4. Souvenirs from Walt Disney World's 50th or the Disney100 Celebration

COST: $15+

The 2022 holiday season happens to exist at the unique overlap of two very important celebrations. The first – Walt Disney World's "Most Magical Celebration" – is the commemoration of the Florida resort's 50th Anniversary. Frankly, on the ground, the celebration has been a bit of a misfire. Sure there were new nighttime shows, and no less than three significant attractions will have opened during the 18 month celebration (Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and TRON Light Cycle Run)... But for the most part, Disney World's anniversary celebration kind of forget to mention Disney World, instead emphasizing merchandise over experiences and animated franchises over resort nostalgia.

Still, there's no doubt that the 50th Anniversary celebration is also an important landmark, and a turning point (for better or worse) for the resort. So if your loved one is a Walt Disney World loyalist, we'd recommend picking up some swag as the promotion nears its end. 

On the other hand, just beginning is the Disney100 or 100 Years of Wonder campaign – a company-wide celebration highlighting a century since the Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio was founded in 1923. Disney100 is meant to be big. We're talking Sleeping Beauty Castle overlays, a new studio animatic, a refreshed logo, and of course, lots of collectable tie-ins across the company. (Particularly odd are the Disney100 Mouse Ears, encased in a ganache-like shell of "dripping" platinum that has become a uniquely coveted mockery.)

The Platinum Celebration launches its merchandising component on December 12 at 10 AM Eastern / 7 AM Pacific. As you can imagine, slow web traffic and sell-outs are likely, especially as scalpers max out their merchandise counts and re-post their winnings to Ebay for double, triple, or quadruple what they paid. Though you may be tempted to turn to resellers to get Disney100 merchandise in time for Christmas, we advise against it. A nice Disney100 gift card and instructions to use it only once online merchandise is inevitably restocked will go a whole lot further. Or there's a more physical embodiment...

5. A trip to Disney100: The Exhibition

If we're talking about a parent, child, or partner with a real admiration for the Walt Disney Company's history, films, theme parks, and founder, you just may think of going really, really big for the holidays by arranging a visit to Disney100: The Exhibition. This 15,000 square foot exhibit is set to contain 250+ priceless artifacts from the Walt Disney Archives, plus "behind-the-scenes glimpses into the creation of the company’s most popular characters, films, shows, and attractions."

Tickets are currently on sale for the exhibit's first stop, at the renowned Franklin Institute in Philadephia, Pennsylvania (where it's set to run from February 18 through August). While exact dates have not yet been announced, D23 does promise that the exhibit's next U.S. stops will be in two cities with connections to Walt's life: Chicago, Illinois and Kansas City, Missouri. (A concurrent international version will begin in Munich, then travel to London.)

If you're lucky enough to be within a day's drive to Philadelphia or live close enough to the exhibit's next two cities to even playfully plan a trip, "gifting" the promise of this experience to a loved one would be a huge treat... Even if it's in the form of a hand-written "Christmas IOU Coupon" with promises of nailing down the specifics later.