The month and a half leading up to the vacation passed by like a dream. With less than a week remaining, we were antsy to get on the way; our reservation was confirmed and reconfirmed, and our admission tickets were safely in the glove box of our new, used minivan. That’s when a particularly dreadful thought occurred: “I need glow necklaces, and I need them now!”

On our previous trip to Disney, our daughter, only one year old at the time, was fascinated with the red, blue, and green glow stick necklaces and bracelets strategically marketed at every corner of the Magic Kingdom once the sun descended. She threw the tantrum of all tantrums when we tried to leave without getting her one, and I was determined not to suffer through that stress-ridden monorail ride again. The Disney cast member merchant, brilliantly bejeweled with at least thirty of the gleaming fluorescent bands around her neck, had been selling the necklaces for $8 a piece. Five nightly tantrums x $8 = $40: way too much to spend on wear-it-once-and-done jewelry. I quickly looked them up on eBay and found a listing for “One-Hundred-and-Fifty High Intensity Glow Necklaces” for $10. What a bargain! This was another “Buy it Now” auction. And with the click of the mouse and an upgrade to Priority mail, in 4 day’s time the necklaces were mine!

Story continues after the night photograph of Bonnet Creek Resort

Ahhh, Disney World; where your only care is deciding whether to do “Tower of Terror” before or after you eat your chocolate-covered Mickey-Mouse-shaped ice cream treat. The vacation had been going perfectly: the drive down went smoothly in our new vehicle; Bonnet Creek Resort was everything I had hoped it would be; we had no problems with the tickets; and my daughter’s tantrums could be counted on one hand, and none of them were glow-necklace-related. I was lounging in an inner tube in the resort’s relaxing lazy river when it dawned on me: I only had two days of bliss left before I had to check out and say “good bye” to Disney until next year. What a bummer; a cold slap of reality on my zinc-oxide covered face. The post-Disney blues were poised to strike, a malady I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But as I floated around and around, a plan began taking shape. What if I didn’t have to say “good bye” to the Disney magic? What if I could bring Disney home with me!

Still in my Speedos, and with my laptop in hand, I quickly located a Wi-Fi hub and once again logged onto eBay, my dear, old, greatly-missed friend. I began browsing the “Disney memorabilia” listings, scouring for Disney-related items to fill my house with so the transfer back to normalcy after the vacation wouldn’t be too difficult. After a few minutes of searching, I came across a seller named “MouseSurplus,” that actually sells authentic discarded and unneeded items from the resorts and parks. I clicked on their current auction listing and was amazed by what I found. Items up for auction included: a bamboo wardrobe from the Polynesian Resort (starting price: $149); a telephone prop from the Wilderness Lodge Resort ($5.99); a trash can from the Animal Kingdom Lodge ($4.99); and an actual seat prop from the retired attraction “Alien Encounter” ($19.99). They had well over 100 auction listings in total, and most of their items were unique and directly from Disney. I personally became enamored with a gorgeous armoire/entertainment center from the Grand Floridian, the company’s flagship resort. It was solid wood with 7 drawers, and contained a Lazy Susan TV stand; the perfect piece of furniture on which to watch “Finding Nemo” for the one-hundredth time once we got home. I quickly placed a bid. $95. A steal! I won, and thanks to the seller’s money-saving pick-up policy, my family was sharing the vehicle with a 350-pound piece of authentic Disney furniture on the drive north!

Polynesian resort at Disney World

April. It was good to be home. Well, maybe not as good as it is to be at Disney, but good nonetheless. Our vacation pictures had returned from SnapFish.com, and our new Grand Floridian armoire looked great in our TV room. Spring had started. Life was great. In all, I figured that I saved about $1,728 by buying all my vacation necessities on eBay. Not bad at all. Now only if you could buy unleaded gas on eBay...

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was hanging the string of Easter Island Tiki lights on my patio in preparation for a backyard barbeque, when it occurred to me: next year’s vacation was less than 300 days away! I momentarily panicked. It was like a bad dream; like waiting in line for hours to get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse, but when it gets to your turn, they send in Handy Manny instead. My mind raced with how I was going to pay for our next vacation to the “happiest place on Earth.” Then it came to me! Like a “SpectroMagic Main Street Electrical Parade” lightbulb over my head. I hurriedly ran to the garage to see if I could find any items I could afford to get rid of. I found one. An old vase that had belonged to my grandmother. I quickly snapped a few digital pictures of the piece, logged onto eBay, and clicked the “Sell an Item” button. I filled out all the appropriate details and set a starting bid price of a conservative $29.99. If it sold, that was $29.99 for the old Disney Vacation jar.

So the question remains – can I perhaps interest you in a slightly chipped, olive green cloisonné vase with only the slightest hint of mothball? If so, bid now!

Next Article: Join Tim McDonald in his wolverine hunt at Lake Tahoe.

Read about Tom Ryan's Disney Cruise Experience.