Outlet shopping in Orlando--what's great?

[coastgirl]

So, we briefly visited Orlando to shop about 10 years ago, and I've looked at the on-line sites for the malls, but what's good there?? We live in a small town in NS so are used to power shopping while travelling, but it'd be good not to waste time!

In particular, I do have some things on my list, though happy to hear any good finds you want to recommend.

My list includes (but is not limited to!) the following.

kids' clothes--like "preppy" stuff, usually shop at Please Mum and Children's Place at home, some Gap, Old Navy; Gymboree when I can afford it...My kids have outgrown OskKosh. :-(

ladies' clothes--same styles for me, maybe JonesNY and Liz Claiborne when it's cheap, casual summer clothes this time around

Oh, ok, dh too ;-) ...he's always looking for Docker-style pants and cotton shirts. Good walking sandals, quality men's shoes, socks...

Hats/sunhats for everyone.

Love independent toy stores, esp. if things are discounted.

Linens--would love to find some fun kids' bedding. Also towels.

We drove to New England last summer and the new duty free allowance for a family of 4 is HUGE. Even I had trouble spending to my limit!

Thanks for any input you might have...

[Scratch42]

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=17

This sounds like the place for you!

j

[wee-haggis]

Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets (Old Navy,The Gap,Eddie Bauer,etc)
http://lbvfs.com/

[TimNDansMom]

I agree with Janet and the Orlando Premium Outlets are my favourite! I wish they would build a cat-walk over the I-4 because it's so close to DTD.

[U2FanHfx]

This might be off topic, but THE best mall I have ever been too was in Orlando called Mall at Millenia. Both DW and I loved it! Nothing like that here in Nova Scotia :)

Regs,

CJM

[dsneygirl]

Mall at Millenia is very nice but not outlet prices by any means. Lots of upscale stores. I like the Premium outlets off Vineland Rd.

[hipmaman]

But is there such a thing as a shuttle btw a Disney resort (say, Coronado Springs) and one of the outlet malls? Or do I need to take taxi or rent a car for the day if a couple of girl friends and I want to go shopping?

Thanks.

[Scratch42]

But is there such a thing as a shuttle btw a Disney resort (say, Coronado Springs) and one of the outlet malls? Or do I need to take taxi or rent a car for the day if a couple of girl friends and I want to go shopping?

Thanks.

Personally, I would rent a car for the day. That way you can get to more than one place for about the same amount of money!

You can rent either at the Car Care Centre or at the Dolphin. I would reserve the car prior to your arrival.

Also, there is the Prime Outlets, which used to be the Belz but I'm not sure what will be available since they are tearing it down and rebuilding! That is at the end of International Drive.

j

[BitsnBearsMom]

Jumping in here too.... where are the Disney 'outlet' stores. I do believe it was the one at the Beltz last time that we went to - other then the disney outlet the mall was a waste of time. If they are tearing this down where do we go now??

[Scratch42]

Jumping in here too.... where are the Disney 'outlet' stores. I do believe it was the one at the Beltz last time that we went to - other then the disney outlet the mall was a waste of time. If they are tearing this down where do we go now??

There were two in this mall, but only one will stay open until they rebuild. They were transfering stuff when we were there in March!

Now there will only be the three to go to. The Prime, The Premiere and LBV.

[SnowWhite]

I'm not sure what the Plaza was called but DW and I found some great prices on stuff at a plaza just a few blocks away from the Nick suites. All I can remember is that it had a Jockey store as that is where I was parked in front of. DS was asleep in the car and I got to stay there with him. I will see if Snowwhite can add to this list of stores there.

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)

[coastgirl]

DS was asleep in the car and I got to stay there with him.
Rob (Snowwhite's DH)

That made me laugh. :-) My dh would be the same, though he's ok to go looking for himself ! When we were in Maine this summer we'd take turns sitting in the van with the kids, while they watched dvd's on the laptop or napped.

I'm not clear about the construction--could someome go over that again?

Thanks for all the feedback and information, everyone!

[princess pooh]

The Pemium Outlet is my favourite :love:. I buy all my gifts from the disney outlet and my wardrobe for the season from Banana Rebublic. I also get my Starbucks fix there :blush:. I usually take a cab to the outlet from DTD to save some money.

[wee-haggis]

I'm not sure what the Plaza was called but DW and I found some great prices on stuff at a plaza just a few blocks away from the Nick suites. All I can remember is that it had a Jockey store as that is where I was parked in front of. DS was asleep in the car and I got to stay there with him. I will see if Snowwhite can add to this list of stores there.

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)
That would be the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets

[pxlbarrel]

Gosh, I thought my mom was gonna shop all day at the Premium Outlet Mall...oh wait... SHE DID! We got there just as they opened and the plan was to leave there after a couple of hours and head over to the other outlet mall (Prime) and then DD for some ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli. Well, my mom did NOT want to leave. My dad and I left her and my brother there while we went off to Prime to check out their Character Warehouse. We came back in the afternoon to get her and she still wanted to stay. To get her to leave for sundaes, we had to promise we'd take her back after the sweet treat. LOL So after our ice cream, we took her back where she stayed until it was closing time... 9 pm!!!! We ended up eating dinner at the Red Lobster just before it closed. She likes Disneyworld but THIS...THIS was her kind of theme park. :rotfl2:

[dennise]

Another Novascotian here. I agree with the other posts, Premium Outlet mall. Lake Buena Vista factory outlet and Prime. Prime is sort of hit or miss with the closing of some stores to allow for rebuilding, but I still like it, also it is right across the street from Festial Bay. We have been home for five days and I am already wanting to plan our next trip. Dependingon where you are staying, you may be able to use the I-ride or Lynx for transportation, a little slow,but gets you there for a reasonable price if you don't happen to have a rental car.

[MazdaUK]

Premium Outlets was my favourite - make sure you register on their website for special offers - I saved LOADS of money that way! (special vouchers PLUS you get their VIP voucher book free instead of paying US$5 )

[princess pooh]

MazdaUK is right, definitely register on their website. There are coupons you can print out but you also get a voucher for a coupon book. It saved us some money the last time we were there :)

[pampam]

I've taken the Lynx public transit bus many times from WDW to Prime (Belz) but never to Lake Buena Vista Factory outlets, or Premium. Does anyone know how I could do this?

[wee-haggis]

I've taken the Lynx public transit bus many times from WDW to Prime (Belz) but never to Lake Buena Vista Factory outlets, or Premium. Does anyone know how I could do this?
gatortours.com does a bus tour ropund all of the outlet malls.
http://www.gatortours.com/