Disney Souvenirs - better to buy offsite?

[lersxst]

I read somewhere that the exact same souvenirs sold at the parks can be found at nearby outlet malls at specialty Disney Souvenir stores but at much lower prices. Is this true? If it is: Are these "official souvenirs"? Is the price difference really worth it? Can you find all exact same souvenirs or are there some that you can't get at the outlet stores?
Thanks.

 

[pongoperdigirl]

This is just my opinion, and only my opinion, I would not take the time to go off site just to go look for souveniers. I think that part of the excitement is buying stuff in the parks. The unique stuff that you can only get inside a park. Take the airport for example. Yes there is stuff that says Disney on it, but you won't find stuff there that says Disney World on it. Because you aren't in Disney World.
I say get your stuff there. For what it's worth.

 

[lersxst]

Thanks for your reply pongoperdigirl. Now, I am not sure about the airport but what I read was that these outlet stores carried official "Disney World" merchandise and not just "Disney". Given that the parks close early when we are going we figured we have plently of time to go to the late-closing outlet malls. If the price difference is significant, say 40 to 50 %, then it would definitely be worth it for us. What I would like to know is if you can really find everything there. For example, I would not want to pass-on buying that Pirates of the Caribbean flag, with the skull and crossed bones, while at the park and then find at the outlet mall that that item is not available there-

Any experiences with this?

thanks.

 

[dimoe]

Giving a bump I want to know too.

 

[MareSINY]

I've been to one of the Disney outlet stores, it's the ones across the highway from DTD. They do have genuine DW merchandise, but not all of it is current. We did find the same type of dinosaur my sister had purchased for my niece at AK in the outlet, it was a different color but other than that it was the same, and it only cost $5 in the outlet compared to about $18 in AK. Needless to say we bought that. LOL I've gotten a few ornaments and such at the outlet store, but I tend to do most of my shopping at DTD and in the resorts/parks.

For me the best part of going to Disney is purchasing Tinker Bell's that I can't get anyplace else.

 

[mdfdisney]

We usually make a trip up to Belz Outlet Mall (near Universal Studios). They have Disney and Universal Studios outlet stores that sell authentic merchandise and steeply discounted prices in many cases. The selection is limited and some of the merchandise wouldn't sell even at a steep discount - what were they thinking when they came up with some of this stuff

If you have a rental car and a little extra time, it is probably worth it to take a look. We bought some Mickey and Minnie shirts for $5.95 that were still being displayed at the parks for $24.95. Sometimes you can find some good pins for trading at a price of $3 - $5 instead of $7 - $9.

They also put dated material in the outlets. We were there is September and there were a fair number of souveniers with 2006 on them. When we went in January 2005, everyhting said 2004 on it, so it was as valuable unless you forgot to pick up something the previous trip.

The most unique and desirable souveniers are still found only in the parks and DTD. Use your Disney Visa at DTD to save 10%.

 

[lersxst]

Thanks for the tips and information. I guess we will try to check out those outlet stores before we go crazy buying overpriced stuff at the parks.

Thanks again.