If you're like me, you're feverishly looking at YouTube and Instagam and following people who have been lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World as it's opened over the last few months (Disneyland hopefully to be coming soon). If you're also like me, for whatever reason, you haven't made the journey to Orlando just yet and are really jonesing for a visit.
Over the months of us all mostly staying home, I've tried, in this space, to give you ways to have a little Disney in your lives while you count down to that visit, whenever that may be. So guess what? I'm going to do that again.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with D-Tech, that very Disney line of merchandise that lets you bring technology into your lives with a little Disney flair (or, in some cases, a lot). The most prolific products in the D-Tech family are cell phone cases.
You can find a case for your phone with images of images of pretty much any Disney property. There are cases with your favorite characters from the Fab 5, the Disney princesses, or Star Wars. There are also cases that remind you of your favorite park icons. Disney makes some of these themselves under the Disney brand, but they've also partnered with Otterbox, the maker of high-end indestructible cases, to make some really cool items.
I will admit at the outset that the most fun you can have with D-Tech is on park property. You can visit one of the D-Tech locations and customize any manner of technological wizardry, choosing one of hundreds of designs, add your name and otherwise play. Doing that is a lot of fun and a way to get a one of a kind item. If you're lucky enough to visit the parks, I highly recommend a visit (Walt Disney World has locations at The Marketplace Co-Op in Disney Springs and in the shop right behind Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom). I wrote an article about the Co-Op Marketplace that included D-Tech a while back.
That said, there's still plenty you can get online, and there are many places in the world wide interwebs to get D-Tech goods. The spot with the largest selection is of course, ShopDisney.com. Here you can find many many different cell phone cases, so this is where we're going to begin.
As we look at cell phone cases, if you want to shop with Disney directly, It helps if you have an iPhone. Apple and Disney have had a long relationship going back to the early Pixar days, and that shows here in that the vast majority of offerings are for iPhones. That said, all hope is not lost, Samsung Galaxy owners. You just need to look a little harder and may not get your first choice.
We're going to start with the very missed Disneyland. Even though it remains closed for now, Disneyland just celebrated its 65th anniversary, and to honor that milestone, Disney came out with a line of 65th anniversary merchandise that ranged from clothing to high-end collectibles. This line includes an Otterbox phone case that honors the park. It's yellow and features an image of the original Disneyland sign with the saying, “The Happiest Place on Earth.” It also has a Disneyland pennant and of course, our favorite Mouse. It's of the type that that has the grip sticking out the back, so you can hold the phone between your fingers if you're a klutz like me or to use as a stand.
Disney created a cell phone case as part of the Disneyland 65th anniversary collection. Copyright Disney.
It retails for $69.99 and is available at Shopdisney.com. On the website, it's available for the iPhone XR or 7 plus/8 plus.
Sticking with our Disney Parks theme, there have been numerous cell phone cases over the years that have celebrated Disney attractions. Some of my favorites have included the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and “it's a small world.” One I came across today was for another old classic, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.
Disney made a simple phone case to celebrate Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. Copyright Disney.
In the Tiki Room, in the Tiki Room, in the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room (sorry, I couldn't help myself—this earworm runs a close second to “it's a small world” for me). The case is yellow with tiki images and pictures of our main four feathered friends from the attraction. It's listed as available for the iPhone X/Xs and Xs Max. It's also made by Otterbox and goes for $59.99.
Next up, we're going to take a look at the most classic of Disney classic characters, Mickey Mouse. When I write these articles, there's typically at least one item that makes the words “I must have that now” run through my head. This month, it's this next cell phone case. I've had Mickey Mouse cases on my phones for years (though a Pluto case did sneak in there at one point).
This particular case is from Disney's Ink and Paint Collection, a great collection of merchandise that celebrates Disney's talented artists (hint—you may see something about that collection of items in next month's article). It features an “in progress” colorful image of Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasia at the center. Surrounding it are various “model sheet” images of Mickey. These are images that, in practice, provide instructions to the animators as to how draw the character.
There's a great cell phone case that features Sorcerer Mickey as a work in progress. Copyright Disney.
This hard plastic case also goes for $59.99 and is made by Otterbox. It's listed as available for the iPhone 11 (yipee!) and iPhone XR.
Sticking with the classic character theme, as I said at the top, there are a multitude to choose from. If princesses are your thing, Disney has you covered. I've seen Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Anna and Elsa, Belle, and many, many others. The stand-out for me amongst this set was one featuring Cinderella. It's baby blue with a fairly classic image of Cindy in her famous dress looking back. She's joined by two of her helper birds carrying a ribbon and, of course, a glass slipper. The standout feature of the case, though, is a plastic add-on of Gus “climbing” over the top of the case. I like those 3D images that are sometimes added.
Cinderella gets her own phone cases with an assist from a 3D Gus. Copyright Disney.
It runs for only $29.99 and is listed as available for the iPhone X and XS.
Sticking with those 3D cases, this next one just made me laugh. For Sleeping Beauty fans, especially those who love Maleficent, this case features simple pastel colors and a big honking pair of Maleficent horns.
You can make a very simple statement with this Maleficent case. Copyright Disney.
Maleficent will run you $34.99 and is available for the iPhone X and XS.
Moving on now to a galaxy for far away, we enter the world of Star Wars. Over the past year, Disney's breakout star has been undoubtedly “The Child” (or as the unformed amongst us—myself included—call him baby Yoda). Disney has slapped his image on all means of merchandise, including cell phone cases. This case features many playful and cartoony images of The Child floating around the back.
You can have The Child, and the force, on the back of your cell phone. Copyright Disney.
This case has the hard back and rubbery sides. It runs $34.99 and is available for virtually all iPhone models going back to the iPhone 6.
Finally as promised for you Samsung Galaxy users. There's a case from The Mandalorian for the Galaxy S8. It has a polycarbonate back and the rubber material along the edge, like baby Yoda. Mostly importantly, the image of a giant bounty hunter will be glaring at people whenever you hold up your phone.
Galaxy users are covered with a case from “The Mandalorian”. Copyright Disney.
It sells for $49.95 as is part of the Otterbox commuter series.
The cases generally run from $29.99 to $69.99, and though I love them, I understand they're not that cheap. Also, while the selection is large, they may not have the character you want for the phone you want. So, there are other options beyond ShopDisney.
Etsy and eBay and are two great sources for so many Disney-inspired products, and cell phone cases are no exception. I did a quick browse on Etsy, and found Disney-themed cases for all kinds and brands of phones. They come in hard and soft cases, clear and covered with images. I even saw crocheted cases featuring Disney characters. Ditto on eBay. A quick eBay search yielded 192,000 items under Disney cell phone case.
Using these and other platforms, you can usually find very creative, and usually less expensive, cell phone cases and other items.
That wraps it up for today. As always, everyone stay safe and healthy. See ya real soon!
