Buying Souvenirs BEFORE going to WDW??

[ThinkTink75]

I have read on here about how people will buy Disney Store items before they leave to save money on souvenir shopping in the park and I have heard tons of tips about shipping things home and such.

There are a couple items that I am considering purchasing before we go this summer. I really want the WDW Theme Park edition Haunted Mansion Clue board game and we have a couple other larger items we wanted last time we were there. Do you think its worth it to call WDW Mail Order and purchase ahead? I know we would pay shipping but we would have to pay shipping anyhow to ship it home. Also, has anyone ever ordered from www.laughingplacestore.com?

We've been toying with the idea of just buying a bunch of little things and ahead of time and then having the freedom to only spend our money on ourselves this time. LoL! Does that make any sense? Has anyone ever done that before?

Just wondering what other people's take on it was!

 

[radev104]

We never used WDW Mail Order so I don't know how that works. But we have gone to the Disney Outlet Stores in Premier Outlet Mall and Beltz Factory Outlet Mall. They have really nice stuff there for a really discounted price compared to the parks. They had pins for a dollar and we bought about five of the same one to trade in the parks. My dad also got a couple t-shirts for less than one shirt is at the park. I don't know if the stores have that much stuff right now but everytime we go down there is a lot there. Also if you go to the malls there are little coupon books that have coupons for stuff in Orlando, like ESPN at the Boardwalk and Pleasure Island.

 

[BionicEar]

I got the beach towels on clearance from the Disney Store here at home before we went on our trips. Saved us a ton of $$$$, too.

I usually give the kids Disney Dollars and let them go shopping at DTD the day we leave. It's our tradition now, and the kids love it.

 

[ThinkTink75]

Last time we went to disney (just me and my longtime boyfriend) we spent ALOT on souvenirs... bought for our parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, grandparents... we just couldnt find a cutoff! Now we figure since we gave our parents/grandparents framed pictures from WDW last time we will just get them new pics (to replace the ones already in the frames) and something small... but we thought of maybe getting WDW Candyland or something like that for the young families (instead of buying for like my sister, brother-in-law and niece separately)... its not that we want to be stingy... I mean look at our list of people we buy for... but we are young and want to show everyone that we thought of them, ya know? We went to the beach for a week after our last vacay and shipped our items home, that was when we used WDW mail order- because one of our snowglobes broke in shipping. They were super nice and replaced it for free. Its not discounted but for us it would be like a prepurchase, freeing up our money and stuff. Like we had DDP and didnt spend on like drinks or anything when we went down last time because we were afraid we wouldn't have enough. I just feel like if we ordered beforehand that last thing that we had money worries about would be gone, ya know? And The Laughing Place online store looks reasonable with a code but I think there is a markup so I was hoping someone would know how the shipping and item quality is on there. Are the Disney Outlets online in Florida? We have an outlet mall nearby here but I don't know how to find out if it has a Disney Store.

 

[daisyduck123]

I never buy "souvenirs" ahead of time.
Part of the fun is shopping with the kids in WDW & picking out souvenirs then. That's just the way we do it.

 

[Pixiedust34]

One thing we always buy in advance are the glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the Dollar Store. Buying light-up stuff at parades and night shows costs a small fortune. The kids like having those glow necklaces because they "glow," and we like having them because they help us keep track of the kids in the crowd.

 

[ThinkTink75]

I never buy "souvenirs" ahead of time.
Part of the fun is shopping with the kids in WDW & picking out souvenirs then. That's just the way we do it.

You are right- it is fun. But, it is just the two of us and we have so many people that we want to bring things home to (3 grandparents, 4 parents, 3 brothers, 2 sisters, 2 nephews, 1 niece, 5 friends, and our dog) that we are looking for a way to consolidate... I mean, two major things- (1) We want to be able to buy something for everyone on our lists without it feeling like we will be too tight to buy things for ourselves and have fun, and (2) We do not want to have to ship things home- we want everything to fit in our luggage.

 

[ThinkTink75]

One thing we always buy in advance are the glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the Dollar Store. Buying light-up stuff at parades and night shows costs a small fortune. The kids like having those glow necklaces because they "glow," and we like having them because they help us keep track of the kids in the crowd.

That is a really great idea! I am going to pass it on to my friend who is going with her little ones next month! I also love your picture of your kids- its from the Garden Grill, right? We LOVED it there! And I just love Chip and Dale!