Disney Character Warehouse review, Fullerton location

[skiingfast]

Went to the Character Warehouse last week and tried to make some mental notes of the inventory so that other people can decide if it's worth the trip for them.

Pins
It had a display with 50-100 pin designs a few pins of each design. I need to note I know little about pins and if anyone can verify my observation that would be great. All of the pins were $6.99 and without the color coding that is in actual Disney parks and stores they may or may not have been a good deal. Many pins had double pin backs. Some had slider actions.

My real concern was if they are real. They all had the same cardboard backs with the name Jimmy Leigh, not sure on the first name, positive on the last name. It had an unpriced sticker with a UPC barcode (without an original price I don't think had ever been in a park). Pin backs were black mouse ear design with Copyright Disney stamped into the top part you twist.

But the backside of the pin really made me wonder. It was textured with a Copyright Disney or Prixar/Disney and China in the stamped on box. Pins did not have side stubs at the base. Perhaps they are old pins, because new pins also have an official "seal" that say Pin trading and Authentic Disney. The back pattern was a simple, fine grid texture, not the mickey head pattern on pins now.


Toys
Lots of Princess toy sets, could be great for special big gifts for young girls. Did not look at the pricing on them.

Clothing
This is the bulk of the store. Mostly female designs/colors. Almost all Tshirts. No great pricing either, 50% off the highest priced shirts ever is not making it a true deal. Some shirts from WDW and Disney Cruise Lines. A lot were HSM or some older Disney stars. Didn't see any for DL attractions but a few for Exhidition Everest in the Animal Kingdom of WDW and Epcot.

They also had really cheap shirts around $5. T-shirts from Walmart and other retailers (had the original retailer tag in them). However they were of the kind with poor taste jokes or slogans on them and it's pretty obvious why they didn't sell them.

Pop Corn Buckets
Had maybe 6 designs. None were of seasonal designs.

Lanyards
Had one style of Lanyard with the bottle holder loop on it. It was styled for 2010 or 2009. This was typical with lots of the little things, commemoration of a past year.

Light up Toys
They had a couple shelves of the flashing necklaces, and maybe braclets, at half the parks prices this would be a great inpulse buy for kids. Though I would say I noticed these are much less popular in DLR than WDW.


If you want to go to the Character Warehouse. It's up Harbor Dr from DLR. It's in a large shopping center that sits at the south east corner of the intersection of Harbor and Orangethorpe. The shopping center spans over to Lemon St. The store faces Orangethorpe. Lots of dining is in the area. You can take the OCTA bus right up Harbor and back again.

Don't forget the 10% off coupon in this link... http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp

 

[katejc]

Thanks for the update! Great to hear what's there before deciding to make the trek over when we are at DLR in July...

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

Just wanted to mention although about a 20 min drive the Ontario Mills Mall http://www.simon.com/mall/tenantdetail.aspx?id=1258&tid=63016&cid=2183
has a Disney Store Outlet which has some awesome deals as well as Disneyland merchandise. I got Disneyland mickey PJ's a couple of months ago for $10.00 for the set as well as x-mas ordainments a set of 8 for $2.99 in December. To me it was worth the drive as the Disney Character Warehouse is such a disappointment . At the Disney Store Outlet they also have pins and holiday merchandise depending on the time of year. The also have big sales events that mark down the already low prices by 50%-75%. Before you plan on going I would call and ask if there is a sale coming up or ask what Disneyland items they have if you are looking for something in particular. Anyway just wanted to add, don't hear a lot of people talking about this place.

 

[Michael623]

I've been here a few times (although the last time was in September 2010) and I've always had pretty good luck. I always seem to stock up on DCA shirts because they are always marked way down.

 

[taaren]

I think we went a few times because it was next to InNOut and we were craving good burgers in the middle of the day ... and our only real find (other than some cute plush Nemos) were last year's Mouse Ears that we hadn't been able to find in the parks with blinking ears in a circular pattern that we just from our previous trip and our friends wanted to have some too but the parks had sold out. So its also good if there's a last year ear that you want more of.

 

[Disney Dreams]

All Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Parks so there is no need to worry about the validity of the pins bought there.

- Dreams

 

[skiingfast]

All Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Parks so there is no need to worry about the validity of the pins bought there.

- Dreams

Since your statement is not actual fact, do you know if the pins as I described them are in fact official Disney pins?

 

[jlmarr]

All Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Parks so there is no need to worry about the validity of the pins bought there.

- Dreams

Since your statement is not actual fact, do you know if the pins as I described them are in fact official Disney pins?

