt to wear, so shopping we went.
Living nowhere near a Disney Store, my only options were ordering them online or just going to different stores in the mall until I found a place that sold Disney shirts. Back then, Disney shirts were not as easily accessible to find in the stores as they are now. I managed to get a few for our trip, but honestly couldn’t understand why I needed to have so many. Now I do!
Sean, on the other hand, was all set. Having collected them over the years, he was ready to go, even making sure he left room in his suitcase to bring home more. I tend to have more of the commercially sold T-shirts you would find at your local Target or JCPenney. I even have a few that I’ve made. Sean has more vintage, pop culture-ish, Disney mashup and theme park shirts. Here’s just a sampling of our collection. I also have a ton of Disney pajamas as well, but I’m just going to keep this post to shirts for now.
Mugs
Now, the mugs. This was totally a Sean collectible for a long time, and I’ve had a love-hate relationship with them. While they are really cute and very imaginative, they do take up a lot of room in our cupboards. These, like the shirts, didn’t originally seem to be as much of a “thing” as they are today. Our first few trips together meant just coming home with the refillable mugs from the resorts. Then, we noticed the parks were selling plastic souvenir cups filled with fruity, iced concoctions. Sean has always been a fan of souvenir cups – mainly baseball-related – so when he saw the chance to get Disney ones, he jumped. Here’s the catch: He doesn’t like fruity drinks, so lucky for me, I got to drink what was in them. It was a win-win.
Then, a few years ago, especially with the opening of Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, Disney kicked the souvenir mugs up a notch by offering beautiful ceramic mugs. Now, you got my attention! You see, for me, the ceramic mugs were viewed as multi-taskers, and I could see them being used for other purposes, mainly pots for plants or vases for flowers. Since Sean wasn’t ready to give up drinking out of a Disney mug to house flowers, I started getting my own.
Our favorite mug of all time: the Nautilus! When we saw it, and how much alcohol it held, we thought we’d just get the mug by itself. When we were told it was the same price with or without alcohol, we got the drink! It’s just good (tasty) economics. For two, it was the perfect amount of adult beverage consumption.
I can already tell that, in the future, popcorn buckets are going to make it into our home as well. We already have an R2D2 and an X-Wing Fighter, which it was interesting trying to get through security with that thing. I swear, the TSA agents at the Orlando International Airport must have a field day seeing what souvenirs people take home with them.
(Photos from the author’s personal collection.)
So, we want to know, what is your favorite Disney shirt or souvenir mug that you have? We’d love to see pictures!
“New Yorkas” Felicia and Sean are avid Disney fans. Their first vacation as a couple was in Walt Disney World. They were engaged there, and also honeymooned there. After a combined 30 trips to the World, they are self-professed Disney travel agents and enjoy helping family and friends plan magical Disney vacations.
