Nothing quite stirs up as much nostalgia as pressed penny machines at Walt Disney World. Whenever possible, I try to lug over my baggie of pennies and quarters to snag a few as a fun way to add some extra fun (and cheap souvenirs) to my park day. New to the pressed penny frontier, however, is this abomination:
That’s right, there’s a souvenir pressed penny machine in Tomorrowland (by the newly reopened Tomorrowland Speedway) that’s charging $1.00… for a single pressed penny.
The sales pitch is pretty straightforward: No penny? No problem. You can still get your souvenir penny fix… for about double the price. Don’t have any cash on you? There’s a card reader attached to the penny machine that’ll charge you $4.00 automatically for all four penny designs instead.
Because nothing screams nostalgia like a card reader.
What do you think of this new addition? It’s likely they’ll retrofit this technology onto other machines, much to my chagrin, but at least they’ve kept the crank at the machine, which, after all, is the really therapeutic part.
While card reader-enabled pressed penny/quarter machines aren’t entirely new to Walt Disney World, this is the first crank machine with a card reader to pop up, as all others are button-based.
Really a $1.00 that’s out Outrageous….
Not the first. I saw one at Disney Springs months ago.
You should report these things to us so we can tell people :)
$1 wow thats bold, especially when you consider some of the great and DOUBLE SIDED designs at Disneyland.
It is most certainly an abomination! Absolutely ridiculous that they’d do this for the profit.
Literally everyone into this hobby prefers the older crank machines. But progress and greed are progress and greed. Oh well.
My friend and I encountered one of these machines at Hollywood Studios in Once Upon a Time. No crank, just push a button under your selection and you can get the $1 pressed penny. My friend pointed out that since they supply the penny its really 99 cents.
Yeah, the crank one is new
The pennies these new machines use are “new” post 1982 zinc pennies that most elongated penny collectors hate. It’s like a double punch to the collectors gut. Twice as much money for a less desirable pressed penny. I really hope this new trend fades away.
Doubling the price is really pushing it. Come on Disney.
There is a club called TEC, The Elongated Collectors (www.tecnews.org). Collectors want pre 1982 cents which are mostly copper. The Cents minted after 1982 have a zinc core. When rolled, gray shadows appear where the zinc shows through. Unfortunately that gray will turn black over time and ruin the design. We call these type Cents “zincers” (no coincidence that it rhymes with “stinkers”). The cost to engrave the steel dies has increased dramatically over the last few years. That plus the movement to a society that uses electronic payments more than cash all play a part in the rising costs. I could tolerate the cost if I had a choice to get a copper cent, but I won’t pay $1 for a zincer. Let’s start a movement to let them know our disappointment with the new machines. Tell the customer service desk, write a letter or email to Disney, post your dissatisfaction, etc. Everyone working together might help turn this trend around. We love our elongated treasures (which first started in 1893 at the Colombian Exposition). Don’t give us “zincers” we want copper!