I was also under the impression that the Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Disney Parks. Do you know otherwise? This would be good to find out.

 

[skiingfast]

I was also under the impression that the Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Disney Parks. Do you know otherwise? This would be good to find out.

If you look at my description of some of the clothing you will see why there was evidence that it's not soley from disney or the parks.

I think it is general misconcieved that while they have actual park and resort merchandise that that is it.

 

[Go Mickey]

I've gone to the one in our area every time they come and have noticed that as the years go by they have less and less Disney goodies. In 2008, all Disney goodies and GREAT prices. The were just in town before Christmas, very little Disney goodies, no great deal and LOTS of T-shirts with tacky sayings that were not Disney. I went in several times and NEVER bought anything vs 2008 when I spent way to much $$ there and got lots of great deals . Just my observation

 

[Peri]

I agree that the merchandise has gone way downhill and I buy very little except a pin or two - this is for the Disney Warehouse in Las Vegas.

Having said that, I agree with the poster above that if you can find one, you should try the Disney STORE outlet! It is merchandise from the Disney store, including princess dresses, tons of toys and merchandise, etc. The markdowns are like any outlet store - moderate (not dramatic) but there are good buys to be had. There is one in downtown Vegas and someone above mentioned Orlando, I think?

Interesting observation about the leftover Walgreen's type Disney shirts! Hadn't seen that!

Happy shopping.

 

[pixiewings71]

Matt I'm sure the pins are fine, altho without photos for comparison it's impossible to know for sure. We've seen loads of pins at the outlet but we've never purchased any....they've always been way too $$. For me, $6.99 is not a good deal for a trader pin. But yes, the textured background was used until recently, they have the copyright mark and that's all that really matters.

 

[Princess Row]

I believe MOST of the pins in the warehouse to be real......although I dont know 100%. When I went to the Warehouse in Las Vegas last summer we bought a ton of pins for very cheap which I had in fact seen in the parks. However.....the rest of the items like playes and cups and pjs for kids.....I never saw in Disney, only in the Disney Store.

Therefor it cant be sure where the items come from.

 

[cmwade77]

I was also under the impression that the Character Warehouse merchandise comes from the Disney Parks. Do you know otherwise? This would be good to find out.

All Disney merchandise comes from the parks or Disney Stores. They do fill in with no Disney merchandise from other places when they cannot get enough Disney stock to fill the store.

Based on my own personal observations, I would say about 75% of their merchandise is from the parks, 10% is from the Disney stores and the remainder is non-disney right now. I know I have seen a lot of their merchandise in the parks before. Although, some of it has lasted for as little as a couple of weeks.

as for the Pins, as long as it has Copyright Disney on the back, it can be traded. If they were selling counterfeit pins, they would be shut down by Disney's legal team in an instant. A lot of pass holders go there to buy merchandise and they would definitely report counterfeit pins. In addition, character warehouse has a close relationship with Disney. There have been a lot of people arrested around here for selling counterfeit pins lately as well.

 

[lcasa]

Last year I went to a Disney STORE outlet in Carlsbad at the outlet center there.
I received an email a week or so ago saying the Character warehouse was getting better merchandise - including Jim Shore pieces and some Olzseweski -- but from the main post it doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe it sold out fast??

 

[skiingfast]

Last year I went to a Disney STORE outlet in Carlsbad at the outlet center there.
I received an email a week or so ago saying the Character warehouse was getting better merchandise - including Jim Shore pieces and some Olzseweski -- but from the main post it doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe it sold out fast??

I didn't note it but they appeared to have a small selection of sculptures that may of been Jim Shore.

They might of had small snow globes but I can't remember if I saw them in the store or in the parks. I wished I had paid more attention on those since they are popular.

 

[courtneydisney]

I google mapped the Ontario Mills Mall (home of the Disney Store Outlet), and it's almost an hour away. While the Character Warehouse often disappoints, would the Disney Outlet be worth the trek (and missed park time)?

I'll be in DL for 24 hours on Wednesday the 29th, maybe I can make the trek the day before.

 

[awdsmama]

I google mapped the Ontario Mills Mall (home of the Disney Store Outlet), and it's almost an hour away. While the Character Warehouse often disappoints, would the Disney Outlet be worth the trek (and missed park time)?

I'll be in DL for 24 hours on Wednesday the 29th, maybe I can make the trek the day before.

Not to mention the cost of gas now

 

[thunderbird1]

Thanks for the review, and thanks especially for the link to the coupons. There were a few in there that just might come in handy this summer. And it's good to know in advance that a trip to the Character Warehouse isn't likely to blow the vacation budget.