The Best Disney Holiday Gifts
Do you know how many shopping days that you have before Christmas? I’m going to let you in on a secret. It’s less than you realize. From Halloween until Christmas Day, you have only 55 (!) days to pick out gifts for your loved ones. And you don’t want to wait until the last minute. Even Amazon puts up the Stop Sign on pre-Christmas home deliveries around December 20th.
You need to act quickly. Otherwise, you’ll be the Scrooge this holiday season. Wouldn’t you much rather be hailed by your loved ones as a holiday hero? Don’t you want to buy that perfect gift? Of course you do, and MickeyBlog is here to help. In fact, the author of this column has already given multiple Christmas gifts and has a secret stash of them hidden away right now!
Yes, I plan ahead, and my wife is a Disney lover. I already know many of the best gift ideas this holiday season. Over the next few weeks, I plan to share some of them with you so that you can win Christmas or Hanukkah or a December birthday or whatever. The important thing is that by buying these presents, you’re going to WIN!!! Here are six great Disney gift selections that will make you a holiday hero.
Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker
One of the highlights of a Disney vacation is that moment when you leave your room for the first time. You head over to store or Quick Service restaurant and order your breakfast. When the food arrives, you look down at your plate, and a Not-At-All-Secret Mickey smiles up at you. Mickey Mouse Waffles make every vacation breakfast complete. You don’t have to wait until you’re on vacation to eat them, though.
Disney sells a Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker that’s easy to use and gorgeous to look at. You can buy a red one on Amazon for less than $30, or you can buy the black Minnie Mouse version for $2 less. My family prefers red kitchen appliances, which is why we prefer the Mickey Mouse version along with the matching $20 Mickey Mouse Toaster. We…have a lot of Disney stuff in our kitchen.
Home Castle Clothing
The Home T is among the best t-shirt sales sites on their internet. Their premise is simple. Everyone loves a place so much that they think of it as a second (or first) home. For many people, that place is a Disney theme park. To wit, Disney even says, “Welcome home!” to many returning guests.
If you’re one of the people who thinks of Disney that way, you can purchase a Home T that tells other people about your love. The clothing line at this retailer is simple but elegant. Your t-shirt will show an outline picture of Cinderella Castle along with a single word: Home. My wife owns about a thousand t-shirts (not that much of an exaggeration), but this one is in her regular rotation. And she ALWAYS wears it at least once when we vacation at a Disney theme park.
Mary Poppins Umbrella
Mary Poppins will be back in a big way in 2018. Roughly 13 months from now, Walt Disney Pictures will release the much-anticipated sequel to the 1964 classic. You can get ahead of the game by buying a classic gift that also has some utility, though.
The Playbill Store, a Broadway-intensive online merchandise business, sells items from popular plays. One of them is a Parrot Head Umbrella…but not the Jimmy Buffett kind. Instead, it’s an authentic licensed version of the umbrella used in the show, Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical. You may recall that the Broadway show ended in 2013, but Playbill’s still selling this umbrella, albeit at a tourist trap price of $45.99. Yes, that’s a lot for an umbrella, but it’s one that someone can use all year and then bring with them to the theater when Mary Poppins Returns arrives on Christmas Day of 2018!
Art of Coloring: Disney Villains
Did you know that coloring is now a popular form of adult entertainment? The popular children’s hobby/grade school time waster is now a resurgent hobby with therapeutic benefits. A lot of people have gone so far as to replace daily medication with coloring. The thought process is that both practices are relaxing, but coloring triggers the creative parts of your brain.
Given the benefits of this kind of drawing, you should give coloring books to several loved ones of all ages. Children will love bringing their favorite Disney characters to life while your adult friends and family members will relish this kind of unwinding. I’ve even witnessed it firsthand when my wife and her sisters, two of whom have doctorates, spent Christmas week coloring Harry Potter characters.
But this is a Disney site, so I’m not going to recommend this Harry Potter Coloring Book. That would be wrong…although my Amazon history shows that I bought multiple copies of it and gave it a five-star review. Instead, I’m selling you on Art of Coloring: Disney Villains, which has 100 different nefarious enemies of beloved Disney characters. You can color each one and then add devil horns so that people know how evil these villains are. It’s redundant to do that to Maleficent, though. Anyway, this book is only $10.87 on Amazon at the time of publication, making it the cheapest gift suggestion on this list.
Spireside Candles
I recently ranked the best resort lobbies at Walt Disney World. One of the reasons I ranked a lobby as the best is its smell. Disney uses Smellitzers to pump in pleasant scents. Rides like Soarin’, stores like Main Street Bakery, and virtually all Disney resorts employ this technology.
Spireside Candles cleverly duplicates the practice at a decent cost of $18 per candle. Their products recreate the fragrances of your favorite Disney places in your own home! I have used several of their products, and I have to say that after sampling at least four different Disney candle companies online and via Etsy, Spireside is the best.
I recently spoke to the owner, Rheney Williams, and she promised “one completely original holiday label and scent based on Snow White coming out in November (just a couple more weeks), just in time for Christmas!” I will buy it for sure, and if you love the holidays at Disney like I do, you should as well. Ms. Williams would also like you to know that you can see how she makes Spireside Candles by visiting their About Us page. It’s fascinating stuff.
Personally, I recommend Scorched Parchment, Tropical Bungalow, and Spiced Souffle candles. These mimic the scenes of Disney’s Polynesian Resort’s lobby, the burning of Rome scene from Spaceship Earth, and the Grey Stuff dessert from Be Our Guest. My only warning here is that if you’re on a diet, you should NOT get one of the candles that smell like food. Trust me, as I speak from experience on this. The realistic aromas will have you snacking all day.
Disney Vans
No, I’m not talking about buying your loved one a Minnie Van, the hot new transportation method at Walt Disney World this year…although if you can afford that, you should totally do it. Instead, I’m talking tennis shoes, kicks, pumps, or whatever tweens are calling them today.
You see, Disney has its own Vans collection, and you can check out the entire line on the official Vans site. You’ll notice that Vans also has Disney merchandise lines, backpacks and other accessories, but the sneakers are the money gift. Whether your loved one prefers Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, or the Toy Story crew, Vans has some shoes for you!
A Walt Disney World Vacation
Hey, did I say six potential gifts? There’s always a not-so-secret additional option here at MickeyBlog. You can gift a Disney vacation to your family. You’ve undoubtedly seen one of those surprise Disney vacation reveal videos. With a bit of help from the MickeyTravels team, you can film one of your own! You’ll have a priceless memory of the time that you won Christmas by surprising your entire family with a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. It’s the best gift that you’ll ever give a loved one.