While Disney started its life as a movie studio before adding theme parks to its massive organization, merchandise has been a big part of what Disney is since the very first Mickey Mouse doll was created. Since then we’ve seen hundreds of thousands if not millions of products be released for every sort of Disney fan, but for the true superfans there are a few items that everybody needs.
There are so many cool items coming from Disney, with new stuff coming all the time, that it is literally impossible to get everything, but that’s good. You never have to worry about completing a collection or trying to keep up with other fans. Just find the stuff you like and go with that. However, there are a few categories of item that nearly any serious Disney fan is going to want to own.
Spirit Jersey
If you want to wear your Disney fandom on your sleeve, literally, then the popular way to do that currently is with the spirit jersey. They are by far the most popular current clothing item for women. They’re so popular that people sometimes go to extreme lengths at Walt Disney World to get a spirit jersey.
There are always new styles coming out, and while many are exclusive to the Disney Parks, many can be ordered online as well. They tend to be seen as a clothing item specifically for women, but most spirit jerseys are unisex, so no matter who you are, or what Disney superfan you’re picking this up for, it will work.
Replica Lightsabers
Anybody who grew up a Star Wars fan probably had some form of toy lightsaber at one time or another. Those toys still exist, and it has to be said they are a lot cooler than they used to be, but fore the more grown up Star Wars fan, there are also options for lightsabers that are very much not for kids.
The legacy lightsaber collection offers fans options that are near perfect recreations of the movie and TV versions of the lightsabers we all love. So you can own Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber or Darth Vader’s if that’s more your style. They have plastic blades that light up, but they can also be removed if you just want to make the hilt a beautiful display piece.
Mickey & Minnie Ear Hats And Headbands
There may be no single piece of merchandise more iconic within Disney than the classic Mickey Mouse ear hat. Designed for the Original Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s, the ear hat and its counterpart the ear headband, show your love for Disney in a way that countless others have before, but that doesn't mean your ear hat needs to be just like everybody else.
There are countless designs available for purchase that combine the Mickey and Minnie ears with other Disney characters, Marvel, Star Wars, and more, so you can put your own spin on a classic. It's something you'll probably only wear when visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World, but some of these are so nice that they'll make great display pieces between trips.
Loungefly Backpacks
Collecting cool stuff as a Disney fan is fun, but it’s also nice when the thing you buy to show your love of Disney doesn’t just sit on a shelf. A backpack is something you can actually use, whether you're trekking across Disneyland or just out running errands. Of course, you may be delayed running errands trying to decide which Loungefly backpack to take with you if you get into these.
Like ear hats, Loungefly backpacks are available in numerous styles so you can celebrate what you love from Mickey Mouse to Black Panther to Avatar. And it's a great way to carry all your other Disney superfan merch.
Disney Pins
Most serious Disney fans tend to end up collectors of one thing or another, and while most collectable crazes tend to come and go, Disney pins, it would seem, are forever. Get involved in Disney fandom even a little and it’s pretty difficult to not end up with a few Disney pins as part of a D23 membership or special event ticket purchase.
Most pins are the sort of thing that you will buy and trade while you’re inside Disney Parks. A list of everything you can buy in a park would take up most of the ShopDisney website if they tried to list them all. But, if there’s something specific that you want, or want to give that Disney fan that already collects pins, there are many to be found for purchase online.
MagicBand+
If there’s one downside to all the stuff on this list, it’s the fact that it’s all stuff. If you pick up all of it, or a lot of one particular category, you end up with a lot of gear that you might not always have a place to put. So maybe the thing you need is a MagicBand+. They are collectable like so many other things on this but, they're also functional.
The MagicBand has been around at Walt Disney World for years and it's incredibly convenient, as it acts as your park ticket, your resort hotel key, your credit card, and basically everything else you might need while on vacation. The new version, the MagicBand+ also includes vibration and LED lights that react when you’re watching nighttime spectaculars or walking by other interactive park locations. You can still buy more than one if you want one with a particular theme, but any Disney Parks fan should have at least one.
If you're already a Disney superfan, then you probably already have most if not every one of these. But Disney superfans are born every day, and thus there will always be those that need to stock up on the required gear. And if you know a Disney superfan and are looking for the perfect gift, you can't really go wrong here.
