DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E160: Paper, Scissors, Magic: Meet Miss Beth, Disney's Silhouette Artist and Other Unique Disney Souvenirs

• Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns with Special Guest Miss Beth • Season 6 • Episode 160

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Every Disney vacation creates memories, but what if you could bring home something truly one-of-a-kind? Forget the standard t-shirts and magnets – we're diving deep into the world of personalized Disney souvenirs and the artisans who create them.

Vanessa and Kris explore Disney's lesser-known treasures, from personalized glass ornaments hand-crafted at Arribas Brothers to custom parasols painted in Liberty Square. These aren't just souvenirs; they're heirlooms that capture moments in time. We discuss how to design your own glass keepsake at Epcot's Germany Pavilion, create a personalized leather bracelet in Animal Kingdom, or build a lightsaber that's uniquely yours at Galaxy's Edge. Whether your budget allows for pressed pennies or custom droids, we cover unique options across every price point.

The highlight of our journey is our conversation with Miss Beth from Miss Beth's Silhouettes, who began creating silhouettes at Magic Kingdom in 1989 and now offers this classic art form through her own business. She shares heartwarming stories of generations returning to find her, silhouettes from decades past carefully preserved in family albums. There's something magical about these simple black profiles that capture not just a likeness, but a moment in time – a child's first Disney trip, a family reunion, or a special celebration. As Miss Beth explains, these aren't just souvenirs; they're connections between generations of Disney lovers.

We wrap up with fascinating Disney collectible trivia – would you believe a hand-drawn Disneyland map once sold for over $700,000? While most of us won't be bidding on original attraction vehicles, the value of thoughtfully chosen, personalized souvenirs goes far beyond their price tag. They become touchstones to magical memories, reminding us that the most precious thing we bring home from Disney isn't what we buy – it's how those treasures make us feel long after the vacation ends.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson and I'm Chris Johns.

Speaker 1:

We would like to welcome you to show number 160. And for any listeners joining us for the first time. Our show features things we love at Disney and in each episode we have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacation. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you take time to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or any other platform where you listen. We always like to give listener shout outs on our future episodes of the Dislove podcast. And don't forget, now you can subscribe and listen on YouTube as well. So thank you to everyone who has become a subscriber or left us a customer rating. We greatly appreciate all of those things. And before we get started, chris, we have a message from our friends Kevin and Amanda.

Speaker 3:

Their message is make more of your next trip to Disney. We met with them at our last trip we were in California and we had so much fun. They're with, we're in the Park and what they do is they take your not your everyday normal trip to Disney, but your regular scheduled trip to Disney. And they make it even more fun because what they have is a scavenger hunt. So they have a carefully critiqued and curated set of cards that'll have clues that'll have you going all over the park looking for things that you've walked past a million times but never looked for. And it is so much fun. And not only do they have it for Disneyland, disney World, but they also have it for other major theme parks. Check them out.

Speaker 1:

That's when, in the Park in the park and remember to check the show notes because we have a link where you can save 10% off by using the code DISLOVE10 by using the link in the show notes. So make sure to do that to save 10% off your order. And, as Chris mentioned, it was so great to meet Kevin and Amanda earlier this year. Now, before we get started with our show later today, we have an interview with Miss Beth, and Miss Beth is one of the former silhouette artists at the Magic Kingdom. She now has her own business, which is so fun and cool and cute. You can have your own silhouettes done of yourself, your kids, your pets, your grandkids, and it's a great keepsake and memory for you to have for many years to come. I know I have one and my mom have one from many years ago and you'll hear when we talk with Miss Beth, we talk about it's about time I need to get one for our daughter as well. So talking about Miss Beth and hearing all about what she does it made us think about creating those unique memories and getting those fun and different souvenirs that you can bring home. We've talked about this on a few other episodes, but I think it's always great to see what the new and updated things are that are available at the parks, and so today we're going to talk about things from everywhere, from Magic Kingdom all the way to Disney Springs, and so we're super excited to be able to share with you some of those different things. Now we're going to start with some classics that probably most of you know of or that you've experienced yourself, and then we're going to go into some of the more unique things that you might not have ever heard about or known that exists at the parks. First up, we're going to talk about some of the glass etching and engraving items you can get. Going way back to our wedding, we bought some of the wine glasses at the Magic Kingdom and at the Erebus Brothers shops. You can get so many unique items whether you purchase them at Magic Kingdom, disney Springs. There's also a small shop in Mexico where you can get some of the different items, but super cool things, from ornaments to those wine glasses.

