I've been visiting Disneyland since I was a child, but discovered a hidden gem on TikTok. I left with a keepsake I'll treasure for years.

In one of the videos I saw, TikTok user @emmwee visits Silhouette Studio on Main Street, USA, where she and her partner sit in front of an artist, who quickly cuts their silhouettes from black paper. An assistant then pastes the black outlines — which look just like the couple's profiles — on Disney-decorated paper.

"This was only $12 at Disneyland," the TikToker wrote on the screen.

Their video was shared on July 1 and has been viewed 18.7 million views as of September 2023. 

After seeing multiple TikToks about the sweet activity and subsequent keepsake, I knew I needed to find and visit Silhouette Studio on my next visit to Disneyland.

Silhouette Studio is a small shop located past Market House, which houses Disneyland's Starbucks, and next to the Crystal Arts store, which sells crystal mementos and personalized glassware.

I'd never noticed it before. Many storefronts on Main Street are not actually real stores, and for some reason, I thought this was one of them.

Disney Parks Blog reported that this quaint shop opened just one day after the grand opening of Disneyland on July 18, 1955. For 68 years, guests have been able to see the Disney silhouette artists through the shop's glass window, creating beautiful profiles, sometimes even cutting multiple at once.

Upon going inside the small shop, which is barely big enough to fit more than a few people at once, patrons sit in a chair facing the window to Main Street.

After the Disney artist cuts the silhouette, an assistant pastes it to paper decorated with the Disneyland logo.

The hand-cut silhouettes cost $11.99, but for an adorned black-and-gold frame, you pay an additional $19.99, for a total of $34.46. 

Like any other place at Disney, the studio has a line, but it seems that TikTok has helped it become even more popular.

During my visit, nearly everyone I spoke to in the winding line said they'd seen one video or another mentioning this shop, and that's what inspired them to take time out of their Disney day to wait for this souvenir.

For us, the cutting of the silhouette, pasting it onto the decorated paper, and placing it into the frame only took 10 minutes, whereas we waited in line for nearly 40 minutes.

I highly recommend this to any fellow Disney fan looking for a precious and unique souvenir from the happiest place on Earth.