Okay, if you read this title and clicked it, you totally know the one person we’re talking about! It’s the one who SWEARS that no ride will ever come close to the amazingness that was Horizons at EPCOT Center, or the one who still weeps about the loss of The Great Movie Ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios (all the feels).
If you’ve got a friend or family member who just loves to remember the “good old days” of Disney World (or maybe YOU are this person), have we got the gift list for you!
Alright, get in your time machine and buckle up — there’s some serious nostalgia headed your way!
Walt Disney World
If your friend or relative LOVES talking about their favorite Disney World extinct attractions, they’ll absolutely adore this book called “Secret Stories of Extinct Walt Disney World: The World That Disappeared.” The book was released just this year by Disney Historian and author Jim Korkis.
It goes through ALL kinds of stories about things that have disappeared from Disney World including ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, Cranium Command, Fort Wilderness Railroad, DisneyQuest and dozens of other attractions, shows, and more.
The chapters are full of quotes from Imagineers, lots of facts, and cool behind-the-scenes stories every Disney fan needs to know. You can grab this book for $17.95, and there’s also a Kindle version available for $4.99.
Click here to check it out!
Ready to celebrate the future hand in hand? Know someone who doesn’t STOP singing Promise? Then, you’ve got to check out this Millennium Celebration CD! We know, a CD may seem totally out of fashion right now, but this is a retro list right? And, if you’re buying this for a relative who maybe prefers their CD player to all these new-fangled gadgets, this may be a great gift. The CD has some awesome songs on it including Reflections of Earth, We Go On, the music for Tapestry of Nations, and more that you’ll LOVE to sing along to. (We Go On is a bop. Period.)
Being an out of print CD, right now, there’s one “new” CD on Amazon listed for $57.99, but there are several used versions available for MUCH less (including as low was around $4).
Bring home this CD by clicking here!
If you know someone who is a big fan of old park maps and want to package a whole bunch of nostalgia in just one gift, you can grab this set of three 1980’s Park Maps! The set comes with artwork representing the retro-style Magic Kingdom map…
…the early EPCOT Center map…
…and a Disney-MGM Studios Map!
Keep in mind, these are not actual retro maps themselves, but are pieces of art printed on matte paper meant to look like the old maps. The frames and matting aren’t included but you could totally get a set for a reasonable price somewhere and hang up these beauties in your home or office. The set is priced at $42 (plus shipping).
Click here to check them out!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Of course, we HAD to include something on this list for a very recent departure that is still near and dear to so many people — The Great Movie Ride from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Even if you LOVE Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (SO CUTE), which has taken over The Great Movie Ride’s spot, you can still miss the uniqueness of this classic attraction, which took all of us into the fantastic worlds of some of our favorite movies. Well, if you’re still wishing that you could step under its signature neon sign, now you can bring some of that fun back home with this classic Great Movie Ride poster!
The sign is a screen art print on matte or gloss poster and can be yours for $4. Make way for Hollywood!
Click here to check out this poster!
EPCOT
We’ll fully admit, quite a few gifts on this list that we’ll go through now are for the retro EPCOT (or, should we say, EPCOT Center) fan. There’s just so much to love about this park! We’ll start with some merch that’s inspired by those awesome, retro pavilion logos — it’s our own DFB Retro EPCOT mask collection! This series includes masks inspired by Horizons…
…World of Motion…
…Journey Into Imagination…
and more. There’s even one themed to Living With the Land! You can get these masks right now at the DFB Store.
Click here to see more about these masks!
We definitely had to add a few items on this gift list to celebrate a true classic — Horizons! Whether you (or your family member or friend) always wanted to visit Mesa Verde or the Sea Castle, this Horizons Composition Notebook is sure to be the perfect gift.
You can write all about your dreams of the future in here, and make them come true! This notebook is available on Amazon for $8.99.
Click here to get this notebook!
You can keep that Horizons fun going with these awesome Posters featuring Mesa Verde, Sea Castle, and Brava Centauri (if you’re too young to remember this ride then first of all, we’re sorry. It was awesome. Secondly, there was a portion of the ride where you selected which scene you wanted to experience from these three choices!). These don’t come framed, but you can totally pick up a few frames somewhere and turn them into some epic home art.
You can get them in a variety of sizes. A set of these posters sized 16″ x 9″ is priced at $27.99.
Click here to check them out!
But wait, there’s more! We also found this AWESOME Horizons Matted Print from shopDisney. It has images from old rides and even the Horizons butler!
The print will cost you $39.99.
Click Here to Buy the Horizons Print
Okay, okay, we’ll move on to another Future World classic — the original Figment and Dreamfinder from Journey Into Imagination. If you’ve got a friend or relative who loves the Dreamfinder, the Disney Kingdoms “Figment” graphic novel released by Disney and Marvel would be the perfect gift! The comic book follows Figment and a very steampunk-style Dreamfinder as they “explore the realms of imagination, finding friends and foes alike — while back on Earth, a clockwork army assembles under the command of the frightening force known only as the Singular!” And, ultimately, it will be up to Dreamfinder, Figment, and their friends to save the day.
You can grab a copy of this cool book for $10.62. This is the first volume, but there are also a number of other books in this series, so be sure to check those out too.
Click here to bring home this “Figment” graphic novel!
