EARS!!!

Pink Sequenced Disney Ears 

As an avid Disney goer and someone who tends to want everything new and shiny, I love being able to see all the new mickey ears/hat options that they offer. And as any good company would do, they give a lot of options and they have A LOT of new options. I go to the parks at least once a month and there are new options almost every time I go. 

The very first time I went to Disney as a pass holder, I was with two friends from college and we decided to get matching Mickey ears. This was in 2012, which was now 7 years ago (this fact hurts me as that was when I graduated high school and means I am quickly getting old). I have not bought another pair of ears from Disney world since. Those same ears are still for sale in the parks and nobody knows that they are old. The ears range from $20 to $35. They have children size and adult size. With a pass you can receive 20% off and that helps a bit! 

With all of that being said, is it worth it? Good question! I would say that this all depends on your situation.  

Pass holders: If you are a pass holder or going to become a pass holder then I would say that you have a lot of options for ears and that you do not NEED to buy all of them from the actual park. My overall advice would be that you should take some time to decide on whichever ears/hat you like the best and buy those and continue to wear them when you visit the parks. As I mentioned before, they never go out of style and to be honest, if they did stop selling them them you would probably start having people ask you where you got them and then you would be special! It is a win-win. An exception to this would be special events, obviously. They have some really cute ears for graduates and also for brides and grooms! I hope that I can get my Fiancee to wear those after we get married! 

Non Pass holders: I do not want to get too much into what to buy and what not to buy because that is a whole other post that I will do later. However, focusing on the ears and hats specifically, it is an iconic thing to have ears when you go to the parks. If you are on a trip that you have been saving for I can assume that some of you may have planned out which accessory you want to buy and take with you as a souvenir, which I think is a great option. However, if you did not originally plan to buy the ears and they are not something you are really interested in, do not feel obligated to buy them, as you wont be able to wear them outside of Disney World or Disney Land, like you could with a shirt or jacket. My Fiancee wanted to co-write this blog to give his opinion  and he would say that because of this very fact that you cannot wear it outside of the parks, it is unnecessary. I understand what he is saying. 

 Other options: 

Something that some of you may do would be go to Walmart or another souvenir shop and buy a ears there, because although they may not be authentic they are still ears and most people would not notice anyway. I got a pair of cat ears from Forever 21 and bend them to be round and I was able to pass them as cute decorative ears that were actually much more comfortable than the ones you can buy at Disney. Etsy also is a good option for some ears that are out of the box and fun, but their prices are not necessarily better than Disney, but they have different options for sure! There are millions of options outside of the parks, but I understand the want for the real ones from the park as well, trust me! 

The last option would be DIY, if you are crafty like my mom and I then this would be a great option and not even a hassle because you love crafts. If you do not like crafts, the ears still were not difficult to make.




What you need:
a headband - something comfortable that is also a bit wider on the top.
Craft wire- I used 14 Gauge because I wanted it to be thick but not too hard to bend.
Fake flowers- use these to decorate, we were able to get the on sale and it wasn't too expensive.
lights- optional
ribbon- to cover the headband if necessary. Thin for covering headband and thick for a bow.

How to: 
1. plug in your hot glue gun and set out all your materials. Having to get up to grab things makes everything more difficult.
2. Measure how big you want your ears to be and cut your wire to the size, with about one inch on either end left for attaching it to the headband.
3. with your headband laying flat on the table/work surface, lay out your wire ears to make sure they are even and placed evenly.
4. glue each end of the ears to the headband. Cover the wire with glue (it will be covered) to secure it to the headband.
5. wrap the headband with the ribbon. glue one end to the end of the headband, wrap tightly, continue wrapping. Glue halfway through and again at the other end. This will cover the wire and make the headband look more sleek.
6. Now you decorate. there is not specific way to organize your flowers. I first attached my bow, using hot glue i attached the middle knot the headband and part of the bow to the wire. I just made sure to use different colors and not lump any one color together in one section. I wanted the flowers to look crowded. Using the hot glue I glued them to the headband first and then I started gluing them to each other to overlap.
7. (optional) using the lights, wrap them around the wired ears, make sure to measure out how much you will need to cover both ears to evenly distribute. Wrap tightly. Attach the battery box with wire to both wire ears to make secure. Batteries are heavy-make sure you can take them out when not wanting the ears lit up.

All in all, I love all my ears. The ones I bought from Disney I still wear and love them. I am considering buying the new purple ones, because they are in my favorite color and are only out for a limited time. My Forever 21 ears are light weight and super comfortable but do not give off the huge WOW factor that the bigger ears do. My DIY ears are a bit heavy but i am obsessed with how they look and get a lot of compliments!

I hope that you all enjoyed this blog and it was helpful to some!

Have a Magical Day