Speaker 1:

A really unique thing that you can get that's right attached near there is at the Uptown Jewelers in Magic Kingdom, and this is for all the princesses in your life. You can get a souvenir crown, and the fun thing about this is that you can personalize it. You choose a crown style and a stone color, so you can have, like, a ruby colored stone or a sapphire or emerald color, and you pick the designs and it really creates a personalized crown for yourself so you could get it for that little princess in your life or that queen in your life, and I think it would. Really, if they had done this when I got married, I might've gotten that to wear for my wedding day as well. It's so cute because you can really personalize it and they have some designs that are reminiscent of Cinderella and Ariel, so a lot of fun.

Speaker 1:

Now, again, you can get those glass ornaments and glasses as well, so all kinds of really beautiful crystal souvenirs that you can get, and the great thing is that most of these are personal. Another thing that you can get and I always wanted one of these and then I never got one is that you can get a custom parasol. In Liberty Square they also have the silhouettes which we'll be talking about with Miss Beth, but parasols. You can get your name or a favorite character on them. It's super fun and if you're there in the summer when it's hot, you could have a cute parasol that you could use, and it's great to use when you're at home or at the parks. So that's something that's really awesome and kind of going along the same lines of those glass items in Epcot. One of the things and we'll come back to Magic Kingdom in a bit is that the Germany Pavilion they have where you can create your own glass souvenir. Do you remember when Charlie and I did this, chris?

Speaker 3:

Oh, definitely souvenir.

Speaker 1:

Do you remember when Charlie and I did this, chris? Oh, definitely, yeah. So not too long ago, on a recent trip within the last year or two, our friend Shane and Charlie, we went and we made a custom glass item at the Germany Pavilion. I made an ornament and it was super neat because you get to pick out all of the design elements they have frames, they have ornaments I believe they have nightlights as well and you get to pick all the pieces, the design, and then you give it to them and they will take it and they do the. I don't know is that technically glass blowing? I'm not sure where they melt the glass. We'll call it that. Yeah, we'll call that that. And what they do is they take it, they do it and then they mail it back to you so you don't have to worry about the chance of it breaking or something and it's going to come right to your house. So that was really awesome. So we have a beautiful ornament that I designed and it's a fun experience to do it too.

Speaker 1:

I'll share some of the pictures of when we did ours not too long ago. So that's a super neat thing to do and a great memory to have, and I think kids could. It's set up where kids could do it. Adults will enjoy it as well, which that's kind of nice too when it's something that everybody in the family could do and it wasn't very expensive. I'm sure if you bought three or four pieces, if you had several kids it could add up, but just getting the one item it wasn't bad at all. I remember it's quite affordable. So that's something that you can do at Epcot, which is really great.

Speaker 1:

I will say this isn't personalized, but really in any of the Epcot pavilions there's so many unique things that you can get from, like I've gotten different perfume fragrances. I know my mom has gotten different perfume fragrances. You can get, like, in Mexico they have the wooden figures that they have the artists creating. You can get all kinds of neat things, and even moving over and I know we've talked about this before as well, but in the Japan pavilion you can select an oyster and get a pearl, some pearl jewelry made. So really, epcot is a great place to find some of those unique souvenirs, but we're going to kind of focus on some of those kind of more personalized ones today.

Speaker 1:

Now, moving over to Hollywood Studios, which is not too far If you are a Star Wars fan, you can build your own lightsaber or you can build your own droid, and one of the things is that the lightsabers, depending on what you pick, are on the more affordable end. The droid is really a big purchase, so I know a lot of people do get those and that's kind of their big splurge item for their trip, which is super cool. Another similar character thing which I don't hear a lot of people talk about, and this is kind of interesting Chris, did you know you can get a custom Tron figure where you record your voice?

Speaker 3:

I did not know that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I thought that was kind of cool I mean, I'm not a big Tron person, but that's a neat thing to do which is in Tomorrowland. At the Launch Depot, you can get personalized tech items. So you can get phone cases, magic bands, watch straps, AirPod cases. I've gotten a phone case before with Figment on it. They also have a location at Disney Springs where you can do this and I had my Figment case for a long time. Do you remember that one?

Speaker 3:

I sure do.

