A Toddler-Friendly Approach to Disney World Pressed Coins
“To Infinity and Beyond” - a famous quote by Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story, and also a reference to the number of souvenir options at Disney World. With so many choices, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. By the end of your vacation, your suitcase and your wallet might be feeling the strain.
Enter the pressed or “elongated” coin. Arguably, one of the more underrated Disney souvenirs in my book, pressed coins are a simple, cost effective and fun way to remember your time at Disney. Here we’ll discuss some of the basics of pressed coins at Disney and how I made collecting them a toddler-approved activity!
What Is a Pressed Coin
Disney World offers two types of elongated coins: pennies and quarters. The coins pass between rollers inside of a machine that applies a tremendous amount of force. One of the rollers will have a design on it that is then pressed on to the coin as it passes through the machine. Your elongated coin will be thinner than the original and oval in shape rather than round.
Pressed coins can be found at all the Disney theme parks, water parks, select resorts, and Disney Springs area, just to name a few! For a complete list of where to find pressed coin machines, be sure to download the My Disney Experience Mobile App. The App will allow you to bring up a map and search specifically for pressed coin machines located throughout the Walt Disney World Resort Area.
Pressed Coin Machines in Disney World
Over the past several years, Disney has been updating their pressed coin machines. Most of the machines are now digital and don’t require (or allow) the use of your own coin; instead providing one for you at the time of purchase. Pay close attention to the directions on the machine as they can differ from one location to the next.
Many of the machines allow you to pay by credit card. Just note that if you do pay by card, certain machines, such as the blue one pictured below, will automatically charge you the full amount and you will receive all the coins that machine has to offer. In this example, you would be charged $4.00 and receive 4 pressed pennies. The other option would be to pay using cash, in which case you could decide the quantity of coins you want to purchase. A few of the machines have a crank that you must spin in order to receive your coins, but many of them now just have a digital screen.
Pricing varies for pressed coins. On average, it’s about $1.00 for each pressed penny and then you may see small discounts if you decide to purchase the entire set of coins featured in a machine. As you can see in the picture below, this particular machine on the left offers all 8 coins in the collection for only $5 if you purchase with a credit card. We typically try to take advantage of those discounts and choose to pay by card.
Pressed Coin Storage
Once you decide to begin collecting pressed coins, you will need somewhere to store them. The most popular option is a pressed coin book. Inside, it will have little pockets where you can store pressed coins to keep them safe and organized. Below is an example of the Pressed Coin book that we purchased. On the outside, it features a fun design celebrating Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. On the inside, you can see it has a number of pockets for pressed pennies and quarters. It’s small enough to fold up and fit in our diaper bag, but large enough that we will get quite a bit of use out of it before we need to purchase another one.
How to Make Collecting Pressed Coins a Toddler-Approved Activity
My toddler really enjoys when we get new pressed coins. Whenever we spot a machine, he runs over to look at the coin options and decide if there are any that he wants to get. He’s familiar with many of the Disney characters from watching the movies and shows and gets excited to see them on coins. The machines are user-friendly, which allows him to help with the process. His favorite part is finding the perfect spot in our coin collection book.
If your kids are a little bit older, you can ask them to look for coins of a specific character, almost like a scavenger hunt. And you can explain how the pricing works since it’s typically in $1 increments, it will make things a little easier for them to understand.
All in all, collecting pressed coins has quickly become one of our family’s favorite souvenirs. Since they are a slightly more budget friendly option, we’re able to continue growing our collection with each park visit and resort stay. When my tots get older, it will be a lot of fun to look back at all the coins we collected together and share those special memories.