I get it, a Walt Disney World vacation can get expensive. I also get the fact that there are plenty of freebies if you know where to find them. But did you know there are secret free souvenirs? Yep! From pirate treasure to pixie dust, here are my favorite secret free things at Walt Disney World!
- Pirate Flags
- In-Park Birthday Calls
- Transportation Cards
- Pixie Dust
- Pirate Coins
When I visit Walt Disney World with my family, we actively hunt out all the freebies. I mean, there’s absolutely no harm in it and if it saves me some cash, I’m all for it. Plus, it’s downright fun! Add in the fact that it’s a great way to budget in extras and it’s a no-brainer for this gal.
Do you know the best freebies at Walt Disney World?
There are plenty of free things at Disney Springs, too.
Regarding these secret freebies, most of them are right-place-right-time kind of find. We’ve seen them on some vacations, then won’t see them, and then will again.
Table of Contents
Pirate Flags
If you love rope drop at Magic Kingdom, and aren’t headed for one of the super popular attractions, try making Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland your first stop. Many mornings the first riders of the day receive cute, Jolly Roger flags to take on the ride and then take home.
The first time we noticed the flags at rope drop was probably last year and we’ve seen them randomly on each vacation since.
Did you know about all of the secrets on Main Street U.S.A? There are plenty of fun ones as you walk up and down the street.
In-Park Birthday Calls
Getting wake-up calls from Disney characters while staying at a WDW Resort is a breeze. All you need to do is talk to the Front Desk or ask a Castmember to help you set them up. But last November I was at Epcot with my teen daughter and we were browsing in Art of Disney. As we were looking at the gorgeous paintings, a Castmember behind the checkout desk told my daughter the phone was for her. She said hello and on the line was goofy and a happy birthday message.
Yes, she did have a birthday celebration button on (one of our favorite WDW freebies!), but we’d never had it happen before and it was such a pleasant surprise. The look on her face was a combination of surprise, excitement, and pure happiness.
Transportation Cards
I’ve written a couple of times about the transportation cards and how much fun they are to collect, but because people forget about hem, I’m calling them secret. You can feel free to ask any WDW transportation driver if he/she has transportation cards and most times they do.
We like to collect the Monorail cards – they definitely pass time while waiting for the next one to arrive. But, feel free to ask motor coach and boat drivers, too. Each card has details about WDW transportation and a Disney character, too.
WHAT’S THE SECRET, THEN? IT’S NEVER KNOWING WHICH ONES THE DRIVERS WILL HAVE – OR WHAT CHARACTERS YOU’LL FIND ON THE CARDS.
Pixie Dust at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Did you know you can head to Harmony Barber Shop at Magic Kingdom and get a sprinkling of pixie dust? Just as much fun, but more elusive, is getting pixie dust at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
There a one particular gentleman Castmember that hangs around the Center Stage area of the park (straight up Hollywood Boulevard) that passes out little bags of pixie dust. My suggestion is to always strike up lighthearted conversations with Castmembers – they’re filled with knowledge.
We’ve had the pleasure of chatting with him a couple of times and it’s always fun to take home a cute, pixie dust souvenir. I’ve never asked if he makes them himself or if they’re made for him, but I kind of like not knowing, you know?
Pirate Coins
Another fun treasure to collect at Pirates of the Caribbean in Magic Kingdom are plastic pirate coins. Yes, they’re plastic. Yes, they’re flimsy. But, ding dang it if they aren’t super cute.
I’d never seen them until this past visit to Walt Disney World in December. Just as we were queuing up for our boat, Castmembers were passing them out to guests waiting in line.
Wow ! I’m so used to browsing Pinterest and seeing posts that are years old. Imagine my surprise when I found the link to your blog and saw that it was posted just 5 days ago! We head to Disney at the end of the month and I’m excited to see if we can score any of these free items. Thanks for the post!
Me too!!! Me and my husband are going on the 31st! I’m so glad to see updates stuff!
At Hong Kong Disneyland you can talk to cast members and get free stickers. We went in late September (Halloween) and got a lot of cute stickers!
While visiting WDW a couple years ago, my girls and I came around a corner in EPCOT laughing and talking. A cast member called us over and said he had special Tinker Bell pins, not for sale, and he had been waiting all day to find happy smiling people to give them to. We were so surprised and thrilled !
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Wow. What really fun free things. I will be sure to keep an eye open for pirate coins. Thanks.
This is so lovely, all these freebies are super awesome. We will be going to Disney world in around 2 years time (saving now) I really hope they pass out the coins when were there xx
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Aw, these all look amazing! It really goes to show how much effort goes in to Disney!
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I knew about most of these, but almost forgot about them! My Daughter, her best friend (whom I see as my own) and I were at the Hollywood Tower Hotel for their 1st time; a cast member over heard our conversation about it being their 1st visit and me explaining how it started as Tower of Terror and Gabe us all 1st time visit badges that she had customized with HTH and Twilight Zone stuff on it! It was so awesome! The cast member and I actually talked quite a while about the original version of the Twilight Tower Terror, while I waited for the girls to do their shopping.
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