Speaker 1:

So that's pretty cool. You can have something that's functional if you get one of those tech accessories but also personalized to your favorite Disney experience, Now along those lines of those different figures. So we talked about droids and the Tron figures. Another thing that you can get is the Avatar figure at Animal Kingdom, and it's super cool because you can get one with like facial expressions and hairstyle and eye color. You get to pick all kinds of elements so you can kind of make one that looks like you, which I think that is super fun and unique.

Speaker 1:

Now a couple other things that you can get that people, I think, that are a little bit more affordable, depending on what your budget might be during your trip. One of the things that you can do is that you can do the press penny machines, and it used to be you'd have to carry the real pennies and you'd have to take coins with you, but now they have the machine set up where you can just run a credit card and it will do it. I wonder what will happen if we're not making pennies anymore for the penny machines.

Speaker 3:

You know what I actually think it'll probably make them even more important.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I think you're right.

Speaker 3:

Because if there's a limited pennies, you'll want to find a penny, you'll want to keep the penny, you'll want to take the penny to the penny machine. So, if anything, I think pennies will be even more valuable.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I've always had a love for pressed pennies. I'm not sure why, I think because it's something small that you can get and it's kind of the hunt for finding them. But now that you can really get some cool sets and something that, what I like to do is I get the pennies at Disney and I've seen people make really cool artwork. I've seen people make ornaments, all kinds of things.

Speaker 1:

But there's a company called Penny Brands with a bands I'm sorry, penny Bands B-A-N-D-Z, and I'll put their website link in the show notes. They make fun like necklaces that will hold them. I have a band that's a bracelet band where I'll take it on a trip and then when I get the different pennies I'll put it in it. So Penny Bands is a great website that allows you to showcase some of those pennies that you get and it gives you a chance to use them. And then they're not just sitting in a book.

Speaker 1:

Now, there's also nothing wrong with having them sit in a book, which is also okay and something I do with many, many pennies over the years. A little fun fact when we got married, we had little folders with information for people and I had a press penny list in there of where you could get all the press, pennies, and kids always enjoy that as well. Now, I would be. This would show would not be complete without me mentioning one of the things that we almost always get customized on every Disney trip, and I'm going to ask Chris if he knows what that is. What is something we always usually bring home on a Disney trip, and typically it's personalized.

Speaker 3:

We usually get a photo frame.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's a good one, but I was thinking more along the lines of something else that I put up lots of every year A photo frame Ornament. Oh well, yes, so one of the great things. Obviously there are Christmas ornaments all over Disney World, but if you go to the old Christmas shop in Liberty Square or Days of Christmas at Disney Springs, they have artists that will actually customize the ornaments for you with your names, dates, if it's a memorable trip we have ones for birthdays, anniversaries, our wedding, our daughter's first trip, our daughter's birthday, all kinds of different things they will customize those ornaments for you. You can have them where you pick them up, you can have them shipped home. They also will customize some ears as well, where they will do some like, because they use the paint pens and they will do some ear things as well. But we typically always get a Christmas ornament, so you can buy an ornament and have it personalized, not just with the ones that already have the year, but you could really have your names and things on them, which is super great. I always love to get some sort of ornament. For many years we had an artist at the Christmas shop at Disney Springs that always her name was Roseanne and she always did our family's ornaments and it was great going back year after year seeing her so great memories from those and I think it's great to have that personal touch. Another easy thing that's nice for kids and we had one done not too long ago for our daughter is at a spot at Animal Kingdom in Africa, I believe, and then they also have a spot in Frontierland that sometimes open, sometimes not.

Speaker 1:

You can get personalized leather bracelets where they can put your initial on it. They can put a Mickey head, they can put so many letters for a name. So our daughter's name is only five letters long. So she has a little pink bracelet, a leather band, that has a Mickey head on it and it has her name on it as well. So that's also a fun little personalized gift you can get as well. So those personalized leather goods are also great.

Speaker 1:

So this gives you just a wide range of different things that are unique and different that you can have, that are personalized for your own experience and your own memories. And I think it's great because there's things in a wide range of price ranges If you wanna get something small like an ornament or a leather bracelet, or you wanna go all out and get a droid. There's just lots of different options for you and I think it's wonderful that you can pick out something that's best for you. So check out all of these things. I'll include a lot of the links in the show notes so you can look up the penny bands and you can look at some of the different locations for some of these great awesome things. And before we get our call up with Miss Beth, we have a message from our friends Eric and Alexa.