But, Dreamfinder and Horizons aren’t the only things we miss from the old EPCOT Center Imagination Pavilion. There’s also the amazing Captain EO. This epic 4-D musical adventure directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring none other than Michael Jackson was a WILD time. Right now, you can bring home a Captain EO sticker that you can put on your car, laptop, or water bottle to always remember this classic.
The 5″ sticker is priced at $4.95.
Dance and sing your way to changing the world with this sticker!
Now, be honest with us — were you forced to listen to the Tapestry of Dreams music a million times growing up? Or told time and time again how this was such an incredible parade and EPCOT should bring it back? Well, then your friend or family member who loves all the old EPCOT things will truly enjoy this Illuminations Reflections of Earth/Tapestry of Dreams CD.
This CD has many of the same songs that are on the Millennium Celebration CD we talked about above, except this one has the Tapestry of Dreams music, but it’s is missing “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand.” You can get it online right now for $22.95.
Click here to check it out!
And finally, rounding out the portion of this list dedicated to retro EPCOT fans, we’ve got another park map poster — this one just of EPCOT Center, with some beautiful colors and details on it.
You can get this poster as an 8″ x 10″ for $18, or you can opt for some larger sizes.
Check it out here!
Magic Kingdom
Alright, moving on to Magic Kingdom, we do have a few gifts for those who miss some of the older rides from this park including one that took guests merrily on their way to nowhere at all. Of course, we’re talking about Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride! While the attraction has left Magic Kingdom in Disney World, it’s still a fan-favorite in Disneyland. To celebrate Disneyland’s 65th Anniversary, a number of Funko Pop! Figures have been released, including this one, where Mr. Toad invites you to take a wild ride with him and his (somewhat frightening) spinning eyes!
It’s a must-buy for any big Mr. Toad fan who misses his presence in Disney World. You can grab this Pop! figure online right now for $9.95.
Click here to grab this Mr. Toad Funko Pop!
If you want to give your friend or relative a smaller version of Mr. Toad that can travel with them wherever they go (or if you don’t necessarily love those spinning eyes from the first figure), you can snatch up this Mr. Toad keychain also by Funko Pop!
This cutie is available right now for $6.15.
Head merrily over to Amazon to grab this keychain by clicking here!
Finishing up our list of gifts, in terms of those referencing Magic Kingdom attractions from the past, is this fun 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Nautilus patch that you can sew onto a jean jacket, or maybe even a shirt, bag, pillow, or other thing to create a unique and customized gift for your friend or family member.
The patch is sure to remind them of their many trips “under the sea” in the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage attraction that used to be in Magic Kingdom. You could even pair it with other Disney patches to make one epic creation. You can grab this 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea patch right now for $5.50.
Check it out here!
Disneyland
Finally, our gift list concludes with the park that started it all — Disneyland. While some of Disneyland’s classic attractions remain, several have said their last goodbyes. You can read ALL about the shows, attractions, and more that have left Disneyland in another great book by Disney historian Jim Korkis entitled “Secret Stories of Extinct Disneyland: Memories of the Original Park.”
In this book you’ll get to read facts and quotes about how Disneyland has changed over the years including stories about live mermaids swimming in the Submarine Lagoon, Fantasyland’s Pirate Ship restaurant, and much more. No matter how much your relative knows about all the retro Disneyland things, they’re sure to learn even more by reading this book!
You can get the paperback version of this book on Amazon for $14.95, or you can get a digital, Kindle version for $4.99.
Click here to bring this book home!
We end our list with another CD, this time full of Disneyland classics! The 3-disc compilation celebrates the 60th anniversary of Disneyland and has music from Disneyland Park as well as Disney California Adventure Park, including songs for attractions that are now gone like music from Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, The Carousel of Progress (although it lives on at Disney World), A Bug’s Land, California Screamin’, and more.
If you listen to the songs and close your eyes, you can pretend that you’re back at the happiest place on earth experiencing all those rides you miss and all of the new ones you love. You can get this as a physical CD for $19.39, or you can get an MP3 album for $18.99.
Click here to check out this CD!
Well, that’s our list of the top items for nostalgic Disney fans! Looking for more great gift ideas? Check out the Best Disney deals on Amazon right now and our list of the 12 Disney toys that Amazon predicts will be the most popular this season. We’ve got even more gift guides on the way so be sure to come back for all the latest.
Click here to check out the perfect gift for Pirates of the Caribbean fans in Disney World!
DON'T MISS A MOMENT
OF HOLIDAY MAGIC
Holidays at Disney World: DFB's Merriest Guide is a one-of-a-kind resource that will help you get the most out of your holiday vacation at Walt Disney World.
It includes all the must-have information for navigating the holiday season at Disney World, including:
- The COMPLETE schedule of events for the Holiday Season
- How to avoid the crowds on Disney World's busiest days (and when Disney World closes their parks due to capacity!)
- ALL of the events, activities, and holiday additions in Walt Disney World. ALL. OF. THEM.
- And, of course, we'll tell you where to eat!
Save 20% on the Holidays at Disney World: DFB's Merriest Guide with code PEPPERMINT.
MORE Disney World Holiday INFO!
Learn About Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Get the Latest Information About the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
Get All the Details About Disney Jollywood Nights
Everything You Need to Know About Disney World Holiday Dining and Events
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the latest holiday news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
Which of the items on this list is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
Joe+James says
What a wonderful post of amazing odes to relics of the past. A history lesson and a “journey through imagination” all in one!