We tend to purchase items on vacation that will have some longevity and won’t just become an over-priced paperweight when we get home.
Unfortunately, there’s stuff that we’ve bought that either have a short lifespan OR just don’t function in the ways that they would while in the parks.
MAGICBANDS
This isn’t really about the battery life of the product or that you can’t transfer them from one account to another once registered, although that is part of it. My main point for this is that you’re purchasing a MagicBand that will allow you to enhance your vacation. Awesome!
But, once you leave the parks…there’s really nothing to do with them (unless you want to create a display to hang them in your house). Seriously! I’ve got like a dozen of them just hanging around my office collecting dust.
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CUSTOMIZABLE PHONE CASES
Look in your junk drawer and you’ll find phones from days gone by. I’ve got everything from old iPhones to a blackberry and flip phones…and all have been the integral to my life at one point in time. As soon as a new device comes out, we lose all need to accessorize something that we’ll never use again.
So my question is quite simple. Why would you buy a D-Tech customizable case when you know for a fact that you’ll be upgrading when the sales start? It’d be different if all phones were made with the same template, but if we can’t even get the same charging cables from one cell to another…the cases are literally being created to be thrown out.
GLOW WITH THE SHOW EARS
Disney is all about providing enhancements to your vacation! Sometimes you get them for free (like the Genie system) and sometimes you have to pay for them…like Glow with the Show merchandise.
These are the ears and swords that light-up and interact via RFID with Disney’s technology in order to have them “move with the music”. It’s really cool to see! It’s really not cool once you’ve left the parks, as they lose their uniqueness once you’re not at a Disney Park.
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CLOTHING
This is probably the biggest part of this article, as it’s a topic that I tend to bring up before actually making a purchase at the parks.
How long will this shirt last? How long did the pair of boxers from my last trip actually last before the fabric started to break down? Is this a design that I can use once the piece shrinks and turn it into a quilt or piece of art?
We’ve actually stopped buying basic shirts from the parks, as there’s more personality and uniqueness from platforms like TeePublic (check out our store!). The only shirts that I’ll be drawn into are dated or exclusive designs, like the opening of an attraction or something that really just speaks to me!
Final Thoughts
This is a fun topic, as I get to revisit things that I’ve bought over the years and try to remember what I was thinking! 😉 Remember that an experience (dining, tour, event, etc) will usually be a better memory than a basic piece of merchandise…so maybe put that budget towards enhancing your vacation!