Speaker 3:

If you're traveling to Disney with little ones, you want to make a connection with BabyQuip. They provide brand new equipment for parents, whether it be strollers. Are they bassinets?

Speaker 3:

I guess technically, and cribs and car seats, that's what I was that's everything you need to make sure that your little one gets safe from the airport to Disney and, as well, as you know, while you stay there. We've used BabyQuip several times. We've used them in Florida and it's been awesome. Because Kara's still while she is walking at times, because we want to motor through the park, we'll put her in the stroller. Every time we've gotten brand new equipment that's been top-notch and that's Baby Quip.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and I will put the link in the show notes where you can make your reservation with Eric and Alexa. In the show notes where you can make your reservation with Eric and Alexa Because, again, like Chris mentioned, they have some awesome products that you can do. We even used Baby Quip when we went to Disneyland as well earlier this year. So check out the show notes for that and you can make sure to use them for your next Disney trip. So give us just a second and we're going to get up our interview with Miss Beth.

Speaker 1:

We'd like to welcome Miss Beth to the show. Her business, miss Beth Silhouettes, has all kinds of really great silhouettes that you can have for your family. She specializes in kids and the great thing about her background is that she was a veteran at Walt Disney World. She worked in the Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs as a silhouette artist. She started in 1989 at the Magic Kingdom. She's a mother of two daughters and a grandmother of a one-year-old granddaughter and we are super excited to share all the ways that you can find your own silhouette that you can get from Miss Beth's Silhouette. So, beth, welcome to the show.

Speaker 4:

Thank you very much for having me.

Speaker 1:

We always love to hear a little bit about what you enjoy at the parks, so we'd love to hear, miss Beth, what has been your favorite thing at the Disney parks.

Speaker 4:

My favorite thing at Disney in the parks would be back in 1989 when I very first started at Magic Kingdom and the Main Street Electrical Parade would definitely be a classic thought of me being in the parks in my classic era.

Speaker 1:

That is definitely a great choice, for sure, a classic Disney experience that we all can relate to. Now, of course, we'd love to hear all about your business and what are the products you offer connected to Disney.

Speaker 4:

So I am a silhouette artist. Have been a silhouette artist since 1989. I do hand cut silhouettes of children, loved ones, past loved ones, pets, favorite animals. I do silhouettes just about of anything you can think of.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's really great, and you have a website that people can get these from.

Speaker 4:

Yes, ma'am, it is wwwmissbethsilhouettescom. M-i-s-s-b-e-t-h-s-s. S-i-l-h-o-u-e-t-t-e-s. Miss Beth's Silhouettes.

Speaker 2:

With that, what was your inspiration for you to decide? I want to draw silhouettes.

Speaker 4:

So when I started in 1989, I wanted to be an animator, and animation in 1989 was very different than the animation is in 2025. So, as a 19 year old, thinking that I knew everything, I was like no, I don't want to be. I don't want to be a silhouette artist, I want to be an animator. And they were like no, we want you to be a silhouette artist. Well, if it wasn't for the fact that they pushed basically not really pushed me into, but guided me heavily into being a silhouette artist, I would not be a silhouette artist now and I would have not been an animator now, because animation was being taught very, very differently in the 1980s and the 1990s. So they were looking out for me in a roundabout way.

Speaker 1:

So how did you decide to start your own business once you had ventured out from Disney?

Speaker 4:

So I've had my own business on and off since I started with Disney. I've always had silhouettes that I've done on the side not necessarily on the internet, because back then we didn't have the internet, but I've always done like special events and birthday parties, weddings, school daycares, fundraisers, all types of different things outside of the theme park atmosphere.

Speaker 1:

Now that you mentioned weddings, I have to ask. Most of our listeners who have been with us for a while know that Chris and I had a Disney fairytale wedding. So I'm curious did you ever do silhouettes at a Disney fairytale wedding on property?

Speaker 4:

I absolutely have worked at weddings at Disney. I was a silhouette artist at Disney With their wedding program there. They had us available if they wanted us to come in and do silhouettes, just like we would outside the park or inside the park. Same artist, same great product, same great memories.

Speaker 1:

Now one of the things we always like to ask is how do you think your products can add Disney magic to your customers' lives?

