Like the rest of you I was worried about saving money on all those tempting souvenir's inside the parks. We did a lot of window shopping while in both parks and Downtown Disney and it amazed me how much prices have went up since my last visit in 2006. The last day of our trip my husband and I were about to give in and spend the outrageous amounts our son and gifts for those back home were going to rack up, when my brain finally kicked in! We had let our son get a customized mickey ear hat and bubble gun (beware of these if you have kids, they are ALL OVER THE PARKS and it seemed like every child and some adults owned or wanted one) so we were already out $50 and still had to get gifts for family at home. We live in Las Vegas, the motherland of overpriced gifts and as a local, I know that all the
Walmart's in the area have a souvenir section selling the EXACT same merchandise you would find in any basic souvenir shop. So, we called the closest Walmart (only a 5 minute drive and VERY EASY to find) to see if they had a section and YES! they did. I wasn't expecting much and figured the souvenir's wouldn't be the same but I figured I could pass them off on family at home without them knowing. To my amazement the Disney section was MUCH larger than I expected and I had seen 98% of the same stuff throughout the Disney Park shops. I was able to buy my niece and nephews the awesome cups I wanted for them but were priced 12.95-16.95 at
Disneyland...Walmart price 3.99-4.99! I inspected this cup over and over because I couldn't believe it was the same cup and it was! I bought my sister a beautiful Cinderella clutch that was priced 49.95 at Disney..Walmart 12.95! The tote bag I had bought inside Disney for 19.99 was at Walmart for 4.95! I could go on and on! I will probably NEVER buy items at an amusement park again if it has a Walmart near by. Some stuff, like the mickey ears you have to get inside the Disneyland parks. I did find the Minnie ears at Walmart for only 3.95 vs 16 at Disney. I bought our t shirts ranging from newborn to adult from as little as 3.95 to 9.95 at Walmart. When we went back to the park later that day I was curious about how much I actually saved and if the items really were the same. After a very tiring trek through the parks I found that the items WERE in fact the same (except for one t shirt) and the price for all my purchases (not all listed above) if bought at Disneyland would have been over $500, my Walmart total $72.79! Oh ya, and that ever so popular Bubble Blower Gun I mentioned, Walmart also has one very similar (it doesn't have the neon lights that come on at dark,
$15) for only 4.95. The neon lights were very fun but for parents with little ones that won't make it through the dark hours, the Walmart version is perfect! I was a bit impressed by a few things at Disney and I would suggest using this two in one system if it will be useful to you. During the constant "Mommy I want Cotton Candy, Mommy Can I have a drink, Mommy I want popcorn" I noticed that a R2D2 container similar to one my son liked in the Star Tours Shop was for sale with popcorn in it. To buy the container alone in the store it was $11 and for a small popcorn it was $4. To buy the container full of popcorn (same amount as a small) from a street vendor it cost me only $12. I can't believe I said ONLY $12, LOL. I had a similar find with a sports bottle filled with a very tasty smoothie. I guess you can find some deals inside the Disneyland/California Adventures parks but in order to have enough gas to get home or money to check those even heavier bags in at the airport I would suggest finding your nearest Walmart, finding ways to combine your food with souvenir's or do as so many other smart Ladies have done, SHOP AHEAD!!!!
