shopping budget

[alac1980]

hello hello!

a question regarding Disney memorabilia shopping.

we plan to give our kids a set amount of money for souvenirs. we are obviously on a budget, given that we are taking a December trip and Christmas is coming (yuck! bad timing budget wise!)

are the Disney outlets worth visiting, in your opinion? do local walmarts etc have decent Disney memorabilia that might be cheaper than the Disney shops on site or at dtd? what's a good plan of attack for shopping?

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I have heard that the Walmart stores near Disney do have good prices on t-shirts and the like. I haven't been to the Orlando outlet, but we used to have one near us and it was hit or miss. Sometimes I walked out spending $100, other times nothing.

Whether your time is best spent heading off-site to scour for discount souvenirs is at your discretion and you should consider what you think your kids will want. My kids always seem to want obscure items (stuffed Kanga, for example) and the only place we'll find their must-haves is at a Disney store. While I think their prices are a little more than what I'd normally spend for a souvenir t-shirt, I think their stuffed animal prices are pretty reasonable. I'd rather find items that I can *only* get at Disney World for souvenirs rather than just being concerned about the bottom-line price. Especially if you don't have a long trip, I personally wouldn't waste time going off in search of cheap souvenirs. I'd rather be in the parks.

Have a fabulous trip!

 

[julluvsdisney]

the Disney outlet near DTD is awesome! It is all merchandise from the parks so its some of the same stuff your kids will see in the gift shops. You can use Disney gift cards there too which for me is a nice added bonus! We go there every trip! Last time I was able to get a nice sweatshirt for 60%

 

[eliza61]

hello hello!

a question regarding Disney memorabilia shopping.

we plan to give our kids a set amount of money for souvenirs. we are obviously on a budget, given that we are taking a December trip and Christmas is coming (yuck! bad timing budget wise!)

are the Disney outlets worth visiting, in your opinion? do local walmarts etc have decent Disney memorabilia that might be cheaper than the Disney shops on site or at dtd? what's a good plan of attack for shopping?

I do not recommend the outlet. this is my only experience so maybe it was a fluke.
when we visit Disney we always get a tee shirt or sweatshirt for each person. One year I decided to "save" money and pick up the shirts at the outlet. I will say I went to the outlet in AC NJ so maybe the one in Orlando is better.
1. The sizing was off. I'm normally like a large tee but the outlet "larges" were much smaller.
2. Quality was horrible. We have a washer/dryer in our villa. Washed the tees, every last one shrunk. After the first wash my soon who wears an XL definitely could not wear his, neither could my dh. after maybe 2 washes my tinkerbell tee looked so faded and washed out, I used it to garden in.

Long story short, I view tee shirts as souvenirs. Those shirts didn't last 1 month. I'd rather pay more and have it last a few years. I have a MGM sweatshirt from 2008, yeah I paid about 45 buck for it but if it didn't have the year on it, you couldn't tell that I didn't get it last trip. I hate cheap clothes.