Speaker 4:

The good thing about silhouettes is that silhouettes go back many, many generations. I have met, in different parks that I have worked at, many people that have had my work from 1989 all the way up until 2025, every single year. So it's making a memory that their grandmother made or that their mother made or that their father made. It's making a memory again and being close to those people and it being tied into Disney is it just makes it even better. It's like the icing on the cake that is so true.

Speaker 1:

We actually, my mom and I, have silhouettes that we had done at Disney many years ago and that reminds me I need to get one of our daughter.

Speaker 4:

So that's really great memories, you're right definitely two need to get one of your daughter, maybe a three generation, one of you, your mother and your daughter.

Speaker 2:

Oh, miss Beth, that's a wonderful idea and a great upsell, and you had mentioned that. You mentioned MissBethSilhouettescom. Where else can people go? Would you let us know about your social media?

Speaker 4:

I'm on Facebook for Miss Beth Silhouettes and Instagram would be at BethPrey2.

Speaker 2:

That's wonderful. Again, we'll share those links in the bio. But one more question how long did it take you to learn how to spell silhouette correctly?

Speaker 4:

To be honest, at 19 years old it wasn't necessarily my number one thing that I wanted to learn how to learn how to spell. But you are right, it's not the easiest thing to learn how to spell something well again.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much, miss Beth.

Speaker 1:

I know Venice may have a couple more questions for you we really appreciate you taking time to be on the show with us and, as you mentioned, so many great memories can be brought up with these silhouettes and it's a keepsake that you can use for many years to come. And the wonderful thing is, it's not just a character shirt or another cup or a popcorn bucket. It's really a true memory that you can make and keep and enjoy for many years to come. So thank you so much, miss Beth, for joining us. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 4:

Thank you for having me. It has been a pleasure and make memories that last.

Speaker 3:

Thank you to Miss Beth for joining us today.

Speaker 1:

And now we are on to our two-minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt quote and Chris, you are up with trivia.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we're talking about souvenirs and I'm not going to make you guess what it was. I'm not going to make you guess what it was, okay, but in 2017, a hand-drawn map of Disneyland that was done by Herb Ryman in 1955 was sold to an unknown buyer. How much did that one-of-a-kind hand-drawn map fetch at auction?

Speaker 1:

$3.5 million hand-drawn map fetch at auction $3.5 million.

Speaker 3:

You're very high, so cut that down by a lot $150,000. More $708,000. And again, this is according to an MSNBC article. And with that a Skyway gondola that was original in 1956 sold for $621,000. And an original Dumbo flying elephant car. Here's a quick question. I'll make a guess how much did that sell for?

Speaker 1:

Let's go with $500,000.

Speaker 3:

You're right. Wow, $483,000. Wow, $483,000. And a Tiki Room animatronic bird again original sold for $425,000. Wow.

Speaker 1:

I don't think we're going to be including any of those souvenirs in our collection anytime soon.

Speaker 3:

You know this because you pay the bills. Okay, what is our most expensive Disney souvenir?

Speaker 1:

This is kind of an asterisk, probably technically. We have a thing from our wedding where we had our flowers preserved and it has photos and things from our flower bouquet. So that's technically Disney and that's probably the most expensive Disney thing we have in the house, but I don't know that that would fall under your category.

Speaker 3:

All right, that does not. What is the most expensive Disney souvenir you purchased at the park?

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's a tough one, Probably. We actually have a castle figure that we bought that we used as a cake topper. That was pretty expensive. How much was it? It was just a couple hundred.

Speaker 3:

Awesome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would say that's probably it We've. Also, we don't buy a lot of super expensive. We've bought some. I mean, I've bought some purses, we've bought some like you've mentioned, like crystal frames and different things like that, but I don't think we've bought anything way outlandishly expensive All right, definitely not in the ballpark of some of those items that you mentioned.

Speaker 1:

So now we are on to our wisdom from Walt quote, and I thought this was just fun because it was talking about being unique and looking for those unique characteristics in yourself. And this one you have to kind of think about the more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique. So, whether it be your own personal uniqueness, a unique souvenir you purchase at the parks, or just a unique experience that you have at the parks, disney can make that happen. So make sure that you keep that in mind next time you're planning your next Disney vacation, and don't forget to check out all of our episodes on our Buzzsprout page and to follow us on social media for even more Disney magic. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Disloved Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa and I'm Chris.

Speaker 3:

This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.