If you’re looking for an affordable and fun souvenir, look no further: pressed pennies are a unique option that will engage young and old alike! Pressed pennies feature many Walt Disney World Resort icons and attractions. Press one or press a dozen–it’s completely up to you.

Clean Out Your Change Jar

Pressed pennies are a perfect solution to those worthless pennies at the bottom of your change jar or cup holder. When going through our pennies I opted for the shinier, more attractive ones. Right or wrong, I theorized that duller pennies or pennies with gunk (technical term!) on them were not the best candidates.

Come Prepared

While some machines accept credit cards, most require two quarters and a penny. There are a few located adjacent to a change machine (ex. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror gift shop), however, most are isolated, meaning you’ll need a stock of quarters on hand. I suggest buying a roll of quarters prior to your visit.

Another item you may want to purchase in advance is a pressed penny wallet. When I visited Walt Disney World in June I looked high and low for a gender neutral wallet. After coming up short,  I ended up purchasing one on eBay for $12.75.  The wallet I purchased accommodates up to 48 pennies. It also has larger slots to accommodate pressed quarters. Pressed quarters cost $1.25 each, so bring an extra roll if you plan to purchase any quarters.

Locations

Once you start looking, pressed penny machines are seemingly everywhere! Machines are located throughout the Walt Disney World Resort property: at hotels, theme parks and even miniature golf courses. To get a sneak peak of locations and designs, check out this handy website. Since the pennies were for my son, I opted to let him decide which pennies he wanted to purchase as we toured the parks.

There are three types of machines: two are more automated and Guests select designs by pressing a button. The last one, and my son’s favorite, was the manual press; he had a blast turning the crank to create his commemorative coin.

Decisions, Decisions!

Each machine offers at least four design choices. Those that accept credit cards offer Guests the option of purchasing one coin for a $1.00 or eight for $5.00. When faced with this decision, we opted to purchase one as we didn’t want eight coins featuring the same theme or character. Variety is the spice of life!

Do you have a pressed penny collection? If so, do you have a favorite coin?

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