I hate to admit it, but I save a LOT of stuff from my visits to the Walt Disney World Resort. I have maps, brochures, napkins, pins, soap, shampoos, body lotion…I mean, if it has the WDW logo on it, for some reason, I find the need to save it. These things have made for great additions to my scrapbooks over the years, but after a while I have to question myself as to why I need these things and what my obsession is with having them! After all, the layout of the parks hasn’t changed, why do I keep collecting maps?
I wear one of those fanny packs around my waist during my entire stay in the parks and while I walk in to each park with it loaded with necessities, I leave with it near to overflowing with all of the paraphernalia that I collect during the day. I have the passes that we got when we were allowed to ride in the front of the monorail. I have all of our “it’s my birthday” pins and during the year of a million dreams campaign, we collected little certificates each time the kids did something fun with a cast member, unused Fast Passes…the list is endless.
Am I a hoarder? Have I taken my love of all-things Disney to a bad place? The jury’s still out on that one. I have found a positive side to my collecting such things, however. Whenever I run in to someone planning their first trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, I have a plethora of information to give them – including the maps – so that they can have a firm grasp on exactly what their own trips will entail. Plus, I like to be able to give them a little goody-bag or some treats to help get them excited about their trips.
You know, with the kind of love and attention I give to the masses and their Disney vacation planning ventures, you’d think the good people at Disney would throw me a bone!
I do buy the typical souvenirs while on my trips, too. We have t-shirts, mouse ears, refillable mugs, but it’s the free stuff – the things that some might overlook or throw out at the end of the day that make me giddy at the thought of bringing them home! I have even saved receipts so that when I journal about a restaurant or a shop in my scrapbook, I have a visual aid to go with it.
Seriously, I’m not right.
So fess up! Do you secretly hoard this stuff the way that I do? Are your scrapbooks filled with seemingly silly stuff that most people would throw away? Is there something that you try to save from your trips for sentimental reasons? Do you enjoy having spare park maps handy should a friend or neighbor suddenly find themselves wondering how far of a walk it is from Space Mountain to Peter Pan? Does it improve conversations when you can accurately show someone all of the show times of Fantasmic for future reference?
Don’t be shy…we’re all part of the Disney family here.
We hoard maps, too! We bring home one set per family member (there are five of us) every time we go. We have so many floating around our home!
I am right there with you. I save receipts,napkins,room keys,fastpasses…. its a sickness. They dont mean much to anyone else but they mean a lot to me! I can look back to them and remember the first time we ate at 50s PrimeTime or the first time my daughter got to ride Peter Pan. I eventually force myselF to get rid of what I dont find a use for but a lot gets scrappbooked or collaged.
Oh my goodness, I could have written this! I like to collect the maps to have some on hand to give to people if they are planning a trip, many first time visitors. I think it is also neat when an attraction is removed or added we can go back and compare. I also have resort receipts and MMNSSHP tickets and find it interesting to see the change in rates (I have a MMNSSHP ticket that shows an adult price of $35 and a stay at CBR for $88/night). It might be a little “hoarderish” but all of those items take up less space in my nightstand than the toys/trinkets that we get as actual souvenirs.